Peter M. Bracke (HDD) gives American Gangster on HD DUD a bad review

[unreal1080p]

Now I've seen it all! The LAST title to bring any glimmer of hope to the DUDS and Peter Bracke trashes it

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/1292/...ngangster.html

This HD DVD felt like a middle-of-the-road effort to me as well. Where's the extended cut of the film? The high-res audio? All the extras from the two-disc DVD edition? 'American Gangster' should have been Universal's flagship title for the season, but it instead feels like a mere warm-up for a future double dip. Unless you're a huge fan of the film, just give this one a rent.

The funny thing is that his advice is "give it a rent"
With Netflix going Blu-Ray exclusive... that's kinda like telling a guy with no legs to go take a walk

For some reason I'm reminded of this movie scene:
--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghcv0bvzsCA (forward to 2:35)

[Shin-Ra]

Looks incredibly soft to me.

In the areas that aren't spoilt by compression artifacts on the DVD, there isn't that much difference in resolution between the two.

[BLU for Blue]

Originally Posted by unreal1080p

Now I've seen it all! The LAST title to bring any glimmer of hope to the DUDS and Peter Bracke trashes it

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/1292/...ngangster.html



The funny thing is that his advice is "give it a rent"
With Netflix going Blu-Ray exclusive... that's kinda like telling a guy with no legs to go take a walk

For some reason I'm reminded of this movie scene:
--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ghcv0bvzsCA (forward to 2:35)

Actually thats wrong. Beowulf comes out the week after. And they still have CLoverfield. I dont know why people that are buying it wouldnt just buy it on HD DVD. If you dont have an HD player, its a combo disc, if you do, it works both ways

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by BLU for Blue

Actually thats wrong. Beowulf comes out the week after. And they still have CLoverfield.

Neither Beowulf nor Cloverfield have broken $100 million. Cloverfield was very profitable for Paramount only because it was so cheap.

I dont know why people that are buying it wouldnt just buy it on HD DVD. If you dont have an HD player, its a combo disc, if you do, it works both ways

The HD DVD has no feature-length documentary, and it costs $10 ($7 street) more than the DVD, for an HD DVD side that, if you don't have an HD DVD player by now, won't probably get played ever.

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by Grubert

Neither Beowulf nor Cloverfield have broken $100 million. Cloverfield was very profitable for Paramount only because it was so cheap.



The HD DVD has no feature-length documentary, and it costs $10 ($7 street) more than the DVD, for an HD DVD side that, if you don't have an HD DVD player by now, won't probably get played ever.

I would still like to have Cloverfield on BD How have Universal's transfers been on HD-DVD? Have they been pushing HD audio?

[Grubert]

Originally Posted by Bullseye

I would still like to have Cloverfield on BD How have Universal's transfers been on HD-DVD? Have they been pushing HD audio?

They started with a very high average picture quality (with obvious exceptions such as Traffic and Spartacus), but began slipping as of mid-2007. For example, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind looks very nice, but Being John Malkovich is flat and undefined. If and when Universal goes purple/blu, some Universal titles I recommend are:

- Seabiscuit
- Ray
- The Thing
- The Deer Hunter

The Chronicles of Riddick looks good as well, but the movie sucks IMO.

They have been using TrueHD increasingly - except when they run out of room (eg The Kingdom).

[jd213]

Originally Posted by Shin-Ra

Looks incredibly soft to me.

In the areas that aren't spoilt by compression artifacts on the DVD, there isn't that much difference in resolution between the two.

And yet Bracke gives the video 4 stars, just like he's given favorable reviews to the video of many other poor releases (see the DNR & EE thread on AVS).

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by Grubert

They started with a very high average picture quality (with obvious exceptions such as Traffic and Spartacus), but began slipping as of mid-2007. For example, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind looks very nice, but Being John Malkovich is flat and undefined. If and when Universal goes purple/blu, some Universal titles I recommend are:

- Seabiscuit
- Ray
- The Thing
- The Deer Hunter

The Chronicles of Riddick looks good as well, but the movie sucks IMO.

They have been using TrueHD increasingly - except when they run out of room (eg The Kingdom).

What about the Bourne trilogy?

[scook]

I did want to see this but it sure is nice to see the HD Dud release get horrible reviews. It's not the film itself that seemed that bad but how they comented on the HD Release was classic:

Final Thoughts

'American Gangster' is Ridley Scott's hoped-for 'Godfather,' but it comes across as little more than second-rate Scorsese. It's an entertaining film, but largely derivative of other mob movies and has little new to say, either about its characters or organized crime. This HD DVD felt like a middle-of-the-road effort to me as well. Where's the extended cut of the film? The high-res audio? All the extras from the two-disc DVD edition? 'American Gangster' should have been Universal's flagship title for the season, but it instead feels like a mere warm-up for a future double dip. Unless you're a huge fan of the film, just give this one a rent.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/1292/...ngangster.html

[Wreck]

I mark for Denzel, and the movie is pretty cool, but its too hyped, and its far from a classic like Scarface, I've seen the movie, and could care less when it comes to Blu, sure I'll pick it up, but im not fiending for it like some other titles, plus the title is cheesy.

[Minimejer05]

LOL at HD DVD. I will be buying the 3 disc DVD.

[nhaase]

I think the big thing is that it's yet another big-name HD DVD release w/out HD audio.

[CassilineKnight]

Lol thats pretty horrible.

I mean I want Bluray to win now but if HD DVD isn't even going to put up a real fight then why the hell are they releasing these movies? Waste of time, money, and effort.

[Blu Titan]

I have not watched the movie, but I do not pay much attention to what critics say. I would buy it, if it were available in Blu.

[cking2729]

That's impossible, because Peter M. Bracke is a biased idiot HD-DVD fanboy who hates Blu Ray and loves M$ and Toshiba and has been paid off. Err at least that's all you hear here when a Blu-Ray gets a less than stellar review from him, or he touts HD-DVD's special features.

[Grubert]

It's an entertaining film, but largely derivative of other mob movies and has little new to say, either about its characters or organized crime.

Come to think of it, what's the last time Ridley Scott had something new to say? For a long time I've been convinced that Blade Runner was a fluke. Everything else is deeply superficial (if you pardon the oxymoron).

[MatrixS2000]

Originally Posted by unreal1080p

The funny thing is that his advice is "give it a rent"
With Netflix going Blu-Ray exclusive... that's kinda like telling a guy with no legs to go take a walk

Too funny....

Maybe all the red ants will now start to get how big the Netflix announcement was.

[Bullseye]

Originally Posted by cking2729

That's impossible, because Peter M. Bracke is a biased idiot HD-DVD fanboy who hates Blu Ray and loves M$ and Toshiba and has been paid off. Err at least that's all you hear here when a Blu-Ray gets a less than stellar review from him, or he touts HD-DVD's special features.

In a way I understand your sarcasm but you do realise the Peter gave Transformers 5/5 for audio which had neither TrueHD or a PCM track. He also asked why and was told there was not enough space for both extras and a HD audio track. So while I believe he is not a HD-DVD shill he should have know better than to award a 5/5 for that movie with the niggling question “How would PCM or TrueHD have sounded”.

[stockstar1138]

if you guys wanna go back a couple thousand threads. i went and saw this in a digital cinema and i came back the next day and said that the PQ was going to be bad. Its nothing to do with the transfer, it looked like crap in the cinema too.

[Sonny]

Alot of Uni transfers are of very poor quality & would never pass "our" Blu-ray eyes!