Update: Sorcerer (1977)

Here's a comparison of the laserdisc to the DVD using the same images.
LD:

DVD:

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DVD:

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DVD:


The DVD for sure comes from the same master rather than a new transfer. Artifacts can be seen in both versions in the same spots. Color and detail are slightly better on the DVD, though adjustments on your display could improve your LD somewhat vs these images from laserdisc to digital transfer.

Here is my most recent watch list (bolded titles are Blu-ray, others are laserdisc):

Live and Let Die *DEFECTIVE* (1973) [ML101418]=Classic, Roger Moore's first appearance as Bond. I am trying to watch a few of the older bond films that I have on Laserdisc as the new Skyfall movie just came out.

Snow White and the Huntsman=An OK movie. Nothing great. My fiancee loves anything with Chris Hemsworth so it had to be put on the Netflix queue.

Love Actually=Wasn't so impressed.

Man with the Golden Gun, The (1974) [ML101419]=One of the better bond films in my opinion.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) [70226]=Good comedy with Richard Prior and Gene Wilder.

Cabin in the Woods=An interesting take on horror films. I would recommend a watch.

Machine Gun Preacher=Didn't like this one at all. Too long and boring.

Transformers 3=Good demo disk, pretty bad story and acting.

Rio=Fun movie. Recommend it if you have kids.

Madagascar 3=same as "Rio".

Mr. Destiny (1990) [1126 AS]=A feel good movie with some big name actors. Good moral lesson of "appreciate the things you have." If you haven't seen this I would recommend a viewing. Good for the entire family.

The Amazing Spider-Man=I actually liked this version more than the Sam Rami trilogy.

Romeo + Juliet: Special Edition (1996) [0414385]=I like Shakespeare, but not a big fan of "Leo". Nonetheless, an interesting modern day take on a classic.

Saint, The: Special Edition (1997) [LV 335363-WS]=One of Val Kilmers last good movies before he went totally downhill, both acting wise and physically.

Mosquito Coast, The (1986) [11711]=one of Harrison Ford's lesser know pics. River Phoenix is also a main character. Ok at best.

The Raven=This was a so-so movie. Good rental but not a buy.

Stripes (1981) [79166]=what a classic. If you haven't seen this then go rent it now!

Moonrise Kingdom-Another gem by Wes Anderson. Outstanding cast and great acting. The kids did a wonderful job.

Brave=an "Ok" digital movie.

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) [82726]=light hearted comedy with Julia Roberts.

The Expendables 2=So this one is a love it or hate it picture. If you liked the over-the-top action movies of the 80's then your going to have a ball with this. Turn it up as it has a vibrant 7.1 soundtrack with plenty of explosions and an iconic 80's action star cast.... Sly, Arnold, Willis, Van Damne, Norris, etc...

Top Gun
Format: HD DVD
Audio: TrueHD

First time watching Top Gun in HD. The picture is astounding, audio is superb! I don't have a digital transfer of the movie yet so I just have some shots of TV screen.










There appears to be a boom mic fluttering around in the upper right corner of this scene:












There's several audio options, I sampled all of them, but played the movie thru in TrueHD. DTS 6.1 sounded pretty good as well. This movie really holds its own, especially now since it came out in HD and HD DVD delivers outstanding picture detail and audio. I also like having 3 different options for audio, something you don't see too much.

Picture: 8.5 Color, sharpness and detail are all transferred pretty well. The fast motion scenes played decent with little or no blur. I believe I even had the refresh rate set to low on the LG's trumotion setting.
Sound: 9.0 the TrueHD track was played thru and there are plenty of segments to sample 360 sound. From the center listening position you get outstanding imaging from the rear/side surrounds. Vocals are mostly center and are easy to pick up. There is also DTS 6.1 and DD 5.1 EX. I briefly sampled both but I think they both deserve an entire run thru so I can't give them their own rating right now. Take your pick, you won't be disappointed.
Story/plot: 8.5 The story is solid, one of the best movies of the 80's. I would rate this as Tony Scott's best film. The ariel shots and sunset motorcycle scenes really define this movie as what great filmmaking was back in the 80's and give it that unavoidable flashback status. I only knock off a little for the cheesy dialogue at times.
Overall 8.5 Almost a 9.0. Top Gun is nearly there at a solid 8.5 on my ratings. No special features on this one. A deluxe release with special features would be nice.

me and my 9 year old nephew watched batman returns.
had fun with the standard play.

