Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998)

[ForEver Blu]

Originally Posted by iap738

I am glad that so many people agree that only 1, 2 and H20 are canon as far as the Halloween films go. I refuse to acknowledge any of the others, and I think H20 is actually much better than 2. Will pick this up.

Despite not being canon, I think H3: Season of the Witch is a solid stand alone film. H20 is one of the best sequels, will get this BR when it drops.


Halloween 4: This was decent, Ellie Cornell was okay as the final girl.

Halloween 5-7 and RZ's two Abominations were simply awful.

[mikey horror]

Just got an excited text from my girlfriend so happy that she found this at Best Buy before I got a chance to explain my hatred for Echo Bridge. Oh well, I don't want to deprive her of her excitement, I'll just check it out first hand when I get home from work.

[CaptainZombie]

I am not too sure if we are allowed to post links to reviews on our own blogs or not, but these are my thoughts on the PQ and only my opinion so please no slamming. LOL!

The print is presented in 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 with a 1:78:1 aspect ratio. The DVD release was released in 2.35 aspect ratio, while this new Blu-ray release is in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The debate will go on as to which one is the OAR. Having owned and viewed the DVD release countless of times over the years, I was waiting for the day that this title would be released on Blu-ray. When I heard that a release date was set for this film on high definition I was beyond excited. The day is here that we are able to get 'H20' on Blu-ray and the results are very mixed. Colors are good, but not strong with this print. A lot of that has to do with the darker looking image that could have used a little bit of restoration here to brighten up the image. One area where the print is better than the DVD are the scenes with blacks, especially in the darker evening scenes. On DVD, blacks looked very faded and gritty as opposed to the ones here which are solid looking.

Details and clarity are decent, as they go from good to bad being very inconsistent. Clarity seemed to be worse when the camera was panned further away. Fleshtones in several scenes, especially ones in exterior shots tend to run on the hotter side of things. I did not notice any grain at all in this print. If you own the DVD, for $10 you can't go wrong upgrading to the Blu-ray version considering that we might not see this film get the full remaster for years to come until a more profile studio can get the rights. I just watched the DVD not too long ago and the DVD still has that very murky look which is not apparent on this Blu-ray release for those wondering.

[miller_time22]

Originally Posted by CaptainZombie

[Show spoiler]I am not too sure if we are allowed to post links to reviews on our own blogs or not, but these are my thoughts on the PQ and only my opinion so please no slamming. LOL!

Thanks for posting your impressions. No subtitle options (English or otherwise) I take it?

[CaptainZombie]

Originally Posted by miller_time22

Thanks for posting your impressions. No subtitle options (English or otherwise) I take it?

Thank you, there are no subtitle options or other types of audio. I should update my review that the menu is barebones with only "Play" and "Chapters".

[IndefinentBlu]

Originally Posted by CaptainZombie

There are no subtitle options or other types of audio. I should update my review that the menu is barebones with only "Play" and "Chapters".

That will have to do for now till a company decides to release it with extras that we have not seen yet.

[miller_time22]

Originally Posted by CaptainZombie

Thank you, there are no subtitle options or other types of audio. I should update my review that the menu is barebones with only "Play" and "Chapters".

Okay, thanks.

[#1Dad Benoit]

The 1978 Halloween was always getting raped when it came to home video until Anchor Bay got the rights and did an incredible job. Our only hope with Echo Bridge is Lionsgate buying them out in the near future and doing some justice to these films. So it looks like Equilibrium is going to get another half-assed release.

[DetroitSportsFan]

Originally Posted by #1Dad Benoit

Our only hope with Echo Bridge is Lionsgate buying them out in the near future and doing some justice to these films. So it looks like Equilibrium is going to get another half-assed release.

Many Lionsgate catalog titles haven't been top quality either.

[IndefinentBlu]

I don't understand why we can't have Halloween H20 with commentaries, deleted scenes, trailers, etc.

I know this stuff exists so why have we not seen it yet??

[saprano]

Originally Posted by CaptainZombie

I am not too sure if we are allowed to post links to reviews on our own blogs or not, but these are my thoughts on the PQ and only my opinion so please no slamming. LOL!

Whats going on with these changing of the AR's on bluray?

[Rhoq]

Originally Posted by IndefinentBlu

I don't understand why we can't have Halloween H20 with commentaries, deleted scenes, trailers, etc.

I know this stuff exists so why have we not seen it yet??

Alliance rarely, if ever, includes bonus materials - so that wasn't much of a surprise.

Echo Bridge, apparently, can't be bothered. I wonder if the powers that be at Miramax are actually supervising these Echo Bridge releases?

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by CaptainZombie

The DVD release was released in 2.35 aspect ratio, while this new Blu-ray release is in 1.78:1 aspect ratio. The debate will go on as to which one is the OAR.

There's absolutely no debate here: H20 was filmed for 2.35:1 exhibition. The Echo Bridge release is faulty and I'm delighted to retain my Canadian release in the proper OAR.

[dullboy]

Originally Posted by mikey horror

I absolutely abhor Halloween: Resurrection with the deepest of passions to the point where even though I can ignore its place in the three movie set, I don't even want it tainting the rest of my collection. Yes, I loathe that movie that much.

Agreed.

And very disappointed about this Echo Shit release.

[Nostromo]

I have the Alliance version, but unfortunately, it won't play in any of my BR players, or any of my friends' players either. And there isn't a single scratch or smudge on the disc.

For me, I guess it's better to have this new version, than nothing at all, even if it's not in the correct AR, and the sound isn't all that great.

Off to Best Buy later to see if they have it.

[BankytheHack]

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

There's absolutely no debate here: H20 was filmed for 2.35:1 exhibition. The Echo Bridge release is faulty and I'm delighted to retain my Canadian release in the proper OAR.

100% correct. There's no debate here.

[BankytheHack]

Originally Posted by Nostromo

For me, I guess it's better to have this new version, than nothing at all, even if it's not in the correct AR, and the sound isn't all that great.

Dude, nooooooooo. This is the kind of attitude that makes companies think it's ok to put out sub-par Blu releases. This is blu-ray, not Dollar General exclusive DVDs.

[CaptainZombie]

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

There's absolutely no debate here: H20 was filmed for 2.35:1 exhibition. The Echo Bridge release is faulty and I'm delighted to retain my Canadian release in the proper OAR.

Originally Posted by BankytheHack

100% correct. There's no debate here.

In no way am I debating anyone, just mentioning what I have seen around on a few other boards people debating the OAR. Personally I think its 2.35:1. Echo has taken all these Miramax releases and opened them up to 1.78:1 for some ungodly reason.

I watched parts of The Crow last night, but forgot to check if it is 1080i or 1080p. On another board I visit, it was posted its 1080i. WTF has Echo done here with these releases is beyond me.

[rdodolak]

Originally Posted by Rhoq

Alliance rarely, if ever, includes bonus materials - so that wasn't much of a surprise.

Echo Bridge, apparently, can't be bothered. I wonder if the powers that be at Miramax are actually supervising these Echo Bridge releases?

I recall a previous article, during the bidding process for Miramax, that mentioned the new owners had no prior experience with the movie business. I can't help but wonder, if this is true, that they have the opinion that no one cares about extras or HD audio and that everyone wants the movie to fill their entire screen.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by CaptainZombie

Personally I think its 2.35:1.

But it's not about "thinking", that's my point. Those of us who saw this in the theater know definitively that it was 2.35:1, also confirmed at imdb.com.