Tenebrae – Technically Speaking

[Nemesis]

Originally Posted by Pete

No, Enough is enough with you tech nerds dumping on every single little thing.

I've been nothing but satisfied with what I've seen from Blue Underground and, despite one or two **** ups, everything Arrow have done too. I've even seen people complain about the Severin BD of SANTA SANGRE and the Eureka release of SHOGUN ASSASSIN. WTF? Compare them to the older dvd's and they are 1000 times better. If Kentai and his buds are so bothered about these things I suggest they come out from behind their computer screen, pony up the often obscene license fee's for these films and then fork out the serious dough it costs to do a HD restoration for films which, compared to all the latest hollywood guff, have a very limited market appeal. We are lucky people are even bothering to put out these things on out blu.

Goodness what happened to days of when people bought a film to ENJOY?

Hear, hear

But if your satisfied with a transfer that has artificial grain over a DNR:ed image instead of an untampered transfer with all the finedetails and REAL grain intact, then fine, just don´t expect people that REALLY know how much better it could look, if they didn´t filter the image, to just bend over to the companies and hand over the money for a lackluster transfer.

Arrow really needs to take a good look at the materials they are handed BEFORE they deside to release it. It´s obvious there are better transfers out there.

Pete raises a valid point which Kentai & Co seem to miss - it's very easy to say that all transfers should look like Wild Side Tenebrae, but it costs thousands to do a fresh scan and the sales would simply not be there to cover it. If any company were to do new scans on their releases, they'd probably be out of business after three or four releases. Remember these films unfortunately will not have the sort of appeal of popular new releases such as Harry Potter, Avatar or Pirates of the Carribean.

Apparently Wild Side was supposed to be releasing Cat and Phenomena on blu as well - I suspect that the transfer of Tenebrae cost so much that there is no way they could recoup the cost needed to break even on that title, thereby abandoning the proposed blus.

Don't forget also that Wild Side's Tenebrae has a big flaw - enforced subs. That might not be as big a bugbear for some as PQ, but it will be for others.

[Pete]

Yeah but you're saying that based on screen grabs - I don't judge a disc until I have seen it for myself and and, so far, I haven't had a problem. The BU edition of DJANGO is superb and I doubt the film could look any better. The fact that people are more concerned with trying to figure out whether the grain is fake is just sad.

I read people giving Synapse stick for their transfer of THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD. What the **** did people expect from a film that was basically a student project and treated like shit for almost 30 years? It's a miracle Synapse even considered putting it out on blu-ray.

In regards to Arrow (and I would think this applies to many other companies too) - most of the time they don't know what they are getting until they have paid for the license. It's not like they paid Storaro to **** around with ratio for BIRD and I think they could be forgiven for expecting to be given a proper 2.35:1 version of the movie - after all it had been out in various editions for years under it's proper ratio.

It's getting tiresome reading self appointed experts moaning about every ****ing blu-ray release. There are much, much more important things to worry about.


Ok rant over, sorry for the language. It's nice that people are passionate but I think some should step back and just enjoy the films. After all aren't they supposed to be for enjoyment?

[ecc]

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this but I noticed a sync issue while double checking the disc for those shots missing from the older master due to print damage.

When Peter asks Ann to stay for a drink, she mouths "one" but her voice is not heard until she has set her books down on the sideboard.

[Steel76]

Originally Posted by Pete

I read people giving Synapse stick for their transfer of THE DORM THAT DRIPPED BLOOD. What the **** did people expect from a film that was basically a student project and treated like shit for almost 30 years? It's a miracle Synapse even considered putting it out on blu-ray.

Yeah, Dorm looks amazing for a 16mm film gone through hell and back, but at least we got a natural grainstructure on that one.

Well, enough of rants from me too, this could just go on forever otherwise, since we don´t agree on this thing

Cheers!

[Pete]

Originally Posted by Steel76

Yeah, Dorm looks amazing for a 16mm film gone through hell and back, but at least we got a natural grainstructure on that one.

Well, enough of rants from me too, this could just go on forever otherwise, since we don´t agree on this thing

Cheers!

