2046 Region 1 Review is out on DVD Talk

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 14 Dec 2005, 09:55

Source:
DVD Talk Review

Here is a bit when the reviewer is seeing how the dvd looks

How Does the DVD Look?

I assume that there are many fans of Kar Wai Wong in North America hoping for a strong and convincing DVD transfer and I have some great news for you. This is one stunningly beautiful transfer which with the exception of a few very minor issues I have is as close to a perfect transfer as it gets. Before we continue with the technical description of 2046 allow me to point out that even though I am unable to provide screen caps to compare the spectacular French set with the North American release (hopefully I will be able to soon) I investigated the two discs closely and firmly believe that when compared to the French set the R1 version still looks quite well.
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and enhanced for widescreen TV's 2046 looks great. To be honest the actual transfer is closer to 2.39:1 and it does appear to be in great condition. Blacks are deep and very convincing, detail is simply great and if it was not for a tiny bit of edge enhancement which I noticed here and there this would have been a perfect transfer (the few areas where you could notice some uncharacteristic softness and edge enhancement are not visible on the French set). The more picky amongst us will probably also notice some minor "mosquito-noise" but I still believe this to be a great transfer well deserving of this rather recent film. My main issue with this transfer is the inclusion of rather large for my taste yellow subtitles which I find to be quite distracting at times especially considering how delicate the composition of 2046 is. I suppose in the future we should insist on having white and smaller subtitles which are less intrusive and more pleasing especially for those with larger screens.

Enjoy

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 14 Dec 2005, 14:59

Thanks Slasher.

It looks like the French master (used on the French, UK and Australian DVDs) is still the best then and of course the French DVD is going to stay the best DVD for some time to come.

That reads to me that the R1 is good but the French DVD is better (it's not conclusive I know). Unfortunately the reviewer hasn't bothered to mention how long the extras are so to answer the most important question (for me anyway):

Which is better UK R2 or R1?

It's still unknown. The R4 LE is definitely the best English subtitled version but as that's OOP and the R4 1 Disc is a bit lame on the extras side I'm veering towards the UK R2 over R1 for the better PQ (who'd have thought a Tartan DVD beating a Sony DVD

) and DTS.

As for the extras:

* Crossed Looks: Interviews with Tony Leung, Kar Wai, and Zhang Ziyi - this sounds interesting but how bloody long is it?
* Alternate Ending - I'd like to see. The R4 LE has deleted scenes but not the alternate ending.
* Anatomy of Memories - I'd have preferred if the reviewer had stopped gushing and explain what on earth the extra actually is?

I've found a second review, it's no where near as good: http://www.classicsondvd.com/2046.htm

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 14 Dec 2005, 15:02

Talk of everything WKW and the best versions of his films on DVD can be found here:

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... .php?t=879

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 14 Dec 2005, 15:25

Yeah i might go for the Tartan release as well... Wish 2046 R4 Limited Edition was still available, can't believe that went sooo quickly

Cheers for the link Bradavon

Kind Regards

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 14 Dec 2005, 15:36

SO the Tartan Asia Extreme version is a safe bet at £7.99 then?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 14 Dec 2005, 16:31

Guys check out post 1 of the WKW thread for detailed information on the best versions of his films. I've just spent the past 30 minutes uploading it:

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... .php?t=879

slasher13 wrote:Yeah i might go for the Tartan release as well... Wish 2046 R4 Limited Edition was still available, can't believe that went sooo quickly

When Madman say limited they really mean limited. It was OOP in about 10 days. They do have the habit of re-releasing their LEs though minus the deluxe packaging but otherwise the same.

Fingers crossed.

IronMonkey wrote:SO the Tartan Asia Extreme version is a safe bet at £7.99 then?

I'd say so. It maybe worth waiting that bit longer just to double check the R1 extras don't turn out to be really long. I don't think they would be as surely the DVD Talk reviewer would've mentioned it.

That said to me that review says the French AV is better so yeah go for it (you may want to wait for a more conclusive answer than this review though???). AV is more important than extras!

pro-bassoonist · Post by **pro-bassoonist** » 15 Dec 2005, 06:54

Hello,

Just wanted to clear out a few things for those that are on the fence regarding the R1 version of 2046. As I am the author of the review at DVDTalk let me confirm that the image is of excellent quality. Yes, the French set looks just a tiny bit better but you would be hard-pressed to say so if you do not use a digital projector. I am beyond impressed with the R1 disc...just about everything looks great. If it was not for a few very small areas where you could see a tiny bit of edge enhancement I would have given the DVD a top mark. With this said, the R1 clearly has the better set of extras (when compared to Tartan's disc). There is no doubt in my mind that when considering the two (for both audio/video and extras being provided) the R1 is the one to get. Unless, of course you are fluent in French and do not need English subs.
With this said, my review offers a detailed look at ALL the extras from the R1 disc which the portion posted on this forum does not reflect. Hope this answers any questions you might have had.

Ciao,
Pro-B

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 15 Dec 2005, 10:58

Thanks Pro-B for clearing that up. Sorry if I sounded rude with my posting; I didn't mean to.

