Once Upon a Time in America (1984) (Extended Director's Cut)

[KRW1]

Originally Posted by IagoguleBR

"The added material is non-color corrected and generaly of poor quality"

It's a shame. Those added footage have HORRIBLE quality!
But I enjoyed them, and I need a version of this "must watch classic" on Blu-ray. I'm just confused on what version to get.

Just get the Italian blu and the original release. The Italian blu is just a curio, for anyone curious enough to want to know how the additional scenes make a difference to the structure of the film when re-inserted and the original release for when you just want to watch the film. It's not ideal but it works for me.

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Originally Posted by IagoguleBR

But I enjoyed them, and I need a version of this "must watch classic" on Blu-ray. I'm just confused on what version to get.

The two-disc version here has the previously released disc as a bonus and the new disc, which given Warner usually releases the same discs worldwide is probably the exact same disc that Italy got. No sense importing the Italian release just to see the further extended version.

[Jospef]

Originally Posted by IagoguleBR

"The added material is non-color corrected and generaly of poor quality"

But it was known – back cover says it…

[sperezmore]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

I'm glad that I've held on to my existing Blu-ray of the 229-minute version.

+1

Cancelled my pre-order

Regards,

[Jospef]

Originally Posted by sperezmore

+1
Cancelled my pre-order

No offence, but I don't get it… One review, no screenshots (nor comparison to previous release) – and people cancel their pre-orders…

[DarthMarino]

Originally Posted by Jospef

No offence, but I don't get it… One review, no screenshots (nor comparison to previous release) – and people cancel their pre-orders…

The Italian disc has been out for months so many, myself included, were hoping this would be an improvement. Unfortunately, it sounds like the same transfer which is not good. I will be skipping this release as well. The new scenes are too much of a distraction to fully add to the movie.

[Jospef]

New US version has different aspect ratio and video codec (1,78:1, AVC), Italian was 1,85:1, VC-1.

[depp91]

Originally Posted by Jospef

New US version has different aspect ratio and video codec (1,78:1, AVC), Italian was 1,85:1, VC-1.

Looks like better compression on the new disc! But there's macroblocking too, which isn't surprising, considering the film's length...

[Khronikos]

No way I shell out for a disc with obvious macroblocking. Are we talking easy to see on a 40 inch from 5 feet?

To hell with crap footage inserted just because as well. Do it right or go home. Not sure a 4K disc is going to look much better if all they are is 100GB. This film needs two discs proper for the entire theatrical version.

[chris1234]

I suppose the good news is that WB's new extended BD may be sharper than WB's 2011 BD and may not have all the compression problems of the Italian BD.

To judge properly however I'd need to see the whole movie rather than individual scanned frames.

The bad news is that the new extended BD may have a tint.

Some color comparisons:

http://www.lb2121.webspace.virginmedia.com/comp.htm

[Braktastic]

Originally Posted by Akijama

Bad news

All that and it still gets a "Highly Recommended" from RAH? What a joke.

This is one of my favorite films, but given this set's issues there will have to be a fantastic deal to get me to bite as when the hell am I likely to have time to sit down and watch a 269 minute movie anyway?

[JimDiGriz]

Originally Posted by Braktastic

All that and it still gets a "Highly Recommended" from RAH? What a joke.

This is one of my favorite films, but given this set's issues there will have to be a fantastic deal to get me to bite as when the hell am I likely to have time to sit down and watch a 269 minute movie anyway?

This is true. Much as I love this film I really havent watched it that many times because the existing 229 minute blu-ray is a difficult one to fit in!

[SammyJankis]

Review.

[cash_black]

looks pretty crappy

[Randall Flagg]

So I should just get the first Blu Ray?

[GoldMotel]

Originally Posted by cash_black

looks pretty crappy

Well, when compared to a fully restored film from the original negative, yeah, of course OUATIA looks crappy.

But WB had to work with what they had, which was not the original negative for the deleted scenes.

You can't make money out of a molehill, you know.

For what they had to work with, I'd say the restoration is a pretty damn good job. Definitely deserving of the 3.5 score.

[MikeZ.]

From the Steve Hoffman Forum :

" They actually screened this at the NYFF today. DeNiro was even there to introduce it and James Woods, Treat Williams, William Forsythe and the actor who played the young Noodles stuck around to watch the movie AND hang with the audience afterwards!

Anyway, turns out most of those restored scenes have been uploaded on YouTube and they do indeed look crummy, especially the one with Louise Fletcher. Take a look:

Once Upon A Time In America - Restored Scene #1 - YouTube

And they actually desaturated the rest of the movie to match the missing footage. I kid you not. Check out Robert A. Harris' comments (which pertain to the Italian BD, but judging from the screen caps released for the US BD, it's the same look): http://www.hometheaterforum.com/top....ut-in-blu-ray/ "

[RudyC]

why didnt bluray.com add screenshots of the non extended footage?

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by RudyC

why didnt bluray.com add screenshots of the non extended footage?

I don't understand that either. It's pertinent to this release since its been re-timed compared to the previous BD. There's not even any mention of this in the written portion of the review either....

[Khronikos]

Bluray.com says under 15Mbps lol. Yeah, this is going to be trash. No questions needed. I learned a long time ago that anything under 16 is not acceptable for my tastes. Anything under 18 or so is 5 bucks at most. I hesitate to buy even Criterion when they are under 20 or close to that unless I really love the film and the master and compression job is over the top. When you are fooling with that 16 and under range you are going to have problems and this is not up for debate.