La vallée
BFI Video | 1972 | 106 min | Rated BBFC: 15 | Region free
| Feb 14, 2011
Viviane, a straightforward young woman, sets out on a birding expedition in New Guinea, where she meets Olivier, an adventurer who's about to leave with some friends on an expedition into the jungle. The goal is to discover an...
I would like to quickly address the comments above that the Blu-ray release looks like "upconverted dvd", no detail, etc.
Nothing really could be further from the truth. The Blu-ray release uses a brand new high-definition transfer supervised and approved by director Barbet Schroeder. Detail and color reproduction are very, very.
And as someone who has owned multiple DVD releases of this film (in fact, I own all of Mr. Schroeder's early film), I can assure you that The Valley looks and sounds as it should on Blu-ray. Period.
I would like to quickly clarify a couple of things:
1. The release uses a new high-definition transfer struck from a new master.
2. Additionally, this very restoration was screened at the Berlin International Film Festival just a a year and a half ago, and it is the same restoration which Marty Scorsese's Film Foundation has been promoting around the world. The relevant facts are here, on the official web page of the Berlinale:
Masters of Cinema
Eureka Entertainment | 1983 | 94 min | Rated BBFC: 18 | Region B (locked) | Aug 27, 2012
Rusty James is the leader of a small, dying gang in an industrial town. He lives in the shadow of the memory of his absent, older brother -- The Motorcycle Boy. His mother has left, his father drinks, school has no meaning for...
If there was lack of visual evidence confirming ALL of the technical issues with this release, then perhaps it would have been a lot easier to claim and sound authoritative that the official review is misleading. Unfortunately, it is very clear that the high-definition transfer is indeed very problematic.
I fail to see how anyone could look at the capture below and claim that the image conveys strong depth and fluidity - the branches on the left have been virtually filtered out:
More importantly, however, many of these issues are far more prominent in motion, particularly because the filtering and the moving artifacts constantly affect the structure of the image.
Thanks
p.s.
As a visitor to the site, you see 720p captures. This means that together with plenty of detail, a lot of the artifacts and other issues are also eliminated by the resolution limitation. You need to be logged in as a member to see the 1080p screencaptures.
Geffen | 1991 | 74 min | Rated E | Region B, A (C untested) | Sep 26, 2011
This special performance was recorded in the band's hometown of Seattle on 31st October 1991, capturing Nirvana in the early stages. Transferred from 16mm film and multi-track audio, the only known Nirvana concert shot to film,...
Sony Pictures | 1954 | 125 min | Not rated | Region free
| Sep 06, 2011
A captain of a US Navy destroyer during World War II begins to crack under pressure, expressing odd behavior and is forcibly relieved by his second in command, but then a trial ensues to uncover who was in the right.
Disregard both of the comments posted below. The high-definition transfer is very good, up to the standards set by Sony for catalog releases. It is fairly obvious that the other posters do not know or understand how 3-strip Technicolor should and does look.
Olive Films | 1965 | 119 min | Not rated | Region free
| Aug 02, 2011
A chartered plane crashes in a remote African desert after colliding with a swarm of locusts. It’s not the harsh surroundings or the vicious baboons that the survivors have to worry about, but a fellow crazed passenger.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 1974 | 104 min | Rated R | Region free
| May 29, 2011
A gang of thugs who have hijacked a subway train near New York's Pelham Station threaten to kill one hostage per minute. Forced to stall the assailants until a ransom is delivered or a rescue made, transit chief Lt. Garber must...
Dated but strong, faithful high-definition transfer that isn't destroyed by heavy DNR corrections. There is hardly any damage. The audio track also has strong organic qualities. RECOMMENDED.
As pointed out in the relevant thread, the image/texture was degraded, and various contrast and color manipulations were performed - as desired by Rodrigo Prieto and Alejandro González Iñárritu. So, while the transfer is not perfect, it is indeed very, very good.
From an article posted by BFI:
"Rodrigo Prieto's handheld cinematography was nervous and edgy in Amores perros. Here it is positively vertiginous, swinging between the distraught actors for much of the picture. And the grainy, degraded texture of the image, varying with the use of different film stocks, is more emphatic than before. Even Brigitte Broch's production design seems intensified."
Lionsgate Films | 1992 | 96 min | Rated NC-17 | Region free
| Aug 31, 2010
A nameless New York cop is hopelessly addicted to drugs, gambling and sex. As he makes his way to various crime scenes, he is concerned only with taking bets from his fellow cops on the outcome of the ongoing National League...
