The Dario Argento Thread - Page 53

SymbioticFunction · #**521** 14th May 2024, 08:43 AM

Just bought a hd digital copy of the Dario Argento Panico documentary from UK Amazon Prime (got fed up waiting for a physical release). Annoyingly there's two sets of subtitles. The print has large white subtitles for the non-English voices with an imposed additional set of generated subtitles. There's no way to turn off the additional set of subtitles (I tried everything), they're always there. It's seriously irritating. Best I could do was make them really small and black. Thought I'd warn anyone considering a purchase. Why they thought you would need additional subtitling when there's already large white subtitles on this UK streaming version is a complete mystery.

Justin101 · #**522** 14th May 2024, 11:45 AM

I watched this last month and would have appreciated some hard-coded subtitles as the ones on the film started to go out of sync after about 20 minutes and were really bad by the end I kept having to adjust the offset, it ended up being 9-10 seconds out of sync.

It was an OK doc, I?ve seen better though.

SymbioticFunction · #**523** 14th May 2024, 01:23 PM

Choosing tiny black letters for this streaming version managed to make it watchable. Was still irritating though, it's super distracting to have an on-screen double set of subtitles. I liked Panico, thought it was a huge improvement over the same director's Fulci For Fake (which I turned off after 25 mins).

It was nice to see an appearance from Christina Marsillach (who even refused to be interviewed for Alan Jones' book). Also I appreciated that Dario's sister and ex-wife were in it, two people that I had never seen being interviewed before. I would buy an English friendly blu-ray, which will probably be announced next week since I just bought this!

SymbioticFunction · #**524** 28th August 2024, 03:14 PM

Ordered the Extralucid (French) blu-rays of Sleepless and Stendhal Syndrome by Argento. The price was an offer I couldn't refuse - eleven pounds each plus three pounds shipping charged by French Amazon.

Their Card Player bd had hugely improved PQ and hopefully it should be the same for these two as well (Extralucid previously stated that their 3 vintage Argento titles were from new scans of the camera negatives). Will frankenstein new discs into current sets. Due for delivery on Saturday.

I've already read that Sleepless is English 2.0 only (like it was on The Card Player) so hopefully it still sounds pretty good in dolby surround. Stendhal I know little about but you would probably expect another stereo English track (with around two minutes in Italian). Once I've checked them out, I'll share my thoughts. Card Player was a sizeable upgrade so I'm reasonably optimistic.

Justin101 · #**525** 28th August 2024, 04:11 PM

I have the Scorpion Releasing version of Sleepless which I thought was really good, the German copy of The Card Player is a little bit naff but better than the DVD. Interested about your thoughts on these releases though, especially about the subs, French companies tend to have the forced subs if you chose the English soundtrack.

SymbioticFunction · #**526** 28th August 2024, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Justin101

I have the Scorpion Releasing version of Sleepless which I thought was really good, the German copy of The Card Player is a little bit naff but better than the DVD. Interested about your thoughts on these releases though, especially about the subs, French companies tend to have the forced subs if you chose the English soundtrack.

Yeah, French releases are scary. Luckily the French subs were optional and not forced on my blu-ray of Extralucid's Card Player and according to dvdcomparedotnet, they're also optional on Sleepless. Absolutely no idea about Stendhal. Especially considering that two very short segments won't be in English (assuming that they used the slightly longer Italian cut). Hopefully it all turns out well.

Justin101 · #**527** 29th August 2024, 06:37 AM

I?m not a fan of Stendhal so I won?t ever be replacing my Arrow dvd. I watched it earlier this year to see if my memory was correct and it was a very long two hours lol.

SymbioticFunction · #**528** 29th August 2024, 09:42 AM

I find Stendhal Syndrome very interesting because the film is pretty much told from a killer's perspective. It's as if The Bird With The Crystal Plumage was being remade (as a sexual assault was also the trigger for that film's villain), only this time, you're actually very sympathetic towards the killer and can better understand where they're coming from. Much as I can still enjoy the prior Black Cat and Trauma, I see Stendhal as a big return to form. Thinking about it, for me, it might even be one of Argento's best giallos (bar the cgi pills down throat shot!).

SymbioticFunction · #**529** 31st August 2024, 02:48 PM

French Sleepless arrived last night. The bd does have 2.0 english and french subtitles are optional. First thing that surprised me was that the opening (Italian) credits were against a blue background - my Italian Medusa dvd is long gone so I can't check if that was the same. Despite having just a english dolby surround track option, I'm very pleased with my eleven pounds purchase. There's more detail and colours seem superior to prior versions. Can't wait to properly watch it tomorrow afternoon. Just being able to see it without the print damage on the US option, and it's Spanish clone, makes it worth the purchase (those had occasional horizontal black lines and at one point, von Sydow was briefly shaking around the screen). I will mention any issues with tomorrow's viewing - I'm not forseeing any. Stendhal is also here and I will take a good look at that later on.

SymbioticFunction · #**530** 1st September 2024, 12:38 AM

Checked out the French Stendhal Syndrome bd. Audio is 2.0 English (as I'm sure it should be) and the french subtitles are just optional. Once again, you can turn them off with the simple press of a remote button. Watched 7 mins of Blue Underground's replacement bd disc first, so I would hopefully notice the difference, and damn, the French blu-ray has far more detail. Is very probably a steal as it was just eleven pounds on French Amazon. Won't have the opportunity to properly watch it all the way through until eight days later on, on another Sunday (my wife isn't keen to revisit it right now). Can't wait to thoroughly check it out. btw Is full length Italian cut with the added 80 seconds or so (the English audio switches to Italian during those two very brief parts, no forced French subtitles). Assuming it plays okay, this is 3 out of 3 for catalogue Argento from French label Extralucid. They weren't fibbing, these really were new 4K scans of camera negatives (it's just a serious shame about the lack of a 5.1 option for the English tracks on Sleepless and Card Player).

Edit: French Amazon not French ebay.