The Plague Dogs (1982) Screenbound Pictures

[emmet otter]

The Plague Dogs
Does anyone know how this compares to the US Shout Factory version? It was just released this August. It appears to be similar in terms of specs but the audio I believe is lossless on the UK release.

[benkell]

Can anybody who has bought this release comment on the PQ/AQ and to reiterate what the previous poster asked, how it stacks up against the SF release?

The price for this has never really dropped much and i have found Screenbound releases to be a bit underwhelming in the past.

[benkell]

On sale today at £7.99 + p&p with Classic Films Direct.

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by emmet otter

The Plague Dogs
Does anyone know how this compares to the US Shout Factory version? It was just released this August. It appears to be similar in terms of specs but the audio I believe is lossless on the UK release.

The audio is lossless on the Shout disc as well, bet the PQ is exactly the same on both.

[benkell]

^
Reply not aimed at me but thanks for the info, i think i'll pull the trigger on this now, didn't fancy paying £16-£17 for a Screenbound release judging by some of their previous efforts.

[NLScavenger]

The Screenbound BD has slightly higher video bitrate for uncut version and lower bitrate for cut version.

Screenbound (24fps) - uncut 28972 kbps / cut 20030 kbps

Shout (23.976fps) - uncut 26986 kbps / cut 30098 kbps


I ordered the Screenbound BD and I can make a comparison with Shout uncut screenshots from caps-a-holic once it arrives here.

[emmet otter]

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

I ordered the Screenbound BD and I can make a comparison with Shout uncut screenshots from caps-a-holic once it arrives here.

Thanks! Will wait for this.

[NLScavenger]

UK BD is region free. No subtitles are included because Screenbound only include them if there is no English audio. Seems like they don't give a hoot about people who rely on subtitles. Surely it wouldn't have been difficult for them to include subtitles?

UK BD uncut version is slightly brighter probably because of some color space conversion issue, but I think the brighter image works better here. Would have liked to see a hybrid cut of uncut and cut remastered footage, but the quality difference would have been very jarring.

US BD - uncut version


UK BD uncut version


UK BD - cut version


Spotted one upscaled shot in cut version which I guess also happens in US BD


UK BD uncut version BDInfo

DISC INFO:

Disc Label:     PLAGUEDOGS
Disc Size:      44,198,653,936 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BDInfo:         0.7.5.5

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00003.MPLS
Length:                 1:42:55.500 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   24,815,898,624 bytes
Total Bitrate:          32.15 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        28972 kbps          1080p / 24 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
LPCM Audio                      English         1536 kbps       2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit

UK BD cut version BDInfo

DISC INFO:

Disc Label:     PLAGUEDOGS
Disc Size:      44,198,653,936 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BDInfo:         0.7.5.5

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00004.MPLS
Length:                 1:25:10.000 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   14,574,145,536 bytes
Total Bitrate:          22.82 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        20030 kbps          1080p / 24 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
LPCM Audio                      English         1536 kbps       2.0 / 48 kHz /  1536 kbps / 16-bit

[slask]

Interesting. Brighter picture looks slightly better indeed, but I think I'll stick to the US bd for the subtitles.

Originally Posted by NLScavenger

Would have liked to see a hybrid cut of uncut and cut remastered footage, but the quality difference would have been very jarring.

Yeah, I guess if the extra scenes are located in various parts of the movie maybe it could've been distracting. But it would've been cool to have the option.
I think I watched the uncut version only, so I'm not aware of where those cuts are.

[NLScavenger]

Originally Posted by slask

Yeah, I guess if the extra scenes are located in various parts of the movie maybe it could've been distracting. But it would've been cool to have the option.
I think I watched the uncut version only, so I'm not aware of where those cuts are.

Looking at the colors, I think the switch could work if Shout bothered to color correct the uncut footage.

cut / uncut / uncut color matched to cut

[cash_black]

Any special features on the uk disc

[hamsterburger]

Originally Posted by cash_black

any special features on the uk disc

This is a scan of the back cover showing what extras are stated to be on the disc

[Show spoiler] the_plague_dogs_blu_ray_import.jpg

[Ikusaone]

So is the UK Bluray better quality wise for the extended cut? Judging by the comparisons I see the colors are more saturated on the Shout Factory release but it's a bit darker while I can't tell through close ups of the screenshots if there is more or less detail as a result of less saturation on the UK release.

[SpaceBlackKnight]

Originally Posted by slask

Interesting. Brighter picture looks slightly better indeed, but I think I'll stick to the US bd for the subtitles.



Yeah, I guess if the extra scenes are located in various parts of the movie maybe it could've been distracting. But it would've been cool to have the option.
I think I watched the uncut version only, so I'm not aware of where those cuts are.

The extended cut was sourced from 35mm UK prints as the OCN was confirmed to the shorter US cut. The SD master of the extended cut used for the DVD release was from a 35mm print owned by Martin Rosen (which had better color and no jumps/splices, but apparently no longer exists nowadays). The HD version used a different, quite faded 35mm print held by the BFI and was missing some frames (due to bad splicing and jumps). The HD master uses a few (very poorly) upscaled sections from the SD master and the quality jumps are quite noticeable.

Curious if the Screenbound BD has proper Stereo audio for the Extended cut? The Shout BD has stereo on the shorter cut, but a mono on the extended. Lets hope Shout's authoring was mistake unless the BFI print was mono only (in which they could have lifted the stereo audio off the SD master of Rosen's 35mm print).