Recently watched the new Batman series thru with the release of the Dark Knight Returns, -er Rises, which was a rewatch of the first 2, but I've only seen them both once before so it was worth starting over for this third and final installment. They were better on the second viewing, always thought they were a little too serious for a comic book movie. But they are well made and directed and the story arch is fantastic. I definitely see the improvement over the '89-'97, after just giving them a viewing on Blu ray last night and today. Even the Tim Burton films have some room for improvement.

Despite all the flaws with the '89-'97 series I still like them. Batman and Robin is a tough one to love but I can't watch the previous 3 and leave this one out so it gets viewed as well. I only have Batman Forever on LD right now. I'll have to get the other 3 and view them all on LD and do some comparisons. After watching all of them thru I still like the '89 Batman the best.

Batman & Robin
Format: Blu ray
Audio: DD 5.1



I recently viewed all of the films with the newer Blu ray releases but I'm just going to review Batman and Robin
for now. Mainly because it's just hysterical at how bad this movie is and it's so easy to poke fun at what's wrong
with this movie. I originally saw Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman and Robin in theater, yes I actually
went to see the last one, I didn't pay for my ticket though, it was free. My friend worked at one of the theaters
in town so he got me in to any of the local theaters for free, so I got to see quite a few for free in those years.

I was just shocked when I'd originally seen it in '97. It started when Arnold Swartzanegger's name was the first
one on the screen before Batman. I mean what kind of a movie is it when the villain gets first billing over the
Caped Crusader?




I know it must have been a tough choice between the Terminator and George "Dr. Doug Ross" Clooney for the
top billing, but was Arnold's name enough to drag people to see this movie? Arnold garnered a 25 million
paycheck (and a secret affair and child on the side of his marital relationship) which is so utterly absurd
considering he was just a big guy in a suit with the occasional one-liners and a much smaller part than Cloony's
Batman.




The story picks up with almost no backstory, where Mr. Freeze is breaking into a bank vault to steel some diamonds
to be used to cure his wife from McGreggor Syndrome. An earlier story arch would have worked better, dropping
Poison Ivy altogether. Joel Schumacher stated he wanted to make the movie as if it were a cartoon and not a live action
movie. He was even cited as yelling before each take: "This is a cartoon!" His homage to the 60's style Batman may not
have gone over well either and it especially shows with the once-again redesigned Batmobile and Batbike.

The redesigned convertible Batmobile, harkens back to the Lincoln Futura used in the 60's series. The Batbike is also
similar in style. I don't think the convertible worked for this movie but the Batmobile is the least of this movie's problems.




And then that brings us to the nipples. Yes, I said: "nipples". They started in 'Forever' but they are bigger in this film and more
shots of them. The opening starts like the opening of 'Forever' with the suit-up scene. 'Forever' had only one butt shot, but
in Batman & Robin we are given several butt shots, crotch shots and chest shots incase you weren't aware they were wearing
tight rubber.





Is it cold in here? Must be because my nipples are hard.

No nipples on this suit though:





So why are they there? Seriously? Nipples? Do we really need nipples on a Bat suit? I'm so glad they put Alicia Silverstone in
this movie because she really has that sexy pudgy thing going on. Is she pregnant? And smart as a whip!

"Well, I don't suppose they have fax machines on Elephants?" Hmmmm, didn't I see one last week on my safari?



And then there's the infighting between Batman and Robin which mostly gets in the way. It just gets old after
the first occurrence in this movie and was already done enough in 'Forever'. It goes on and on and on until you just
want Mr. Freeze to take care of both of them.



And then there's Bain, who is the main villain in The Dark Knight Rises. You may have been a little confused with
that movie if you thought this was what Bain was all about. "Bomb! Bomb!"



And what was the point in this scene? Bain starts lifting the Bat signal and all they do is change the filter to a Robin
signal.



