The Driver (Walter Hill)

[pro-bassoonist]

The Driver Blu-ray REVIEW



The release appears to have been sourced from the same excellent master Canal worked with. It has the uncut version of the film. However, for some strange reason, the film is encoded in 1080/50i.

The big bonus here is the archival footage from the shooting of the film. The Driver is one my all-time favorite films so it is good to have/see more about its history.





Pro-B

[tenia]

I guess it's in 1080i/50 because it allows for one master for BD, DVD, TV and VoD to handle. It prevents having to resync the subs at 2 different speeds and adjusting the soundtracks pitch if needed.

For small independant structures (like I imagine Showshank to be), it avoids oncosts due to the handling of 2 different speeds, despite the end result being progressive anyway.

Personally, it's a choice I loathe. If you do a BD release, do it right or don't do it. 25fps is the frame rate of video, not cinema.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by tenia

I guess it's in 1080i/50 because it allows for one master for BD, DVD, TV and VoD to handle.

This isn't a scenario that makes sense because the master wasn't prepared by The Corporation -- they licensed it from another party. It would have made sense if they did it and then covered all bases for the reason you mention.

Pro-B

[tenia]

If they only receive a 24p HD master, the label has to turn the 24p HD master to 25 fps for DVD, VOD and TV anyway. They can very well use the outputted 25fps file for BD too and save time and money.

There was a time where TF1 Video would very often encode their BDs in 1080i50, including movies they shouldn't like The Ghost Writer, Law Abiding Citizen, Grindhouse and others.

When Nils Hoffet took the management, he changed that to respect the right frame rate, but that generated oncosts and needed more ressources. They manage it now, but it has an impact since they have to generate a 25 fps workflow but also keep the 24p one for the BD.

Things like this wouldn't happen if France would use more often NTSC framerate (they could for DVD, just like some labels do in the UK), and I don't think there's a lot of reason preventing VOD to be at 24 fps, but I guess TV screenings would need 25fps anyway.

[pro-bassoonist]

I don't believe you understood what I was trying to explain to you

The Corporation did not create the master for The Driver. They licensed it for their Blu-ray release from another party.

Your post implies that having the transfer in 1080/50i (which is actually progressive) would be easier because it would serve different distribution options -- which implies that you think that The Corporation is the one and only party in charge with BD, DVD, TV and VoD distribution of this title. This is most certainly not the case.

And there is absolutely nothing time-consuming about creating a 1080/50i encode. A couple of clicks is all you need to do.

Pro-B