Downfall (Oliver Hirschbiegel)

[Russell_L]

Originally Posted by Bruce Morrison

Yes it's region-free. I believe I read somewhere that the English subtitles are hard-coded, although I haven't tried removing them.

It doesn't have lossless audio (only DD 5.1), but nevertheless I thought the sound quality was fine. It's recorded at a low level so you need to turn the volume up a few extra notches, but then there's plenty of dynamic range and bass extension when the bombs are falling, etc. It certainly sounded better than my Region 1 DVD (I don't have the UK DVD).

The PQ is also excellent, so I don't see any reason to hesitate.

Thanks--I'll give it a go!

[MacLover]

I suppose I'll buy it even if it is Theatrical although Hard subs not sure about that, I guess I could sell it on eBay if it does have hard subs.

Edit: It has soft subs so you can remove them

[Russell_L]

My copy of 'Downfall' arrived today from Amazon UK--amazingly fast, since I received the e-mail notification on Saturday (January 10) that they had shipped it. (Just 2 days from the UK to the west coast of the US!) I've only had a chance to spot-check the disc, but I can confirm that it's region-free and the PQ is superior to the US DVD (issued by Sony). The gain in clarity is amazing over the already pretty decent DVD. (There's also a fair amount of grain, which should please purists.) The English subtitles are indeed hard-coded (as they are for the US DVD). The AQ on both discs is only Dolby Digital. BUT, the director's commentary (in English) on the DVD is absent from the BD, which is REALLY disappointing. Otherwise, the BD appears to have the same supplements as the DVD plus a few others. I just might have to keep the DVD for the director's commentary.....

BTW, the DVD states the running time as 155 minutes while the BD says 149 minutes. I strongly suspect this is a misprint taken from the UK DVD accounting for the 4% PAL speedup (which wouldn't apply to the BD), since 155 = 149 x 1.04. The BD does play at 24 fps and I verified that it goes for 155 minutes (through the end credits).

[Bruce Morrison]

Originally Posted by Russell_L

My copy of 'Downfall' arrived today from Amazon UK--amazingly fast, since I received the e-mail notification on Saturday (January 10) that they had shipped it. (Just 2 days from the UK to the west coast of the US!)

Wow - I wish it was that quick in the opposite direction!

Originally Posted by Russell_L

BUT, the director's commentary (in English) on the DVD is absent from the BD, which is REALLY disappointing. Otherwise, the BD appears to have the same supplements as the DVD plus a few others. I just might have to keep the DVD for the director's commentary.....

Yes, I was disappointed about that too. I'll be keeping the Region 1 DVD for the same reason.

Originally Posted by Russell_L

BTW, the DVD states the running time as 155 minutes while the BD says 149 minutes. I strongly suspect this is a misprint taken from the UK DVD accounting for the 4% PAL speedup (which wouldn't apply to the BD), since 155 = 149 x 1.04. The BD does play at 24 fps and I verified that it goes for 155 minutes (through the end credits).

Yes, the documentation on UK BDs often gets this wrong. It seems that many UK-based releasing companies simply don't understand that PAL DVDs have a 4% speed-up, and they just mindlessly replicate the DVD running time on the corresponding BD. Also, have you noticed that the UK Amazon site describes all BDs as "PAL"? That's equally ridiculous - I e-mailed them about that some time ago, but they just ignored it.

[MacLover]

I have now cancelled my order, Hardsubs WTF I mean it is one thing not to have the Extended version but hard subs and English commentary what BS. I hope Germany/Austria get it soon as I would rather get a full German one.

[Quint van der Vaart]

There will be a Dutch release of Der Untergang (Downfall) on March 19th 2009.
No specs yet but it is the theatrical release, more info to come

[Crim122]

How is the transfer? Because I rented the dvd this week and I loved every bit of it and would love to own it.

[kpkelley]

Originally Posted by Crim122

How is the transfer? Because I rented the dvd this week and I loved every bit of it and would love to own it.

Audio is only DD, but I think it unlikely to get a domestic release anytime soon.

NOTE: I can confirm that the Momentum (UK) Blu-ray is region free and will play on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

ADDITION: Momentum (UK) - Region FREE Blu-ray (January 2009): the captures support an improvement in the image quality for the Blu-ray - more in terms of the film's textures than extravagantly in detail - although the Momentum 1080P visuals are tighter with better color gradation - most notable in skin tones and uniforms. I expect the dual-layered Blu-ray disc (taking up over 41GIg of space) is probably as digitally faithful as we are going to get to a theatrical experience for now. Certain scenes, usually the darker segments and close-ups, tend to bring out the good film grain although the entire of Downfall on Blu-ray supports substantial grain. Brighter sequences bring up detail to modern-film expectations (see bonus captures at the very bottom.) The Blu-ray has a modest bitrate in the mid-twenties quadrupling the German Premium edition. Although not as evident in the screen captures I found the film experience far more impacting in high-definition. It was such a pleasure seeing Downfall again - and having it look this 'real'.

