Are some DVDs just incredibly poorly transferred from original source?

I have a Panasonic RV80 player hooked via Monster component cable to a Sony Wega TV. Are setups similar to this more susceptible to pick up grain and color differences on some discs? You'd think on a higher quality title, Saving Private Ryan for example that I've recently watched, picture would be top notch -- but more often than not, grain was very present. I know this is easily spotted when watching a dark scene/shadowed parts where pixelation and grain is most apparent.

Thougths?

Answered my own questions -- finely tuned calibration helped a ton.

Wega Tuning

To answer your question further. Besides calibrating the TV with a Disc like Avia you need to realize that some films are intentionly made to show film grain. This is not a bad thing or a problem with the transfer. Films like SPR, A.I., Minority Report from Spielberg were shot and processed in a way that exagerates film grain. Not every film is made to look like video tape.

Also there are quite a few DVD's out there that DO in fact have horrible transfers that will look bad no matter the setup. Just look at the original release of Scarface (not the recent SE) or American President to see two examples of disgraceful DVD's.

Grain is intentional on a number of films. Saving Private Ryan is just such an example. Many average dvd players will show artifacting on grainy transfers. The type of display may also exacerbate the problem, ie: LCD flat panels will have varying degrees of pixel noise which amplify the grain problem. The trick is two decipher where the problem lies, artisitic license or hardware interaction.