Slither (September 4, 2013)

[gettodamoofies]

Umbrella Entertainment are releasing Slither on September 4. I figured I'd start a thread as one wasn't already up and running and this film is good value.

https://www.umbrellaent.com.au/p-367...r-blu-ray.aspx

Umbrella's site lists it as 1080i. I've confirmed with them that this is correct. The only master currently available is a 1080i master and any releases on the market/going to market soon will be based on the same master so in this case it's a matter of it being as good as it's going to get for the time being. A shame but at least it will finally see Blu-ray and Umbrella do a great job of cult discs for generally excellent prices. Considering only Canada (1080i) and the Netherlands (1080p but with DNR and quite possibly based on the same interlaced master re-purposed into 1080p) have released this ours looks like it will be the one to beat.

Fortunately a truckload of special features are carried over so that will ease the disappointment of it being 1080i also.

[Mobe1969]

Ooh nice!

[LordCrumb]

I tried watching this when it came out on DVD, but couldn't really get into it..

I will give it a second try with the Blu-Ray though.

[Gomephrus]

How does a 1080p Master differ from a 1080i master? I always thought it was a decision at the bluray authoring stage.

[gettodamoofies]

Originally Posted by Gomephrus

How does a 1080p Master differ from a 1080i master? I always thought it was a decision at the bluray authoring stage.

1080i masters are often created for broadcast. As this wasn't a hugely successful film it's possible the only HD master created was one for broadcast and it's simply been re-used for Blu-ray.

[L-Rouge]

I remember that, great slapstick humour. couldn't believe how large that nested chick became :O.

[Gomephrus]

Originally Posted by atexp80

1080i masters are often created for broadcast. As this wasn't a hugely successful film it's possible the only HD master created was one for broadcast and it's simply been re-used for Blu-ray.

Makes sense, thanks.

[gettodamoofies]

Snatched this one up in JB's B2G1F sale with the 20% off. Really looking forward to rewatching it! For now here's a BDInfo scan, bitrate graph and some screenshots.

                                                                                                                Total   Video                                             
Title                                                           Codec   Length  Movie Size      Disc Size       Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track                          Secondary Audio Track
-----                                                           ------  ------- --------------  --------------  ------- ------- ------------------                        ---------------------
00004.MPLS                                                      AVC     1:35:35 17,658,175,488  21,302,680,721  24.63   20.51   Dolby TrueHD 5.1 1315Kbps (48kHz/16-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     Slither
Disc Size:      21,302,680,721 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BD-Java:        Yes
BDInfo:         0.5.8

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00004.MPLS
Length:                 1:35:35.196 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   17,658,175,488 bytes
Total Bitrate:          24.63 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        20506 kbps          1080i / 29.970 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
Dolby TrueHD Audio              English         1315 kbps       5.1 / 48 kHz / 1315 kbps / 16-bit (AC3 Embedded: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps)
Dolby Digital Audio             English         192 kbps        2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------   
00004.M2TS      0:00:00.000     1:35:35.196     17,658,175,488  24,631          

CHAPTERS:

Number          Time In         Length          Avg Video Rate  Max 1-Sec Rate  Max 1-Sec Time  Max 5-Sec Rate  Max 5-Sec Time  Max 10Sec Rate  Max 10Sec Time  Avg Frame Size  Max Frame Size  Max Frame Time  
------          -------         ------          --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  
1               0:00:00.000     1:35:35.196     20,506 kbps     31,089 kbps     00:01:23.383    28,511 kbps     00:31:32.957    26,966 kbps     00:02:08.928    85,527 bytes    379,432 bytes   00:10:01.300    

STREAM DIAGNOSTICS:

File            PID             Type            Codec           Language                Seconds                 Bitrate                 Bytes           Packets         
----            ---             ----            -----           --------                --------------          --------------          -------------   -----           
00004.M2TS      4113 (0x1011)   0x1B            AVC                                     5735.096                20,506                  14,700,729,730  79,995,972      
00004.M2TS      4352 (0x1100)   0x83            TrueHD          eng (English)           5735.096                1,955                   1,401,407,206   10,821,681      
00004.M2TS      4353 (0x1101)   0x81            AC3             eng (English)           5735.096                192                     137,765,376     896,910

[Show spoiler]

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For those importing it appears it may be near identical to the Canadian disc with the exception of additional audio options. Same special features, identical bitrate and although 1080i it's actually 1080/60i and not 1080/50i so will play back just fine on any equipment that has issues with 50i material. I'll post once I've checked the region coding.

As an aside, if you rate Slither then you might like James Gunn's other collaboration with Nathan Fillion - the killer PG Porn. I'm having difficulty tracking down their episode which was the first one. Saw it a bunch of times when it was first released but now it seems to have all but disappeared from everywhere. Classic stuff!

