Bill Hunt strikes back: American Gangster

[B-movies]

Universal's new DVD/HD-DVD combo format release of Ridley Scott's American Gangster contains both the 158-minute theatrical cut AND the 177-minute extended cut, right? But here's what sucks... the extended cut is only on the DVD side, and the theatrical version on the HD side only has Dolby Digital Plus audio. What's more, overcompression is an issue on both sides, obviously due to lack of disc space. Ugh. Just think, Universal could put BOTH versions in high-def on a 50GB Blu-ray with seamless branching. Hhhmmm...

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

[Blu-Beard]

Link?

[lgans316]

What's the big deal my friend ? We should be concerned with what BD supporting studios are offering with respect to extras ? Don't make a mock of HD DVD supporting studios for silly reasons. Blame Fox for continuously getting rid off extras, frequently bumping titles and not offering the unrated version of Die Hard 4.

Con Air,Crimson Tide - No extended CUT
Kung Fu Hustle, Casino Royale - PG-13
Black Hawk Down - No extended CUT
Die Hard 4 - PG-13
M & C, ID4, IRobot , Ice Age, Ronin, Predator, Commando - continuously got bumped
Predator, Commando, Ronin - MPEG-2 BD-25
Man on Fire - Zero Extras - BOO.

Think twice before posting. Let's be more concerned about Blu-ray and BDA in blu-ray forum.

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by lgans316

What's the big deal my friend ? We should be concerned with what BD supporting are offering with respect to extras ? Don't make a mock of HD DVD supporting studios for silly reasons. Blame Fox for continuously getting rid off extras, frequently bumping titles and not offering the unrated version of Die Hard 4.

Are you serious?

[Blu-Beard]

Originally Posted by lgans316

What's the big deal my friend ? We should be concerned with what BD supporting are offering with respect to extras ? Don't make a mock of HD DVD supporting studios for silly reasons. Blame Fox for continuously getting rid off extras, frequently bumping titles and not offering the unrated version of Die Hard 4.

How could they have even thought it would be ok to release three R's and one PG-13. I was dissapointed with the PG-13 in the theater. Not because I need swearing to make a good movie, but it's just hard to take the toned down version seriously when you've been used to the old foul mouthed ass kicking John McLain from the first three.

[miokti]

Originally Posted by lgans316

What's the big deal my friend ? We should be concerned with what BD supporting studios are offering with respect to extras ? Don't make a mock of HD DVD supporting studios for silly reasons. Blame Fox for continuously getting rid off extras, frequently bumping titles and not offering the unrated version of Die Hard 4.

Con Air,Crimson Tide - No extended CUT
Kung Fu Hustle, Casino Royale - PG-13
Black Hawk Down - No extended CUT
Die Hard 4 - PG-13
M & C, ID4, IRobot , Ice Age, Ronin, Predator, Commando - continuously got bumped
Predator, Commando, Ronin - MPEG-2 BD-25
Man on Fire - Zero Extras - BOO.

Think twice before posting. Let's be more concerned about Blu-ray and BDA in blu-ray forum.

Extended cut is over-rated... like in Crimson Tide... did you really want to know about Cob's weight problem? did they really have to put that in the movie? Also, when they extend the scenes, they have to loop the music... which they didn't do a real good job of in Narnia. I understand Director's cut, because it's the director's vision, but I don't believe in making the movie longer just because you have extra scenes sitting by.

[DealsR4theDevil]

Originally Posted by miokti

Extended cut is over-rated... like in Crimson Tide... did you really want to know about Cob's weight problem? did they really have to put that in the movie? Also, when they extend the scenes, they have to loop the music... which they didn't do a real good job of in Narnia. I understand Director's cut, because it's the director's vision, but I don't believe in making the movie longer just because you have extra scenes sitting by.

Often they are completely useless and nothing more than a gimmick to sell more DVDs.

But sometimes, they save an otherwise bad movie. Blade Runner and
Kingdom of Heaven are the best two examples of this. I also didnt like the theatrical versions of Troy or Donnie Brasco but the Director's Cuts were amazing.

Ridley Scott especially has a history of studios mucking up his movies for the theatrical release. It's usually the Director's Cut release of his movie that redeems them.

When I saw American Gangster in theaters I hated it. But I said to myself and to my friends, "wait for the Director's Cut, it will prolly rock!!!!"

[MotionBlurr]

Originally Posted by lgans316

What's the big deal my friend ? We should be concerned with what BD supporting studios are offering with respect to extras ? Don't make a mock of HD DVD supporting studios for silly reasons. Blame Fox for continuously getting rid off extras, frequently bumping titles and not offering the unrated version of Die Hard 4.

