Deep Red - The Reviews

[The Limey]

Originally Posted by springjack

I started to dislike that guy some months ago...

For a so called "Argento Expert" he is a real dick.

Could you believe it said this about Arrow´s Inferno:

"The first ever BD release of INFERNO could have been something really special in the looks department. Instead, it's basically a case of "It'll do until something better comes along."

I too strongly disagree with Michael's earlier review of Arrow's release of Inferno. In all fairness to him on this occasion, his review of Deep Red is somewhat more balanced and he does concede the point that it is unclear how much better the image quality could actually look.

[norliss]

Originally Posted by springjack

I started to dislike that guy some months ago...

For a so called "Argento Expert" he is a real dick.

Where does he ever proclaim to be an "Argento Expert" and what would that have to do with below...?

Originally Posted by springjack

Could you believe it said this about Arrow´s Inferno:

"The first ever BD release of INFERNO could have been something really special in the looks department. Instead, it's basically a case of "It'll do until something better comes along."

The image quality of Inferno could have been a lot better and on this I and many others agree. I guess that makes all of us "Argento Experts" dicks too...

[bdc]

Originally Posted by doolahrock

I agree with your initial post on the DR Blu. I felt pretty underwhelmed as well to be honest and totally share you thoughts regarding Suspiria as a comparison. I watch my discs on a 720p projector and, yes, I know it's a 1080p transfer but as Sargento says there really isn't a huge difference between this disc and the up res Anchor Bay DVD....which isn't even PAL.

There is a serious difference looking at sharpness/details.
Check for yourself here.
The WMV HD edition uses the same master (though compressed) as the bd.
Land of Whimsy

[Stephen@Cult Labs]

Originally Posted by springjack

I started to dislike that guy some months ago...

For a so called "Argento Expert" he is a real dick.

Could you believe it said this about Arrow´s Inferno:

"The first ever BD release of INFERNO could have been something really special in the looks department. Instead, it's basically a case of "It'll do until something better comes along."

Just because Mr Mackenzie doesn't like something, doesn't make him a dick. The man is entitled to his opinion. And everyone, please refrain from name calling here please. I'm sure none of you would appreciate looking on a site and seeing people calling you a dick.

[Gojirosan]

My views on the BD release:

It looks fantastic! Maybe some were expecting a miraculous overhaul of the film to a perfect, seamless piece that looked as if it was made last year, but that was never going to happen. It looks better than the Blue Underground DVD (which was impressive enough to begin with) and is the best I have ever seen the film look.

Yes, there is a frame wobble whenever it changes from English to Italian, yes there's the occasional bit of grain and artifacting, but these are tiny and I feel people are watching for such flaws because it's Blu-ray instead of watching the film. I remember a similar thing when CD came in, people would listen to the lack of background hiss and silence between tracks instead of the music!

Maybe it could be better - I don't know. I know Blu-ray, but I do not know the source materials. But I am thinking a lot of excellent work went into this release and into getting the best from what could be found. It looks spectacular and is excellent...it just doesn't look like a major studio release of a more modern film.

The only thing that niggles with me is the Italian 5.1 soundtrack in which the voices have a disconnected slapback echo no matter what setting I use on my player. This renders the film unwatchable with this soundtrack option - even though many have proclaimed that this is the preferable option interms iof dynamics and frequency range. I do think that the English and Italian 2.0 options are more than adequate, however, so all is not lost.

Yet in all the reviews I have read only one has mentioned this echo issue and seemed accepting of it! To me it's a serious flaw!

Audio aside, it's a superb release and if you are an extras junkie then you ought to be even more impressed by the release than I am!

[doolahrock]

Originally Posted by bdc

There is a serious difference looking at sharpness/details.
Check for yourself here.
The WMV HD edition uses the same master (though compressed) as the bd.

I accept that those stills will show a huge difference. The US one is 720x480 and the WMV version is 1440x816. More interestingly, the higher res Danish and Italian ones seem noticeably less sharp than the lower res US one.

My point is that the US DVD upscaled isn't as far behind the Blu as I would have imagined it to be. Take upscaling out of the equation and of course there will be a huge difference.

[bdc]

Oh,I see what you mean now.

[doolahrock]

Originally Posted by bdc

Oh,I see what you mean now.

Just been reading more on the link you posted. Can't believe those other two versions are just NTSC to PAL conversions of the Anchor Bay disc

[Mbarr]

I said earlier that I thought it looked great (for the best part) it does have some problems & as someone said elsewhere it's an upgrade to what's been available before...for Arrow to do a brand new HD scan from a negative would be hugely expensive (would they re-coup those costs? very unlikely)...what I can't get my head around is all these bedroom technicians analyzing every frame picking it apart going on about encodes, sharpening, 3 pass filtering, color correction (if you know that much why aren't you working in the business wowing us all with your "expertise"?) just watch the film instead of picking it to pieces...you might enjoy it like the rest of us!

[Nosferatu@Cult Labs]

It is a strong possibility that some people are underwhelmed by this simply because the Anchor Bay DVD picture was so good and the source material was unlike other films such as 2001: A Space Odyssey (with a 70mm print) so the leap from DVD to Blu-ray is noticeable, and an improvement, just not the huge leap that some expecting.