Sony Black Crush on late-2014 / early-2015 BDs

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by cuzzin

We need an HD-to-HD comparison though.

I agree, unfortunately this is the best I can do. However the difference is not subtle, it's really glaring. This is an enormous mistake.

[cuzzin]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

This is outrageous!!!! I paid $20 for a BD with a pristine copy of the film, not this GARBAGE.

It was $10 at Wal-Mart.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

$20? It's $9.96 at Walmart.

$14 at Amazon, I think, I can't actually remember, lol, it's the principle of the thing.

And now Vudu is telling me I can't download or watch either MBFW or THE INTERVIW in HD due to "copyright restrictions"?

And the SD version I was able to download, which is 2GB, is a proprietary file that can only be opened in Vudu, and which won't even display fullscreen.

I hate streaming services, lol.

[cuzzin]

By the way, you guys should contact the reviewer of The Interview and the other problematic Blu-ray discs and point out this issue to them. The more publicized the issue, the higher the chance of a disc replacement program. I PM'd Kenneth Brown last year to point out the issues with the black levels of the third season of Shameless, an issue he missed in his initial review. He then updated his review with a lower PQ rating.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by cuzzin

By the way, you guys should contact the reviewer of The Interview and the other problematic Blu-ray discs and point out this issue to them. The more publicized the issue, the higher the chance of a disc replacement program. I PM'd Kenneth Brown last year to point out the issues with the black levels of the third season of Shameless, an issue he missed in his initial review. He then updated his review with a lower PQ rating.

Good idea! If we make enough noise, we can get this fixed.

I managed to get Warners to reissue Polanski's FRANTIC all on my own, simply by contacting Polanski's office in Paris and having them tell Warners to do it right, so I know it's possible to win at these things.

These are major movies, with gargantuan flaws in their BD transfers, there's no way to hide it.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by cuzzin

By the way, you guys should contact the reviewer of The Interview and the other problematic Blu-ray discs and point out this issue to them. The more publicized the issue, the higher the chance of a disc replacement program. I PM'd Kenneth Brown last year to point out the issues with the black levels of the third season of Shameless, an issue he missed in his initial review. He then updated his review with a lower PQ rating.

Unfortunately, Martin Liebman basically only says positive things about Sony's BDs.

[James Luckard]

I'm calling Sony tomorrow. Somebody is either asleep at the wheel, or has made a calculated decision to purposely ruin the BD transfers to drive people to streaming, those are the only two possibilities.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I'm calling Sony tomorrow. Somebody is either asleep at the wheel, or has made a calculated decision to purposely ruin the BD transfers to drive people to streaming, those are the only two possibilities.

You know what's sad?

Sony invented BD.

[James Luckard]

Another example of how hideous the BD transfer of THE INTERVIEW is:

UV:

BD:


This is possibly the WORST BD transfer I have ever seen.

[jscoggins]

That is awful. You almost can't see the whites of Rogen's eyes!

[cuzzin]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Unfortunately, Martin Liebman basically only says positive things about Sony's BDs.

Really? Worth a shot, anyways. It will show if he is a real reviewer or just a shill.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

That is awful. You almost can't see the whites of Rogen's eyes!

I'm so glad I saw this film in theaters, properly projected, so I knew almost instantly on watching the BD that something was horribly, horribly wrong.

MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING also looked wrong, but it's so brightly lit that it was only in certain moments that it looked unnatural. THE INTERVIEW is a seriously dark film, it's photographed like a thriller. I'm listening to the commentary now. Rogen and Goldberg talk about how much attention they paid to the photography, not wanting a standard brightly lit comedy, they said the biggest stylistic influence on the cinematography was Michael Mann's THE INSIDER, and it shows, THE INTERVIEW is a gorgeously filmed comedy. This BD is an appalling representation of their work with DP Brandon Trost.

[tenia]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

This is possibly the WORST BD transfer I have ever seen.

Black levels issues are awful but it'd be far-fetched to call this the worst BD transfer one might have ever seen.
Or you're really lucky if it is.

Look at the German Ilsa BDs for instance...

[amoergosum]

Originally Posted by cuzzin

By the way, you guys should contact the reviewer of The Interview and the other problematic Blu-ray discs and point out this issue to them. The more publicized the issue, the higher the chance of a disc replacement program.

I just sent him a pm.


You guys should also contact Sony (I just sent them an email) >>>

HOME ENTERTAINMENT
11. I have a question about a DVD, Blu-ray or Digital copy I purchased. Who do I contact?
For DVD, Blu-ray or digital copy questions, you can reach Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Customer Service directly at consumer@SPHECustomerSupport.sony.com or 1-800-860-2878.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by tenia

Black levels issues are awful but it'd be far-fetched to call this the worst BD transfer one might have ever seen.
Or you're really lucky if it is.

Look at the German Ilsa BDs for instance...

Never seen them. I've been lucky enough to see mostly great BDs so far. The worst ones I've seen up till now were probably THAT THING YOU DO and HELP!, because they were both clearly very old HD masters that had no fine detail.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by amoergosum

You guys should also contact Sony (I just sent them an email) >>>

I'm gonna call them tomorrow, no question.

[Wernski]

Yikes. How widespread is this?

[kristoffer]

Could Sony have done this to make the 4K downloads look better?

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

Could Sony have done this to make the 4K downloads look better?

I hate to feed a conspiracy theory, but I can't see any other reason.

I can't believe nobody noticed this on FURY, and THE INTERVIEW and MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING as well. In addition, the masters on their UV system are perfectly normal, so these have clearly been altered. Now maybe the MBFW master on the UV is the older master used for the UK BD, as the colors also look more like that. However FURY and THE INTERVIEW are brand new. There's no excuse for the BDs looking so hideously different from the UV versions, which look exactly how the movies did in theaters just a few months ago. And these were shot digitally, so there's no excuse of a new scan from the negatives possibly looking different, like MBFW.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Wernski

Yikes. How widespread is this?

So far, it's confirmed here with comparison caps for the following:

FURY
THE INTERVIEW
MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING

all released since the beginning of the year.

Other recent Sony releases that people should try to compare to the UV versions are:

NO GOOD DEED
PREDESTINATION
THE EQUALIZER