007: Moonraker - UK R2 (SE) vs UK R2 (UE) vs UK TV (ITV1)

MLAM · Post by **MLAM** » 16 Aug 2006, 17:09

Now this film is not regarded as fan favourite mainly because Bond goes into space and some of the lines of dialogue is cheesier than Mature English Chedder.

On certain shots I have put in some caps from a direct digital recording of ITV1's print of Moonraker from a while back so I am not sure if they have gotten a new print since then but I doubt it very much, if anything the quality would be worse as digital TV's bitrate seems to be worse these days.

Before you ask why its only on the later shots its because I only recorded certain bits of it and not the whole film

R2 SE

R2 UE

R2 SE

R2 UE

R2 SE

R2 UE

R2 SE

R2 UE

R2 SE

R2 UE

R2 SE

R2 UE

R2 SE

R2 UE

R2 SE

R2 UE

ITV1

R2 SE

R2 UE

ITV1

R2 SE

R2 UE

ITV1

R2 SE

R2 UE

ITV1

R2 SE

R2 UE

ITV1

R2 SE

R2 UE

Overall the UE does look better thanks to better encoding and less grain though it is a bit concerning that on some shots there is clearly more detail on the SE, also the TV print is not too bad either albeit probably the wrong colours because of an older print.

Notice that the end credits is darker on the UE than the rest, it is very evident that a different print is used for the end credits on the UE DVD as on the SE, the credits is on a continuous scroll, where as on the UE, near the end the "Filmed in Panavision" and "Dolby Stereo" comes up on its own for a few seconds, then fades out and the rest of it continues to scroll up.

Again though the credits sequence has been squashed, most evident in the shot of Q in the office as that is right at the end of the titles sequence and on the UE they did not lift off the squashing until the next shot.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 Aug 2006, 21:33

Hmmm going by the screenshots alone it's hard to say. Sometimes it's the UE, other times the SE. The ITV is cropped to shit yuck.

MLAM · Post by **MLAM** » 16 Aug 2006, 22:12

bradavon wrote:Hmmm going by the screenshots alone it's hard to say. Sometimes it's the UE, other times the SE. The ITV is cropped to shit yuck.

Agreed on that, but owning a copy the UE is a no brainer as on viewing it looks much better than the SE.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 Aug 2006, 22:49

Fair enough.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 17 Aug 2006, 00:03

Some shots the UE is clearly better, but on others the skintones are alarmingly red, and the SE looks more natural. A mixed bag AS USUAL.

Shaken, Not Stirred · Post by **Shaken, Not Stirred** » 17 Aug 2006, 02:00

I'd say the UE looks much better.

MLAM · Post by **MLAM** » 17 Aug 2006, 02:02

Shaken, Not Stirred wrote:I'd say the UE looks much better.

I think it would get the final nod on whats better,

P.S have you not seen the Diamonds are Forever comparison yet?

Shaken, Not Stirred · Post by **Shaken, Not Stirred** » 17 Aug 2006, 05:58

MLAM wrote:
Shaken, Not Stirred wrote:I'd say the UE looks much better.
I think it would get the final nod on whats better,

P.S have you not seen the Diamonds are Forever comparison yet?

Yep, I've seen it. Good work.

And, if no one else has any other requests, could you possibly do Goldfinger, The Man with the Golden Gun, or The Living Daylights?

Thanks again.

007 · Post by **007** » 20 Aug 2006, 12:33

Shaken, Not Stirred wrote:
And, if no one else has any other requests, could you possibly do Goldfinger, The Man with the Golden Gun, or The Living Daylights?

Thanks again.

The whole saga would be great in fact...

About Moonraker, UE's new transfer looks much better...but it's one of the worst Bond movies with TMWTGG and AVTAK.

chenlung · Post by **chenlung** » 22 Aug 2006, 01:30

Noise/grain filtering and colour alteration

- bastards!

captainjoe · Post by **captainjoe** » 01 Sep 2006, 18:56

The overall viewing experience would be better with the UE. The only downside is the pink/red faces of the people which I'm sure won't be noticable on a TV. Capture 2 looks great though.

chenlung · Post by **chenlung** » 10 Apr 2007, 02:16

What's with the window-boxing on comparison 3 :S?

Someone's obviously a fan of Barbie

!

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 10 Apr 2007, 22:17

On the UE, the credits were squeezed rather than windowboxing and shot 3 is what the credits dissolve to, so the squeezing is there. Personally, I prefer the SE

Interestingly, I picked up the novelisation of Moonraker from a second hand book store. It's written by Christopher Wood, who wrote the screenplay, but it's a far superior piece of work, genuinly gripping and powerful. Furthermore, the key flaws present in the film are not there: Jaws in the free-fall scene, Jaws midget girlfriend, the 'Bondola', Bond's "Play it again Sam' quip, the re-entry line etc

I'd be interested to know if this cracking piece of literature was what Wood had in mind before the producers and director set to work or whether he watched the completed film sober and thought "Dear God, what have I done?" Had the film resembled the novelisation, it'd be one of the best Bonds

Shaken, Not Stirred · Post by **Shaken, Not Stirred** » 13 Apr 2007, 02:54

Moonraker was written by Ian Fleming.

At least the original is. What copy of Moonraker do you have?

Killer Meteor · Post by **Killer Meteor** » 13 Apr 2007, 09:22

Shaken, Not Stirred wrote:Moonraker was written by Ian Fleming. At least the original is. What copy of Moonraker do you have?

It's the adaptation of the film's screenplay by its author, Christopher Wood. Fleming's novel is quite different, with Hugo Drax a Nazi war criminal planning to launch a nuclear bomb on London

Wood also novelised The Spy Who Loved Me, which shares no similarities with the Fleming novel due to a contract clause.

Shaken, Not Stirred · Post by **Shaken, Not Stirred** » 15 Apr 2007, 01:56

Ah I see, sorry!