Con Air,Crimson Tide - No extended CUT
Kung Fu Hustle, Casino Royale - PG-13
Black Hawk Down - No extended CUT
Die Hard 4 - PG-13
M & C, ID4, IRobot , Ice Age, Ronin, Predator, Commando - continuously got bumped
Predator, Commando, Ronin - MPEG-2 BD-25
Man on Fire - Zero Extras - BOO.

Think twice before posting. Let's be more concerned about Blu-ray and BDA in blu-ray forum.

The whole point is that if the studio wants to add something on HD-DVD combo disk, it can't can bacause there is not enough space. The studio has to sacrifice superb sound in order to fit the movie.

[stockstar1138]

The differences between DH4 unrated and DH4 theatrical are minimal, very, very minimal.

[workshed108]

Originally Posted by MotionBlurr

The whole point is that if the studio wants to add something on HD-DVD combo disk, it can't can bacause there is not enough space. The studio has to sacrifice superb sound in order to fit the movie.

Sorry but that is FUD at it's finest...


Troy Director's Cut on HD DVD 198 minutes with a TrueHD audio track.
Hot Fuzz on HD DVD 121 minutes with a TrueHD audio track AND eighteen hours of supplements on one disc! http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/880/hotfuzz.html

So with 20 extra gigs on Blu-ray I would think FOX could have given us both the rated and unratred versions of Die Hard 4 without sacrificing anything.
But why would they do that? Then we wouldn't douple dip...

[Sonny]

Originally Posted by workshed108

Sorry but that is FUD at it's finest...


Troy Director's Cut on HD DVD 198 minutes with a TrueHD audio track.
Hot Fuzz on HD DVD 121 minutes with a TrueHD audio track AND eighteen hours of supplements on one disc! http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/880/hotfuzz.html

So with 20 extra gigs on Blu-ray I would think FOX could have given us both the rated and unratred versions of Die Hard 4 without sacrificing anything.
But why would they do that? Then we wouldn't douple dip...

99% of extras are in HiDef on Blu-ray (if their there at all )

[workshed108]

Originally Posted by Sonny

99% of extras are in HiDef on Blu-ray (if their there at all )

Exactly, I would rather have eighteen hours of extras at 480i then a trailer and 20 minute documentary in 1080p. I don't want to sound like negative nancy here but I just amazed that some people on this forum actually think it's ok and condone studios ripping us off.

Yes, it is a big deal that FOX studios are still releasing titles using MPEG2!
Yes, it is a big deal that studios like FOX and Disney are not releasing the unrated versions of movies!
Yes, it is a big deal that studios are not putting enough extras on the disc when there is 50gb of space!

If Blu-ray wants to take over DVD they are going to have to better than this.

[bajor27]

Originally Posted by lgans316

What's the big deal my friend ? We should be concerned with what BD supporting studios are offering with respect to extras ? Don't make a mock of HD DVD supporting studios for silly reasons. Blame Fox for continuously getting rid off extras, frequently bumping titles and not offering the unrated version of Die Hard 4.

Con Air,Crimson Tide - No extended CUT
Kung Fu Hustle, Casino Royale - PG-13
Black Hawk Down - No extended CUT
Die Hard 4 - PG-13
M & C, ID4, IRobot , Ice Age, Ronin, Predator, Commando - continuously got bumped
Predator, Commando, Ronin - MPEG-2 BD-25
Man on Fire - Zero Extras - BOO.

Think twice before posting. Let's be more concerned about Blu-ray and BDA in blu-ray forum.

You also forgot that ID4 isn't the extended cut either. Mr and Mrs Smith and Fantastic 4 were also missing the extended cuts. Wasn't Castaway and Day after tomorrow also missing lots of extras too?

And are you saying there's an R or unrated Casino Royale? I've never heard of this (though I've never looked into it). Aren't all bonds PG/PG13?


I'll admit Bill's article was nice to read, but we havne't been treated much better on certain titles as you can see either.

[Blu-Beard]

Originally Posted by bajor27

You also forgot that ID4 isn't the extended cut either. Mr and Mrs Smith and Fantastic 4 were also missing the extended cuts. Wasn't Castaway and Day after tomorrow also missing lots of extras too?

And are you saying there's an R or unrated Casino Royale? I've never heard of this (though I've never looked into it). Aren't all bonds PG/PG13?


I'll admit Bill's article was nice to read, but we havne't been treated much better on certain titles as you can see either.

I was just thinking the same thing.

[lgans316]

For the moment neither Universal will turn BLU nor American Gangster will be see a Blu release. Then why in the BLU hell do we need posts like this ? Let's stick on to Blu-ray only in this forum. Why hunt for anti- HD DVD links and post it for reaping sadistic fun. Am I right ?

