I was about to get Session 9, but thought I should ask here first. But I do not want a full length review, just the grade that you gave this film. Thank you in advance.

DVD SMURF

I have posted a DVD transfer concern some time ago regarding this film. Since it is a DV originated production, will the studio be using the digital edited master or a film transfer for the release.
I never heard back from them to confirm this either way.

As for the movie itself, IT IS worth owning on DVD. It's originality,
character development and note worthy story is clearly above what is currently being produced within this genre.

As a fellow HD filmmaker, I only hope that the studio had sense enough to use the original digital master for SESSION 9 and NOT the film transfer for the DVD. Only time will tell.

I saw the film twice in three days when it was released theatrically in KC and will be picking up the disc on tues!

Here's a review of the DVD

http://www.currentfilm.com/dvdreviews4/session9dvd.html

Grade A film, best horror film of the past ten years possibly (not that it has much competition)

Very cerebral- in the vein of The Shining- so if you want a slasher flick go elsewhere...

Sounds great! I have this on pre-order and can't wait to get it.

Hopefully Best Buy will have it tomorrow. The website shows their price as being $19.99 -- it would be great to pick it up at the B&M for this price.

The sticker price was $22.99 but it rang up at $19.99 at my BB B&M. I think they meant to include it in their Sunday advertisement, but over looked it, because they had approximantely 20 copies, and again it rang up for $19.99.

Tonight, after I get home from work, I'll be watching TP:FWWM & Sessions 9!

cheers, Tony Block

No sign of it at Circuit City. I can't wait until the new Best Buy opens across the street from CC........

It was at my local Circuit City, but Session 9 was filed under 'Drama', for whatever reason. Soul Survivors was in the same place too.

As I am still awaiting my copy in the mail, AMAZON.com had a shipping error, does anyone know if the transfer is directly from
the digital master or from a film source? Remember, this film was digitally originated.

Hmmm....I'll have to double check. My CC had Soul Survivors in the Horror section. This is where I expected to find Session 9.....

Just watched this last night. I was very impressed with the image quality. It looked better on my 65" set than it did in the theater. This is the closest to "film" that I've seen video look.

Would you say that they utilized the digital master rather than the film source projected in theatres?

I'm not completely sure, without taking a closer look (I'm at my day job now), but I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. I didn't notice any wear/blemishes at all, just a sparkling clean HD image. Sorry I can't answer that definitively at the moment.

Thanks for the input. I should get my copy today. After viewing it I'll post if it was transferred directly from its HD master or simply from a pristine film source.

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I have screened this DVD and IT IS in fact taken from its HD master and not a film source. The clarity is simply incredible over my HDtv. Finally a studio recognizes the benefit of digital origination. Now things will really get interesting with Blue-Ray DVD's. Let's hope we see these discs in the immediate future

I watched this last night and thought the DVD image was gorgeous, though there was a little grain in some of the darker scenes, but overall excellent!

That said, I also saw it twice theatrically, and think the colors on the DVD are much more vivid and eye popping, especially the outdoor scenes, than the theatrical print I saw, which was very drab.

I'll assume the transfer met Mr. Anderson's approval, given all the hard work he put into making the extras on the disc superb.

cheers, Tony Block

My HD ready set showed excellent crystal clear picture most of the time. Also I would add that at times there is that digital smearing during some movement. In scenes of excessive backlight the colors and picture do get a little washed out.

I believe this is inherent of the medium but seems to be constantly improving. I wouldn't let this stop you from enjoying this movie.

I wonder how Episode 2 will get past these digital roadblocks.

Budget, budget, budget. SESSION 9's entire budget was probably equal to EPISODE II's craft services bill.
Lucas will make sure his HD production raises the bar for
all future digital films. I guarantee it.

Also, what HD set and player did you view SESSION 9 over, as I DID NOT experience any of the "smearing" that you referred to?

I watched it on a non ISF'd Panny 47" with a Malata.

I noticed the same type of smearing in certain scenes of Bamboozled also but on a non progressive dvd player to a standard Wega.

Did you notice the color washout? I'm not an expert or try to pretend to be one but I'm guessing this has to do with CCD technology.

As for Episode 2; I know the budget will be bigger. I'm just thinking it will be intresting to see the results. Both movies used the same cameras didn't they?

They DO NOT use the same HD cameras. The Sony F-900 series was been modified specificially for Lucas as were the Panavision lenses. This coupled with more sophisticated color correction and a myriad of other post-production digital tweaking techniques puts EPISODE II in a league of its own. The truth will be revealed this May.

As for the "smearing" that you referred to, when displayed over my Toshiba HDtv with my Pioneer Elite DVR-7000 recorder/player,
the images were absolutely amazing. The color in this film had an almost three-dimensional look (eye-popping). Progressive scan makes all the difference, especially for digitally originated material such as SESSION 9.

My DVD player is progressive and I do agree with all the positive statements on the video.

I'm glad you cleared up the info on the camera. I'm pretty sure Episode 2 will look stunning.
I've been waiting for video to become the filmmakers choice for about ten years now.More of them are using it now as technology has progressed. I hope Lucas shows everyone the way. At least in digital video.

I'll second that it's a great movie well worth owning. My wife and I watched it last night in a darkened room on our widescreen 65" Toshiba. Scared the bejesus out of us. Very creepy. We were glued to our seats the whole time. Looked great (via panny prog player). I was also surprised by how good it sounded since it's just digital stereo (not 5.1).

I wish more horror movies were as smart and atmospheric as this was.

Just watched this last night and got sucked into it instantly. Very clever story and character development. Tension was built up quite niclely and I agree the image quality was superb.
"Do it, Gordon!"

Great horror movie! I bought it unseen and watched it last night. I'm already planning on having a haunted house tripleheader soon: Session 9, The Changeling, The Shining.

SESSION 9 is just the tip of the digital iceberg. HD filmmaking will only improve over the next few years. Digital IS the wave of the future...no doubt.

The only stumbling block is theatrical exhibition. Once theatres go digital, HD originated product will be displayed in all its glory.

STAR WARS fans should really try to see "ATTACK OF THE CLONES"
in a D.L.P. authorized theatre. Digital IS the future and IT IS here to stay! Just wait...