Link

[Crim122]

Originally Posted by kpkelley

Audio is only DD, but I think it unlikely to get a domestic release anytime soon.

Figured as much, guess I will order it.

[Russell_L]

Originally Posted by Bruce Morrison

Wow - I wish it was that quick in the opposite direction!.

Amazon UK and the US Postal Service did it again: I ordered the BD of 'The Tudors, Seasons 1 & 2' on Saturday the 10th, received the dispatch notice on Monday the 12th, and it arrived today, Wednesday the 14th. Just amazing.

[Bruce Morrison]

Originally Posted by Russell_L

Amazon UK and the US Postal Service did it again: I ordered the BD of 'The Tudors, Seasons 1 & 2' on Saturday the 10th, received the dispatch notice on Monday the 12th, and it arrived today, Wednesday the 14th. Just amazing.

I don't understand this. Doesn't the wind blow from West to East over the pond?

[VinnAY]

Originally Posted by kpkelley

Audio is only DD, but I think it unlikely to get a domestic release anytime soon.

I'm watching this now, and I must say, the audio track is substantial for lossy. I really don't see that a lossless track would amount to any appreciable improvement given that it's largely dialogue based. PQ is excellent btw, lot's of grain, it appears "as filmed"; unmolested with DNR/EE.

IMHO

[Windows V]

That's wierd.... anyone know why Downfall isn't available for order anymore on amazon.co.uk? All it has now are private sellers, and they won't ship international. wtf? Did they run out of stock?

[MacLover]

HMV have it in stock, Windows V (not sure about international shipping though)

[Tchotchke]

Can someone confirm that the extras are playable in a US PS3? They're not PAL, are they?

[Flatnate]

Just bought the UK blu-ray of Downfall from Momentum Pictures off of Amazon. My wife had to watch this movie for a college course and rather than making a date night in the AV room below the library we pulled the Blu-ray in off of Amazon sight unseen. Overall an amazing movie and definitely a great blind buy. I have not been able to watch it on my projector yet, to really look closely at the transfer but my plasma did show a considerable amount of grain. I'm not sure if this was done intentionally to give the film a more of a period feel like you often see of 16mm WWII footage of the time, or if it is a byproduct of the transfer, regardless the clarity and detail were exceptional. Audio wise it was the classic complaint that my wife has about the dynamic range being so huge that your all over the remote volume button to keep the gunshots from waking up everyone in the neighborhood and being able to hear all the dialog. Again, I'll have to check it out with the surround sound on another night.

The second part of my post is kind of a site question and may belong somewhere else. I initially did a search for Downfall as a movie on the site and came up with nothing until I clicked over to the UK flag on the site preferences. Is there any way to get both the UK discs and the US search results in one search? Also when searching for threads on this movie, I came up mostly empty but found several Downfall threads linked to the UK disc. Why aren't those threads popping to the top of my "forum" keyword search? Maybe they are there and are back in like page 5 or further.... I never dug in that deep.

Anyway, so happy I found this site and realized I could pull a UK version of this movie stateside. Hope to do stuff like this again in the future.

[GeorgeP12]

Originally Posted by Flatnate

The second part of my post is kind of a site question and may belong somewhere else. I initially did a search for Downfall as a movie on the site and came up with nothing until I clicked over to the UK flag on the site preferences. Is there any way to get both the UK discs and the US search results in one search?

I guess you need to check "Settings: Site preferences" (at top right corner) or:
https://www.blu-ray.com/community/settings.php

[Flatnate]

Originally Posted by GeorgeP12

I guess you need to check "Settings: Site preferences" (at top right corner) or:
https://www.blu-ray.com/community/settings.php

Thanks, found it and fixed.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by Flatnate

Also when searching for threads on this movie, I came up mostly empty but found several Downfall threads linked to the UK disc. Why aren't those threads popping to the top of my "forum" keyword search? Maybe they are there and are back in like page 5 or further.... I never dug in that deep.

Anyway, so happy I found this site and realized I could pull a UK version of this movie stateside. Hope to do stuff like this again in the future.

Welcome to the community, Flatnate,

A couple of things:

1. As George mentioned, go here:

https://www.blu-ray.com/community/settings.php

...and click/check ALL boxes. This way you will be able to see product, news, reviews, pre-orders, and catalog titles from all over the world that we have in the database.

2. Searching for specific threads:

a) Click on "Search", which appears on the blue bar between "New Posts" and "Quick Links", and then click on "advanced search".

b) Now, on the left side, in "key words" type up DOWNFALL, and then beneath it select "Search Titles Only".

c) Below it, on the right, all of the forums, under "Search in Forums" - you could select "Blu-ray0International", or "United Kingdom". Highlight and click "Search Now" at the bottom of your screen.

Voila

Pro-B

[Flatnate]

Thanks for the tips guys.

Has anyone had any thoughts as to if the amount of grain on this blu-ray may have been an artistic decision by the director? With that thought, has anyone here seen this movie theatrically as a comparison?