Gladiator (2000)

[Beaucamper]

Originally Posted by Moviefan1203

Alright I got it in the mail, it is a white UPC with 2 Disc set printed above the Paramount logo on the lower right hand corner of the back cover. The code on the feature disc is NA13081B1R2. Am I good?

Maybe not. I just checked my two copies-- original & improved.
I sent in the UPS code for a discount on the old one so I don't know the color, but my improved version does not have '2 disc set' in the lower right corner on the back.
If you have no old one to compare, watch the battle at the start. In the long shot the flaming arrows should be easily seen. They are almost absent on the old one. Plus the old one has banding in the mist during the opening titles.
I can tell right away which one I'm playing just from the banding.
The difference overall is quite significant. I was upset with my first viewing of the old one. Couldn't believe they put it out like that. The new one is top stuff on my Sammy Plasma. First rate.

[Moviefan1203]

Originally Posted by Mandalorian

And when you watch it, if the title screen looks like this, you can relax and enjoy the show...



That's in contrast to this one (which is the first pressing)...

My title sequence stays black!

[Jimmydm90]

Crap I've got the original pressing. Anybody know if the exchange program is still good?

[Jack Burton]

Originally Posted by eddievanhalen

But beware, last year on it's 100th Anniversary Universal released Gladiator on Digibook. Although I already had the US Saphire series BD, I decided the Digibbok looked cool and cheap enough to buy it. I was the remastered version, but to my surprise, looked worse than the US Saphire series. First I checked the codecs, and both were AVC. Then I paid more attention to the US BD to see traces of edge enhancements or tweaking, I noticed none, picture was just more detailed on the US BD than on its European counterpart, and not a subtle difference.
Then I separated both version of the movie with the English track on DTS-HD Master Audio intact with DVDFab.
The US file of the movie was bigger I don't remember how much as this happened over a year ago.
Then I went further, with TSMuxer, I demuxed (separated the two tracks of the movie file, one with only the video and a second one with only the audio) both files the US and the European sourced files. On the US version, video took more space, not much for a movie that long, the US video part was around 4 Gig bigger. I suspect is not only size what matters, My theory is that better coding and more care was paid on the compressing of the Gladiator BD.
Actually, most Paramount encoding and authorings are made by Panasonic, while Universal uses Deluxe for their BD compressing and authoring.
I just thought this info could be useful to somebody thinking about buying Gladiator on BD and not know what version or country of origin buy it from.
So, US BD of Gladiator looks better, crispier, more detailed, in a nutshell, it's better.

Thought that the US Saphire edition was the old master, or did they change it to the new master somewhere down the line.

[wesslan]

Originally Posted by Jack Burton

Thought that the US Saphire edition was the old master, or did they change it to the new master somewhere down the line.

Pretty sure they exchanged those also. I bought my Saphire disc after I had the european replacement only because I liked the look of the US disc more and if it's true what eddievanhalen is saying then all the better

[bigdaddyhorse]

Originally Posted by Jimmydm90

Crap I've got the original pressing. Anybody know if the exchange program is still good?

Can't hurt to call and ask, here's the number from a few pages back:
888-889-9456
Good luck, let us know how it goes.

[eddievanhalen]

Originally Posted by wesslan

Pretty sure they exchanged those also. I bought my Saphire disc after I had the european replacement only because I liked the look of the US disc more and if it's true what eddievanhalen is saying then all the better

Belive me, it's true, I compared both, visually and demuxing the video and audio data streams. They both may come from the same scan master, use the same codec, but the US looks better, sharper, crispier, picture is more defined, the grain structure look says it's more film-like, so the US must be compressed better, it's a combination of several factors, how much care is taken into the compression, the budget given fore the compression (more compression time=better picture quality=more expensive), how skilled the compressionist is, the program and equipment used for the compression...
The differences are not subtle, they are there.

[moviebuff75]

The ironic thing is that the gold title is the original theatrical version and the black one was created for the original dvd.

[Jack Burton]

Originally Posted by eddievanhalen

Belive me, it's true, I compared both, visually and demuxing the video and audio data streams. They both may come from the same scan master, use the same codec, but the US looks better, sharper, crispier, picture is more defined, the grain structure look says it's more film-like, so the US must be compressed better, it's a combination of several factors, how much care is taken into the compression, the budget given fore the compression (more compression time=better picture quality=more expensive), how skilled the compressionist is, the program and equipment used for the compression...
The differences are not subtle, they are there.

Are you saying that the remastered version for the USA is better than the remastered version for Europe, or you saying the old Saphire old master is better than the new remastered European version.

[ryuhayabusa6787]

is the 2013 version 2 disk also a remastered version??? or is the 2010 version the only remastered version?

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by ryuhayabusa6787

is the 2013 version 2 disk also a remastered version??? or is the 2010 version the only remastered version?

All releases after 2010 are remastered... read the thread or search it.

[filmmusic]

Has any bought the steelbook?
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Gladiator-Blu-ray/69362/

Is it safe?

yeah, I know steve_dave you said above all versions after 2010 are remastered, but just wanted to be sure..

[StatenMan18]

I have the first edition of this on blu ray, the two did Sapphire series from like three years ago.. I read in the review for this about how paramount will send a replacement disc for the new remaster of it, but that post is also from like three years ago. You think if I call that number listed paramount will still honor this? Thanks

[gettodamoofies]

Originally Posted by StatenMan18

I have the first edition of this on blu ray, the two did Sapphire series from like three years ago.. I read in the review for this about how paramount will send a replacement disc for the new remaster of it, but that post is also from like three years ago. You think if I call that number listed paramount will still honor this? Thanks

One way to find out.... give it a call.

[OI8T12]

Originally Posted by filmmusic

Has any bought the steelbook?
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Gladiator-Blu-ray/69362/

Is it safe?

yeah, I know steve_dave you said above all versions after 2010 are remastered, but just wanted to be sure..

I have the Steelbook and it's just fine. I checked it two weeks ago and it's a- ok.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by OI8T12

I have the Steelbook and it's just fine. I checked it two weeks ago and it's a- ok.

Oh, thank you very much!!

[Early Memphis]

Just watched this again - cannot believe how good this movie is. I watched the extended version this time. Don't recall seeing any extra violent fighting scenes but there were a couple of extra character scenes. Simply incredible!

[morg999]

Originally Posted by StatenMan18

I have the first edition of this on blu ray, the two did Sapphire series from like three years ago.. I read in the review for this about how paramount will send a replacement disc for the new remaster of it, but that post is also from like three years ago. You think if I call that number listed paramount will still honor this? Thanks

The Replacement/Exchange is still going on...I sent an email to PHE MKT on 1-23, it took them about a week to respond, but then gave me the Valencia/Santa Clara address to ship the "old" B1R1 disc...I didn't have any luck w/ the phone call, but the email got a response..

[djchaseb]

just picked it up on Amazon for 8.96....listed as 2013, assuming it's the new master.

[Early Memphis]

Originally Posted by djchaseb

just picked it up on Amazon for 8.96....listed as 2013, assuming it's the new master.

Good luck (hoping your black stays black) - but you know what they say about assumptions...