Gladiator (2000)

[space-monkey]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

On our scale, 10 is the best DVD. 20 is the best possible Blu-ray. 14-15 is as low as we've gone in my memory, because nothing has been that abysmal

Yeah, my understanding of the score was that it reflects only a half-upgrade over a great DVD.

[DaPenguinPimP]

Originally Posted by STARSCREAM

Return it. Do not reward the studios with releases like this. This is ridiculous, objects are missing and disappearing for crying out loud. You know they are gonna re-release this.

Yeah, I will be returning it. There is no way paramount won't issue a remastered edition for a movie of this caliber. I was really looking forward to this release too.

[Kinsella5]

I read Bill Hunt's review of Gladiator and Braveheart and I think he did a very fine job bringing his opinion on both titles and doing so professionally. In the end Bill is a fan of movies just like us and based on his reviews in the past and with these two films he is willing to listen to both sides of an argument. He also has a lot of contacts and is well known in this business and I hope he can push for a new transfer of Gladiator, and hopefully the studio will listen. He was spot on with regards to what the studio should have done was simply wait a few months and added Gladiator into the Sapphire Series as a 10th Anniversary Edition.

They only needed to release one title in this line and that would have been Braveheart which sounds incredible both in audio and picture quality. But as Bill more or less said, it may hurt the line somewhat because Gladiator may be looked upon as a disappointment with those who purchase it, which may taint the Sapphire label already. Maybe something will be done and the studio will listen. The 3rd title is Paramount's Forrest Gump in November and hopefully it will be just as good as Braveheart in the picture and sound department, and then with others to follow.

Well done Bill, my hats off to you.

[RocShemp]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

On our scale, 10 is the best DVD. 20 is the best possible Blu-ray. 14-15 is as low as we've gone in my memory, because nothing has been that abysmal

So I take it you guys never reviewed First Blood or American Psycho? Cos surely those'd rate an 11 and a 13 respectively on your scale.

[Help]

So is this release worth getting or should I wait for a better release?

[deado]

Originally Posted by Help

So is this release worth getting or should I wait for a better release?

If you have a smaller screen ( < 50"), maybe... depends how much things like EE/DNR annoy you, however if you have larger screen then probably not.

Personally I'm still getting it, because the DNR in Dark City didn't annoy me that much. I only have a 40" Sony V series though so that's why.

[md99]

Meh, Braveheart is a much better movie anyway.

[Petri Teittinen]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

I was trying to point out things that I felt were key points, and showed both positive and negative aspects, thus adding more credibility to your review..

Reading only the bolded bits gave the wrong impression. That's all. Consider this case closed.

[Irrob]

Since Bill Hunt chimed in, I'm giving Gladiator a rent instead But I'm picking up Braveheart

[DigitalfreakNYC]

Originally Posted by Blu2U

I think at least the EE/DNR-ing and halo would have been noticed. Just would have gone down as a sub par release

Yeah. Just like I would have thought an entire audio channel missing for 30 minutes would have been noticed. Clearly, shit happens.

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

On our scale, 10 is the best DVD. 20 is the best possible Blu-ray. 14-15 is as low as we've gone in my memory, because nothing has been that abysmal

If 15 is "abysmal" on a scale of (essentially) 10-20, you guys need to either a) re-think your grade for this Blu or b) re-think your scale, in general. Abysmal would have been 11-12. 15, to me, is borderline.

[Petri Teittinen]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

20 is the best possible Blu-ray.

How would you know if the disc you're viewing has hit that absolute best Blu-ray as a format can offer? How do you know that hasn't already happened?

[robertc88]

So who is going to enjoy watching Gladiator that views internet BD forums? Hopefully most but you know folks are going to look for things that probably they wouldn't have because they are aware of it. And is a better price really going to matter at all??

At best, hopefully at least J6P will just watch the movie and enjoy it. Missing arrows and spears in motion isn't something easy to detect as Bill himself said.

And like Bill said, lots of folks who enjoy these movies are going to end up picking up both and perhaps be disappointed with Gladiator versus Braveheart. I agree with him saying folks will pick up both especially with a price we have seen from Best Buy for the two.

