Over America / California - horrible quality!!

[Sushisake]

I was able to pick up these two titles at BJs Warehouse yesterday for $12.99 each - and I just want to warn people to SAVE THEIR MONEY!

These are old videos that have been transferred to Blu-Ray - with what seems to be little if no work done on them. Although the package says "High Definition", it was a breathe of fresh air to watch the 1080I presentation of the Academy Awards after watching these two pieces of grainy garbage!

The package of "Over America" states that it is am 88 minute program, yet the credits were rolling at 54:00. The footage of California in the California segment was mostly lifted from the "Over California" presentation.

These were filmed in 1995!!! So the shots of New York include the World Trade Center (which is nice) - but the fact remains that these could not have been filmed in Hi-Def.

SAVE YOUR MONEY!!

[Blu Titan]

Wow that is a disappointment. I almost picked those up the other day, but I held off since I really won't have time to watch them. Thanks for the info.

[MarekM]

Originally Posted by Sushisake

These were filmed in 1995!!! So the shots of New York include the World Trade Center (which is nice) - but the fact remains that these could not have been filmed in Hi-Def.

SAVE YOUR MONEY!!

well they could be filmed on FILM right ?

Marek

[Beta Man]

Thanks for the heads-up.....

[Sushisake]

Well - yes, they were probbly placed on film - but still there apparently was nothing done to the original material to show them off in high def. I am taking them back and trying to return them.

[MarekM]

Originally Posted by Sushisake

Well - yes, they were probbly placed on film - but still there apparently was nothing done to the original material to show them off in high def. I am taking them back and trying to return them.

hmm, yes they could use some old masters, without any other work on them hmm, it's pitty...

Marek

[Sushisake]

Has anyone else seen these Blu Rays? Does anyone like them?

[blu-backer]

Have to echo the OP. I picked up Over California at Costco yesterday for $9.99. The quality in this BD is sub-par, to be honest.

And yes, the scenes were OLD. Heck, they had an overhead shot of the LA Coliseium with the Raiders playing there! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?

And the sound is weak as well. Glad I only paid ten bucks for it.

[royaloaks]

There should be a law against firms selling this non quality rubbish. Does the Bluray association not have any laws about firms such as this, ruining the name of Bluray?

[Russell_L]

Thanks for the warning!

[sj001]

Ugh, that sucks, thanks to the OP for the warning, I was about to pick those up.

[WriteSimply]

Originally Posted by royaloaks

There should be a law against firms selling this non quality rubbish. Does the Bluray association not have any laws about firms such as this, ruining the name of Bluray?

If you can see garbage titles on DVD, then the BDA has no power to stop garbage titles from coming to BD.


fuad

[FernandoAvila]

I was able to buy this title on eBay for $5 USD and I really liked it. I bought the 2010 release that includes both Blu-Ray and DVD. I don't know if there was an improvement comparing to the 2008 edition. The BR Picture Quality is pretty good, considering that this is a 1995 production.

What I noticed is that the Blu-Ray is 54:38 minutes long, while the DVD is 80:07 minutes.

The BR has the following chapters:
New York (5:46 min)
MidAtlantic (3:37 min)
Midwest (11:31 min)
Texas (6:30 min)
Southwest (7:35 min)
California (4:28 min)
Alaska (6:17 min)
Hawaii (7:14 min)

The DVD chapters are:
New York (5:26 min)
Florida (5:11 min)
Philadelphia/WA DC (4:25 min)
Midwest (13:24 min)
Texas (6:37 min)
Southwest (8:00 min)
California (9:20 min)
Washington (6 min)
Alaska (6:17 min)
Hawaii (7:14 min)

Does the Blu-Ray released in 2008 is 80 minutes long?

[Clark Kent]

I doubt it, it's probably a reissue of some kind. This kind of material gets relentlessly repackaged.

[FernandoAvila]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

I doubt it, it's probably a reissue of some kind. This kind of material gets relentlessly repackaged.

That's what I thought, but when I read the comments on this thread it sounds like they are talking about a different release. For example, someone mentions an image of an overhead shot of the LA Coliseum with the Raiders playing, there is no such shot in this one, and also someone else says the sound is weak while this one has a Dolby Digital 2.0 48kHz 224Kbps track that sounds crystal clear and strong, you can perfect hear the sound of waves, waterfalls and farm tractors along with the music.

The image is true hi-def. Yes, it is 1080i and not 1080p resolution, but it has a MPEG codec with a 40 average video bit rate that results in an almost perfect and pristine look. Also this is a 30 frames per second release instead of the traditional movie-look 24fps, so the PQ is above the average.

In the other hand, the DVD is awful, it hurt my eyes while watching it, the PQ and sound are lame and terrible... so I thought maybe the 2008 release was a direct tranfer from the DVD and then they did some improvement for the 2010 release...