THE GENERAL on Blu-ray. DVD Talk Review
StormChaser
Derek Gee
"StormChaser" <ring...@surfglobal.net> wrote in message
news:41530e1f-9cfe-4e47...@m13g2000vbf.googlegroups.com...
> http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/39462/general-the/
Another review, with comparison screen captures...
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare5/thegeneral.htm
D
El Klauso
StormChaser
wrote:
> "StormChaser" <ringpr...@surfglobal.net> wrote in message
It is amazing how much detail in the source material
has been masked by an analog haze in past transfers.
I can see the embroidered lettering on the pillow on the couch.
When Keaton runs after The General, the shrubbery on both
sides of the track comes alive with detail.
One shot reveals Marion Mack as having bosoms.
Raymond Rohauer has his (justified) detractors,
but his preservation of Buster Keaton's films
has to tip the scales in his favor somewhat.
Titles with surviving negatives should look stunning
on Blu-ray.
THE BIG PARADE and THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS
come to mind.
William Hooper
> It is amazing how much detail in the source material
> has been masked by an analog haze in past transfers.
I think if you'll look again, you'll notice that much of the "detail"
is not in the source material.
It was not "masked in analog haze".
That is not what individual frames of action look like on movie
film.
Even with the least movement, there's blurring.
Everything you see on those captures is sharp, sharp, sharp - it has
been sharpened digitally.
Frames of action look like the stark frames of action in animated
cartoons.
This image processing leads to an image that is not photographic, it
is simplified, like
pictures in comic books.
This is an appearance many average viewers like, so good for Kino and
good luck to them.
One of the things lost is conveyance of soft edges, like on spheres.
The process is better now and doesn't completely homogenize
visual information outside the original lens' depth of field, but you
can see how it simplifies silhouettes in that region. There is a
severe miniaturization impression that occurs when objects move
straight back. Like I said, I think most viewers want these
simplified
images now. I do not think they're very attractive.
Derek Gee
news:868f2822-03b5-4037...@l2g2000yqd.googlegroups.com...
I think you're seriously mistaken. The previous DVD's were made from
similar source materials (older prints), and telecined on who knows what.
The results vary quite a bit, depending on who did the transfer.
The new Blu-ray is a transfer from a new print made from the original
negative, and hasn't been subjected to a lot of processing. Damage has been
cleaned up, and contrast has been increased to the correct levels, but it
has film grain, and doesn't suffer from the edge haloing commonly seen on
over-sharpened material. You're also seeing it a resolution closer to film,
instead of standard def. If you don't like it, don't buy it. There are
still plenty of copies left of the standard DVD's (both new and used).
Derek