Seven Swords: HK Blu-Ray vs HK DVD

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 07 Aug 2008, 12:43

Possibly the best BD transfer I've ever seen.
The amount of fine detail in wide shots is amazing.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 07 Aug 2008, 17:31

Thanks Tom.

Which HK DVD do you have? The 1 Disc with DD5.1 or 2 Disc with DD5.1 and Full-rate DTS. The latter I imagine has a higher bitrate.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 07 Aug 2008, 19:51

Ah, yes.
I forgot that there were two versions. Sorry about that.
I've got the 2-discer with DTS.

And speaking about bitrate, the bitrate on this h.264 BD transfer seems to be incredibly high. My CPU can't even play the film in real-time.
That's the first time I've come across this problem with a Blu-Ray disc. 100% CPU usage.

eon · Post by **eon** » 08 Aug 2008, 13:35

Looks good - shame there's no longer director's cut available though. :/ I felt the DVD version was way too cut - entertaining, but could've been better had we got the original 4 hour or whatever length movie it was meant to be.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 08 Aug 2008, 16:58

tom2681 wrote:Ah, yes.
I forgot that there were two versions. Sorry about that.
I've got the 2-discer with DTS.

Do you mean the 3 disc SE with DTS or the 2 Disc SE without DTS? -

http://www.dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=8432

tom2681 wrote:And speaking about bitrate, the bitrate on this h.264 BD transfer seems to be incredibly high. My CPU can't even play the film in real-time.
That's the first time I've come across this problem with a Blu-Ray disc. 100% CPU usage.

That's impressive. Does it play okay in your standalone?

eon wrote:Looks good - shame there's no longer director's cut available though. :/ I felt the DVD version was way too cut - entertaining, but could've been better had we got the original 4 hour or whatever length movie it was meant to be.

Agreed. It is a shame. The film shows lots of potential.

As such, we have to work with what we've got and that's a flawed buy enjoyable film. In it's current form I don't consider it a keeper.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 08 Aug 2008, 20:50

Definitely a 2-discer.
No DTS for me, then.

I don't know whether the BD will play on my Sony S300.
Haven't tried it yet. Will let you know when I do.

As for the DC, I believe the extra scenes were removed before post-production.
It's doubtful that we'll ever see them. But you never know...

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 09 Aug 2008, 08:35

tom2681 wrote:I don't know whether the BD will play on my Sony S300.
Haven't tried it yet. Will let you know when I do.

It's worth trying it. There was a HD-DVD released that had a bitrate too high and it needed to be recalled. I forget which title it was.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 19 Aug 2008, 20:21

Seen it now.
Easily the best BD transfer I've ever seen.
Maybe even better than Pirates of the Caribbean 2.
The sound is perfect too. Crystal-clear + zero audio sync issues (most BDs are worthless when it comes to A/V sync).

If you've got this film on DVD (and if you like it at least a little bit), you really REALLY need to upgrade. Take my word for it.

Unbelievably good.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 19 Aug 2008, 20:35

tom2681 wrote:most BDs are worthless when it comes to A/V sync

I've yet to notice a BD or HD-DVD to be out of sync but then I rarely do.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 19 Aug 2008, 21:46

It takes special circumstances to notice A/V sync issues.
It depends on how focused you are when watching the film, and also on how big your screen is.

I remember watching Azumi 2 on a 32" TV and not noticing any problems. Now, on the 108"screen I can tell the sound is 0.1 second late.
You see ninjas hitting the floor and you have to wait a long time before you hear the "thud".

I can't understand why most people don't notice that the soundtracks on lots of their DVDs are slightly out-of-sync.
Just like I can't understand why some people can't notice obvious stunt doubles.

I guess each viewer watches his films in a different way.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 21 Aug 2008, 21:43

I never ever used to notice the Arnie stunt double during the T2 motorbike scene. I now notice it every time I've seen the scene recently. I was happier ignorant

.

Please, no more screen grabs, ruining cinema 8).

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 22 Aug 2008, 01:08

LD was devastated when I showed him that the one-shot corridor shoot-out in Hard-Boiled was in fact two separate shots.

You can actually see the cut if you're sensitive enough. It's quite obvious on the HK Vidéo (don't know about Tartan and DD).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Aug 2008, 18:48

Dare I ask, any captures? Unlike T2 I don't consider Hard Boiled as good as most so won't be devastated like LD

.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 22 Aug 2008, 20:42

I love Hard Boiled so may notice what you said now about it, DAMN YOU TOM!!