Blue Underground unleashes Deep Red on BD - May 17, 2011

[Mr. Thomsen]

I think a more apt comparison to Deep Red would be Antonioni's Blow-Up than Hitchcock's Psycho. Deep Red only references Psycho on the most superficial level, as others have written, to a point where you can discuss whether it's actually referencing or just the mere use of devices that Psycho might have established but which have become genre stables in the following fifteen years.

As for Blow-Up, well, they are both about David Hemmings who tries to solve a murder by focusing on some minute detail that he thinks he has over-looked.

I don't see any relation between the shower murder in Psycho and the bathroom murder in Deep Red except for the obvious fact that they both take place in, well, bathrooms. You might as well connect it to the bathroom murder in Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace - a connection that is equally as plausible as Bava was a well-known influence on Argento, he is generally considered the father of the filmic giallo, and both murders utilize bathtubs.

[mike667]

Guys, is the Dialagoue low on this? Music comes on louder and clear, nice. Then the dialogue comes out low. Is it normal or is it my surround system??

[Zombie Dude]

Did anyone experience ghosting around bright white colours?

Also how dous BU's version compare with the Arrow release?

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Originally Posted by Zombie Dude

Also how dous BU's version compare with the Arrow release?

Videowise, same master but inferior encoding. Looks pretty good, though; the only thing I really don't like about it is that the grain has kind of a "digital dot crawl" look to it. But that's still better than the majority of Arrow's DNR'ed-to-hell-and-back BDs.

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...leich=deep_red

[Zombie Dude]

Originally Posted by Kriztoffer Swank

Videowise, same master but inferior encoding. Looks pretty good, though; the only thing I really don't like about it is that the grain has kind of a "digital dot crawl" look to it. But that's still better than the majority of Arrow's DNR'ed-to-hell-and-back BDs.

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleich...leich=deep_red

Which one has inferior encoding?

I agree that the digital dot look is annoying. BU seems to always have the slight edge above all the Arrow releases of the same titles (from what I've heard anyway).

[Kentai]

Arrow's encode is far worse at resolving the odd-looking noisy grain on display, despite having a notably higher bitrate... it's hard to describe, but it looks as if the Arrow transfer is made up of 'blocks' rather than grains. Check HERE for a great example.

Arrow also sourced the credits of the shorter 'Export Cut' from analog video, while BU transferred them from 35mm film - not an encoding flaw, exactly, but worth mentioning in general.

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Yeah, meant to say the Arrow release has inferior encoding. Causes the grain to be rather patchy and has an appearance like the grain is...sliding down the image. :p Like paint splotches. It's not a terrible looking transfer judging by the still images, and I don't know how noticeable it is in motion, but regardless, the BU one looks better.

But apparently Arrow slap a whole ton of extras on their discs and trendy packaging, so if that's more your thing, that's the one you'd wanna get. Me, the film and its appearance take priority.

[Zombie Dude]

Originally Posted by Kentai

Arrow's encode is far worse at resolving the odd-looking noisy grain on display, despite having a notably higher bitrate... it's hard to describe, but it looks as if the Arrow transfer is made up of 'blocks' rather than grains. Check HERE for a great example.

Arrow also sourced the credits of the shorter 'Export Cut' from analog video, while BU transferred them from 35mm film - not an encoding flaw, exactly, but worth mentioning in general.

The Arrow blu's always seem to have some sort of issue. Nothing major but jeopardizing on the quality of the print none-the-less.

[Kakihara]

Well, to be fair, Arrow has had some solid releases, such as Dawn of the Dead, which had better PQ than the U.S. release, and Funhouse.

[Bad Sandwich]

Arrow also made good with Rififi, Ashes & Diamonds, and Obsession, though those are from Arrow Films/Arrow Academy, i.e. their non-horror divisions

[BladeRunner2007]

Anyone prefer the international version over the director's cut? I don't really like all the shenanigans between Marc and Gianna, the goofy inspectors and the slow pacing. The 105 min. version is imo far superior. It has better pacing, no goofiness, has a much darker tone and atmosphere and works better as a mystery.

BTW, did Argento made those cuts himself, did he approve them? Or was it the producers? What does Argento think of this 105 min. international version?

