Il Mare - any good transfers?
#1
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Il Mare - any good transfers?
I bought a copy of Il Mare off eBay - turned out to be a boot, so I thought. The transfer was terrible, it looked like it was taped off a projection, and the screen was off-center to the right. I did some research, found out it was the "lion___" something release, which is the unofficial release as far as I could tell, so I returned it.
Then I rented the Tai Seng R1 release. This would be the official R1 release. But the transfer was exactly the same - off-center, to the right, completely poor image quality. Looked like a bootleg.
I want to see this movie, and now it's turning into more of a quest to find a quality transfer more than anything. I would assume the Korean R3 release is above-normal, but are there any other DVD releases of this film with any decent quality?
Jeremy
Then I rented the Tai Seng R1 release. This would be the official R1 release. But the transfer was exactly the same - off-center, to the right, completely poor image quality. Looked like a bootleg.
I want to see this movie, and now it's turning into more of a quest to find a quality transfer more than anything. I would assume the Korean R3 release is above-normal, but are there any other DVD releases of this film with any decent quality?
Jeremy
Last edited by jrutz; 09-18-03 at 07:54 AM.
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The Spectrum r3k and Edko r3hk have similar image quality. Neither come close to the Shochiku r2j of Il Mare which blows all other releases out of the water. It is the only one which is film-sourced.
http://207.136.67.23/film/dvdcompare/il-mare.htm
No English subtitles, however, but you can add that in with DVDSubber and a script.
http://207.136.67.23/film/dvdcompare/il-mare.htm
No English subtitles, however, but you can add that in with DVDSubber and a script.
#6
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I dunno - looks like the Edko version has about as good a picture according to that link up there. I bought the Spectrum version and like I said I'm happy with it - I love this movie and it's worth 20 bucks. Hell, it might even be worth another 40 for that Japanese DVD, but since it doesn't have subs, forget it.
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I originally owned the Spectrum release but found too much macroblocking in it for my taste (one of the first scenes has a zoom into the mailbox - compression artifacts city!). The colors also seemed garishly off. I enjoyed this film so I didn't mind upgrading to the r2j for the better picture, even if it didn't have English subtitles. Casual fans will probably want to stick with the r3k or r3hk. These two latter discs are not unwatchable and will please most people.
If you're not sure, just go for the cheaper releases. If you happen to like the film, then consider the r2j. IMO Il Mare isn't that great of a film to be throwing down $40+ as a blind buy for.
If you're not sure, just go for the cheaper releases. If you happen to like the film, then consider the r2j. IMO Il Mare isn't that great of a film to be throwing down $40+ as a blind buy for.