Leon: Superbit Review
 

Taken from DVDFile.com

http://www.dvdfile.com/software/revi...7/leon_sb.html

Glad I didn't get rid of my old copy yet.
A Superbit with an audio track inferior to the regular release!?!?!
WTF!
And I was really looking forward to this SB release, as this is one of my all-time favorite films!
What a disappointment!

Yeah, that review made it sound more than a little iffy; I'm more than pleased with the previous 'international version'.

No need to upgrade, as far as I can tell.

Still a great film, however.....

Well, I think the jury's still out... I have two questions about the review:

A. Maybe I'm missing it, but when he refers to the 'original' disc, is he talking about the first release (theatrical cut) or the non-superbit release of the extended? I assumed he was talking about the latter, until I saw the 1998 reference. Leon was released in 2000. If he's doing a comparison to the original disc, it really isn't a fair comparison... different prints, different mixes, hell... a different film.

B. I understand that he prefers the sound on the 'original' disc, but I'm not sure that I would agree. His main complaint seems to be that he can't 'feel' the bass any more. I think it's entirely possible that you're not supposed to.

Who knows... certainly that review doesn't make the disc sound like a slam-dunk, must-uprgrade situation. But I'm still interested.

From that review the news is disappointing however i won't make any assumptions on the basis of just one review.If other reviews are in a similar vein then i have to admit i am disappointed.

Ah, crap:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=7381

Pretty much in agreement with DVDFile.

Damn, Leon is one of my all-time faves, and I'm picking this up regardless to see for myself, but it doesn't sound too promising. :(

Please come back here and post your thoughts on it. I held off on this until the reviews came in as I am not to keen on replacing it unless the difference is more than subtle.

What type of audio/video setup do you have to compare the Superbit/non versions?

But this all brings the question, are you guys all sure that the the Leon you have is the corrected one and not the flawed initial release?

UPC is 43396 04730 for the original release and 43396 06196 for the fixed one.

...and a different UPC for the Superbit, which is the somewhat disappointing track being commented on in this thread.

Yeah, i know that. I was simply trying to make sure that everyone who was saying "no upgrade for me" made sure that they truly had the version that had the best track.

Hmm...I never relaized there was a problem with the original Leon disc! I have the 04730 disc :(. Well, I guess that'll justify me buying the Superbit.

I happened to get this early and was a little worried about the reviews I had seen regarding the audio. After watching it, I have to say that I didn't notice any issues with the bass level on the DTS track and it was actually a little louder than the DD5.1 track of the corrected previous disc (I did running comparisons). Now I have all previous incarnations of this movie on disc, including the 1997 Japanese LD and the 4730 error DVD, and have probably seen it 100 times, so I was definitely training my ears for this. Maybe someone else could weigh in with some audio thoughts on this new disc? As far as picture quality goes, the previous disc was no slouch, but there are very slight improvements in the PQ here, being a little cleaner and sharper (a good test is to check the improved definition of Matilda's white mesh shirt that she wears in some scenes).

As far as concerned I'm very happy with my Superbit upgrade and, IMO, thankfully don't have any issues with the sound. If you don't have DTS, you can probably stick with 6196 disc and still be very happy though.

I'm holding off anyway, since you can bet that a SE will be along sooner than later.

Well, don't hold your breath too long, since Luc Besson has pretty much said he's not a fan of extras and would rather do making-of books on his flims.

matome, I was waiting on picking up Leon until I read some reviews of the SB. Since I didn't own it before, would you say the SB would be the one to get? Oh, and yes, I have DTS.

Well, the previous disc had an isolated score, animated menus, the trailer and some poster still shots. That's the only reason I'm keeping my copy of that disc. Whenever I watch the movie I'll be using the Superbit, even though presentation on the previous 06196 disc was no slouch. I guess you have to weigh if you want to keep those minimal extras or go for a slight upgrade in picture and sound quality (again noting that I did not notice any absence of LFE with the DTS track).

Thanks for the info! Looks like I'll probably go for the SB. I'd trade those extras for (even slightly) better pic/sound. It's nice to hear from someone who has compared both. My best friend has the previous Leon and I'll be able to make comparisons if I think the SB is lacking. But, I think I should be happy with it.