New Releases from ODEON

[batman]

IIRC the Wienerworld TGDY has a significant tape roll near the start doesn't it, it does get better but still has that 'transferred from video' look to it, whereas APOA has a consistent picture which, although not perfect, at least has that DVD feel to it. I am just grateful we have copies of these great films.

Bats.

[Modular]

Originally Posted by asiamiles I'd have to argue that it's below "unrestored" and actually worse than THE GOOD DIE YOUNG (credits apart). Maybe it looks acceptable on a small monitor but at 52 inches it looks quite awful at times;

Ah haaa... and there-in lies the problem.

When you're watching recorded material on a very large screen, ANYTHING unrestored (and recorded in SD) is going to look rougher. Every artifact, fleck of dirt and scratch is going to show up more noticeably than on a smaller screen.

It's an unfortunate side-effect of the trend toward very large LCD/plasma screens, and people are only now starting to realise this.

I've been told numerous tales of woe from people complaining about the quality of an archive television release that "looked good on their old telly but now looks crap on their new large wide-screen panel".

[Lord Brett]

Originally Posted by asiamiles I was horrified when the Weinerworld DVD of THE GOOD DIE YOUNG started but after the credits it improved to being at least watchable...not signficantly better than Odeon's DVD of APOA, but not worse, I think...I'd have to do a side-by-side to be sure. I just watched Network's DVD of ASSAULT and that was also a disappointment, surprisingly so from the company who released the magnificent box set of all 4 seasons of "The Sweeney," one of my very favourite DVD's. I hope the forthcoming PAYROLL is going to be an improvement over these.

Apart from the glitch at the beginning, I thought The Good Die Young looked OK (excellent photography and what looks like a decent original source print helped). I've seen the print of A Prize of Arms Movies4Men are showing, which from a previous discussion is the same print Odeon are using, and thought it looked very soft once it was cropped after the credits.

[asiamiles]

IIRC the Wienerworld TGDY has a significant tape roll near the start doesn't it, it does get better but still has that 'transferred from video' look to it, whereas APOA has a consistent picture which, although not perfect, at least has that DVD feel to it.

Yes, the credits on TGDY are taken from a thoroughly unacceptable (I'm sure a better copy could have been found) tape source, but the rest of the presentation, while certainly not as good as one might hope, or to be honest, should expect, doesn't interfere with one's enjoyment of the film. I thought APOA looked a little smeary, which is why I think it's probably a notch below TGDY.

It's been said these are budget releases, but APOA wasn't exactly cheap. I don't think Network can be considered a "budget label" so it's doubly disappointing to find the likes of ASSAULT and ALL NIGHT LONG being released 4:3 letterboxed (ie. not enhanced for 16:9 TV's) in 2007, even though the latter actually looks quite good. I guess the current state of the industry means the liklihood of such minor interest titles getting priority treatment is not high.

Apart from the glitch at the beginning, I thought The Good Die Young looked OK (excellent photography and what looks like a decent original source print helped). I've seen the print of A Prize of Arms Movies4Men are showing, which from a previous discussion is the same print Odeon are using, and thought it looked very soft once it was cropped after the credits.

Yes, even though the cover of APOA claims it to be Widescreen, it's not.