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I got Gladiator on BD today.

We just saw Harry Potter The Half Blood Prince at I-Max in 3D with Butt-Kickers in every seat. I must say, the sound was extremely impressive. I look forward to the BD, probably Xmas time.

I heard the PQ was poor - is that really the case?


I watched In Bruges recently. If you like very black comedies, it's a must see.

Cliff

I watched ' Gladiator ' last night on a 46" Samsung Lcd and didn't find it to be very substandard . Highdefdigest.com have reviewed it favourably and unless you're watching it on a very large screen, which may show up the flaws up more clearly , I dont think the opening battle scenes ( which are , allegedly THE most flawed ) are really that poor .


Sound was fabulously detailed . And a great , varied and interesting bunch of extras .


In Bruges was very 'kookie' indeed .


~M~

Hi Manus
Hope you're well

Did you notice much of a difference between the Cinema Release material and the "Extra" scenes which have been threaded into the "Directors Cut" option on the Bluray release.

Allegedly, the Cinema release material (150+ minutes and the majority of the film) was from a very old master made for eventual 1080i HD Broadcast in about 2002, whilst the Extra material (about 25 minutes) was only recently mastered

Allegedly, there is a marked difference between the new and old mastered material. What did you think??

Cheers
Ronnie

Hi Ronnie ,

To be honest , some of the material was distracting in its own right not really for picture quality related reasons .

Its clear from Ridley Scott's introduction that the ' Director's Cut ' is the theatrical version which is selectable independently on this disc .


Personally , I find this film enthralling any time I put it on and didn't really find anything particularly objectionable about the presentation though I have seen some screen caps which I still think are appalling in that they got through 'Quality Control '

Samples here :

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleic...age=11&vergleich=gladiator#vergleich

The most disgraceful thing is how the ' Academy' could overlook Sir Ridley for Best Director !!!!

~M~

P.S. Terrific documentary from Charlie de Lauzrika which runs longer than the film and is right up there with the LotR documentaries for attention to detail.

I thought it was great - shows you don't need an enormous budget to produce a good film.

I might reconsider Gladiator as it looks like the negative reviews have been overcooked.

Cliff

[/quote]

I thought it was great - shows you don't need an enormous budget to produce a good film.

I might reconsider Gladiator as it looks like the negative reviews have been overcooked.

Cliff [/quote]

I believe the old line that all you need for a good movie are 3 things , Story , Story , and Story !!!!

One of my favourite directors is John Sayles whose independent low budget films can be quite brilliant ( eg. Limbo , Passion Fish )

I also like Brendan Gleeson a lot . He has great presence . An early Irish low-budget ' comedy' he appeared in called ' I Went Down ' is uneven but occasionally brilliant featuring classic scenes like :



The crime boss is admonishing Git for bottling his henceman and says...

"Look at his face. He'll be lucky if an arab lets him finger his dog's arse for a fiver".





Another ' Gladiator' review

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare7/gladiator.htm


~M~

I'm still trying to find the time to see the Gladiator BD but, having read all the reviews etc. I am puzzled by one aspect of our hobby.

All the vitriol poured on this disc by some of the reviewers seems stupid given that we are really talking about mild disappointment with a disc costing �15. Most reviewers seem to have spent "a lot" on their systems and yet they moan about possibly having to find another �15 in a few years time if Paramount decide to re-release a better version.

I wonder what they are like if they buy a BMW and decide that it isn't quite as good as they thought?

As posted above, I too watch films for enjoyment. Ultimate quality is just a bonus. I'd rather see Indiana Jones in SD than Sahara in BD.

Well, I've watched the extended cut and...

- I don't think the extra scenes actually add anything to the film. Ridley Scott almost says this in his brief introduction.
- The PQ is pretty good. I really can't see what all the screaming is about. It's better than the SD DVD and you don't notice all the alleged problems. (Note: I do not watch with a magnifying glass 2 inches from the screen or frame-by-frame)
- The big improvement is the soundtrack. This is much better than the SD DVD version, particularly the music presentation.

So, not nearly as problematical as has been suggested. �15 well spent - yes.

Having now seen Gladiator on Bluray, I feel that it is necessary to call out the Studios on the poor quality of this release.

Edge Enhancement and Digital Noise Reduction are everywhere to be seen on the Theatrical Release movie sections (which come from a 2001 master) and they are nowhere to be seen on the Extended Cut scenes, which come from a different 2005 master.

Is it better than any previous DVD release?? Of course it is. But is that the only criteria by which we should judge a Milestone release such as this?? Not IMHO. Every Bluray release should take FULL advantage of the medium, resolution and bit-rates that are offered, and not just meet some minimum criteria. If we want all future Bluray releases to fully exploit the potential of Bluray, then the Studios should be called out and exposed. It's quite obvious that they were just trying to save a buck and they should just have prepared another master, using the Tools available in 2009.

It should be remembered that this release is part of the so-called Sapphire Series, allegedly offering the best in AV Quality. It patently fails in this regard. Braveheart also forms part of this new series and a comparison of the two readily shows up how much they got right with the Braveheart release and how they got it wrong with Gladiator.

It should also be noted that the EE and DNR issues (amongst others) with Gladiator are EASILY seen on a 50" Plasma and even more easily seen on a Projection Screen. No slow motion or frame by frame advance is required. A simple normal speed Play is all that's required

Allowing the Movie Studios to get away with Sub-Standard Quality Releases doesn't do any of us any good, especially when the movie is a "seminal" release like this one. It will merely encourage them to continue to try and skimp in the future with other releases. Raising our collective voices will make it clear that we cannot be treated like sheep and fed the lowest common denominator.

Pans Labyrinth was directed by Guillermo del Toro.
But you are right that it is a great film.