I read Holly E. Ordway's DVD review of Hero at http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/read.php?ID=13424 and...
Generally, I thought she did an excellent job reviewing the film, however I'm a bit perplexed by her enthusiastic comments regarding the excellent quality of the video transfer. Like most fans, I have been anxious to see this spectacular film released on DVD. As such, I have visited a number of DVD related web sites during the past two weeks looking for reviews of the DVD. I found three, and all indicated in the strongest terms that the video transfer was below par and disappointing. It's interesting to see how each individual's perception yields a different opinion.

i think the enjoyment of the movie and the whole experience far outweighed being critical to the technical details on this one for her. she was blinded by the light so to speak.

In all fairness, I do try very hard to separate my enjoyment of a film from the technical aspects of it. I have a nice home theater setup (as you can see in my profile) so if it had looked bad, I'd have noticed. In the case of Hero, since a huge amount of the enjoyment of the film comes from appreciating its visuals, that's even more true.

You could make a reasonable argument that maybe 4.5 stars is a wee bit generous -- I suppose it would be possible to argue that it should get "only" four stars. (However, I do think it deserves the extra half star because of how well the transfer handles some very challenging expanses of color.) But I would never, ever consider this transfer to be even average, much less below par.

i'm not doubting this transfer is great or if it sucks or not, but, if you look at the screenshots from ign.com, it looks pretty bad.

Did anybody buy the HK version of 'Hero' last year?

I did, and Im wondering if its worth replacing with the new domestic version.

The HK version looks and sounds great, but if the domestic version is improved in anyway I might want to pick it up.

Thanks.

(as you can see in my profile)

Holly,where in your Profile??

can you list here, your set-up..

thanks-

Here.

I presume that Holly reviewed it on her Mitsubishi WS-55807 55-inch set. I believe that the other reviews that I read were also conducted using large screen rear projection sets. I have a Pioneer Elite 520 (52') in my home theater and as most large screen set owners know, DVD issues that are not apparent on smaller direct view sets are magnified on larger screens and become quite distracting to the viewer. I worked in film post-production for 17 years and was fortunate in that I never worked in a union shop, therefore I received training in several areas of the trade including editing, timing, optical sound reproduction, sound mixing and processing. I have been a quality control manager, senior color Hazeltine timer and assistant lab manager during my time in the film and video industry. I mention this not to brag, but only to suggest that perhaps my interest in the quality of the video might be more critical then the average DVD fan. I meant no disrespect to Holly. As I indicated, I thought she did an excellent job with the review. My only thought was that this beautifully composed and photographed film deserved an equally fine transfer to DVD, and if it did not receive one, shame on the studio. I believe that it is a mistake to purchase DVD's from studios that release below average transfers on the premier films in their catalogs. It's suggests that their work is acceptable, leaves very little incentive for them to improve and provides them with another opportunity to sell us an improved disc, which they should have authored correctly the first time. I decided not to purchase the DVD based upon the other reviews that I mentioned, but now that I have read Holly's review, I may rent a copy and check it out for myself. I hope that my misgiving are proven wrong.

Incidentally, here are links for two of the external reviews I mentioned reading:

DVD Town

http://dvdtown.com/review/heroyingxi...ad082e4a92e591

Digital Bits

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/hero.html

Here are additional opinions posted by members of the AVS forum.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=471812

Yeah, I was also going to pass on this until I read Holly's review. Now I'm going to wait to hear what other DVDTalkers have to say... well at least those that can compare. I have the Guang Dong DTS version and always thought it looked great and sounded fantastic.

The ony flaws were the missing subs during the prologue and epilogue but once you know what it says, it's a non-issue.

"The ony flaws were the missing subs during the prologue and epilogue but once you know what it says, it's a non-issue."

Exactly what I think. Anyway I can find out what they say?

This link is taken from the Hero thread in the main forum:

Warning, spoiler! Don't look if you haven't seen the movie
Hero text

Tom,

I think that you should seriously reconsider you future purchase of this "version" of Hero. I am also not so sure how this review has gotten the highest score in terms of video quality. As mentioned above this DVD suffers from a major amount of edge enhancement which for me was the major issue here. In addition as already mentioned at the DigitalBits the overall image is simply lacking in every department that matters. Furthermore the subs are being simplified/americanized in a very poor manner (I am sure this issue will be addressed when a detailed DVDBEAVER review comes out).

Pro-B

Thanks Pro-B. I appreciate your input

I guess once we see some side-by-side comparisons, it'll really make things clearer (hopefully). I wasn't aware of the sub situation but it sure wouldn't surprise me.

I'm glad I've had my copy for awhile so I'm not running out to get the new one. I can bide my time.

Who hooks up more? Bassoonists, oboe players, or masters of the French Horn?

Here we go again....how are you doing my friend??

Easy answer...bassoonists!!
Pro-B

Smashing as always, and in awe of all my double-reeded brethren.

I am sure you are.....

Pro-B

Get a room!

(this was originally buried in a thread where it would receive little attention. i thought it deserved it's own thread, so am giving it one)
-----------------------------------

What gives with the HERO transfer anyways? The review here on DVD-TALK makes it sound like the image transfer is superb, and goes on to give the disc the "collectors seal" or whatever they call it, even going so far as to close the review saying "buy this dvd, you will not be disapointed". Based on this, I was almost ready to buy it today. But then, every review I read after this has trashed the image transfer, making it sound like it is a real problem.

It seems to me like the reviews on DVD-TALK are getting very unreliable. It is too bad that I am beginning not to trust what is probably my most visited resource for DVD related information.

At this point, I think I will just Netflix HERO and see for myself. But how could the reviewer from this site see somthing so different than what everybody else saw? Are they reviewing on a 27 inch Funai or something?

This may actually deserve it's own thread......

Brett

Yes, you're correct... and it's HERE

Hmmm...Am I wrong, or did Roepert give the transfer high marks in E&R's DVD recommendations? He said the colors came through as well as when it was on the big screen....at least I THINK he was talking about Hero.

Holly's reviewed more DVDs than maybe two or three other DVDTalk reviewers....I imagine she'd notice if something was totally out of whack....

The problem seems to be from rear-projection TVs, so has anyone viewed it on a plasma or LCD? But not that it really matters to me, as I just have a 32" Flatscreen, but I did notice the over-digitization flaws of Star Trek Generations on my set, so...

It most definitely is a problem. I bought the movie and watched it yesterday and was stunned at how poor the image is. Grain and all kinds of shit on it, it looks dated and worse than some of the very first DVD's to be made ie. Blade Runner. A movie this exquisite with such beautiful cinematography deserves much, MUCH better. Still, I'd buy it anyway because the movie kicks so much ass.

It seems to me that everyone has come to expect nothing short of an excellent, reference quality transfer from Hero. Certainly that is what The Digital Bits demanded of it when the film was first released in the American theaters. So when a film doesn't measure up to PERFECT, perhaps it's a bit unfair to refer to the transfer as BELOW AVERAGE, when what we really mean is LESS THAN PERFECT. There is a pretty big difference between average and perfect.

Plus, this disc doesn't even measure up to the least of the international DVDs released over the past few years. A head-to-head review against the theatrical cut Guang Dong Face R0/NTSC disc was posted in the HTF review thread... and the GDF disc bested it. And the GDF disc is the worst of the non-Miramax releases (though not so bad at all).