Would you mind updating your review or posting here with the duration of each extra please? Oh and explaining what "Anatomy of Memories" is?

It would really help to narrow down which is better R1 vs. UK R2. Which are the only two versions worth considering for English speakers. The thing is the UK R2 has DTS and is supposed to be from the French master so making it that bit better than the R1, no?

pro-bassoonist · Post by **pro-bassoonist** » 15 Dec 2005, 19:14

Hello Bradavon:

Absolutely, no worries, I did not think you were! The extra I refer to is rather short (it is under 5 min) but Anatomy of Memories is very much an iside look at the digital composition of 2046. Maybe I am biased, I suppose you could say so, but I thought that the visuals were indeed what separates this film from everything else that Kar Wai Wong has created. The tiny extra I regard as so valuable precisely due to the fact that it shows how everything as put together (Matrix-style I would say).

This is what the UK Tartan set includes in terms of extras:
UK Exclusive Director Interview (16:29 /4:3)
• Zhang Ziyi Interview (11:50 / 4:3)
• Casta Diva Music Video (7:05 / 4:3)
• Zhang Ziyi on set (3:04 / 4:3)
• 2003 Promo (7:00 / 4:3)
• Hong Kong Teaser (1:23 / 4:3)
• Hong Kong Trailer (2:27 / 4:3)
• Original Theatrical Traler (2:29 / 16x9)
• 4 page insert with liner notes by James Mottram

This is what the US disc offers:
Behind the Scenes of 2046-an interesting footage with Kar Wai Wong and the rest of the cast revealing some of the mystery behind 2046. Some of the footage you will see in this fragment was shot during the Cannes Film Festival.

Deleted Scenes and an Alternate Ending- a total of two extra scenes (Black Spider visits Chow and the Android visits the writer) plus a curious alternate ending which I am happy was dropped as the original ending is much more convincing.

Crossed Looks: Interviews with Tony Leung, Kar Wai, and Zhang Ziyi. I urge everyone to see this interview as it reveals a great deal about Kar Wai Wong's filming preferences and especially his preference to avoid scripts whenever possible.

Anatomy of Memories- Fortunately what I consider to be one of the most appealing (short) extras from the French disc is indeed on the R1 version. Congratulations to SONY for including it as it would have been an enormous disappointment had they dropped it.

Music Montage-

The Music of 2046-

Numerology of 2046-

International Exploration poster Gallery- Some great poster art from around the world. Highly recommended for those of you with interest in other countries' poster treatment of this film-

Previews for other Sony releases-

Clearly, at least in my opinion the US disc is better!! You get the deleted scenes and the alternate ending in addition to everything else. Plus everything valuble from the UK disc is on the US disc.

Hope this helps,
Pro-B

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 15 Dec 2005, 19:58

Is the US disc uncut, compared to the UK disc Pro-B?

BTW, welcome to Bullets

pro-bassoonist · Post by **pro-bassoonist** » 15 Dec 2005, 21:35

I am certainly not aware of any cuts!!

Thank you for the warm welcome...but we already know each other don't we?

Ciao,
Pro-B

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 16 Dec 2005, 10:28

Hi pro-bassoonist, Thanks for commenting to this thread. I was the original poster, i didn't want to copy and paste the whole review, just in case the review got upset. So i only copied and paste a small portion concerning the video. Well it looks like i am going for the R1 release

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 16 Dec 2005, 23:55

Thanks for the extra info Pro-B that's very useful.

Just quickly are you able to post the duration/length of:

* Behind the Scenes of 2046
* Deleted Scenes and an Alternate Ending
* Crossed Looks: Interviews with Tony Leung, Kar Wai, and Zhang Ziyi

To get an idea of how good they are. For example the Wong Kar-wai interview on the Tartan UK R2 is a decent length at 16 minutes but if the interviews on the R1 are 30 seconds each then that doesn't add up to much.

Plus everything valuble from the UK disc is on the US disc.

The extras looks completely different as far as I can tell???

I agree deleted scenes add a lot and hearing from Tony Leung as well as Zhang Ziyi means something too.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 22 Dec 2005, 18:42

DVD Beaver now have a R1 vs. UK R2 comparison:

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReview6/2046.htm

You can clearly see the better UK R2 PQ but as DVD Beaver state it's very minute. It's worth reading the DVD Beaver notes on the R1. The R1 does have much better extras:

• Behind the Scenes of 2046 (36:20 /16:9) - I suspect this is the same Making Of. from the HK DVD!
• Deleted Scenes and Alternate Ending
- Black Spider visits Chow (5:03/ widescreen/4:3)
- The Android Visits the Writer (4:09 / 16:9)
- Alternate Ending - The Writer Visits the Future Bar (:40/ widescreen 4:3)
• Crossed Looks - interviews with Zhang Ziyi, Tony Leung and Wong Kar-wai (16:17 / 4:3) - The Zhang Ziyi interviews are the same ones from the R4 LE
• Anatomy of Memories (4:49 / 16:9)
• Music Montage (7:05/ 16:0)
• Numerology of 2046 (15 click thru static screens with images and text)
• International Exploration poster gallery (57 posters in click-through format)

I've updated my WKW DVD comparison (above) to reflect the change to the R1 being better.

