Cronenberg's "Scanners" (06/02/13) and "The Brood" (06/03/13)

[Behemot]

Umbrella Entertainment has already released Scanners, and The Brood will be out in March. The Brood is the uncut version, according to Umbrella.

No word on extras though.

[Cevolution]

6 local members already own Scanners, so I think there is enough awareness

[VoorheesBD]

Scanners was like $23 at my local JB WTF??? No chance at that price.

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by VoorheesBD

Scanners was like $23 at my local JB WTF??? No chance at that price.

I paid $19.98 for it at my local JB.

It should be priced at $15.98 really, though it is from Umbrella which is one of the smaller local distributors.

[Behemot]

Originally Posted by Cevolution

I paid $19.98 for it at my local JB.

It should be priced at $15.98 really, though it is from Umbrella which is one of the smaller local distributors.

How is the image and audio quality? And are there any extras?

[atomic10]

Bought it today at JB the price on it was $23.98, its $19.98 on their website and that's what i got it for.

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by Behemot

How is the image and audio quality? And are there any extras?

I haven't watched it yet, was planning to last night but didn't, I might do tonight. I'm pretty sure the transfer is supposed to be the same as the most recent German version.

[Behemot]

Originally Posted by Cevolution

I haven't watched it yet, was planning to last night but didn't, I might do tonight. I'm pretty sure the transfer is supposed to be the same as the most recent German version.

Ok, thanks. Already got that one (and, unfortunately, the previous upscale release from Koch Media). Second Sight in the UK are releasing it - with extras - later this year, and supposedly there will be a Criterion release as well, so if there are no unique extras on the Umbrella release I'll give it a miss.

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by Behemot

Ok, thanks. Already got that one (and, unfortunately, the previous upscale release from Koch Media). Second Sight in the UK are releasing it - with extras - later this year, and supposedly there will be a Criterion release as well, so if there are no unique extras on the Umbrella release I'll give it a miss.

I just checked the disc for special features for you, it contains:

Inside Scan: Scanners
The Directors: The films of David Cronenberg
Trailer

It has a DTS HD MA 5.1 track. I forgot to check to the codec but it's likely to be AVC, I'll check the discs specs on my computer within the next few days.

[gettodamoofies]

I won a copy of Scanners from Umbrella - should be arriving either tomorrow or Tuesday. I'll be watching it as soon as I get it so would be happy to check specs also.

[Behemot]

Originally Posted by Cevolution

I just checked the disc for special features for you, it contains:

Inside Scan: Scanners
The Directors: The films of David Cronenberg
Trailer

It has a DTS HD MA 5.1 track. I forgot to check to the codec but it's likely to be AVC, I'll check the discs specs on my computer within the next few days.

Thanks!

[deepbreathsanddeath]

I'm pretty sure Criterion will be releasing both of these making the Aussie releases automatically inferior lol :P

[gettodamoofies]

Interesting news here folks. I got my copy today and I can 100% confirm it is NOT the same as the German release. I'm trying to get some screenshot functionality on my PC but when comparing the screenshot here there are significant differences with the corresponding frame at 01:24:14 (just after the start of chapter 11).

Contrast is higher and colours are far better saturated. It's full 1.78:1 and the left, top and bottom of the frame contain additional information whilst the right loses a very marginal amount.

It's on a BD-25 and the film itself occupies 20.02GB. The special features are 576i so those with issues playing 50Hz content should take note. Having said that, the intro videos prior to the menu are all 1080/24p so actually getting to the film shouldn't be an issue.

Once I get my computer playing ball I'll try and do some screenshots and attempt to get them to match the German disc. I'll be watching the film tonight so will report on what it looks like.

EDIT: Got my screencaps working. Will get something up shortly to show the difference.

[gettodamoofies]

OK there folks - here are just a couple of screenshots to highlight the difference. I have also included the relevant caps-a-holic screenshots of the German release (bottom image) as a comparison:

Screenshots: click spoiler tag to reveal.

[Show spoiler]

[Show spoiler]

Disclaimer: These screenshots have been taken directly from the disc with no post processing other than the placement of a watermark. They are PNG format so the file size is larger however this retains the original image quality. They are of course only intended as an indication of the quality of the title. As always, a motion picture should be viewed in motion.

Pretty interesting. Traditionally you'd think of it as open matte yet the film was filmed at 1.85:1 meaning that if ours is 1.78:1 then the 1.85:1 image shown on the German release is actually cropped even further.

Although ours appear to have a slight bit of filtering going on the German release also appears to have some noise (not grain). The first image shows ours to be a little brighter and more saturated whilst the second shows ours to be a little darker but again more saturated. I much prefer the look of ours - it doesn't have the hazy desaturated look shown in the first image and the washed out pinkish skin tones shown in the second.

I'm going to check the film out now but I'm cautiously optimistic considering the few things I've seen. I'm interested to hear the 5.1 track also.

[Cevolution]

On my phone from those screenshots the local release appears to have slightly over boosted contrast, though at the same time it appears to have more detail, however judging them based on how they look on my phone screen isn't a good idea, so I'll have to have a proper look on my computer screen later. What's the bitrate of the local version?

[gettodamoofies]

^ Got to run a detailed BDInfo scan to get that. Will be doing it but haven't got around to it as yet.

