Hard Boiled (1992) (Ultimate Edition)

[Drewza89]

Hard Boiled Blu-ray

Hard Boiled Blu-ray Review

Hopefully it will turn out better than The Killer on blu-ray.

[alljaym]

Originally Posted by Drewza89

Hard Boiled Blu-ray

Hopefully it will turn out better than The Killer on blu-ray.

Someone on AVS said it's going to be the exact same transfer as what's on the Stranglehold PS3 game, which is even worse than The Killer BD.

[blufellas]

I'm getting it for sure!

[Drewza89]

Originally Posted by alljaym

Someone on AVS said it's going to be the exact same transfer as what's on the Stranglehold PS3 game, which is even worse than The Killer BD.

That is not good news. I had that and sold it. I would've kept it if I knew they were going to pull that crap. It is by far the worst looking film I've seen on a blu-ray disc.

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by alljaym

Someone on AVS said it's going to be the exact same transfer as what's on the Stranglehold PS3 game, which is even worse than The Killer BD.

Yeah, I've seen that thread, and I'd love to know how that person "knows" that information. The version on Stranglehold was a highly compressed video file embedded in a game...I seriously doubt the standalone BD is going to look "exactly the same". MAYBE only a standard def upconvert on par with The Killer, maybe a surprising revelation (though I won't hold my breath). The fact is none of us "know" and can only speculate at this point. It would be nice if they at least fixed the 'stretching' issue though.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by alljaym

Someone on AVS said it's going to be the exact same transfer as what's on the Stranglehold PS3 game, which is even worse than The Killer BD.

Yeah, I saw that. And if that's the case, it's going have to be be pretty cheap for me to get it. I'm still waiting for The Killer to drop to a reasonable price.

[Snake Plissken]

In for this.
Next up, hopefully, will be City On Fire.

[OrlandoEastwood]

Originally Posted by alljaym

Someone on AVS said it's going to be the exact same transfer as what's on the Stranglehold PS3 game, which is even worse than The Killer BD.

How bad is the transfer on it?

[Drewza89]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

How bad is the transfer on it?

Like a worn out VHS tape.

[OrlandoEastwood]

Originally Posted by Drewza89

Like a worn out VHS tape.

Yikes. Can anyone give me screenshots of this release?

[alljaym]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

How bad is the transfer on it?

By FAR the worst thing I have ever seen on a Blu-Ray disc.

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by OrlandoEastwood

How bad is the transfer on it?

It looks like "a regular-ass dvd". No more no less. Have u seen the dragon dynasty dvd? That's literally what it is. Worn out vhs? lmdo

[Drewza89]

Can't find any screenshots, but here's a review from another website:

Video

Unfortunately, despite Midway's earlier claims to the contrary, this MPEG-2 rendition of 'Hard Boiled' is certainly not presented in 1080p, nor is it a high definition transfer worthy of serious consideration. The film included on the game disc is accessible only through the game menus -- rather than defaulting to its own display (that utilizes the usual features of the PS3 Blu-ray player), it plays from within the environment of the game. As such, the only controls are a crude pause and an option to skip through the chapters. I'm annoyed to see that the setup is more akin to accessing a "special feature" in the game rather than accessing a full fledged Blu-ray movie.

The resulting picture is sharper than other upscaled standard copies of the film I own on DVD, but not by much. On screen text receives a boost and fine details like hair look slightly better on this Blu-ray disc. That being said, the film certainly hasn't been remastered for high definition and the PS3 merely scales a lower-res transfer to 720p. The results are soft and underwhelming. Colors are washed out, drab, and lack the oomph of even average titles available on Blu-ray. Compared to DVD copies of the film, the palette vibrancy doesn't seem to be improved at all. Skintones are depressing and waxy when the actors sweat -- in fact, the transfer doesn't handle natural textures very well at all. Black levels are faulty, contrast is artificially boosted, and shadow delineation is all over the place. I was pleased with the condition of the print, but it's still nothing to write home about.

To top it all off, the aspect ration of the film is noticeably stretched -- the effect is similar to when a 4:3 film is viewed on a widescreen display, but it's a more subtle variance in this case. The actors aren't as lean as they should be. I've caught this discrepancy on import DVDs of 'Hard Boiled' before, so it seems to be a carryover issue from its DVD source rather than one limited to this PS3 edition. In the end, this isn't the high definition remaster Midway promised earlier this year. They've gone suspiciously quiet on the issue and have not replied to any of my inquiries about the transfer used on the disc. Ignore the marketing buzz and approach this one with extreme caution!

Audio

The presentation defaults to a cringe-worthy English dub of the film, but an original Cantonese Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track (384kbps) is easily accessible through the on screen menu. Just be warned -- the subtitle text reflects the words of the heavily altered English dub rather than the exact meaning of the original Cantonese dialogue. Maybe I'm the only one this annoys, but I can't stand it -- if I'm taking the time to read the film, I want to read what the actors are actually saying.

From a technical standpoint, the DD mixes are average at best. Dynamics linger in the mid range and the soundscape doesn't have the low end impact I hope to find in a real high definition release of the film some day. Bass booms are muddy, treble tones are plagued with peaking problems, and gunshots fail to resonate. Dialogue is sometimes lost under the chaos and the soundfield prioritization is unreliable. To make matters worse, pans are a bit choppy and directionality suffers from inaccuracies and seemingly random source assignment. Again, I doubt this has much to do with the PS3 rendition of this transfer -- this can likely be attributed to whichever DVD transfer Midway tossed on the game disc.

In the end, there isn't anything special about the audio package and it doesn't compare favorably to the Criterion DVD (which bests this track sound for sound). I'm admittedly still shaking my head in disbelief that this was billed as a Blu-ray version of the film.

[bmogav]

Originally Posted by alljaym

By FAR the worst thing I have ever seen on a Blu-Ray disc.

totally agreed

[MisterPilgrim]

It better not be the same transfer. If it took them three years to get this on a singular Blu Ray Disc, and the transfer they use is the one from Stranglehold, I will blow a gasket.

If it ends up being properly remastered, I would like to see the True Subtitles come back. The Dragon Dynasty dubtitles were okay at best, until a subtitle would translate something into this:

"I said put your f-ing guns down!"

Am I censoring myself? Nope, the subtitle would actually sometimes say "F-ing". LOL

[Alkaline]

Originally Posted by alljaym

By FAR the worst thing I have ever seen on a Blu-Ray disc.

UK Escape From New York says hi

[alljaym]

Originally Posted by Alkaline

UK Escape From New York says hi

I own the UK EFNY. Hard Boiled still looks worse.

[McCrutchy]

IF this is true, and I will reserve final judgment until the release--but knowing DD I wouldn't be surprised--these guys are a stone's throw away from being the "Alliance" of USA distributors...

[Drewza89]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

but knowing DD I wouldn't be surprised--these guys are a stone's throw away from being the "Alliance" of USA distributors...

Alliance occasionally puts out some respectable releases with the correct aspect ratio, lossless audio, great PQ, etc.

Dragon Dynasty half-asses it every time.

EDIT: OK, I went back and checked. DD seems to be correcting their mistakes, finally. I just hope they do Hard Boiled justice.

[demoni]

Originally Posted by Snake Plissken

In for this.
Next up, hopefully, will be City On Fire.

And Bullet in the Head!!!