The Sect (1991) Shameless

[SymbioticFunction]

Just watched The Sect. It looks decent but nothing remarkable, I'd personally give the PQ a 3.5/5.

But there's something strange about the ratio. The back of the sleeve states 1.66:1 and the clips during the interview are in that ratio. However the film itself is 1.78:1. I couldn't work out if the bd's print had been horizontally stretched or not. Thoughts on this??

Edit:

Someone on Facebook pointed out to me that the German Koch Media release (which has superior PQ based on caps-a-holic screen captures), has a different ratio altogether - 1.85:1. So there are 3 different aspect ratios:

1. An aspect ratio of 1.66:1 as seen in the extras section of the Shameless release.
2. An aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on the German Koch Media release.
3. An aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on the UK Shameless release.

I wonder which ratio is the most faithful to OAR?

[sjconstable]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Just watched The Sect. It looks decent but nothing remarkable, I'd personally give the PQ a 3.5/5.

But there's something strange about the ratio. The back of the sleeve states 1.66:1 and the clips during the interview are in that ratio. However the film itself is 1.78:1. I couldn't work out if the bd's print had been horizontally stretched or not. Thoughts on this??

Edit:

Someone on Facebook pointed out to me that the German Koch Media release (which has superior PQ based on caps-a-holic screen captures), has a different ratio altogether - 1.85:1. So there are 3 different aspect ratios:

1. An aspect ratio of 1.66:1 as seen in the extras section of the Shameless release.
2. An aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on the German Koch Media release.
3. An aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on the UK Shameless release.

I wonder which ratio is the most faithful to OAR?

Presumably it should be 1.66:1 like The Church. I wonder why it's not the same ratio as the clips in the extras

[Ste7en]

Yeah, compared to The Church the PQ is a bit of a let down.

[Mister Zob]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Just watched The Sect. It looks decent but nothing remarkable, I'd personally give the PQ a 3.5/5.

But there's something strange about the ratio. The back of the sleeve states 1.66:1 and the clips during the interview are in that ratio. However the film itself is 1.78:1. I couldn't work out if the bd's print had been horizontally stretched or not. Thoughts on this??

Edit:

Someone on Facebook pointed out to me that the German Koch Media release (which has superior PQ based on caps-a-holic screen captures), has a different ratio altogether - 1.85:1. So there are 3 different aspect ratios:

1. An aspect ratio of 1.66:1 as seen in the extras section of the Shameless release.
2. An aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on the German Koch Media release.
3. An aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on the UK Shameless release.

I wonder which ratio is the most faithful to OAR?

The aspect ratio on the UK release seems problematic indeed.
Here's a comparison with some caps-a-holic shots of the German disc:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/195529

Geometry looks more natural on the German disc, in my opinion.

[2-perf]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

Just watched The Sect. It looks decent but nothing remarkable, I'd personally give the PQ a 3.5/5.

But there's something strange about the ratio. The back of the sleeve states 1.66:1 and the clips during the interview are in that ratio. However the film itself is 1.78:1. I couldn't work out if the bd's print had been horizontally stretched or not. Thoughts on this??

Edit:

Someone on Facebook pointed out to me that the German Koch Media release (which has superior PQ based on caps-a-holic screen captures), has a different ratio altogether - 1.85:1. So there are 3 different aspect ratios:

1. An aspect ratio of 1.66:1 as seen in the extras section of the Shameless release.
2. An aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on the German Koch Media release.
3. An aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on the UK Shameless release.

I wonder which ratio is the most faithful to OAR?

Could you please provide me with a link about that Facebook post?
I really would like to see the some screenshot comparison between Shameless and Koch, could you please provide at least one frame from the Shameless disc? Let's say this one;

[Mister Zob]

Originally Posted by 2-perf

I really would like to see the some screenshot comparison between Shameless and Koch, could you please provide at least one frame from the Shameless disc? Let's say this one;

Just click on the link above your post. ;-)

[sjconstable]

Originally Posted by Mister Zob

The aspect ratio on the UK release seems problematic indeed.
Here's a comparison with some caps-a-holic shots of the German disc:
http://screenshotcomparison.com/comparison/195529

Geometry looks more natural on the German disc, in my opinion.

Wow, that's terrible.

[2-perf]

Originally Posted by Mister Zob

Just click on the link above your post. ;-)

Sorry Mister Zob, I was writing my post when you post yours.

Thanks for the comparison.