[gettodamoofies]

Despite being region A friendly in terms of the 1080i image being 1080/60i this one is B locked folks so you'll still need a region free/changeable player to watch this one.

[RickWJ324]

For this movie I actually converted my hd-dvd to blu-ray instead of re-buying it on blu. The HD-DVD is 1.85:1 widescreen, 1080p/VC-1 encoded transfer and from what I've heard is superior to the blu.

[Villan]

I've also got the HD-DVD of this guilty pleasure and it is very good. Even an exact copy of that ancient 1080p transfer would be good enough.

Disappointing that so many years later we couldn't even get that.

[Shemp]

Picked this up on the weekend at JB during their 20% sale. A bit too much DNR applied for my liking and not a huge improvement over the upscaled US DVD.

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by RickWJ324

For this movie I actually converted my hd-dvd to blu-ray instead of re-buying it on blu. The HD-DVD is 1.85:1 widescreen, 1080p/VC-1 encoded transfer and from what I've heard is superior to the blu.

I don't see why you needed to convert the HD-DVD release to blu-ray, when they're both high definition formats, and the results are going to be exactly the same. If you have a 1080p HD-DVD player, then your duplication was totally unnecessary. Slither is already in 1080p on HD-DVD!

[gettodamoofies]

Originally Posted by Shemp

Picked this up on the weekend at JB during their 20% sale. A bit too much DNR applied for my liking and not a huge improvement over the upscaled US DVD.

Seriously? I've got the local DVD and I can't see why that would be worse than the US one and there are significant improvements in all areas - detail, colour handling, compression artefacts. It may not be the most razor sharp image but I think implying it's barely better than a DVD is hyperbole. I'm also not detecting too much DNR - sure there's a little but if anything it's a general level of softness which I presume is coming from the fact that it's an older master. Some were also obviously source related - there were a few shots including one really obvious one with Michael Rooker where the camera simply wasn't in focus. Despite all this there was still plenty of natural grain on show and I think for the price it's a solid release. Beats the pants of the tripe that Universal would try to pass off - old masters with baked in edge enhancement or DNR (or both) and no special features. At $8.53 over the weekend that's a bargain price for a title that was released less than two weeks ago.

[RickWJ324]

Originally Posted by slimdude

I don't see why you needed to convert the HD-DVD release to blu-ray, when they're both high definition formats, and the results are going to be exactly the same. If you have a 1080p HD-DVD player, then your duplication was totally unnecessary. Slither is already in 1080p on HD-DVD!

Because I got rid of my 2 HD-DVD players ages ago! I kept all of the discs that are still not on blu (or ones that are better looking than the Blu-ray counterparts). I converted them so that they can play back in my Blu-ray players (which I have many of around the house). So, I did it for convenience. They are easily converted with no re-authoring necessary and fit on a bd-25 nicely.

I'm NOT advocating piracy...just converted discs I already own so that they will play back on my Blu-ray players. I still own the original HD-DVD discs, but they are tucked away in a closet now.

--Rick

[FilmFanSam]

Happy to see it got a release in Australia. I bit the bullet and bought the Canadian release a while back. James Gunn is a legend. He was once married to Jenna Fischer you know! (who also makes a minor appearance in this as the sheriff's receptionist!)

[tylergfoster]

I would import a 1080p Universal Blu of Slither, but this doesn't look very good to me. (Possibly just .jpg compression, though.)

[gettodamoofies]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

I would import a 1080p Universal Blu of Slither, but this doesn't look very good to me. (Possibly just .jpg compression, though.)

Mine aren't jpegs, they're lossless pngs. As for the picture quality, it's reasonable but not perfect. I didn't notice any visible combing artefacts so even though it's interlaced it's OK. If you're getting it cheap (which it was on sale for a very good price) then it's well worth an upgrade. The increased resolution and detail over the DVD is significant and the lossless audio is welcomed.

Universal don't appear to have any interest in the film which is why they've licensed it out to others to release. I wouldn't pin your hopes on them doing a US release any time soon. For now ours seems to be the best release in terms of content and price.

[cornbread_1788]

Originally Posted by atexp80

Mine aren't jpegs, they're lossless pngs. As for the picture quality, it's reasonable but not perfect. I didn't notice any visible combing artefacts so even though it's interlaced it's OK. If you're getting it cheap (which it was on sale for a very good price) then it's well worth an upgrade. The increased resolution and detail over the DVD is significant and the lossless audio is welcomed.

Universal don't appear to have any interest in the film which is why they've licensed it out to others to release. I wouldn't pin your hopes on them doing a US release any time soon. For now ours seems to be the best release in terms of content and price.

DOes this come with all the extras the DVD & HD-DVD had?

[gettodamoofies]

Originally Posted by cornbread_1788

DOes this come with all the extras the DVD & HD-DVD had?

Not sure what was on the HD-DVD but the special features are as listed on the back cover:

[Show spoiler]