House of Cards Trilogy (BBC Series) Special Edition -- January 15th, 2013

[TeddyMac]

I've watched the series twice since 2005, and last year got a deal on the DVD set (never imagined it would make it to BD).

Decided to wait for a third viewing until after watching the NETFLIX version.

I will most definitely purchase this BD set, when the price is right. Which it isn't, yet.

FWIW: Relatives who are enjoying the NETFLIX production both prefer the BBC series, while still greatly appreciating the NETFLIX effort.

[BluraySe7en]

Originally Posted by R o d

Those who are familiar with this series, can you please comment on what you like about it. Does it have much replay value?

Without a doubt, I saw all three series on original broadcast and subsequently a number of times since and are looking to viewing my Blu ray when it turns up.

They are a case of diminishing returns, House of Cards in my view is still slightly superior to what Netflix have given us so far and is just a thoroughly delicious piece of drama with Richardson simply electrifying. As good as Spacey's Underwood is, Richardson's Urqhart on the evidence of HOC 2013 is still being awarded the cigar, that being said Spacey is magnetic in the new version and may well match Richardson later on.

To Play The King is incredibly enjoyable and again Richardson is terrific although as the review on the front page says he's not as enjoyable as PM as he is Chief Whip but his sparring with Michael Kitchen's King makes for some memorable moments.

The Final Cut is the weakest of the lot but still worth a look as Richardson's Urqhart still makes for compelling viewing, although like the previous 2 i actually prefer Dobbs' novel instead.

Definitely worth the asking price and not one you'll find a waste of your time.

[Komond]

Does anyone know for sure if it's A blocked or if it's possible to play in B zone? I tried usual sites and didn't found anything about that.

I would pretty much prefer this edition over the UK one for the 1080p issue, as I haven't seen screencapture comparatives (maybe there's no actual difference in which case I wouldn't mind buying the UK), so in case of doubt technically I prefer the USA right now.

If somone knows about comparative screencaptures for both versions it would also be helpful to decide.

[Millibar]

Originally Posted by Komond

Does anyone know for sure if it's A blocked or if it's possible to play in B zone? I tried usual sites and didn't found anything about that.

I would pretty much prefer this edition over the UK one for the 1080p issue, as I haven't seen screencapture comparatives (maybe there's no actual difference in which case I wouldn't mind buying the UK), so in case of doubt technically I prefer the USA right now.

If somone knows about comparative screencaptures for both versions it would also be helpful to decide.

You have no need to worry - the PQ is outstanding in the first series and a little softer in the second.

An achievement that I thought would be impossible

[John Bergqvist]

Can someone tell me if the UK edition has PAL speedup or not, when compared to the US blu ray (I know the US edition has some more extras which may affect running time)? I mean in theory these things shouldn't be the case, but if its shot on Film, then you never know?

[John Bergqvist]

I've just noticed (watching the UK edition here) that parts of Episode 2 of To Play The King cut to what's supposed to be a TV broadcast, where the shots have an appropriate "video feel" to them (I imagine those bits were shot on video), so maybe this is why they encoded it all at 1080i for the UK release, so as to display those portions of the episode correctly?

[CouncilSpectre]

1080i is just the BBC standard for domestic BD releases isn't it?

Doctor Who, Sherlock, Brian Cox's 'Wonders' series are all 1080i.

[John Bergqvist]

Originally Posted by CouncilSpectre

1080i is just the BBC standard for domestic BD releases isn't it?

Doctor Who, Sherlock, Brian Cox's 'Wonders' series are all 1080i.

Well i've had a look at my UK/Region B copy and although the files are flagged as 1080i, the framerate is 25fps and there are no interlacing/combing artefacts that I can see on the individual frames of the videos. I'm having a look at the 'video' scene that i mentioned above, now.


Update: OK, the framerate throughout all episodes is 25fps, and they're flagged as interlaced, however for the vast majority of the time, de-interlacing the videos will have no effect because none of the frames have interlacing artefacts on. However, during Episode 3 (look around 7 to 10 minutes in) of To Play The King, the King records a TV speech and part of the scene switches to a 'video-feel' as shot though the TV camera, at which point interlacing artefacts DO appear and so to see that part properly, you'll need to have de-interlacing turned on. I'm not entirely sure whether the framerate itself changes during these portions, VideoReDo seems to thing it's 25fps all the way through, but I could be wrong. To me it looks smoother than 25fps. Anyway thats how I see it.

Essentially anyway ignoring that scene, the rest of that episode & all 3 series are (in actuality) non-interlaced at 25fps, so the 1080p US blu-ray should play back identically, except they might have had to do something different for the aforementioned 'video' scene in Episode 3.