Enter the Dragon (1973) (40th Anniversary Edition) (Remastered)

[growler]

I have the 2006 BD & kept my DVD for some extra that were not ported over.
I'll wait till they release the 40th Anniversary as just a BD w/o the cards, patch & lenticular card. Maybe it will drop to $8-10 eventually. Will need to keep the 2006 BD for the 100 minute documentary missing on the 40th BD. Will see what other reviews say re PQ old vs new transfer.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Smoker25

The German blu is coming out in 10 days and it's only €12.99. No special packaging, just a plain ol' keep case. It's the exact same disc as the one in the US.

Including shipping that'll cost me as much as the UK edition (about £17), so I'll hold on for that one. I'm not one of those "I won't buy it until it's under $10" pussies (edit: I posted that without seeing your post growler, so I'm not attacking you specifically ), but $35 really is way too steep for a catalogue release.

[amoergosum]

A 4.5 rating for the pq?
...I don't think so.

[eChopper]

it does seem generous from those caps

[BeWaterMyFriend]

Hmm....BBY's website says this isn't even available in stores. Kind of weird, as I thought this would be a bigger release.

Amazon for me, I guess.

[nagysaudio]

Just watched quick portions throughout. This transfer is GREAT! 4.5 is exactly what I would give it. This is not anywhere even close to being a telecine transfer. It's a 2K scan at least and from a high quality source, no less. Grain is there and is resolved. No dirt, no damage, no hair, no white specs, or black, no dirty opticals, etc. This is the best this movie has ever looked, period. Even better than the 35mm print I saw in Europe in late 80s. It's also the best looking Bruce Lee movie by far. There's slight black crush, but nothing more than on the recent 4K Sony releases. But who's to say that that is wrong?

The sound is excellent too!

I own the old disc as well and it's simply ridiculous how much better this new release looks. Night and day compared to that washed out jaggy garbage.

9/10 release!

[tylergfoster]

It's probably not meaningful, but the standard Blu-Ray case inside this set doesn't have a UPC, so who knows how soon Warner expects to release this without the extra stuff.

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by nagysaudio

Even better than the 35mm print I saw in Europe in late 80s.

What a memory!
...

[42041]

Looks fine to me...

[kdo]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

A couple of things I noticed comparing the caps I just loaded:

I think the slight oversaturation of reds is apparent (cap 2).
The blonde woman's sweater totally changes color in the new transfer (cap 4).
Another issue is contrast (caps 1 and 5) -- the new one looks a little dark.
I see detail being lost to that contrast / softness in some caps (5 - Bruce's sleeve, 6 - Bruce's abs).

OK, now that we have some decent (and accurate) comparisons up, I feel a little better. Yeah, after having spent a good deal of time looking over all the caps, the good news is that the 40th anniversary edition isn't nearly as bad as what saltysam's images depicted. However, it also certainly isn't what I'd consider a 4.5 on video quality. Personally, I'd say a 3.0 (maybe a 3.5, but no more than that), as there are too many issues that seem suspect to me on the new transfer. In fact, other than lossless audio having been included, about the only thing I can say that I like about the new transfer over the old one, is that the aliasing issue has been corrected. And in all honesty, based on those caps, if I didn't own either disc, I'd still probably opt for the 2007 release (despite the jaggies).

Originally Posted by Roy Batty

So the review is up, and I must respectfully disagree with our man, Kenneth Brown:

[Show spoiler]Yeah, gone is the nasty aliasing with its jaggies from the previous release, but any other department was better on the old one.

Detail "more satisfying", edge definition "more precise"? I have yet to watch this in motion, of course, but looking at the screencaps I would say we are not seeing the same discs.

Just take a look at that shot of Lee standing on te cemetery and compare the old release with the new one.

Not only contrast is boosted (oh, that bane of SO many BD's transfers!) with highlights clearly overblown, but the new transfer looks like something taken from some Tarantino & Rodriguez grindhouse homage, as if projected on some sticky and noisy projector with a dim and dirty bulb. The new transfer is the definition of "smeary", with the distinct blurry look that you would get from a poor print of a telecine transfer. Could that be it? Are we looking at a telecine job –and not a very good one at that– instead of a proper digital scan?

I wouldn't be so fast as to consider this as "subjective complaints" to be dismissed, and it certainly doesn't look like the natural softness to be expected on a faithful transfer of this film.

And looking at how most of the grain has been turned into chroma noise, I wouldn't call the DNR applied here "judicious", either.

"Objectively" the "definitive presentation of Enter the Dragon"? Not by a long shot.

Originally Posted by Lantz

Agreed.

[Show spoiler]The review was just a bit too forgiving in the PQ department IMO. But then it is a matter of taste. If one prefers this film to have that vintage look (why not call it grindhouse) then I can sure appreciate the merits of the new transfer, particularly with regard to colour timing. But it is revisionist.