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by BladeRunner2007

Anyone prefer the international version over the director's cut? I don't really like all the shenanigans between Marc and Gianna, the goofy inspectors and the slow pacing. The 105 min. version is imo far superior. It has better pacing, no goofiness, has a much darker tone and atmosphere and works better as a mystery.

BTW, did Argento made those cuts himself, did he approve them? Or was it the producers? What does Argento think of this 105 min. international version?

I think I'm going to watch the shorter cut tonite, I watched the longer cut last year when the blu came out.

[takeasneededforpain]

Argento newbie here with a few questions...

Having never seen this before, I just blind bought the Blue Underground Bluray of this tonight on Amazon.ca

So this Bluray version ihas both the short and the longer versions eh??? Is it shorter version (which is presumably in English) censored in any way in terms of gore or violence?? I hate when things are cut or censored in any way so if I want the fully uncut version which version should I watch??

Also I can't speak nor understand Italian so does the longer Italian cut have English subtitles??

[OrchidClub]

Originally Posted by takeasneededforpain

Argento newbie here with a few questions...

Having never seen this before, I just blind bought the Blue Underground Bluray of this tonight on Amazon.ca

So this Bluray version ihas both the short and the longer versions eh??? Is it shorter version (which is presumably in English) censored in any way in terms of gore or violence?? I hate when things are cut or censored in any way so if I want the fully uncut version which version should I watch??

Also I can't speak nor understand Italian so does the longer Italian cut have English subtitles??

The longer Italian cut can be viewed entirely in Italian with subs, or in English and Italian with subs. It has scenes that were never dubbed into English (because they were cut out of the U.S. version) so it switches back and forth from English to Italian. This cut has more character development and more humor. This is the way Argento intended the movie to be seen, but some people prefer the shorter cut for its tighter pacing.

The shorter U.S. cut is uncensored in terms of gore on the Blu-ray, but originally the gory bits were trimmed when it was released theatrically.

[takeasneededforpain]

So correct me if I'm wrong but what you're saying is that the longer Italian language version of the film can be watched with English subtitles yes??

What do you mean about it switching back and fourth from Italian to English if I watch the longer Italian version?? Also is the longer "Argento intended" version cut or censored in any way???

Sorry if I sound like an idiot but I'm tired as I've been up 29 hours. Plus I wanna make sure I get the full experience from this film if I can (despite not being able to speak or understand Italian) as this is my first Argento film I'll be watching.

[JoeBuck]

Originally Posted by takeasneededforpain

So correct me if I'm wrong but what you're saying is that the longer Italian language version of the film can be watched with English subtitles yes??

What do you mean about it switching back and fourth from Italian to English if I watch the longer Italian version?? Also is the longer "Argento intended" version cut or censored in any way???

Sorry if I sound like an idiot but I'm tired as I've been up 29 hours. Plus I wanna make sure I get the full experience from this film if I can (despite not being able to speak or understand Italian) as this is my first Argento film I'll be watching.

The film was cut for time but reconstructed later. Unfortunately all of scenes that were re-added didn't have any English soundtrack so it switches between English and the added scenes will be in Italian.
Or you can just watch the whole thing in Italian with English subtitles or the shorter version in English (and still full violence)

[WesReviews]

The Uncensored English Version is the US version with all the extra blood/gore in tact.

The Italian Director's Cut has the extra blood/gore, but also longer scenes and additional scenes.

The better cut, in this Argento diehard's opinion... the Uncensored English Version. Some stuff in the Italian director's cut slows the film to a crawl and is a labor to get through. Deep Red works best, fast, fun, and gory... which is exactly everything the Uncensored English Version is.

[Mr. Thomsen]

+1

The long version is interesting to watch when you know the film, but much of the added material really slows the story down, and some of it is downright annoying. I also much prefer the shorter international cut.

[Zombie Dude]

I've only ever watched the extended cut. Always enjoyed that one.

[JLaw1719]

Argento's cut smashes the US cut. Best way I can describe it is that the US cut feels like one of those abridged audiobooks that basically tells the story, but lacks the finer details and screws with the overall feel of the story. I really enjoyed Deep Red before, but once I saw the 2 hour version, I understood more why so many consider it his masterpiece because I felt much differently about it myself. I'll never watch the shorter version again.