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Originally Posted by Steel76  Yeah, it was shot on 35 mm, so the lack of both filmgrain and fine-details, plus the smudgy softness, is a clear sign of heavy DNR. |
I know what DNR is, but unless one actually knows how the film was originally supposed to look I don't think it's as easy as making sweeping statements like that. I've had people telling me that it didn't look particularly grainy (or good) theatrically, but since I never saw it...
It doesn't have the same kind of look as some other titles that suffer from 'heavy' DNR either (*cough* Predator*), which is why I was interested in the source. I'm not saying it wasn't filtered, because I just can't tell for sure, but if it was one assumes that it was Toei who did it because they don't have the best reputation. However, I'm more concerned by the claims that it's an upscale. Unfortunately just because it was supplied on an HD CAM SR it doesn't necessarily mean it's actually an HD master. Optimum's release of Escape from New York came on the same format, and that's widely accepted to be one of the worst transfers on the format (and a probable upscale).
The problem when relying on third-party materials is that you have no real control over their quality. I would hope that Arrow didn't ask the restoration company to do any additional filtering though.
Me, well I'm happy enough that it looks considerably better than the DVD, even if it could be better.