[thecardman23]

so i actually just watched gladiator last night and just like the star treks everybody blew this WAY outa proportion. i thought the transfer actually looked quite good. the colors were bold, the picture looked quite clear. i hardly noticed any grain in the movie and other than a few scenes here and there... i found most of the pq to be quite good. i'll admit its not one that jumps off the screen at you like transformers or king kong but it definitely compares with other blu-ray releases i've seen latly. i did notice at times the excessive dnr that ppl talk about (but for the most part i thought it was done in a proportion that didnt bother me much at all) oh and the arrow/ fireball scene that people is making such a big deal out of.. i watched it VERY CLOSELY and looked and i couldnt notice ANYTHING at the reg speed of watching it. i watched the darn thing so close and didnt notice a thing (and i even knew what i was looking for) i'm not a kook so i wont go back and re-wind and play it in slow-mo 10x times to find the spot that bothers me. if i cant even notice it, then its not a big issue. for me id rate the transfer thus:


Movie 5 / 5
Video 4 / 5
Audio 4.5 / 5
Extras 4 / 5

so in conclusion.... would i buy this disc.. yeah sure (if i got it at a good price i would) do i think they should re-master it? offcourse, why not if it can be improved upon. do i think it's a rip-off for those who buy it? absolutely not! its a decent quality transfer and fans of the film shouldn't be scared away by all these nuts already condemning a movie they havnt even watched. go out rent it (its well worth those 4-5 bucks forsure) and then if you like it.. buy it. if you havnt watched it yet, dont judge it by the screen-caps cuz thats ridiculous.

[robertc88]

Originally Posted by thecardman23

so i actually just watched gladiator last night and just like the star treks everybody blew this WAY outa proportion. i thought the transfer actually looked quite good. the colors were bold, the picture looked quite clear. i hardly noticed any grain in the movie and other than a few scenes here and there... i found most of the pq to be quite good. i'll admit its not one that jumps off the screen at you like transformers or king kong but it definitely compares with other blu-ray releases i've seen latly. i did notice at times the excessive dnr that ppl talk about (but for the most part i thought it was done in a proportion that didnt bother me much at all) oh and the arrow/ fireball scene that people is making such a big deal out of.. i watched it VERY CLOSELY and looked and i couldnt notice ANYTHING at the reg speed of watching it. i watched the darn thing so close and didnt notice a thing (and i even knew what i was looking for) i'm not a kook so i wont go back and re-wind and play it in slow-mo 10x times to find the spot that bothers me. if i cant even notice it, then its not a big issue. for me id rate the transfer thus:


Movie 5 / 5
Video 4 / 5
Audio 4.5 / 5
Extras 4 / 5

so in conclusion.... would i buy this disc.. yeah sure (if i got it at a good price i would) do i think they should re-master it? offcourse, why not if it can be improved upon. do i think it's a rip-off for those who buy it? absolutely not! its a decent quality transfer and fans of the film shouldn't be scared away by all these nuts already condemning a movie they havnt even watched. go out rent it (its well worth those 4-5 bucks forsure) and then if you like it.. buy it. if you havnt watched it yet, dont judge it by the screen-caps cuz thats ridiculous.

Something tells me we will be getting more reviews like this one from folks who watch it and enjoyed it regardless. Thanks for posting your opinion.

[robertc88]

Originally Posted by DigitalfreakNYC

People miss things. They're human. Hell, I wonder how many people here would have missed this if it weren't blatantly plastered all over the forums.

Shit happens.

+10000.

Don't even think you are going to be able to notice parts of arrows and spears disappearing in full motion unless you are SUPERMAN!

[Shanester]

Originally Posted by thecardman23

so i actually just watched gladiator last night and just like the star treks everybody blew this WAY outa proportion. i thought the transfer actually looked quite good. the colors were bold, the picture looked quite clear. i hardly noticed any grain in the movie and other than a few scenes here and there... i found most of the pq to be quite good. i'll admit its not one that jumps off the screen at you like transformers or king kong but it definitely compares with other blu-ray releases i've seen latly. i did notice at times the excessive dnr that ppl talk about (but for the most part i thought it was done in a proportion that didnt bother me much at all) oh and the arrow/ fireball scene that people is making such a big deal out of.. i watched it VERY CLOSELY and looked and i couldnt notice ANYTHING at the reg speed of watching it. i watched the darn thing so close and didnt notice a thing (and i even knew what i was looking for) i'm not a kook so i wont go back and re-wind and play it in slow-mo 10x times to find the spot that bothers me. if i cant even notice it, then its not a big issue. for me id rate the transfer thus:


Movie 5 / 5
Video 4 / 5
Audio 4.5 / 5
Extras 4 / 5

so in conclusion.... would i buy this disc.. yeah sure (if i got it at a good price i would) do i think they should re-master it? offcourse, why not if it can be improved upon. do i think it's a rip-off for those who buy it? absolutely not! its a decent quality transfer and fans of the film shouldn't be scared away by all these nuts already condemning a movie they havnt even watched. go out rent it (its well worth those 4-5 bucks forsure) and then if you like it.. buy it. if you havnt watched it yet, dont judge it by the screen-caps cuz thats ridiculous.

