MoserBaer's Swades out

[Happy_Evil_Dude]

After a release by UTV for the international market mid-August (screenshots here), MoserBaer has now released Ashutosh Gowariker's Swades on Blu-Ray for the Indian market. As usual, price is Rs 799. No idea about special features or quality compared to the UTV release.

PS: After 8 releases, MoserBaer seems more committed to bringing UTV titles on blu-ray than UTV.

[Anurag1700]

Wow Thats great news. Thanks 'Dude'.

Note: I am aware that the quality is not that great according to UTV BD's feedback which should be identical to MB. However just for the love of the film, if this is even remotely beter than DVD, I might pick this one instantly.

[gtcdon]

y no news abt it....wer r the screens and covers...??

[vjmajic2000]

whoever would have wanted this movie would have probably already bought the other version already? might take some time for screenshots im guessing

[Anurag1700]

Not yet out in retail outlets. Only available for buying in MB's official website for now.

Will buy it soon as its out in stores but Anyhow wont be able to post SS as I dont have drive.

[jitubisht]

would love to see the screen shots of this one. would buy in a jiffy!

[dr_vasanth]

I got the MoserBaer version of the Swades BD from Rhythm House in Mumbai, on Oct. 4th evening. Have to find the time to watch it though..

[gtcdon]

Originally Posted by dr_vasanth

I got the MoserBaer version of the Swades BD from Rhythm House in Mumbai, on Oct. 4th evening. Have to find the time to watch it though..

expecting a detailed review + covers + Screens

[kailashu]

Originally Posted by dr_vasanth

I got the MoserBaer version of the Swades BD from Rhythm House in Mumbai, on Oct. 4th evening. Have to find the time to watch it though..

Can you please post your initial thoughts on PQ and AQ. This is one of my favorite movies. Hope REM releases this in Germany!

[anibap]

One of my favourite as well. Appreciate some feedback. The other version was terrible.

[dr_vasanth]

My cousin who is in India now, has the BD in her possession. She will hand it over to me in the U.S., this weekend. I'll certainly post my impressions as soon as I get it in my hands.

[Justice4None]

Originally Posted by anibap

One of my favourite as well. Appreciate some feedback. The other version was terrible.

This version is not much better if it is at all better that is. The Audio/Video of the Moser Baer BD is rather poor. The Video being poor is not a surprise, but the audio being poor is a shocker.

[Anurag1700]

I just received the Moserbaer version of Swades BD. For one thing is assured if anyone still has a doubt- It is an exact identical replica of UTV version.

[anibap]

Originally Posted by Anurag1700

I just received the Moserbaer version of Swades BD. For one thing is assured if anyone still has a doubt- It is an exact identical replica of UTV version.

This is quite disappointing Asutosh's finest and the only SRK movie I liked with such a bad treatment on BD

[Anurag1700]

Originally Posted by anibap

This is quite disappointing Asutosh's finest and the only SRK movie I liked with such a bad treatment on BD

I very well understand the feeling when your fav movie goes into docks in HD format. I am also a big fan of the film. I just finished the blu ray and here are some comments if it helps u and anyone anyway.

The Blu Ray authoring is in-your-face a rush job as already mentioned by someone. All the places that frames shake and are unstable on dvd do the same here as well which tels us that the source is the same. And who the heck is the person marking chapters so abruptly between the scenes? If such a simple thing as marking them at the same place as the dvd can not be done properly by the author, then accompanied by the hair strand and condition of censor certificate, it is a proof of the careless way the BD has been authored.

There are instances of edge enhancement as well as DNR. The big letdown unfortunately is the opening shot of the film in which 'Google earth' is zoomed to goddard space center. This looks very bad and unstable. Many may get a heart break and abandon the disc here itself. However given that this a very detailed and fast shot requiring a professional transfer (which obviously MB does not do), one needs to be patient to realise that the rest of the film in motion which is never so fast (infact this is one of the slowest movies ever), looks actually tolerable (if not likable ) on the BD. We may give the credit to the default advantage of BD over dvd. Not to mention it does not have any 'tweaked-authoring' error (because nobody cared to tweak the video parameters) and so rest assured it is still not the worst BD as it is touted.

On the plus side, there is digital noise present in some scenes , which if mistaken for grain can make the BD look in many places a bit 'filmic' as well for some. The colors are a little bit saturated but not to the point of distraction from the intended look of the film and adds certain beauty to to the village colors and NASA outlooks quite well temporarily. More than anything else, I like the framing of BD which I am sure someone has corrected in view of the wrong framing the dvd had got with black bars on both the sides throughout the film. This would have involved a bit of cropping but nothing worth noticing. Please note that thus is not a YRF/KJO kind of film that requires detailing for Larger than life 'spectacle' shots. Thanks to the simplicity of the cinematography, the corrected framing makes the film look acceptable for BD standards.

I disagree to the audio aspects mentioned by some people here. I find it having a very good DTS HD MA. This is much louder and better than the dvd audio . One of the very good front heavy tracks I have listened to on BD in recent times are here. Add to that AR rehman's scoring and music, it feels very nice see my subwoofer getting a workout even in soft songs like 'saawariya'.

