Dark City Blu-ray

[AcuDefTechGuy]

ADTG, I thought you might be interested in this thread. Then again, you might hate it!!

Film Grain Allowed - The Beauty Of Film - Nominations Required

I haven't visited this thread in forever, but I see now at the bottom of the list under "Major Issues With Transfer To Blu Ray - Not Recommended For Viewing" is Pan's Labyrinth.

I wonder if the higher placement in the PQ thread is due to reviews on the European version. Because the US version is the most disappointing BD movie purchase I've made yet. IMO.

Yeah, I agree that they should let the fans decide to use DNR on their BD players or not. Some people love DNR (like me), and some people don't like any DNR. It's a preference thing, and one that is easily left to the customers to decide for themselves.

BTW, I rewatched Pan's Labrynth last night.

I see exactly what you were talking about in terms of DNR.

But it didn't bother me.

I noticed that Home Theater Mag gave "Dark City" BD a '2.5' rating for Video?

I guess some people really, really, truly hate DNR.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Just saw it last night

...And I thought both the PQ & SQ were outstanding!

Like everyone says, the Picture is Dark, but I thought it was very smooth and clear. Excellent PQ IMO.

The SQ was awesome. The surround speakers were on like 100% of the time. The Subwoofer was on like 100% of the time. I even thought the Center channel/dialogue was outstanding so I don't know why some people complained about that. Of course, the Front L+R were great. Excellent sound quality IMO.

I've seen this movie numerous times, but last night was the absolute best experience I've ever had. The PQ definitely helped, but the exceptional SQ truly made it extremely exciting to watch.

 

[polar898]

Cool! Thanks for the heads-up.

 

[itschris]

I hit up blockbuster to rent Dark City based on the hub bub here about the movie. Really odd flick. You can definately see the influence it had on other movies. It was just odd though... it wasn't bad... but it was one of those movies that more of just a story being told as opposed to action, revelation, or other typical themes.

So I guess these aliens captured these people and stuck them on this floating city in space? Neat Idea I guess. I have a lot of questions though. What keeps the city running? Now that aliens are all gone, at some point, won't people start questioning things... why they can't get out of the city (assuming so since the Vulcan mind-f**k ritual will end? What if John gets hit by a car or trips and hits his head... who's going to control things? Basically... what happens now?

 

[j_garcia]

What happens now is completely up to John You might want to put your second paragraph in spoiler tags too: [ spoiler ] [ / spoiler]

Spoiler

Yes, these people were abducted and placed here for experimentation.

I presume that he will "awaken" all of the other people to the reality of what is going on. Clearly there are others who have the potential to Tune, as he was not the only one who "woke up" (Matrix), so he and the doctor can teach some of the others to do this as well. The "machine" only allowed them to focus the tuning, which I suppose means that the city doesn't need that particular machine to keep running - and John can tune the city to fix whatever he needs to.

 

[itschris]

Yeah... sorry bout that. I figured the movie is several years old, but I should still do that. I'll edit.

 

[itschris]

okay... can't go back and edit...

NOTE: DON"T READ MY ABOVE POST! SPOILER!

 

[j_garcia]

PM a mod to have them add it. I know, most probably have seen this, but you never know.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

SPOILER:

I hit up blockbuster to rent Dark City based on the hub bub here about the movie. Really odd flick. You can definately see the influence it had on other movies. It was just odd though... it wasn't bad... but it was one of those movies that more of just a story being told as opposed to action, revelation, or other typical themes.

So I guess these aliens captured these people and stuck them on this floating city in space? Neat Idea I guess. I have a lot of questions though. What keeps the city running? Now that aliens are all gone, at some point, won't people start questioning things... why they can't get out of the city (assuming so since the Vulcan mind-f**k ritual will end? What if John gets hit by a car or trips and hits his head... who's going to control things? Basically... what happens now?

Chris, you are thinking WAY too much, buddy!

Funny how I've seen Dark City numerous times, but I have never asked those questions!

John is a Mutant - he EVOLVED to adapt to this new world. So I think eventually all those people will either evolve or die off - survival of the fittest. They will eventually regain some memory and will TUNE the city to travel to earth.

***hee**hee

 

[itschris]

SPOILER!!!

HA!

Maybe... I might buy that. However, there's bit too much to ponder, a bit too much left for interpretation. That's not a bad thing necessarily, but I like knowing a bit more. Granted it's a movie... I get it... but it really was a unique storyline and I wish they could have done just a bit more with it.

They just didn't get into or explain some of the coolest aspects of the flick. Overall though, I liked it and I'm kinda liking ita bit more since watching it.

SPOILER:



Chris, you are thinking WAY too much, buddy!

Funny how I've seen Dark City numerous times, but I have never asked those questions!

John is a Mutant - he EVOLVED to adapt to this new world. So I think eventually all those people will either evolve or die off - survival of the fittest. They will eventually regain some memory and will TUNE the city to travel to earth.

***hee**hee

 

[zhimbo]

Given that, in the theatrical release, the central mystery of the entire movie is given away in the first few seconds by the (studio-mandated) narration, I'm glad that a Director's cut of this film is finally, finally available.

 

[jostenmeat]

I'm reading premilinary reports of GREAT inconsistency within the movie, as far as PQ. Everything from top-notch to very bad, even within a few minutes of each other. Worse scenes are said to have healthy DNR.

I might keep saving up for the fall releases.

Not to take anything away from the content of this movie. Please continue.

 

[j_garcia]

The Lost Boys was much more noticeable when there were bad scenes than Dark City. For this one it is like AccuDefTechGuy said, it is like watching the movie for the first time all over again. Even the bad areas still look better than the DVD IMO, but instead of the whole movie looking like that only small bits do.

 

[jostenmeat]

Understood. I guess we have to say that this is all relative. For instance, you thought Frighteners looked good, not great. I thought it looked straight up bad. However, your thoughts are still beneficial to me because of the relative comparisons to other movies that I have seen. IOW, if you say one is a 6/10 and the other is a 4/10, its still a useful opinion to me, even if I rated the first as a 4/10. Because I know you think the latter is worse.

I still enjoyed the Frighteners, but just making a point.

Even though I've bought my share of PQ bombs, Im trying to throw my support towards the better transfers. Just me.

 

[j_garcia]

I definitely want the best transfer I can get, but they have what they have to work with, so if the master isn't great then the transfer will only be as good as the people doing it. Some of these movies, like this one, I can enjoy the movie and not worry too much about the quality of the picture though, and I am glad to have it looking as good as it does now

I threw in Batman Begins on my dad's new 1080p Sammy and I have to say that the climbing the moiuntain scene had a lot less noise in the sky above compared to the HD DVD and BD on my set. It is only a little bit noticeable on mine if you are looking for it, but it is almost non-existent on that set; so it is going to have to do with the display in question also obviously.

 

[jostenmeat]

Two excellent points, j.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

SPOILER!!!

HA!

Maybe... I might buy that. However, there's bit too much to ponder, a bit too much left for interpretation. That's not a bad thing necessarily, but I like knowing a bit more. Granted it's a movie... I get it... but it really was a unique storyline and I wish they could have done just a bit more with it.

They just didn't get into or explain some of the coolest aspects of the flick. Overall though, I liked it and I'm kinda liking ita bit more since watching it.

Perhaps they were thinking SEQUEL, but it never happened because the movie did not do so well at the box office.