[blindcat87]

Let's see, the OP posted a legitimate thread in the general discussion area about a legitimate article on a legitimate website, an article written by one of our own well respected insiders. The article was making a legitimate point that the title discussed could easily be an excellent Blu-Ray title instead of the less than stellar HD DVD title it is. So, this is an on topic thread discussing an article with bearing on both Blu-Ray and HD DVD.

If a topic that is legitimate and on topic for the forum it was posted in doesn't interest you or bothers you, nothing forces you to click on the thread and read it. To be absolutely blunt, I think you should think twice about posting in someone's thread reproving them for starting it and derailing it from its legitimate topic because you personally do not like it and would rather discuss something else.

If you would rather discuss something else, there is nothing stopping you from ignoring the tread you dislike, letting those that want to discuss the topic discuss it, and starting your own thread to discuss your topic.

If you really feel the thread is off topic or inappropriate, there is a button to report a thread, then the mods can deal with it if it is in violation, and if it is not in violation, those interested in the topic do not have to deal with being lectured about their interest in the topic and having it derailed into a discussion about how the Blu-Ray studios are ripping all of us off and should all be chastised. If I wanted to read a thread about that, I would have clicked on a thread with that topic instead of this one.

Perhaps I am still a little cranky from a rough week, but this little lecture and derailing seems rude and inappropriate to me. There was no bad language, there was no rude, insulting, or childish behavior, just a discussion about an article that was immediately derailed into a rant against Blu-Ray studios. Maybe the OP's editing removed some inappropriate content that I missed that justified derailing the thread, I don't know. If that is the case, I apologize. Otherwise, how about this thread being allowed to return to the original topic and those who are disinterested can start another thread?

On the topic. I am glad to see Bill pointing out a concrete example of what a lot of us have known for a long time. A certain ultra radical portion of the HD DVD community has been extolling at length since the dawn of the formats that there was no solid, real world proof of the capacity and bandwidth differences between the formats being of importance. Well, now there is.

Chris

Originally Posted by lgans316

For the moment neither Universal will turn BLU nor American Gangster will be see a Blu release. Then why in the BLU hell do we need posts like this ? Let's stick on to Blu-ray only in this forum. Why hunt for anti- HD DVD links and post it for reaping sadistic fun. Am I right ?

[TheForce8686]

Im sorry but who cares about extended cuts. I have seen more then my fair share of "unrated" movies and have not noticed a difference in 99% of them. I think some of you guys are making to big a deal over things like DH4 and Mr and Mrs Smith. We saw them in PG-13 in theatres and they were great.

[Blu-Beard]

Originally Posted by TheForce8686

Im sorry but who cares about extended cuts. I have seen more then my fair share of "unrated" movies and have not noticed a difference in 99% of them. I think some of you guys are making to big a deal over things like DH4 and Mr and Mrs Smith. We saw them in PG-13 in theatres and they were great.

The thing with DH4 is it's just not normal for John McLain to not be cursing every other word. It would be like removing the machines from Terminator4 or the Wizardry from the next HP. It's what Die Hard IS.

[overdrive00]

I don't think the unrated movies are all that great. I loved the original Troy, and came home with the unrated (thinking it was unrated because of just extra footage), instead it has completely unnecessary nudity and gore. WB could have at least had both versions in the package (so I could have had the option of what to watch). Also, I didn't mind the PG-13 version of die hard, at least I can watch that one with family over......

[turboLAZER]

Originally Posted by lgans316

What's the big deal my friend ? We should be concerned with what BD supporting studios are offering with respect to extras ? Don't make a mock of HD DVD supporting studios for silly reasons. Blame Fox for continuously getting rid off extras, frequently bumping titles and not offering the unrated version of Die Hard 4.

Con Air,Crimson Tide - No extended CUT
Kung Fu Hustle, Casino Royale - PG-13
Black Hawk Down - No extended CUT
Die Hard 4 - PG-13
M & C, ID4, IRobot , Ice Age, Ronin, Predator, Commando - continuously got bumped
Predator, Commando, Ronin - MPEG-2 BD-25
Man on Fire - Zero Extras - BOO.

Think twice before posting. Let's be more concerned about Blu-ray and BDA in blu-ray forum.

the majority of those blu titles you just listed are catalogue, and the new PG13 titles were true to the theatrical experience. but i'm not trying to make excuses, because i do agree with you. i wish every blu title was release to it's maximum potential. the reality is if a blu studio released their biggest blockbuster of the year with dolby digital plus and the extended cut in SD, the members of this forum would crying in outrage. so i believe it is only fair to criticize Universal's American Gangster HD DVD