The Banquet & Confession of Pain

[Clueless_Monkey]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

Is The Banquet region free? DDDHouse says yes, Yesasia says no.

Got my copy today, --- says it's region free!

55 Screenshots: http://www.asianblurayguide.com/capt...ng_kong_china/

[rich_adamson]

Any thoughts on the PQ or AQ? I am still waiting on mine, and I can't wait to get rid of my Dragon Dynasty dvd of it as I was less than pleased with this on DVD.

[AnimeOnBlu]

The Banquet

Video: 1080p AVC 2.35:1
Audio: Mandarin TrueHD 7.1, Mandarin DD 5.1
Subtitles: English (CIH Friendly), Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese
Time: 131 mins
BD: BD25
Region: Free
Extras:
-Making Of
-Trailer

Confessions of Pain

Video: 1080p AVC 2.35:1
Audio: Cantonese TrueHD 7.1, Cantonese DD 5.1, Mandarin DD 5.1
Subtitles: English (CIH Friendly), Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese
Time: 98 mins
BD: BD25
Region: Free
Extras:
-Making Of
-Trailer

PQ and SQ was fine on both. They are both Region Free (I tested myself). Subtitles are within the frame and never exceeded a single line (from the 10 or so minutes I sampled of each).

[Old Bones]

Im still bummed the extras are not subbed

[Kevtronn]

Ordered The Banquet

[iskandam]

My copy of The Banquet arrived today. I had a chance to see the first half of the movie. I also owned the Megastar 2-disc DVD and the US r.1 release (Legend of the Black Scorpion) to compare it with.

First off, the subtitles are exactly the same as the Megastar release, which is a good thing because IMHO it's one of the best subs I've ever read for an Asian release. It beautifully captures the poetic essence of the dialog with absolutely no spelling or grammatical errors of any kind.

Picture is sharper than the DVD. Fine details like the motif on costumes and background items are more easily noticed. But if you're expecting Ip Man or Red Cliff level PQ then you'll be disappointed. Unfortunately the improvement is only minor. If your HDTVs are 50" or smaller and you already have the DVD then this bluray release is a hard sell. FWIW my LCD is a 42" 1080p Sharp.

Sound is Dolby TrueHD with bitrates averaging from 2.50 - 3 Mbps. It's recorded at a lower level than the 24 bit 96 Khz 1.5 Mpbs DTS soundtrack on the Megastar release (1.5 Mbps) so you need to boost the volume quite a bit to get to the same level. The lossless soundtrack has slightly more detail, more extended top end that creates a more open, deeper, and spacious soundstage, and deeper bass. But just like the picture quality, the improvement in audio is not night and day.

After having waited all this time for the bluray release, I am disappointed with this half-assed effort. Should you upgrade? Only if you answer yes to all these questions:

1) Are you a really big fan of the movie?
2) Is your TV bigger than 50"?
3) Do you have a high-resolution sound system?

[Old Bones]

iskandam . I also have the dvd and now the blu-ray and I must say your review is spot on !!
I'm glad to have the upgrade but the PQ and AQ are 3:75 stars compared to 5 stars for IP Man and Red Cliff

[iskandam]

There is absolutely no excuse for Megastar to screw up this bluray release when THE ASSEMBLY nailed it perfectly on both A/V fronts!

[lhslancers]

Originally Posted by iskandam

There is absolutely no excuse for Megastar to screw up this bluray release when THE ASSEMBLY nailed it perfectly on both A/V fronts!

Assembly was top notch.

[Zen_Amako]

I'm disappointed to read the comments about the PQ when my preorder is still in transit. I did think the DVD already had very good PQ (for a DVD), so this is probably just the same transfer with an increase in resolution. Maybe I was too hasty to order the Blu-ray and sell the DVD (which I already did), but that's the way it goes. I would have liked five-star PQ, but as long as it is an improvement over the DVD, I'm not too worried. Now if only they would release a better version of House of Flying Daggers than the one we have in the U.S.

[jkcheng122]

Disappointing to hear of the PQ issues as mine is on its way and should arrive next week. I did give the DVD to a friend so at least I'll still have a copy that is currently the best presentation of the movie.

[OrlandoEastwood]

How's the OAR on Confessions of Pain? On the DVD master; in the opening credits its 2.35:1 and then it goes to 1.85:1. And it stays 1.85:1 during the whole film. Is the Blu-ray like that or is it in it's full scope presentation?

[LatemDeeps]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

Is The Banquet region free? DDDHouse says yes, Yesasia says no.

Sky Captain (and anybody else), I would not bother trusting what Yesasia lists as the purported specs of any of their discs -- they are almost never accurate. I get the impression that they even make stuff up to try and move stock (case in point: the Korean version of FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN does NOT have a Japanese language track -- no indication on the cover, which is where they seem to have copied the bulk of their "information" from).

Another reason not to take them seriously is that they remove negative reviews about products that they sell. So just remember this: Yesasia has Noinfo.

I don't know about their Blu-Ray information, but HKFLIX has pretty much always had accurate information about what they sell (they at least USED to check the information themselves).

[jkcheng122]

Originally Posted by Clueless_Monkey

Got my copy today, --- says it's region free!

55 Screenshots: http://www.asianblurayguide.com/capt...ng_kong_china/

Those screenshots don't look good at all. Looks like an upconvert, hopefully the audio is an improvement over the DVD.