There's so much camp and tongue n check it's just too much for a Batman movie. There's no believability in
what happens, everything is so off the wall. Physics do not exist in this Batman movie on any level. The previous
movies could be on the same level, but Batman & Robin takes it to a level all on its own. There's also the A story B story and even a
C story thing happening and they're all strung together helplessly.



The film's sets and colors match that of a cartoon, some look fine others don't. We get to see some baddies in glow n the dark
colors again, oh joy. Then there's the mile-high bridge to nowhere...just doesn't make sense. Most of what helps this movie
is the special effects. Take that away and ... oh let's not go there.




Then there's the extreme coincidence that Alfred suffers from the same illness as Mrs. Freeze. And then: "We're going to need
a bigger cave." Which is how the movie ends and I just don't like being left to wonder what is going on in those walls with the
three of them and wish for a better ending.



Eventually the movie ends and the torture is over.



Audio is pretty soft, same as the previous 3 on Blu ray. I sampled in 5.1, there's the occasional bad guy tossed over
the shoulder, explosions, bat gadgets, and the audio demonstrates those pretty well. There really isn't anything special going on with the soundtrack, some of it appears resampled from 'Forever'.

The exit Batman Logo caught me off guard panning back to front and was several db's louder than the movie. They could
have increased the db level about 5-10 db on this Dolby Digital track. I do like the opening title music right when Batman
& Robin title is on screen, sounds fantastic, it's played again right at the end of the movie, borrowed from 'Forever'.

Video on this Blu ray transfer of Batman and Robin was fair. The film is dark overall with a moderate amount of on screen
color. Still I'd expect more for a Blu ray release and wasn't overly impressed with this release or the previous films. They
seem to lack detail and sharpness that should be there.

This movie killed any chance of another film under Schumacher which he had plans to do a fifth installment.

Overall: You'll buy it because you have to. Why? Because you're set is incomplete without it. You don't have to watch it, but
you can't ignore it either. I sort of sit down and watch it and I can't look away until it's over. It's one of those, it's so bad it's good? Deer caught in headlights? And maybe the stop and look at a car accident when you should really be watching the road. It's horrifying, yet mesmerizing.

Picture 7.5 No noticeable film grain if that bothers you. The Blu ray doesn't improve detail or sharpness as much as
expected even for a darker film. If you have the DVD or LD you'll only notice a minimal improvement here. The special
effects are fairly good which add to this movie's ails and the Blu ray transfer does them justice.
Audio 8.0 It could be the best quality of this film. Smashing Pumpkins also got a Grammy so something good came
from this movie. Audio levels are a little low and have to be boosted quite a bit. Sound effects and surround sound are average.
Car chases, fight scenes, soundtrack and vocals are all blended well into the 5.1 mix.
Story/Plot 4.0 Less side stories and a more refined story arch would have worked better. Back up the Mr. Freeze story to
when he's injured and drop the Bat girl, Poison Ivy, and Bain. There's too much going on and the story starts off too late, same
as 'Forever' with Two Face, the story should have started earlier.
Overall 6.5 The Blu ray saves this movie with the newer video transfer. I'd probably rate the LD/DVD a 7.0 which would
give a 5.5. The story is abysmal yet each time I watch this series I end up watching Batman & Robin too. I just have to laugh at
some things. What were they thinking? If I had to name the single worst thing about this movie I'm not sure I could. 25 million
to Arnold and first billing or George Clooney as Batman? Alicia Silverstone or Bain? Convertible Batmobile or nipples on the Bat
suits? This movie was rated the worst movie of all time, while I don't think it's that bad it leaves a lot to be desired.

Batman Triumphant (announced for June 1999 but never materialized) would have seen the Scarecrow's first onscreen appearance,
not by Shoemacher, but not by Nolan either. Another interesting note is that Patrick Stewart was considered for the role,
but Schoemacher wanted a larger actor to play Mr. Freeze. I think that would have been better, but I think Arnold's popularity
also helped bring in viewers, at least initially until the bad press got out.

also, the music is from an earlier movie--demolition man. some scenes have the same music

Thanks for pointing that out, here's the comparison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pwf9bITD3Vs

Last few running through my new Onkyo receiver with some sweet upconverting to my plasma TV.

Armageddon: Special Edition #384 (1998) (Uncut) [CC1548L] Still as sappy as ever.

