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Here Is One Joe's Opinion

129.44.160.254

Posted by Robertc88 on October 23, 2007 at 13:10:36

In Reply to: So we should wait for the special deluxe ultra edition ? posted by oscar on October 23, 2007 at 10:05:04:

Watched via PS3 hooked up to a 65'' Panny Plasma, ISF callibrated and 1:1 pixel mapping active, sound via HDMI through a Denon.

2001 - A great transfer that leaves all previews versions absolutely in the dust. The Dawn of Man sequence is so detailed that the front projection does become very obvious, as opposed to vaguely visible. The colors in those early shots are absolutely stunning.
In general color rendition and especially grey levels in the light bleeding into space in many pans across earth, the space station etc. are brilliant and finally without banding or horribly false colors as on the DVDs.
One note, the documentary has been slightly cut down from the version features on YouTube and is a bit more fluffy. Then again, I am thrilled to finally see the full doc from 1966 that has been featured in excerpts on the Criterion and other editions. The audio interview with Kubrick is also a treat.

Sound is PCM and very clean for a movie of that age. It is the 5.1 remix done for the last remaster.

A true must-have.

Shining - yay! My second-most favorite transfer of the batch with much better colors and contrast than the previous DVD, losing the faded-70s touch and bringing out a lot of detail, while having much better black levels. Not on par with a modern film in terms of detail but more than I exspected. Surprisingly little grain, although it is there. My bet would be that it was reduced somewhat digitally, but nothing offensive IMHO. The film seems to flutter/jitter a tad in several static scenes, most notably Grady/Jack in the bathroom. It is very slight but annoying, some digital stabilization would have been nice. Nothing major to write home about, though.

Sound is the known 5.1 remaster in PCM which is very true to the original and a great mix. Purists will miss the mono. As for composition, I first pointed out the often quoted page in the Kubrick archives a few years back on Home Theater Forum, so I firmly am on the side of the Theatrical Composition. It is full 16x9, though, so not really 1.85:1, but it does work great. The 1.33 made actors so small in the frame that oftentimes the performances were too overwhelmed by the space, the theatrical framing has a better balance in that regard.

I haven't watched the docs yet. The inclusion of the European cut would have been nice since Kubrick did it himself and released it. Ah, well, ultimate edition here we come.

FMJ - Yes, it is remastered, with much better colors, reduced but still quite visible grain, and more detail. Contrast, grayscale and black level are the most considerable improvements over the old edition, not the detail as much. Very, very watchable now and, at least for me, well worth the double-dip. Aspect ratio is full 16x9 and works much better than the 1:33, but we had 16x9 already on the last HD release.

Clockwork - it's the original theatrical ratio at 1:66:1 with black side bars and in terms of colors, grayscale, and black level another vast improvement over the last DVD. Detail... it is the fuzziest of the new disks, but it seems to be the original film as opposed to a shoddy transfer. There are very detailed moments in there, but most of the film seems to be just a tad out-of-focus. My theory as to why comes down to Kubrick's obsession from Clockwork onwards to work with practical lights and that, in clockwork, combined with the extreme wide-angle lenses which make focus and depth of field a nightmare, probably lead to the many slightly fuzzy scenes. When you explore for yourself, please note the lens on the shots. The wider they are, the fuzzier they seem.
I am slightly bummed about this, since it might indicate that the eventual Barry Lyndon transfer will have much of the same issues in the interior scenes. But again, it's likely the movie, not the mastering. Grain is present, but on a level that doesn't bother and seems similar to what I remember from my many theatrical viewings.

My biggest gripe about clockwork is an apparent compression or mastering artefact at the very top lines of the screen (so you need 1:1 mapping without overscan to see it). It seems as if the first few lines are constantly slightly blurry. The problem looks digital to me, maybe somebody else can chime in.

Sound is the 5.1 remix from the DVD presented in PCM. It's a great remix for a movie of it's time and presents especially the score the way it really should be heard. Beethoven in Mono is painful.

Eyes Wide Shut - Unless I made a mistake searching, there seems to be only the unrated original cut on there, not the digitally altered US version. If indeed true, let that one rest in peace and never bring it back. Eyes Wide Shut is the most tricky one in look, because even in cinemas the movie was extremely grainy and used unusual exposures and stock. The HD transfer is not as grainy as the release prints and detail is OK, but not great. It is quite grainy in some dark shots and you see a veil of grain slightly over brighter ones. Having said that, I think the atmosphere of the movie is preserved quite nicely. The framing works much better because this movie needs the close-ups of people for their emotions. The 1:33 transfer really worked against that IMHO. Black levels and colors are adjusted slightly but have less of an improvement than the other movies, no doubt due to the more recent creation date.

So closing words here - as a Kubrick addict the disks all are absolutely worth it and a dream come true for fans. Vast improvements over the DVDs. In terms of demo material, certainly 2001 qualifies. It is still beyond me why Barry Lyndon wasn't included, so please Warner, hurry up and do it!


bruno2000

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