Shameless' release looks bad compared to the Koch one, what a shame!!!

I should receive my Shameless disc today from Amazon.co.uk, will have to return it and order the Koch release. Damn!

[SymbioticFunction]

I don't like the film enough to now upgrade but if I had seen those captures earlier, I definetly would have ordered the German version. What a shame.

Edit: Although having said that, producing a 1.66:1 film in a 1.85:1 ratio is some serious cropping. Looks like we're still waiting for a definitive version of The Sect.

[2-perf]

I always heard The Sect original aspect ratio was 1.85:1.

[the blob]

A bit of a mess really.. The Shameless one definitely looks squashed and the contrast looks more natural on the German but the German one also looks noisy as hell and is missing a lot of information in comparison, which in turn has a lot more info than the italian DVD! 1.85:1 in 1991 is pretty realistic and overall I prefer the look of the German caps and losing the Italian with Eng subs wouldn't be a big deal for me. I've been to busy to hardly watch anything so thankfully mine is still sealed and I may just take it back to HMV tomorrow.

[2-perf]

Originally Posted by the blob

A bit of a mess really.. The Shameless one definitely looks squashed and the contrast looks more natural on the German but the German one also looks noisy as hell and is missing a lot of information in comparison, which in turn has a lot more info than the italian DVD! 1.85:1 in 1991 is pretty realistic and overall I prefer the look of the German caps and losing the Italian with Eng subs wouldn't be a big deal for me. I've been to busy to hardly watch anything so thankfully mine is still sealed and I may just take it back to HMV tomorrow.

Without seeing it in movement it's really hard to tell if it's noise or grain so I would wait before saying Koch's release is noisy. I also fail to see where Koch's release is missing "a lot of information" judging from those 3 screenshots.

[the blob]

Originally Posted by 2-perf

Without seeing it in movement it's really hard to tell if it's noise or grain so I would wait before saying Koch's release is noisy. I also fail to see where Koch's release is missing "a lot of information" judging from those 3 screenshots.

It's generally missing info from the top, bottom and a little from the left compared to the Shameless. I'm not saying it's framed incorrectly as obviously there is also another huge difference from the Italian DVD and the Shameless looks to have been squashed so it has more info top and bottom than it should for the intended ratio.

The sky in shot 2 and the wall in shot 3 certainly don't look like grain to me and it looks like the same type of scanner noise as the bad Italian transfers we've seen before, which I thought we were moving away from.

[sjconstable]

Originally Posted by 2-perf

I always heard The Sect original aspect ratio was 1.85:1.

Michele Soavi's films were 1.66:1, look at The Church before it, and Dellamorte Dellamore after it.

Originally Posted by the blob

but the German one also looks noisy as hell

It looks like grain to me.

[barrett75]

Originally Posted by sjconstable

Michele Soavi's films were 1.66:1, look at The Church before it, and Dellamorte Dellamore after it.

according to IMDB, his first movie (deliria) is 1.85:1, the Church and Dellamorte Dellamore are 1.66:1 and the Sect is 1.85:1 also...

[2-perf]

Someone I trust was told by the DP that The Sect intended aspect ratio is 1.85:1. Case closed for me.

[SymbioticFunction]

Originally Posted by the blob

The sky in shot 2 and the wall in shot 3 certainly don't look like grain to me and it looks like the same type of scanner noise as the bad Italian transfers we've seen before, which I thought we were moving away from.

https://www.caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d...d2=9562&c=3859

It does look a bit noisy but it still looks a hell of a lot better than the Shameless release (which has been degrained as well as looking slightly squashed).

[drterror666]

Originally Posted by barrett75

according to IMDB, his first movie (deliria) is 1.85:1, the Church and Dellamorte Dellamore are 1.66:1 and the Sect is 1.85:1 also...

Well, if it's on IMDB, it must be right

[sjconstable]

Originally Posted by barrett75

according to IMDB, his first movie (deliria) is 1.85:1

It was shot in 4:3 and the US 1.85:1 framing is too tight, the UK 1.78:1 is a bit better.

[barrett75]

ok i ask The Sect OAR question directly to Federico Caddeo, CEO of Freak-O-Rama, the italian Company that made the extras for German BD. so he states that the DOP Federico Mertes told him the movie was shot in 1.66:1 but the intended ratio was 1.85:1 and that was the format the movie was projected in theaters.

http://www.gentedirispetto.com/forum...l=1#post343909