Spawn: The Movie: Special Edition (1997) [ID4236LI] Great disc. Awful movie.

Village of the Damned (1995) [43278] I enjoyed this very much.

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (1999) [PILF-2830] Awesome video and particularly audio DD track. Still love Darth Maul and hate Jar Jar Binks.

how'd the upconversion look?

Watching some Encore titles:
Dracula
Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein

Still on the old Trinitron. I'll be lightly upscaling to 480i through a 36" Panny Tau I'll be picking up this weekend. I have high hopes! That era of TV did wonders for straight-up composite connections.

Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) ML102232
Format: Laserdisc (letterbox 2.35)
Audio: Digital mono (DPLIIx + MV + THX on AVR)


Viewed/transferred this last night. Opted for the Laserdisc, the region 1 DVD is overpriced/out of print, I was going to get the region 2 DVD and rip it for Plex but found this nice clean LD for 13.00. There was minor artifacting but no laser rot. Switched to my LD user setting on LG gives a cinema feel to it.

I haven't seen this since I was a kid watching on TV obviously with a lot of editing. I remember the ending with the school house and blackboard. Also the end scene in the car. Sad ending. That's all I remember of this movie. I didn't know/remember that was Jeff Bridges! Forgot all about this movie. Not a bad flick, would like to see a Blu ray release of this.












This is how you shoot rabbits:





Screenshot of some artifacting/burning?:

20mm cannon vault breaker:








Final Thoughts: An underrated film. The only time you'll see Bridges and Eastwood in the same movie. It was good to see it again, last viewing was easily 20 years ago. Eastwood was unhappy with United Artists with handling the film's promotion and vowed to never work with them again. Notable movie for an Oscar nomination for Bridges, Best Supporting Actor. The DVD is out of print so priced high on Region 1. The R2 is much cheaper or go with the LD. Note: there's also a young Gary Busey in a small part.

Picture: 7.0 Some noticeable artifacts, film damage. A newer Blu ray transfer would be nice but it's not a movie I'd watch frequently so this LD I'd label as good enough or average.
Audio: 6.5 Biggest knockoff for mono mix. Only a 4 million budget, but come on, how much more would Stereo be? A lot of dialog sounds recorded in studio and not on location. Maybe typical for time/budget. As is, sound is a little flat and omni directional, but DPLIIx + MV + THX on AVR split the sound up decently between the speakers.
Plot/Story: 7.0 Certainly not Eastwood's best film but it is a good early film for Bridges. Entertains like Every Which Way But Loose but more serious, maybe closer to Pink Cadillac.
Cover/WOW Factor 7.5 The muddy brown cover has that 70's rustic feel, the inside sleeve is MGM and a yellow label on disc which I think always look nice. Back cover has sufficient detail for collectors.
Overall: 7.0 A better sound mix, better transfer for the LD, a more light-hearted approach throughout the movie would have been better, comedy drops off towards the 3/4 mark and a little too-depressing ending, however it was good to see this movie again and to see a young Bridges and Eastwood working together.

DEAD OF WINTER. Still good quality, keeping in mind that the disc is 25 years old.
MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY: one of my favourite Woody Allen movies. A Columbia/TriStar release without any signs of rot after 20 years...

Sweet!

I'm running everything through an Onkyo TX-NR717 receiver to a Panasonic TC-P54G10 Plasma. I chose this receiver since it was one of the ones in my price range that had analog to HDMI upconversion. Still playing around with the settings, but I'm very happy with the image.

could you show it when zoomed in without black bars?
anyway, it looks sweet.

tomtastic nice review from your view of it. I have only seen it once on TV as you can image it was panned and scanned. I only seem to remember the sad ending when Eastwood leans over and noticed Bridges is passed on, well not for real.

Nice close up of the Laserdisc label. What shooting camera mode did you use as I can see there is no sign of flash photography.

"Come on, Pete. Think about it. People would understand that. I mean, Jesus Christ, you took a bullet for the President of the United States. And in the 25 years since, you haven't even made shift supervisor on a presidential detail, and *that* I know you wanted. But they don't put guys who bend the rules, not even a little bit, in charge of P.P.D., do they? Even if they did take a bullet for the old man".
David Breckinridge THE SENTINEL (2006)

Secret Service Agent, (Michael Douglas) is framed as mole within the department there is Mole who must be found before the president is assassinated. (David Rasche) is the president and also known to cult tv fans of the 80's comic Sledge Hammer, "Trust me I know what I'm doing" Maybe the should have had Sledge Hammer to guard the president.

