The African Queen

[Pyoko]

Indeed, the fine grain is all gone on the UK edition, and has just turned into a big mush. I'm happy with my decision to pick up the US one.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by Pyoko

Indeed, the fine grain is all gone on the UK edition, and has just turned into a big mush. I'm happy with my decision to pick up the US one.

I'm going to make a wild guess that you have not seen the disc as this is clearly not the case.

Pro-B

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by Pyoko

Indeed, the fine grain is all gone on the UK edition, and has just turned into a big mush. I'm happy with my decision to pick up the US one.

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

I'm going to make a wild guess that you have not seen the disc as this is clearly not the case.

Pro-B

I'm not the best person to ask, but to me there was little noticeable difference in the comparison screenshots from DVDDuell. I'd have to assume--based solely on encoding--that the Paramount wins out slightly in motion, but they obviously lose on the audio and extras fronts...

[Pyoko]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

I'm going to make a wild guess that you have not seen the disc as this is clearly not the case.

Of course not, why would I waste my time and money with an obviously inferior-looking edition?

I'm looking at the comparison and the finest multi-coloured grain typical of Technicolor productions, present on most shots of the Paramount disc, is all but gone from pretty much every single shot of the ITV disc. Regardless, the compression (and fine detail) is clearly worse on the ITV. Look at the etched portrait in the book, the Paramount shows a lot of fine vertical lines on the clothing, where the ITV disc has none.

I learned my lesson with The Lives of Others, not going to take any more chances on UK discs by smaller/alternative distributors just to save a few bucks.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by Pyoko

Of course not, why would I waste my time and money with an obviously inferior-looking edition?

Because I have and what you have written isn't true. Yes, there are some compression artifacts (some of which are also present on the U.S. disc), but there is plenty of fine grain on the ITV release.

Pro-B

[manicsounds]

Someone's gotta take the chance and review the ITV disc fully....

[#Darren]

Anyone done a direct comparison?

The site linked below seems to say that the US main feature is 36.65 gb in size while the UK one is 21.01. The US feature also has a much higher bitrate. And the review says the UK video transfer here is slightly weaker than the US one.

http://www.michaeldvd.com.au/Reviews...ws.asp?ID=9440

[Supernaut]

On the plus side the UK has PCM as opposed to DD on the US.

[HumanMedia]

Originally Posted by Supernaut

On the plus side the UK has PCM as opposed to DD on the US.

And has the exclusive DOP commentary.

But internet anecdotes suggest the image isn't as good as the USA release.

[#Darren]

Oh yeah there's no question the extra features are far superior on the UK set.

[KrugerIndustrial]

Originally Posted by HumanMedia

And has the exclusive DOP commentary.

But internet anecdotes suggest the image isn't as good as the USA release.

Any links?

[Supernaut]

From those comparison shots it looks to me as though the US version has the edge with a touch more saturation and contrast and an ever so fine layer of filmic grain. Conversely the UK version looks as though it's had a shade more DNR applied.

[#Darren]

pro-bassoonist, could you further elaborate on the actual pq differences (virtues/faults) between the two releases?

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by iDarren

pro-bassoonist, could you further elaborate on the actual pq differences (virtues/faults) between the two releases?

I am sorry, I did not see your post until now.

Yes. Give be 48 hours and I will put up a review for the UK release, and then you could compare it to the U.S. release. It would be easier to put the comments in perspective when you see how it looks.

Pro-B

[#Darren]

Thank you Pro-B, I look forward to this!

[KrugerIndustrial]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

I am sorry, I did not see your post until now.

Yes. Give be 48 hours and I will put up a review for the UK release, and then you could compare it to the U.S. release. It would be easier to put the comments in perspective when you see how it looks.

Pro-B

No review yet?

[#Darren]

I am anxiously waiting too I'm sure pro-b has a lot on his plate. Hopefully soon

[The Apocalypse]

Originally Posted by Farid

Is that big round thing on the UK cover just a sticker?

If you mean the thing that says "includes the commentary" etc, then no, it's not a sticker. I didn't mind it tbh.

[The Apocalypse]

No probs. For what it's worth, I'm happy with the UK version of the film, I think it looks great. Each to their own, I guess.

[#Darren]

I have the UK disk, and just watched the one hour "making of" feature. The scenes from the film presented in the "making of" seemed sharper and more 3 dimensional than the same scenes in the main feature. I am assuming that the scenes in the making of are taken from the US encode...