Ok no worries - sorry for the language btw .

But I imagine I'll get dragged into an argument with someone else over it.

[Paul@TheOverlook]

Originally Posted by Pete

Yeah but you're saying that based on screen grabs - I don't judge a disc until I have seen it for myself and and, so far, I haven't had a problem.

I agree - I still have this on pre-order and am really looking forward to seeing it again. As an aside, I watched my PHENOMENA Blu-ray last week - that was another release that seemed to stir some negative sentiments but I was really pleased with the PQ - thought it looked marvellous, actually. Especially given just how s*** the film has looked on every other release I've had.

[Steel76]

Originally Posted by Pete

sorry for the language btw .

Harsh language is needed sometimes

I know I can come off as a prick at times, even though I don´t mean too.
And I might be a bit TOO passionate about this hobby, when it comes to my favorite movies

I sometimes forget that Arrow really don´t have the same budget to work with as other bigger companies.

[Baseball Fury]

Saw this earlier and it reminded me of the whole debate around DNR and the modern day internet warrior approach to even the slightest flaw. everybody forgets their watching a piece of entertainment, not a tech demo. anyway, over to this man...

Do we need to learn to listen to music? The answer, for anyone in possession of a reasonably efficient set of ears, is no. Turning the appreciation of any art form into an academic exercise, as the people posing such questions are prone to do, is a sure-fire way to remove any pleasure that might be derived from hearing it in the first place.
The assumption seems to be that if we understand more about the recording process, and are able to identify precisely what’s going on, it’ll somehow open up whole new levels of appreciation. This is errant nonsense, of course – it’s the equivalent of marching into a restaurant and demanding that the chef supply a recipe card to go along with each dish, thus removing the surprise, the mystery, and any kind of magic. Worse, by concentrating on such minutiae you’re in danger of forgetting what it was that drew you to the music you love in the first place. In my youth I knew someone, who, after a typically forensic examination of a new Yngwie Malmsteen album, triumphantly announced that the histrionic Swede was using a heavier gauge of string than previously. When I asked him whether he actually liked the record, he looked at me as if it had never even crossed his mind to form an opinion.
It’s tempting to see this as an extreme example of audiomania, but it’s still true that those most concerned with “learning to listen” are often the ones creating the most sterile environments in which to do so. Sure, you can precision-engineer your hi-fi so that every note is crystal clear, every nuance apparent, and study the music so hard you can accurately produce a blueprint of the room in which it was recorded, but you know what? You’re not having much fun. Really, you’re not.
Prior to writing this piece I spent a couple of hours reading various online forums frequented by audiophiles, and was disheartened – but not altogether surprised – to discover that music is something that’s barely talked out. People casually refer to “auditioning speakers” or “listening to some [insert name of manufacturer here]”, as if the name on the cabinet matters more than that on the disc. You’ll never hear anyone say that they just listened a Stevie Wonder track that made their heart leap, or a Flying Burrito Brothers record that made them cry, or a Pixies track that inspired them to leap around the room like a freshly-shorn goat, bashing into the furniture and knocking over plants. And that’s a real tragedy, because those reactions are what music is really about: its ability to stir the soul and move the feet.
People don’t need to learn how to listen: they need to learn how to relax.

[Demdike@Cult Labs]

I must be really dumb!

All the grabs on Kentai's site looked great to me (except for Django, i could barely see it for grain).

The people who complain about things like this make me envious, they obviously watched the first master tapes to know exactly how films from 30/40 years ago should look and sound.

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

Great post, Baseball Fury. It's a terrific analogy and I would seriously doubt if those who do a frame-by-frame analysis derive from any enjoyment from the experience.

When I watch a DVD or BD for review, I go by overall impression and, if any glaring error catches my eye, I make a note of it. Otherwise, if it looks good, I'll say so, just as I will if it looks bad without going into too much jargon about interlacing, DNR, edge enhancement or anything else that I would personally find boring to read. I tried to make writing a review pleasurable, not a chore, and would like to think they read that way.