Link (1986)

[DMRI2006]

Originally Posted by Rocklandsboy

I shared that link with Kino via their Facebook chat. Their reply just 5 minutes ago:

"People need to get lives".

Just astonishing.

That's absolutely embarrassing, and they should be ashamed to hold the very core audience of film buffs they cater to with that kind of contempt.

[klauswhereareyou]

People need to get lives..yeah and Kino needs to get some people that know a thing or two about quality control.

[klauswhereareyou]

Correct me if I'm wrong but unless something was ultra low budget, there's about zero chance of a movie that was released in theaters post 1984 not having a stereo mix?

[DukeTogo84]

Kino has some balls, I'll give them that.

In all seriousness, this movie sounds fantastic despite it being mono. Crystal clear sound.

[DMRI2006]

Originally Posted by klauswhereareyou

Correct me if I'm wrong but unless something was ultra low budget, there's about zero chance of a movie that was released in theaters post 1984 not having a stereo mix?

Not quite a "zero chance," there are more than you might think...even some studio films were still released without stereo back in the mid 80s, comedies especially here and there like SPIES LIKE US or CAN'T BUY ME LOVE. Also, Kino released THE BEDROOM WINDOW this week, and that was a 1987 release that was in mono too. But by then, the bulk of movies were obviously stereo if they were theatrical releases, so mono movies were a very, very small minority.

On LINK it's a problem because the score is good and the movie is kind of middling. When you take away the original sound design, which naturally benefits the soundtrack, it reduces the enjoyment of the overall film -- at least for me -- substantially.

[Marv Inc.]

I see the site review lists it as 2.0 stereo,lol.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Link-...214462/#Review

[FlyBry]

Originally Posted by Marv Inc.

I see the site review lists it as 2.0 stereo,lol.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Link-...214462/#Review

I was just about to comment the same. So, it is in stereo?

[DMRI2006]

Originally Posted by FlyBry

I was just about to comment the same. So, it is in stereo?

Still holding out hope?

There are too many reviews of titles today that never actually specify if a sound mix is stereo or mono. And very few mono tracks are encoded as 1.0. Most are encoded as 2.0 which usually shows up on your player's display as "2.0 stereo" even though it's not. The reviewer probably just looked at what the player claims it's spitting out.

Not much to say other than very few posters and even some reviewers pay much attention to sound. Certainly not to the degree of analyzing video. I can only guess a lot of people have soundbars or use their TVs for sound (the horror) because if you were utilizing an actual surround system you could tell in a second whether or not a movie is in stereo or not.

Nobody is disputing whether this disc is in mono. The Kino people have acknowledged it, then told their audience to get lives for complaining about it!

[TheOneWithThePrize]

Now the review reads:

The audio is encoded in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo and utilizes a mono audio track.

[Rayjg]

I’ve become more forgiving of mistakes like this since it seems to happen to even the best labels. But I think I’ll pass on this release, at least for now, considering their extremely dismissive response. Scream managed to get the stereo track for Manitou and they were probably presented the same situation.

[DMRI2006]

Originally Posted by Rayjg

I’ve become more forgiving of mistakes like this since it seems to happen to even the best labels. But I think I’ll pass on this release, at least for now, considering their extremely dismissive response. Scream managed to get the stereo track for Manitou and they were probably presented the same situation.

Scream did the best they could finding materials for that Manitou release; the stereo track was clearly damaged and has terrible "wow" that would've cost $$ to fix, but it's nice they included it (though I feel they could've been more up front about its condition). No other release of Manitou ever had the stereo track.

This situation is different. Kino could've simply ripped the stereo track off the DVD. Shout has done stuff like that in the past I believe. It's not that it was hard to find, they simply didn't realize the error in the Studio Canal master they claim is there.

[Rocklandsboy]

Originally Posted by TheOneWithThePrize

Now the review reads:

Stereo utilising a mono track? What does that even mean?!

[trevanian]

Originally Posted by Aclea

“There’s just a few rules that you have to remember: 1. You’re the dominant species. You must never, ever treat them as equals. 2. Don’t ever let anything escalate. Always forgive them, whatever they do. 3. Don’t get involved in their squabbles. They sort them out. And 4. Erm, some turds in the hall. Can you clear them up?”

Whenever anyone comes up with that kind of list in a movie you can start ticking off the order in which they’ll be forgotten and place your bets on who dies first, and Richard Franklin’s Link is no exception to the rule. It’s not a particularly ambitious film – it can pretty much be summed as a girl stalked in a remote country house by an unbalanced killer, with the spin being that this time the killer is an ape – but it’s a pleasingly well-crafted and executed one. Unusually for director Richard Franklin the influence here seems to be less Hitchcock than Argento, with plenty of bravura camerawork – complicated tracking shots, long lenses, multiple speeds and step-printed scenes that are far more effective than they have any right to be. Naturally the apes outshine the humans (Elisabeth Shue and a fairly brief but entertaining turn from Terence Stamp), with Locke the Orangutan giving a surprisingly layered turn as Link himself, the unstable former circus hack and “Master of Fire.”