Thanks for the honest review.

So your saying it's not demo material by any means but is it substantially improved over the dvd??

[bypass]

Originally Posted by thecardman23

so i actually just watched gladiator last night and just like the star treks everybody blew this WAY outa proportion. i thought the transfer actually looked quite good. the colors were bold, the picture looked quite clear. i hardly noticed any grain in the movie and other than a few scenes here and there... i found most of the pq to be quite good. i'll admit its not one that jumps off the screen at you like transformers or king kong but it definitely compares with other blu-ray releases i've seen latly. i did notice at times the excessive dnr that ppl talk about (but for the most part i thought it was done in a proportion that didnt bother me much at all) oh and the arrow/ fireball scene that people is making such a big deal out of.. i watched it VERY CLOSELY and looked and i couldnt notice ANYTHING at the reg speed of watching it. i watched the darn thing so close and didnt notice a thing (and i even knew what i was looking for) i'm not a kook so i wont go back and re-wind and play it in slow-mo 10x times to find the spot that bothers me. if i cant even notice it, then its not a big issue. for me id rate the transfer thus:


Movie 5 / 5
Video 4 / 5
Audio 4.5 / 5
Extras 4 / 5

so in conclusion.... would i buy this disc.. yeah sure (if i got it at a good price i would) do i think they should re-master it? offcourse, why not if it can be improved upon. do i think it's a rip-off for those who buy it? absolutely not! its a decent quality transfer and fans of the film shouldn't be scared away by all these nuts already condemning a movie they havnt even watched. go out rent it (its well worth those 4-5 bucks forsure) and then if you like it.. buy it. if you havnt watched it yet, dont judge it by the screen-caps cuz thats ridiculous.

Originally Posted by robertc88

Something tells me we will be getting more reviews like this one from folks who watch it and enjoyed it regardless. Thanks for posting your opinion.

"i hardly noticed any grain in the movie and other than a few scenes here and there... i found most of the pq to be quite good."

I hardly consider this to be a solid and accurate review. No offense to The Card Man, but he makes the lack of grain out to be a good thing. It seems that he doesn't understand why grain is normally prevalent in a movie, or why grain would actually be missing (DNR, which typically sacrifices sharpness to remove grain). I believe that the folks over at Digital Bits have nailed it, and we'll be seeing a lot more reviews like that from other learned reviewers. Also, perhaps his lack of a larger display is why he gave it a better review, because the larger the screen the more apparent flaws tend to be.

[SellmeyourDVD]

I'll wait till this is 12.99 around black friday time.

A shame though, this is one of my top 10 favorite movies of all time.

[robertc88]

Originally Posted by bypass

"i hardly noticed any grain in the movie and other than a few scenes here and there... i found most of the pq to be quite good."

I hardly consider this to be a solid and accurate review. No offense to The Card Man, but he makes the lack of grain out to be a good thing. It seems that he doesn't understand why grain is normally prevalent in a movie, or why grain would actually be missing (DNR, which typically sacrifices sharpness to remove grain). I believe that the folks over at Digital Bits have nailed it, and we'll be seeing a lot more reviews like that from other learned reviewers. Also, perhaps his lack of a larger display is why he gave it a better review, because the larger the screen the more apparent flaws tend to be.

He said he didn't hardly notice grain but I'm not sure I agree he makes it out to be a good thing. What I'm getting is he liked watching this movie on BD and his opinion is it isn't as bad a viewing experience as perceived.

We'll see what other opinions there are as folks watch it, not learned reviewers per se. Me? I liked Master And Commander. Many didn't care for the quality of that BD and I certainly didn't feel the viewing experience was as bad as what is was made out to be. BTW, I have a 40" display. Something tells me I'm going to agree with lots he said about Gladiator. I'm unsure Scarface posted on this forum about his initial experience with Gladiator. He was happy with his purchase and enjoyed viewing the movie. Not until he felt forced to review the film that much more closely did his opinion change.

[Jeff Kleist]

So I take it you guys never reviewed First Blood or American Psycho? Cos surely those'd rate an 11 and a 13 respectively on your scale.

First Blood isn't that bad,way better than the DVD. It's DNR'd to hell yeah, but that fact alone isn't going to send it to 11 hell. Haven't seen Psycho.

How would you know if the disc you're viewing has hit that absolute best Blu-ray as a format can offer? How do you know that hasn't already happened?

Because such things are subjective, and the bar is raised over time. This stuff is never that exact when anyone does it