Blu-ray Releases for February 19, 2013

[Dukefrukem]

Notes:

Terminator REMASTERED!
Holy shit On the Waterfront Criteron
Monster Squad!




3D Crap
No Releases

TV
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Regular Release/Re-Release
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Collections
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Animated
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Music
No releases



Criterion
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[Henry Gale]

Definitely going to pick up Game of Thrones at some point. That new Monster Squad, even if it has a much better cover than the Lionsgate release, is apparently bare bones and boasts a weaker transfer. So I might just spring for that former release if it's reasonably priced. Otherwise, only Anna Karenina and Sinister really interest me from what I haven't seen.

But most importantly, we get Holy Motors in Canada this week!

[Skitch]

Is the Terminator rerelease better? Glad I haven't bought the blu yet.

Edit: Dur, didn't see your text at top.

[number8]

By the way, something cool about that On the Waterfront Criterion. The DVD/Blu contains three versions of the film, in 1:66, 1:33 and 1:85. Choose your favorite aspect ratio!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded& v=s7-aMi4Rr-4

[Dukefrukem]

By the way, something cool about that On the Waterfront Criterion. The DVD/Blu contains three versions of the film, in 1:66, 1:33 and 1:85. Choose your favorite aspect ratio!


buying now!

[Henry Gale]

Is the Terminator rerelease better? Glad I haven't bought the blu yet.

Edit: Dur, didn't see your text at top.

Just because something is billed as "remastered" these days, I'm always weary of what exactly they did to it. Especially with old Schwarzenegger transfers for some reason. For instance, the original Predator Blu looked fine, then they re-released and it looked horrible. The Total Recall remaster is a bit of a mixed bag too, bordering on really strong, but not quite.

But it really does seem like this new Terminator is a vast improvement. I have the original MGM one, and it's good enough that I don't think I'll double dip. The one thing about the new release is that I'm not too keen on from the screencaps is, like a lot of recent remasters, it adds a layer of more modernized blue and orange revisionist colour-timing to the image. I like my '80s movies to look candy-coloured, dammit!

[Dukefrukem]

The one thing I'm not too keen on about the new release is, like a lot of recent remasters, it adds a layer of more modernized blue and orange revisionist colour-timing to the image. I like my '80s movies to look candy-coloured, dammit!

Do you have any examples of this? THis concerns me.

[Henry Gale]

These are the best examples I can find. (Keep in mind, the new US remaster uses the same transfer as the most recent UK release, which is why the second pictures are labeled as such.)

2006 release:
http://img37.imageshack.us/img37/6913/01717e.png

Remaster:
http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/7536/01717f.png

http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/2007/05939e.png

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/3857/05939f.png

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http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/3571/14202e.png

http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/1836/14202f.png

So as much as the source quality in terms of detail is improved, everything seems to given a teal bath that dilutes a lot of the colour range. Mind you, Cameron has always had that sort of look in his later films, so it's entirely possible that this was always his intention for the look. But it reminds me of Ridley Scott revising the Blade Runner Final Cut to go through a similar colour-timing make-over while the Theatrical and Director's cuts remained as they'd always looked.

They are "better" transfers, just very different ones.

[Dukefrukem]

Wow thanks. Yeh I see what you mean about the 80s look. Look at that last shot of Sarah!

[Skitch]

I get what your saying, but that Predator rerelease is pristine. I love how clean it looks. Looks brand new.

[Henry Gale]

I get what your saying, but that Predator rerelease is pristine. I love how clean it looks. Looks brand new.

I.. just cannot agree.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_CpWdX0vhroA/TBoiCIArJkI/AAAAAAAACTQ/s1RMAqcgDPk/s1600/Predator+Blu-ray+Comparison.jpg

It looks like someone rubbed vaseline on everything. It's okay for older things to look that way.

[Rowland]

Yeah, that remastering of Predator was ugly, it strips so much texture out of the film. I'm sticking with my copy of the first blu-ray release, which may not be remastered, but at least it isn't revisionist, and it still looks significantly superior to the dvd.

[Dukefrukem]

I'm torn on those Predator shots. I understand where Henry is coming from, but it looks like you're watching Predator through a screen door on the first release.

[Rowland]

I'm torn on those Predator shots. I understand where Henry is coming from, but it looks like you're watching Predator through a screen door on the first release.Too many Blu-ray fans have this notion that all older films should look like pristine new releases, stripped of their grain and with boosted contrasts, which is what often pressures studios into using techniques like DNR that plasticize the image. Predator could certainly look better, but I'd prefer a remastering that stays true to the texture of the original film, instead of filtering it into oblivion to suit modern tastes. Just compare the DVD and original BR transfers here (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews36/predator_blu-ray.htm), I think the boost in resolution looks fabulous without turning the actors into wax figures.

[Skitch]

I don't think they look waxy at all. Its how 80s Arnold looks without film grain. I know, everyone disagrees. It really is preference. If you like it that way, to each his own, but I think the Ultimate transfer is one of the best remasterings I've ever seen. Hell, before watching that one, I was pretty steadfast about not buying any blus of movies before the year 2000, because there wasn't much point (as far as visuals). Some clarity, sure, but not enough to merit upgrading my whole collection.

[Henry Gale]

But muting all of the grain make it a disingenuous presentation. Grain is a natural component to the detail of film, especially for that time period. Glossing over that gives a strange approximation of what's supposed to be there. It just looks like a high definition version of a VHS to me. The only reason I understand it being considered a more "modern" look is due to that sort of DNR, edge enhancement-laced video has become a more common practice with home video releases, and so much is generally filmed digitally nowadays, largely forgoing that typical (somewhat shunned) film look.

[Skitch]

I get what you're saying, I just don't feel like its as big a big a violation as say, coloring a black and white film. How do you feel about soundtracks being changed from original mono, stereo, and Dolby surround to Dolby 5.1 or more? Does it make it disengenous to add surround when it didn't exist when the film was made?

[Henry Gale]

I just think that we're at a point now with Blu-ray that we have a format that comes much closer to showing us films the way they're meant to look than ever before, and there's almost an invented stigma to that un-meddled image. Opinion is one thing, it just worries me when the people in charge of deciding how these transfers are handled aren't doing the best job they can with what should be a true representation of source quality instead of trying to turn it into something cleaner and pumped with more contrast.

Audio is a whole other thing, mainly because I don't consider it as often since I usually only hear things out of two speakers at home anyway. I mainly just hope that the source quality is strong and that they've mixed everything the best way to at least hear through any circumstance. If they're overloading the bass and inventing layers in old movies to please surround-sound-all-the-time crowd, then obviously that's a more problematic idea.