Barely remembered today, it’s one of those films that just got lost in the cracks: a key and very expensive part of Verity Lambert’s catastrophic production slate (The Holcroft Covenant, Wild Geese II, Morons From Outer Space, Bloodbath at the House of Death, Slayground etc) that led to EMI films being sold lock, stock and barrel to Cannon, who promptly dumped it with a token release, the film rarely even turns up on TV these days. But any ape movie with a heroine called Jane (after Jane Goodall, not Tarzan’s mate) that uses both The Kinks I’m An Apeman and Marlene Dietrich’s entrance in a gorilla suit from Blonde Venus as well as offering an infectiously demented Jerry Goldsmith Baroque‘n’Roll score mixing synths, symphony orchestra, calliope and a 7/8 drumbeat definitely deserves a second look.

Wow, now that's a catchy review. I've only seen a few minutes of this on cable, decades back (stopped to watch because Shue didn't seem to have clothes on, moved along when I saw there was an ape appreciating this), but you managed to click off a lot of interest boxes with that last sentence. I'm thinking this is the same guy who directed a little movie with the ET kid that I liked a lot, one that had a little girl who out-Drew'd Barrymore and had Dabney Coleman playing something slightly outside of his range. Might just be a blind buy for me, thanks.

[TheOneWithThePrize]

Originally Posted by Rocklandsboy

Stereo utilising a mono track? What does that even mean?!

Electronically rechanneled stereo?

Seriously though, he's ending up making it worse. Wonder how long the reviewer has been reviewing. He is at least fresh meat on blu-ray.com judging by his output so far.

[GenPion]

It means exactly what was worded. The audio was encoded as a 2.0 stereo mix but it’s output as mono only.

I’ve been writing reviews for over 10 years from multiple sources.

[Rocklandsboy]

Originally Posted by GenPion

It means exactly what was worded. The audio was encoded as a 2.0 stereo mix but it’s output as mono only.

I’ve been writing reviews for over 10 years from multiple sources including DVD Talk.

But... why? With the rest of this thread in mind, Kino encoded stereo without realising they weren't working with a stereo track? The review suggests that this was all planned and therefore fine and dandy. But clearly not, right?

Therefore isn't the audio score a little... generous?

[GenPion]

Originally Posted by Rocklandsboy

But... why? With the rest of this thread in mind, Kino encoded stereo without realising they weren't working with a stereo track? The review suggests that this was all planned and therefore fine and dandy. But clearly not, right?

Therefore isn't the audio score a little... generous?

The audio clarity is excellent throughout and comes recommended. If you feel the release isn’t worth your time that is up to you.

Based on the mono audio concerns, the audio score was docked half a star.

Considering the high quality transfer as well, Link is still a worthwhile release.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by GenPion

The audio clarity is excellent throughout and comes recommended. If you feel the release isn’t worth your time that is up to you.

Based on the mono audio concerns, the audio score was docked half a star.

Considering the high quality transfer as well, Link is still a worthwhile release.

Yeah, this is a pretty awesome release for the film. Looks great and sounds great.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Rocklandsboy

So I just had a similar response from Kino;

The restoration of the audio and video was done by Studio Canal. Original audio was most likely mono. We received the master from Studio Canal and released it on Blu-ray.

"Most likely" mono? Really?

This is flat-out ignorance by these companies.

"Most Likely"?

Proof that these companies have no idea what they're releasing or what they're doing half the time. How hard would it be for them to actually verify what the original track was? In fact, even better, how about they do that before they release these things and take our money?

I'm getting really tired of seeing botched audio tracks get released. There's absolutely no reason in 2019 why we're getting mono tracks on brand new remasters that previously had the original stereo track on DVD.

Why is it so hard to get the original audio tracks on blu-rays, whether mono or stereo? Is it really incompetence?

Originally Posted by Rocklandsboy

I shared that link with Kino via their Facebook chat. Their reply just 5 minutes ago:

"People need to get lives".

Just astonishing.

This says it all, right here.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

So much complaining going on here. Movie looks and sounds good despite it being mono. That's all that matters to me.

And that's what they love to hear - "well, the picture looks great, so who cares that they screwed the audio up?".

When is the next time this gets a US release? 10 more years? Never? This was the chance to get this film done right, and now it's botched. Now people have to hope they can import some better version and spend money all over again on this title.

Originally Posted by Marv Inc.

I see the site review lists it as 2.0 stereo,lol.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Link-...214462/#Review

Which is why you can't trust site reviews.