Can't wait to see a few other reviews. They should pop up soon.

And I agree as well. Yeah, it's great the aliasing issue has been corrected on the new transfer (and lossless audio included), but based on the screenshots, I'm not seeing anything overly impressive about the look of the new Blu. The colors just don't look all that great to me, and the issues that have been mentioned by Roy Batty are valid complaints in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Geoff D

I shouldn't think that it'll be too much of an issue in motion, it'll just look like grain for the most part. And yes, there does appear to be a reduction in detail vs the old one, but (as I said previously) it's not the first new transfer I've seen from Warners that trades in a smidge of fine detail for a more colourful and far more filmic look. If people want to play 'toggle the cap' when they actually watch their movies that's up to them, but in motion I've little doubt that the new EtD will be gratefully received at casa de Geoff.

Besides, the jaggies from the old transfer are history. Huzzah!

This is a fair statement for the most part, though I don't know that I'd say it's more colorful, I'd just say it's different.

This is clearly going to be another one of those on-the-fence instances where fans will have to weigh the positives and negatives of both releases and decide which one is right for them, which I find disappointing considering this new release should've been, by all means, the "definitive" version (as Ken Brown's review states), but it's not. Again, all Warner needed to do was stay with the look of the 2007 Blu, fix the aliasing issue, and add lossless audio...it shouldn't have been that big of a deal...Then again, perhaps there are those who will actually prefer the look of the new disc, so...to each their own. I'm more than happy and content with the 2007 release myself.

Originally Posted by Blu2u

English is the intended audio track.

It is indeed. Don't know what that guy was talking about in his post. He must have been thinking of some of Lee's other non-US backed HK pictures.

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by kdo

In fact, other than lossless audio having been included, about the only thing I can say that I like about the new transfer over the old one, is that the aliasing issue has been corrected.

There's still some aliasing.

[kdo]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

There's still some aliasing.

I must have missed it (I'm going by the screenshots )...but if there is, it's definitely not like what the 2007 disc had , that's for sure. I just threw my 2007 disc into my player, I think the color-timing, saturation and contrast all look great, so I don't know what the deal is with the look of the new 40th Blu, but it's just not sitting well with me for some reason.

Again, I'm not the "ETD" authority, but I'll tell you this much...even if I were going to upgrade this title (which I'm not), there's no way I'd pay anywhere near $35 for it...

[nagysaudio]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

There's still some aliasing.

Complete lies.

[42041]

Originally Posted by Roy Batty

Not only contrast is boosted (oh, that bane of SO many BD's transfers!) with highlights clearly overblown, but the new transfer looks like something taken from some Tarantino & Rodriguez grindhouse homage, as if projected on some sticky and noisy projector with a dim and dirty bulb. The new transfer is the definition of "smeary", with the distinct blurry look that you would get from a poor print of a telecine transfer. Could that be it? Are we looking at a telecine job –and not a very good one at that– instead of a proper digital scan?

It looks like a reasonable transfer of multi-generational film elements, with the usual softness of 70s Panavision.
Highlights look perfectly fine in that cap. That's what film prints do: the highlights have a "shoulder" where the contrast slowly rolls off, something old transfers often don't emulate. I'm not seeing anything you wouldn't see in some average quality 35mm print of a film of the time.

[Lantz]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

There's still some aliasing.

Really? Then that's the nail in the coffin for me...

Examples? Caps?

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by nagysaudio

Complete lies.

Nope.
Look at this screenshot for example...notice the aliasing on his neck...very little though >>>

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/scree...334&position=6

[The Great Owl]

This is one that will have to wait until I see it on the used store racks or until I see it for a drastically cheaper price. Just like the 4K Ghostbusters.

I did not have any problem with the original Blu-ray release. I mean, I know that there's room for improvement, but the initial release looked like the movie I grew up watching.

[kdo]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

Nope.
Look at this screenshot for example...notice the aliasing on his neck...very little though >>>

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/scree...334&position=6

I'm just not seeing it...sorry. Whatever the case, if it is there, it's nothing like what's evident in the old transfer ...

Well, looks like there's not a whole lot more I can contribute to this thread. I don't have (nor will I be getting) the 40th anniversary Blu, so I won't be able to account for the look of the disc in motion ...All I can say with any degree of certainty, is that I prefer the color balance of the 2007 disc from what I'm seeing in the caps, and I think this is going to be another one of those "question mark" releases that some will go for and others will be suspicious of...so, that said, I think I'll leave it alone right there and save myself some time and aggravation, before this thread unravels into the usual back and forth "bickering session" we see so often on the forum nowadays...

Peace.

[Coogans Bluff]

Originally Posted by newgen2005

Yes it will be uncut and will contain the monk and mirror scene! It should play in the UK as WB discs are normally region free!

Thanks for that, very helpful

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by kdo

Whatever the case, if it is there, it's nothing like what's evident in the old transfer ...

There's no doubt about it.