It is very difficult to recommend this BD to even the fans of the film, so forget the BD enthusiasts. However if you can live with the carelessnes of transfer as mentioned above and are looking for a better framing, and good audio quality of the film, this one will not disappoint, however will not impress either.

[kailashu]

Originally Posted by Anurag1700

I very well understand the feeling when your fav movie goes into docks in HD format. I am also a big fan of the film. I just finished the blu ray and here are some comments if it helps u and anyone anyway.

The Blu Ray authoring is in-your-face a rush job as already mentioned by someone. All the places that frames shake and are unstable on dvd do the same here as well which tels us that the source is the same. And who the heck is the person marking chapters so abruptly between the scenes? If such a simple thing as marking them at the same place as the dvd can not be done properly by the author, then accompanied by the hair strand and condition of censor certificate, it is a proof of the careless way the BD has been authored.

There are instances of edge enhancement as well as DNR. The big letdown unfortunately is the opening shot of the film in which 'Google earth' is zoomed to goddard space center. This looks very bad and unstable. Many may get a heart break and abandon the disc here itself. However given that this a very detailed and fast shot requiring a professional transfer (which obviously MB does not do), one needs to be patient to realise that the rest of the film in motion which is never so fast (infact this is one of the slowest movies ever), looks actually tolerable (if not likable ) on the BD. We may give the credit to the default advantage of BD over dvd. Not to mention it does not have any 'tweaked-authoring' error (because nobody cared to tweak the video parameters) and so rest assured it is still not the worst BD as it is touted.

On the plus side, there is digital noise present in some scenes , which if mistaken for grain can make the BD look in many places a bit 'filmic' as well for some. The colors are a little bit saturated but not to the point of distraction from the intended look of the film and adds certain beauty to to the village colors and NASA outlooks quite well temporarily. More than anything else, I like the framing of BD which I am sure someone has corrected in view of the wrong framing the dvd had got with black bars on both the sides throughout the film. This would have involved a bit of cropping but nothing worth noticing. Please note that thus is not a YRF/KJO kind of film that requires detailing for Larger than life 'spectacle' shots. Thanks to the simplicity of the cinematography, the corrected framing makes the film look acceptable for BD standards.

I disagree to the audio aspects mentioned by some people here. I find it having a very good DTS HD MA. This is much louder and better than the dvd audio . One of the very good front heavy tracks I have listened to on BD in recent times are here. Add to that AR rehman's scoring and music, it feels very nice see my subwoofer getting a workout even in soft songs like 'saawariya'.

It is very difficult to recommend this BD to even the fans of the film, so forget the BD enthusiasts. However if you can live with the carelessnes of transfer as mentioned above and are looking for a better framing, and good audio quality of the film, this one will not disappoint, however will not impress either.

Thanks for the review! Much appreciated. No buy for me. I would rather spend the money on some of the upcoming Hollywood releases like Alien Anthology, Inception etc.

[HINDIBLUERAY]

Thank you for the review.. I had this title in my shopping cart.. I'll now cancel.

[dr_vasanth]

I second Anurag1700's review. I got the Moser Baer version of this blu-ray hoping against hope that it wouldn't be a repeat of UTV's reported fiasco. What else can I say? It is one of my favorite movies and I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. The disappointment was all the more of a stark contrast for me as I had watched the Criterion release of 'The Thin Red Line' on BD, just before I watched this movie. The difference was night and day. While the 1998 film was PERFECTION all the way through, this rendition of the 2004 film is certainly not gonna be the Prodigal son's (Moser Baer) comeback vehicle

[Anurag1700]

Guys, just had a chance to compare UTV and MB Blu rays played back on my BD player and thot of sharing my thoughts, if it concerns anyone.

MB version is actually slightly better than UTV version. Although in SS they both look alike because the source is the same. The key reason for difference being that MB does not have any extras or even the extras disc, while in UTV, they have included all SD extras (that were on the 2nd disc of 2DVD edition) on the Blu ray. This I guess for UTV has resulted in lesser space for main feature resulted in inferior compression - delivering horrible artifacts that are visible even to the blind. MB version seems to have utilized more space for the main feature and pixellation at least is hardly there on their version. Special mention for the amount of Edge enhancement, contrast boost, and Artificial noise(due to the boost) : These factor are comparatively and NOTICEABLY lesser on the MB version. Still this does not deny the fact that UTV DVD version actually had the most appropriate contrast levels for this film and either BD version is still relatively overblown.

The variation is somewhat similar to the quality variance between KJO movies BDs by Yashraj v/s Sony (which i myself compared in a separate thread) - Source is the same and hence SS are same but the video parameters are differently treated.

I know its quite an old thread but i honestly consider this film to be one of the most remarkable films of Indian cinema as well as for myself and anyone who cares to have it in the best available HD format, MB version is the one to go for. MB BD is still not good enough to be called even 'good' but when it comes to a film of this significance, something is better than nothing.

[anibap]

Anurag,

Thanks for your post and the comparison on the Moser Baer and UTV version. Disappointed to know that the new version is not better that the old one.

I was holding onto this comparison but after reading your post, I will buy the Moser Baer version during my trip to India this month.