Undoubtedly one of director Ferrara's most powerful films. Unlike what is noted above, the video treatment is strong. This is certainly the best this low-budget film has ever looked.
On a drowsy St. Valentine's Day in 1900, a party of girls from a strict boarding school in Australia goes on a day's outing to Hanging Rock, a geological outcropping not far from their school. Three of the girls and one of their...
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer | 1981 | 99 min | Rated R | Region A (locked) | Aug 03, 2010
In a world ravaged by crime, the entire island of Manhattan has been converted into a prison which houses the world's most brutal inmates. And when the President of the United States crash lands inside, only one man can bring him...
Optimum Home Entertainment | 1987 | 164 min | Rated BBFC: 15 | Region B (locked) | Apr 19, 2010
Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor won nine Academy Awards, unexpectedly sweeping
every category in which it was nominated. The power and scope of the film was, and remains,
undeniable—the life of Emperor Pu Yi, who took...
1. Yes, the Optimum disc does not have optional English subtitles.
2. Yes, the Optimum disc does have the longer Italian TV Version of the film. And the reason why it does not run at 218 minutes but at 210 minutes is because it is offered in standard-def PAL -- hence the reason why it is placed in the supplemental features section of the Blu-ray disc. I have even provided a disclaimer specifically noting that the supplemental features are in PAL - this would include the Italian Version of the film, which is offered as an "extra" - which, of course, is the reason why the film runs at 210 minutes, not 218 minutes.
3. The longer Italian TV Version is not presented in the 2.02:1 aspect ratio Mr. Storaro demanded for the high-definition transfer found on the Criterion and Optimum Blu-ray releases.
4. Finally, you are correct, Blu-ray does not suffer from PAL speed-up - for the simple reason that Blu-ray is HIGH-DEFINITION while PAL is STANDARD-DEFINITION. However, please remember that not everything that is placed on a Blu-ray disc is in high-definition. More often than not, especially with independent British distributors, such as Optimum, the supplemental features are in standard-def -- PAL. This is why I specifically note in my reviews whether the supplemental features are in NTSC (480/60i), PAL (578i), 720p, 1080i, 1080/50i, or 1080p.
A+E Networks Home Entertainment | 1995 | 323 min | Not rated | Region free
| Apr 14, 2009
The timeless themes of love and marriage in Jane Austen's superb romantic comedy 'Pride
and Prejudice' have captured readers for generations; the novel has sold more than 20
million copies and has never been out of print. Now...
1. The image inconsistencies some of the members have noted above are indeed natural, and film grain, in particular, varies from frame to frame for a good reason - in film, no two frames are alike.
2. The point of restoring an audio or video file is to ensure that it reflects as best as possible the technical integrity of the original source. With other words, it is simply illogical to speculate, or expect, that with old(er) films "the quality will be comparable with other high-quality films."
During a fierce sword battle in the 1500s, Connor MacLeod, a simple Scotsman known as a poor
fighter, is mortally wounded -- but he does not die. MacLeod learns from the mysterious
Ramírez that he is of a race of immortals....
A quick note - we are very happy to see that the grain has been kept intact. This is how all films should be treated - leave the noise filtering out!!!
Hate
Studio Canal | 1995 | 98 min | Not rated | Region free
| Sep 23, 2008
The story, unfolding over a 24-hour period, centers on Vinz, Said and Hubert--very close
friends from very different backgrounds. Vinz is Jewish. Said, an Arab. Hubert is Black. They
are three disenfranchised youths trying to...
I just read your comments above and wanted to point out a few things:
1. The strength of Blu-ray isn't in its ability to produce "sharp" images. It is in its ability to truthfully replicate film data in a manner no other medium has been capable of. The type of standardized digital look you believe Blu-ray should deliver is more in line with digital photography. Not film!
2. Expecting to see the same type of detail, sharpness, clarity, etc from La Haine as seen on Iron Man/Transformes, I am sorry to say it, implies a complete lack of knowledge on your behalf as to how Mr. Kassovitz's shot his film. I believe it also reveals lack of basic knowledge pertaining to film stock, film composition, etc.
3. Yes, the Blu-ray release by Studio Canal is a solid improvement over the Optimum release (and the Criterion release for that matter). Blown through a digital projector the image reveals a level of consistency which neither of the two versions mentioned above have shown.
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