You decide slightly better PQ + DTS or better extras! I'd go with the R1.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 22 Dec 2005, 22:02

Is the Tartan the 'extended edition'?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 25 Dec 2005, 01:47

There is no such thing.

The Mainland Chinese DVD was cut and the rest are the Theatrical Cut. This cut has been wrongly labelled as the extended cut it is not, the Mainland Chinese DVD is a shorter cut though.

But yes it is the same cut as the R1, French R2 and R4.

pro-bassoonist · Post by **pro-bassoonist** » 25 Dec 2005, 08:33

Dear Bradavon and others:

I have been performing some serious tests with the audio mix on the Sony R1 compared to the French metal 2DVD coffret which I own and it appears that the Cantonese 5.1 track has a very different integrity when compared to both the French and UK Tartan discs. I will have a final breakdown on all version (excluding the Australian one) tomorrow night-Sunday-USA time. The investigation was prompted by a Canadian French reviewer who is a member at DVDTALK...an since DVDBEAVER hardly even talks about the issue look here:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=449369

It is not a matter of a defective Cantonese 5.1 track but certainly a mix that lacks the fluidity of the Cantonese track from the French disc.

Complete update should be up tomorrow night.

Merry Christmas to all of you!!

Ciao,
Pro-B

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 25 Dec 2005, 08:40

As I have said on the previous 2046 thread, the 5.1 remix on the french disc was supervised by the sound mixing crew that did the original theatrical mix.

Any disc using the same remix (Tartan UK) is likely to be a port from the french disc.

EDIT:
Detailed specs and picture comparison here:
https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... c&start=20

pro-bassoonist · Post by **pro-bassoonist** » 25 Dec 2005, 20:01

I am aware that the French sound mix was supervised by the same crew that mixed the film before Cannes....you could see that in my comments at DVDTALK. But I also want to point out to you that the French master is indeed the only one that was approved by Wong-Kar Wai...therefore any print/DVD not offering the greenish tint automatically should be dropped off from the comparisons we have been running (with other words regardless of how sharp the R3 disc os the color scheme is off...therefore the choice is obvious).

Ciao,
Pro-B

pro-bassoonist · Post by **pro-bassoonist** » 26 Dec 2005, 08:16

Tom,

I have posted a few of your captures at DVDTALK as I can not currently take captures with my computer...I hope you approve. If not, please let me know and will delet them promptly. I think that they are great in illustrating my final comments.

Pro-B

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 26 Dec 2005, 09:11

No problemo. 8)

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 27 Dec 2005, 01:08

Thanks a lot Tom (as usual) and Pro-B for bringing this to me and the Bullets crowd attention.

Any news on your findings Pro-B?

This is so damn confusing one minute the R4 LE is the best then it goes out of print, then the UK R2 is the best, then the R1 beats it and now it looks like the UK R2 "could" be the best again.

EDIT: I've found your findings:

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php ... ge=2&pp=26

and since DVDBEAVER hardly even talks about the issue look here

This annoys me how DVD Beaver solely concentrate on the Picture Quality.

French metal 2DVD coffret

Not wanting to be pedantic but it's:

'coffered'

I'm only mentioning it as I never knew the word existed until I looked up what it mean on Dictionary.com -

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?r=2&q=coffered

p.s - Tom Don't even think about boasting about the French set

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 27 Dec 2005, 01:24

Thanks Pro-B I've just finished reading your comments on each film and will be recommending the UK R2 (again) to people.

It's a shame as the R1 extras do look nice but the AV quality is of the most importance (I'm sure we can all agree), next comes extras. Besides at the end of the day it's not like the UK R2 is bare-bones.

I'm just pleased I have the lovely R4 LE Tin!

p.s - How dumb of Sony NOT to include the Remastered Cantonese DD5.1.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 27 Dec 2005, 08:03

Brad wrote:Tom Don't even think about boasting about the French set

Nah don't worry. I've done enough boasting when I created a whole thread about that set.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 27 Dec 2005, 15:40

So you did.

I've been thinking which is better the R4 1 Disc or UK R2, it's down to extras -

* Feature length commentary by WKW expert, this is decent (from the bits I've heard).

OR:

* Interview with director Wong Kar-Wai (UK Exclusive) (16:29)
Interview with actress Zhang Ziyi (11:50)
Zhang Ziyi "behind the scenes" footage (3:04)
"Casta Diva" music video (7:05)
2003 promo (7:00)
Hong Kong teaser trailer (1:23)
Hong Kong theatrical trailer (2:27)
UK theatrical trailer (2:26)
4-page booklet, with film notes by James Mottram

It looks like a lot but really only the two interviews are worth anything, the thing is the commentary is feature length BUT the interviews are from people involved in the film.

What do you guys think???