Where's the Jack Ryan Remaster's reviews? (1 Viewer)

[Samuel_M]

Geez....I hope this reviewer ends up being in the minority. Please Paramount, tell me you guys didn't screw this up... :frowning:

To be fair though, I think its too early to tell, but we'll all find out soon enough just how committed Paramount really is when it comes to their "special editions" and the format as a whole.

In the meantime, keep postin' links to reviews for these films in this thread, except for Sum of All Fears since they left that one untouched. Lookin' forward to readin' about Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games since those were the two fims I liked the most.

Thanks!

 

[ErichH]

Held off on Clear&Patriot because of the quality, but had to have HFRO - Gotta have the set. Colin's review is just 1 opinion. I doubt any real fans will stay away.

Eric

 

[Dave H]

The review did state it was still an improvement from the original.

I usually find Colin's reviews on track; he is probably the most critical reviewer.

 

[Samuel_M]

Hello again...

Here are links to reviews for Patroit Games, Clear and Present Danger, and The Hunt for Red October that were done by Aaron Beierle over at DVDtalk.com.

Patriot Games: SE

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=6174

Clear and Present Danger: SE

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=6170

The Hunt for Red October: SE

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=6172

He doesn't come across as a big fan of the movies and to be honest I didn't find his reviews all that good. I wish he would've included some screenshots, but hopefully the good folks at IGN will be on top of this in the coming days.

 

[Tim Glover]

Well I sold my copies right when I heard these Remasters with DTS were on the way. Doesn't seem like they're the Home Run I was hoping for; but there does seem to be improvement. Of course I'm buying them.

 

[Carlo_M]

The problem with comparative reviews with older DVD titles is that they aren't being compared with how they looked theatrically. There has already been much discussion that the original Hunt for Red October DVD had lots of edginess/sharpness added to it. Is it so out-of-line to think they may have pumped up the contrast too? Or maybe oversaturated the colors? This was, as many guessed, perhaps an older video master used originally for LD, so it wouldn't be surprising if the studio did a lot of "compensation" to make it look better on an early-stage DVD. Thus, if they transfer it properly the second time to DVD, it may look more muted in comparison.

Again - I DO NOT KNOW if this is the case, but that's the risk w/ comparing only the first and second DVDs of HFRO, and no film print to compare it to.

I DO KNOW THIS: I toured the Paramount lot and talked w/ their DVD authoring people last time HTF was invited there and those people are not only knowledgeable, but care about their product. True in the past Paramount has been less-than-stellar in respect to "extra features" but in general, after they "went anamorphic" and stopped rehashing older video masters, they've been pretty consistent in terms of quality of video and audio presentation.

Just trying to add perspective - I do not know the story and have not seen the new DVD.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

There has already been much discussion that the original Hunt for Red October DVD had lots of edginess/sharpness added to it. Is it so out-of-line to think they may have pumped up the contrast too? Or maybe oversaturated the colors?

Not out of line at all. I briefly mentioned that in my review. However, since I really can't claim I know exactly how the movie looked theatrically 13 years ago, I had to go with what seemed most pleasing to me. I preferred the colors and contrast on the old disc. They didn't look "pumped up" or oversaturated to me - they looked appropriate, whereas the new release seemed somewhat flat. It still was better overall - the old one's out of control with jags and shimmer - but there were aspects of the original release that I preferred.

As always, this remains one man's opinion...

(And thanks for the nice comments, Dave H!)

 

[Jeremy Conrad]

I wish he would've included some screenshots, but hopefully the good folks at IGN will be on top of this in the coming days.

I love these movies.

 

[Carlo_M]

Colin, totally understandable, your review. And I hope I didn't sound like I was against it - far from it since I haven't seen the new disc myself (and I sure don't remember it from the theater).

I just wanted to add perspective because as soon as some mildly negative review (and yours wasn't too negative, just not overly positive) comes out, people say "Why oh why did [insert studio name here] drop the ball on this one?" when in fact it may not have been messed up at all (or that badly).

I do not have enough knowledge of how the film is supposed to look (and when I say theatrical presentation, I mean how it was *supposed* to look in an "ideal" presentation, because we all know there are some very incompetent theaters out there screwing up our viewing experience with matting messups, flickering projector lamps, audio dropouts, etc), so for all I know your review could be spot-on.

 

[Samuel_M]

Jeremy:

Wow, what a pleasant surpise! When I was talkin' about the good folks at IGN DVD I didn't think that anyone from there would reply, least of all the Editor in Chief!

Glad to hear that you loved the movies...but when can we expect your reviews of these movies (with screenshots galore)?

I'm dyin' here man. Please let us know when they are up! Thanks and keep up the great work.

 

[Glenn_Jn]

I agree with Colin's assessment. I have the R2 enhanced version which came out a couple of years ago and while it's not a SE (no commentary or doc) it seems they've used the same transfer. The differences between the SE and the original is exactly how I felt when I first viewed my R2 version i.e better in some ways (enhanced/cleaner) worse in other (softer/subdued colors). I've found the slight softness in a few DVD's I upgraded from non-anamorphic to anamorphic. It's obviously the best Paramount is going to give us without a full restoration job.

I was thinking of upgrading (again) but after reading Colin's review, especially about the DTS and DD tracks being almost identical, I don't think I'll bother. I will get the other 2 as I don't have either of those yet.

 

[RobertCharlotte]

From the above-linked review of Red October

The film opens with a reveal of the fact that the Russians have invented a submarine that is so quiet that it is essentially undetectable by radar.

 

[Yumbo]

ok! just HFRO for now.

1. New Paramount logo! Cool, but a bit copycaty.

2. 28 min ANAMORPHIC documentary - mixed quality.

3. Motion menus

4. Non-anamorphic trailer

5. Print looks clean

6. No compression on opening text!

7. No EE!

8. Looks a bit soft

9. And then comes the EE, and dirt. grin. And then disappears again. grin.

10. DTS is slightly louder, but definitely more enveloping than DD on opening chorus (matrix ES channel).

11. Colour is passable

12. Conclusion - recommended upgrade!

 

[Yumbo]

ok! CAPD

1. New Paramount logo! Cool, but a bit copycaty.

2. 26 min ANAMORPHIC documentary - mixed quality.

3. Motion menus

4. Non-anamorphic trailer

5. Print looks clean

6. No compression on opening credits!

7. No EE, only on opening credits

8. DTS is much louder, and definitely more detailed. However, bass is still not what I remember theatrically.

9. Colour is decent

10. Conclusion - recommended upgrade!

 

[Yumbo]

ok! Patriot Games

1. New Paramount logo! Cool, but a bit copycaty.

2. 25 min ANAMORPHIC documentary - poor/mixed quality.

3. Motion menus

4. Non-anamorphic trailer

5. Print looks clean, very small dirt.

6. No compression on opening credits!

7. No EE, only on opening credits

8. DTS is much louder, with more bass. However, bass is still not what I remember theatrically.

9. Colour is good.

10. Conclusion - recommended upgrade!

 

[ScottJH]

DVDFILE.com has their review for HFRO up now.

 

[David Coleman]

Found these two reviews:

http://www.thecinemalaser.com/dvd_2003/hfro-se-dvd.htm

http://www.dvdmg.com/patriotgames.shtml

 

[Matt Pasant]

Tuesday cant come quick enough

 

[Yumbo]

just wanted to add that the pic on Patriot Games shows EE on a smaller tube display with regular player but not on plasma with RP-82.

interesting situation I think.

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Chris, is the sharpness cranked way up on your smaller display?