Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Well, that's also a movie that will disappoint/piss-off Joe Consumer if it looks anything less than phenomenal and the studio knows it.



.

Please explain Gladiator.

[Batman1980]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Please explain Gladiator.

I only got it because it was $20 and one of my top 50 movies of all-time, I do fully intend to upgrade if they ever release a better transfer though.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

Please explain Gladiator.

Gladiator is hugely popular, but I don't think it's popularly thought of as a pinnacle of technical presentation the way SPR is.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Gladiator is hugely popular, but I don't think it's popularly thought of as a pinnacle of technical presentation the way SPR is.

Not the explanation I was hoping for.

[Jeff Kleist]

Which leads to this question. Hypothetically, if Spielberg was the director of Gladiator, and he was busy filming Robin Hood, would that BD have gone out with the current transfer? I would assume absolutely not.

Legally they can use any master they so desire, so long as he approved it at some point

I think the difference is that Spielberg is very hands on with all aspects of his movies, including the home video release. Gladiator was very much just a rehash of existing assetts. I'm personally satisfied that the blowback has had its desired effect

[Batman1980]

This is not meant to be insulting. The truth is I imagine the majority of blu purchases are not made by people like you and me. They're probably made by people who get it because they hear it's the best without doing any research into whether or not the blu-ray transfer was done well. Gladiator is such a popular movie, it probably would've done nearly as well, even if a lot more people knew beforehand that the transfer was sub-par.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Legally they can use any master they so desire, so long as he approved it at some point

I think the difference is that Spielberg is very hands on with all aspects of his movies, including the home video release. Gladiator was very much just a rehash of existing assetts. I'm personally satisfied that the blowback has had its desired effect

Am I reading too much into that, if I were to say that, THATS the explanation I was looking for?

[horseflesh]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Thank you so much, Jeff. Your efforts here are appreciated. We need to set a positive precedent for the entire Ghibli range.

I'd also love to see the original Japanese credits option from the DVDs make its way over to BD, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Seconded, thanks for asking them Jeff.
As a matter of interest, if the current plan is for no Japanese lossless track would they have already pressed "Go" on disc production? i.e. is it to late to fix it?
Will John Lasseter not be pissed off if someone has screwed up??

[Jeff Kleist]

It's not necessarily too late to fix it, but you're right it's probably close.

[micks_address]

Hi Jeff,

So do you think a new version of Gladiator might be in the wings? I guess it didnt take Disney to long to come out with a new version of Gangs of New york.. which from what i hear is a marked improvement over the original release...

Cheers,
Mick

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Legally they can use any master they so desire, so long as he approved it at some point

I think the difference is that Spielberg is very hands on with all aspects of his movies, including the home video release. Gladiator was very much just a rehash of existing assetts. I'm personally satisfied that the blowback has had its desired effect

[Jeff Kleist]

So do you think a new version of Gladiator might be in the wings? I guess it didnt take Disney to long to come out with a new version of Gangs of New york.. which from what i hear is a marked improvement over the original release...

Well, a 10th anniversary year would be a great time for a corrected reissue and a new promotion

[Esox50]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Well, a 10th anniversary year would be a great time for a corrected reissue and a new promotion

Not to mention Scott and Crowe reteaming for Robin Hood in 2010 as well.

The biggest question folks will have is whether the flawed current Sapphire release will be replaced by the studio for those who so desire...

[Pyoko]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Thank you so much, Jeff. Your efforts here are appreciated. We need to set a positive precedent for the entire Ghibli range.

I'd also love to see the original Japanese credits option from the DVDs make its way over to BD, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

Most (all?) of the Ghibli films had the Japanese angles on Disney's DVDs so I don't see why we wouldn't get them on Blu-ray as well.

And including lossless for a dub but not for the original track is just shameless, regardless of any templates. If the US Blu-ray doesn't have lossless I'll likely go with the IVL one out of principle. And since I'm in love with consistency that means I'll probably get the IVL releases of any future Ghibli films as well.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Pyoko

Most (all?) of the Ghibli films had the Japanese angles on Disney's DVDs so I don't see why we wouldn't get them on Blu-ray as well.

Well, certainly not for any logical reason... just a typical one. I think it was a minor miracle that the option was on the DVDs, so I'm not going to count my chickens.

[almy]

Jeff - I don't mean to be a pest, but a while back I asked this question and there was never a reply.....sometime last year I read (probably at The Bits) that Warner was prepping some Esther Williams titles for release on Blu. They already have two sets out on std. DVD. The titles are not sold individually. Do you have and idea when the Blus are coming and if they'll be sold singly? Personally, I couldn't care less about Ms. Williams, but two of her films feature organist Ethel Smith, and I'm a great fan of hers. Thanks

[Jeff Kleist]

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

Well, certainly not for any logical reason... just a typical one. I think it was a minor miracle that the option was on the DVDs, so I'm not going to count my chickens.

Disney production template again. That'd why they locked augio track switching for the longest time, because they were worried that people would have mismatched angles and audio

[Jeff Kleist]

Originally Posted by almy

Jeff - I don't mean to be a pest, but a while back I asked this question and there was never a reply.....sometime last year I read (probably at The Bits) that Warner was prepping some Esther Williams titles for release on Blu. They already have two sets out on std. DVD. The titles are not sold individually. Do you have and idea when the Blus are coming and if they'll be sold singly? Personally, I couldn't care less about Ms. Williams, but two of her films feature organist Ethel Smith, and I'm a great fan of hers. Thanks

No plans I'm aware of

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Disney production template again.

Yeah, whenever someone does it extraordinarily 'right' vis-a-vis the company standard, I always find it safest to presume that that helpful decision-maker is not necessarily involved when the next bite at the apple comes around. I've seen too much in the video market to expect the best choices to continue to be made simply because in some cases they've been arrived at in the past.

[Penton-Man]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Legally they can use any master they so desire, so long as he approved it at some point

I think the difference is that Spielberg is very hands on with all aspects of his movies, including the home video release. Gladiator was very much just a rehash of existing assetts. I'm personally satisfied that the blowback has had its desired effect

Jeff, I think you would do well in the Diplomatic Corps for the U.N.
I bet that there are some people in the marketing division of the distributing studio who are in fact unashamedly listing Gladiator as a *feather in their cap* so to speak, on their year-end performance self-evaluations……given how real-world sales have gone so far. Is it still beating out Braveheart in that regard?

Has enough time passed to tell the truth, the whole truth concerning this matter?
Or at least clarify what you mean by “existing assets”.
Spill the beans.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by Penton-Man

Has enough time passed to tell the truth, the whole truth concerning this matter?
Or at least clarify what you mean by “existing assets”.
Spill the beans.