[gettodamoofies]

Cevolution: bit rate is an average of 23Mbps (22.998 to be exact).

BDInfo scan:

                                                                                                                Total   Video                                             
Title                                                           Codec   Length  Movie Size      Disc Size       Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track                          Secondary Audio Track
-----                                                           ------  ------- --------------  --------------  ------- ------- ------------------                        ---------------------
00004.MPLS                                                      AVC     1:42:52 21,498,236,928  24,692,932,503  27.87   23.00   DTS-HD Master 5.1 3389Kbps (48kHz/24-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     Scanners
Disc Size:      24,692,932,503 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BD-Java:        Yes
Extras:         50Hz Content
BDInfo:         0.5.8

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00004.MPLS
Length:                 1:42:52.082 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   21,498,236,928 bytes
Total Bitrate:          27.87 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        22998 kbps          1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
DTS-HD Master Audio             English         3389 kbps       5.1 / 48 kHz / 3389 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------   
00004.M2TS      0:00:00.000     1:42:52.082     21,498,236,928  27,865          

CHAPTERS:

Number          Time In         Length          Avg Video Rate  Max 1-Sec Rate  Max 1-Sec Time  Max 5-Sec Rate  Max 5-Sec Time  Max 10Sec Rate  Max 10Sec Time  Avg Frame Size  Max Frame Size  Max Frame Time  
------          -------         ------          --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  
1               0:00:00.000     1:42:52.082     22,998 kbps     37,420 kbps     01:23:32.090    35,396 kbps     00:23:55.016    34,467 kbps     01:03:41.901    119,902 bytes   414,904 bytes   01:24:14.424    

STREAM DIAGNOSTICS:

File            PID             Type            Codec           Language                Seconds                 Bitrate                 Bytes           Packets         
----            ---             ----            -----           --------                --------------          --------------          -------------   -----           
00004.M2TS      4113 (0x1011)   0x1B            AVC                                     6171.916                22,999                  17,743,392,674  96,517,730      
00004.M2TS      4352 (0x1100)   0x86            DTS-HD MA       eng (English)           6171.916                3,389                   2,614,773,380   15,177,920

[thetechnique]

I warched it last night and was quite happy with the pq. I wonder if this is the master that second sight uk will be using? I now have high hopes for the brood

[Cevolution]

Originally Posted by atexp80

Cevolution: bit rate is an average of 23Mbps (22.998 to be exact).

BDInfo scan:

                                                                                                                Total   Video                                             
Title                                                           Codec   Length  Movie Size      Disc Size       Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track                          Secondary Audio Track
-----                                                           ------  ------- --------------  --------------  ------- ------- ------------------                        ---------------------
00004.MPLS                                                      AVC     1:42:52 21,498,236,928  24,692,932,503  27.87   23.00   DTS-HD Master 5.1 3389Kbps (48kHz/24-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     Scanners
Disc Size:      24,692,932,503 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BD-Java:        Yes
Extras:         50Hz Content
BDInfo:         0.5.8

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00004.MPLS
Length:                 1:42:52.082 (h:m:s.ms)
Size:                   21,498,236,928 bytes
Total Bitrate:          27.87 Mbps

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        22998 kbps          1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
DTS-HD Master Audio             English         3389 kbps       5.1 / 48 kHz / 3389 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------   
00004.M2TS      0:00:00.000     1:42:52.082     21,498,236,928  27,865          

CHAPTERS:

Number          Time In         Length          Avg Video Rate  Max 1-Sec Rate  Max 1-Sec Time  Max 5-Sec Rate  Max 5-Sec Time  Max 10Sec Rate  Max 10Sec Time  Avg Frame Size  Max Frame Size  Max Frame Time  
------          -------         ------          --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  --------------  
1               0:00:00.000     1:42:52.082     22,998 kbps     37,420 kbps     01:23:32.090    35,396 kbps     00:23:55.016    34,467 kbps     01:03:41.901    119,902 bytes   414,904 bytes   01:24:14.424    

STREAM DIAGNOSTICS:

File            PID             Type            Codec           Language                Seconds                 Bitrate                 Bytes           Packets         
----            ---             ----            -----           --------                --------------          --------------          -------------   -----           
00004.M2TS      4113 (0x1011)   0x1B            AVC                                     6171.916                22,999                  17,743,392,674  96,517,730      
00004.M2TS      4352 (0x1100)   0x86            DTS-HD MA       eng (English)           6171.916                3,389                   2,614,773,380   15,177,920

Cheers, saves me from checking now .

The German version does have a higher bitrate. After looking at the shots on my computer last night, I think the German version is slightly more detailed, but it is a little too dark, especially in the first screenshot comparison. However in the 1st screenshot comparison I also think the local versions contrast and brightness is a bit over blown, a mid ground between the two versions would be better IMO. Though when it comes to the 2nd screenshot comparison I think the local version looks better. I have never seen the film before (I have heard good things about it, and from what I have seen I think it looks like a good film), both versions look like they have their flaws, so I suppose what it comes down to is which is closest to how it looked in cinemas?

[Psycho Taxi Driver]

Was going to buy this locally but since reading there will be a Criterion release down the track I'll hold off