Kiefer Sutherland also stars and seems a bit like that Jack Bauer character from the acclaimed "24" series as everyone is rush around with sometimes fast camera sweeps and random edits to keep the viewer interested or other in the film.

Picture is filmed on the dark I wish they film with a more natural lighting including daytime shots.




Good use of voice panning of ear pieces in the agents ears that moves from side to side over the LCRS on the opening of the assassination attempt of President Regan. Radio chatter is heard all around that gives sense agents are behind me and to sideswalls surrounds.





Yeah I'm still doing diy on the room and I find the vacuum good company.

"You know, for years now I've listened to all these idiots on barstools, with their pet theories on Dallas. How it was the Cubans, or the CIA, or the white supremacists, or the Mob. About whether there was one weapon, or whether there was five. None of that's meant much to me. But Leary... he questioned whether I had the guts to take that fatal bullet".
Frank Horrigan IN THE LINE OF FIRE (1993)






A cat and mouse hunt is on for (John Malkovich) who likes to assassinate the President. Can (Clint Eastwood) and (Rene Russo) find him, just in time?

Picture is nicely framed in the 2.35:1 scope with real anamorphic lenses.

Also released in Sony's new SDDS 8 channel format thou I saw regular 35mm Dolby SR version when it opened at the local cinema.



A few split lens diopter shots are used in the film.




The scene on the 747 Air Force One that is also another (Wolfgang Petersen) films looks similar on some of the interior shots at 00:52:08 even tracks in same way along the left side of the plane even thou we see it on right side view.


IN THE LINE OF FIRE

[img]http://i232.photobucket.com/albums/ee18/DemolitionMan3417/AIRFORCEONEDolbyStereoDigitalSDDSTHX1.jpg
[/img]

AIR FORCE ONE

The noise on the above two pictures is generated by the camera and distance ISO brightness settings. I seem to be having snags with slow-sync flash as normally I'd take the picture from a distance and the slow-delay flash tends to give a fair-decent picture.

Sound wise between two films that has presidents AIR FORCE ONE is the loudest over IN THE LINE OF FIRE, Oscar winner *Jerry Goldsmith's score is fantastic as well are the performances and visual effects by Oscar winner *Richard Edlund company BOSS film.

tomtastic, your not kidding about the region 1 prices on some are priced up at £52.73 some R1 a little low at £11.10 the R2 DVD are priced far lower. I prefer R1 over R2 due to frame rate being speeded up.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_nkw=t ... &_from=R40

I'd just get the LD then, I think I saw a few listed on here, there was only 1 listed on eBay when I got mine, but I ended up missing the bidding. I emailed seller and asked if he'd sell it buy it now for the opening bid and we ended up with a paypal invoice which worked for me.

For cameras I think any more I really like natural lighting. But it really depends on what you're trying to show. If you can't show with natural lighting, then then next step is I turn on additional lighting. If that's not enough then I will resort to flash. I feel flash washes everything out and takes the natural color away. It's handy in low light levels and will sharpen up detail but it just ruins the feel, in my opinion. For movies (taking picture of screen) I pretty much leave flash off, I might leave additional lights on. It darkens the surroundings but will give maximum detail of movie.

Actually, I think I did use flash on that label shot, notice the 'rainbow effect' on the ld, there's a white circle to the right, flash reflection. I had the LD in the DVL 90 already and it's quite dark up there. I have to place the LD under lamp to get it without flash, it looks good that way too. I think I just wanted a shot with it in the LD tray this time.

I like the Sentinel, I was hoping for a 24 movie but I think all hope for it is gone. No news since May of this year??? Oh, well, there's still a hundred plus episodes, I have all of them. I love espionage films, I got the Jack Ryan collection in on HD DVD so looking forward to giving them a run thru.
Another with flash on:

I did take one with flash off:


Some more label shots: I like this Columbia RCA gold lettering: