Which filmmakers care the most about HD presentations of their movies?

[El_Jay]

I want to use this thread to bring attention to the filmmakers who always get involved in the process of bringing their movies to home video.

Which filmmakers consistently go out of their way to get involved in the process and make sure the Blu-rays of their films are of the highest quality?

Certain filmmakers get involved in the process when they really have to (Ridley for Gladiator remaster, James Cameron for Avatar), but are there any filmmakers who make a point of going the extra mile for all of their films?

[Atreyu]

It seems to me Stephen Spielberg cares.
I would also say Peter Jackson, but that is up for debate on the EE of Lord Of The Rings.

[Mr. Movie Fan]

David Fincher cares. No one else seems to get involved.

[al cos.]

Ridley, Spielberg, Fincher, and unfortunately for French Connection, Friedkin.

[bboisvert]

Albert Pyun

[42041]

Spielberg, Fincher, Cameron, Michael Mann, Ridley Scott, and Baz Luhrmann have all supervised fancy new transfers of their films specifically for blu-ray.

I'll also add a studio that seems to put great care into most things they release: Sony Pictures.

[dvdmike]

Pretty much all of the above, and I would add Tony Scott

[stobbart]

More would probably care, but you have to think if the studio or distributor is willing to pay people besides the ones listed to come in and oversee their films.

Also, who is to say that its not in these peoples contracts to approve home video formats of their films.

Coppola obviously cares about his because they are self-financed and he sits down and goes over them for the whole process. I really don't think Spielberg or Jackson sit down and work on their films for months at a time for the blu-ray release

Who knows, maybe the director of Norbit and Meet Dave would love to sit down and do painstaking restorations and extended cuts of those films, but is anyone going to pay him to do that? No.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by stobbart

More would probably care, but you have to think if the studio or distributor is willing to pay people besides the ones listed to come in and oversee their films.

Also, who is to say that its not in these peoples contracts to approve home video formats of their films.

Coppola obviously cares about his because they are self-financed and he sits down and goes over them for the whole process. I really don't think Spielberg or Jackson sit down and work on their films for months at a time for the blu-ray release

Most directors have a go to guy for that, Van Ling, David Prior, Charles De Lauzirika, Robert Burnett etc.
But a few, Cameron for example has it in his contracts to approve the master and for it to be THX certified.
Spielberg has even dropped his DTS only requirement of late.

[El_Jay]

Originally Posted by stobbart

More would probably care, but you have to think if the studio or distributor is willing to pay people besides the ones listed to come in and oversee their films.

Also, who is to say that its not in these peoples contracts to approve home video formats of their films.

Coppola obviously cares about his because they are self-financed and he sits down and goes over them for the whole process. I really don't think Spielberg or Jackson sit down and work on their films for months at a time for the blu-ray release

Yeah, "care" probably wasn't the best word, I just wanted to point out the filmmakers who have gone to the greatest lengths to ensure quality of their BD releases. Coppola is a good choice. Apocalypse Now and The Godfather trilogy are both excellently restored and look great (considering the source).

I'm sure shooting schedules often get in the way of a director's involvement in a BD transfer, which would explain why Ridley wasn't initially involved in Gladiator, but got involved in the process when it turned into such a fiasco.

There must be filmmakers who are BD geeks like us, surely.

[frogmort]

When I first saw this thread on the homepage list, the first name that popped into my mind was Steven Spielberg. The three movies of his that I have on blu-ray; Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Minority Report, and War of the Worlds are incredible transfers that look very "filmic", and all three have spectacular sound quality. They may not be the most cutting-edge razor-sharp movies on blu-ray, but they really give me that "at the movie theater" type of experience, which is so incredibly cool.

[HD Goofnut]

Spielberg, Scorcese, Fincher, and Scott seem to care a great deal about their work.

[dvdmike]

Zack Snyder too

[HD Goofnut]

I wish McTiernan did so we could get a better version of Predator and a U.S. release of The 13th Warrior.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

I wish McTiernan did so we could get a better version of Predator and a U.S. release of The 13th Warrior.

People thinking there is a problem with the first edition is the reason the Hunter edition exists.
I also think he has other things on his mind

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

People thinking there is a problem with the first edition is the reason the Hunter edition exists.
I also think he has other things on his mind

The first release was not bad, but I imagine with a new master and a VC-1 or AVC encode that it would be much improved.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

The first release was not bad, but I imagine with a new master and a VC-1 or AVC encode that it would be much improved.

People still using VC-1 need to be shot, its always almost used when they want a low rate

[blufellas]

Scorsese Taxi Driver

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by blufellas

Scorsese Taxi Driver

But that was not up to him and Goodfellas looks like an old HDTV master, Taxi Driver was Sony putting the cash in.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by El_Jay

So glad I didn't listen to all these kinds of comments and bought the thing anyway.

The source material holds it back, but the transfer is not bad at all. Might be a little too EE'd, but there isn't DNR suffocating all the facial features and fabric textures, black levels are deep without a lot of crushing, contrast is pretty consistent.

Want to see what an HDTV master looks like? Track down the Canadian edition of Requiem for a Dream.

I think part of the problem is that people are so spoiled by great transfers that anything that sucks even a little gets tarred and feathered.

To truly appreciate greatness, you must fully experience suck, which is why I recommend that version of Requiem.

I own it and it looks just like the HDTV version, it is an old 2k master and it is 35mm so there is no excuse bar cost that it does not look like one of the best.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCom...goodfellas.htm

Plus added typical Warner high pass filtering

And blocking: