Willh51

A certain sale has me pondering the purchase of several dvds, here are a few of my concerns/?'s...

1941 - I know the movie's a hit or miss with people, but is the dvd really as bad as I've heard? If the transfer is really, really horrible I won't get it. Thoughts?

Dracula - Have there been any rumors of a Sony rerelease of this. I may get the Superbit because I've heard the transfer is good, but if a rerelease is on the horizon I'll wait.

Ronin - How is this dvd for this film? Is it worth a blind buy?

American Beauty - How is the dvd for this film?


Thanks in advance for comments/advice.

Skoobooz

Don't know about 1941 or Ronin, but Dracula has been rumored to be getting a special edition since around 2000, with nothing happening (although Francis Ford Coppola has been raiding his vaults of late...). Besides, the Superbit edition looks very nice, and I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if they do anything with this for a while.

As for American Beauty, the disc also looks great, and has a good commentary with Sam Mendes and Alan Ball. It's been years since I listened to it, but I remember it being interesting. The storyboard presentation was also quite nice. Will there be a special edition of this? Probably one day, but for now, it's a solid disc and a great movie. It's cheap, too.

wm lopez

I had the 1st dvd and I bought the Super-bit of DRACULA and they both look and sound excellent. But I couldn't tell much of a difference.

the marshal

American Beauty[R1] -> saw it on my pj... I don't remember anything wrong with it... solid picture.

Ronin -> only own the R2 (netherland edition I think) which is just corect

BlackTegSE

I was going to pick up this version of BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemid=COL051419

Is this the wide screen version? Thanks.

Willh51

Thanks for the info. Maybe since the Ronin disc is better elsewhere Sony/MGM will do a special edition later. I'll hold off on that one. I think I will get Dracula and American Beauty, anyone else know about 1941.

ryuryu2949

For a relatively barebones DVD, Ronin is a pretty good purchase as it had a good transfer and excellent sound (which comes in handy during the awesome car chases). The main extra is a Frankenheimer (sp?) commentary; I haven't listened to it, but I heard it is pretty sub-standard.

As for whether it is worth a blind buy, I would say definitely. De Niro (before his current self-pardoy phase) is ... well, its Robert De Niro. And Jean Reno (Leon: The Professional) is one of the most underrated actors around. While the plot is not the most straightforward you will see (and the ending is just so-so), the interplay between these two actors is excellent. Oh, and there are some fantastic, fantastic car chases, which in my opinion, are even better than the ones in Bullitt.

So yea, Ronin is worth a blind buy.

ROBERTCOP34

1941 i have seen i a few times on dvd it's not that bad & it's cheap $7.50 at wal-mart.

Forum Troll

The 1941 dvd is really bad. It's a non-anamorphic, blurry mess (and a direct dump of the Laserdisc to boot, so the quality is SVHS at best).

hermes10

I second Forum Troll. I just bought 1941 recently and watched it with my front projector, and in terms of picture quality, it is easily one of the worst DVD's I've ever seen. I've watched VHS tapes with the projector that looked better than this DVD. Maybe it doesn't look so bad on a 27" TV, but if you're going to watch this on a widescreen TV or projector, prepare to be disappointed.

Even knowing this wouldn't have stopped me from buying the DVD at the current price. However, I will definitely buy another copy if one with decent picture quality is ever released.

Grizzly

i suggest waiting for the inevitable SE release of Ronin that'd way overdue to make it's way to R1. i own the 2-disc SE available here in Europe. it's got DTS, DD 5.1, audio commentary (also available on the older disc) plus a second disc of extras. if you don't want to wait for MGM to get to it and release it in R1, why not just rent Ronin and if you like it wait for the 2-disc.

kar10

1941 - I haven't seen it but I saw that Walmart is selling it for $5-$7

Dracula - I seen it like it and have the Superbit Version (Get It)

Ronin - I have it. I don't know about special edition coming out but if it does I'll get it.

American Beauty - I have it. Nice picture and sound (DTS)

You can get all the movies now for like $5 dollars each except for dracula Superbit whcih will probably cost you $20. I have most of them and I'm happy with them until they release the so long awaited special edtions or just wait for the HD-DVD versions. You can always sell them back to someone for $5 each.