I'm was a big fan of this film when it played in the theatre and recently saw selling it for $20 Can. It seems to be an early dvd and it does not list much information on the case. Does anyone know how this dvd stands, with regards to video and sound quality. Also, is there any talk about a reprint in the works?

Thanks
Richard

Have not viewed my copy yet......but...it was released by MGM with an anamorphic transfer!!!

Buy.com has it listed for $14.49 plus $1.99 shipping!!!

http://www.us.buy.com/retail/product...7132&loc=14577





Welcome to the forum!!!

Thanks for the reply and for the welcome djones. I've been following the forum for a while now and hope to become more of an active member. I'm in the process of setting getting some pictures of my humble home theater set-up.

Richard

Hell...you never know...you may double your post count by next March!!!

Great flick and the DVD holds up over repeated viewings, I'd say pick it up.

Thanks for the reply. I will pick it up. if a better copy shows up later, I'll get that one to. I really like the movie.

As for my lack of contributions I will try to make ammends, but....

as and old quote goes...

At times I've regretted my speech, but I've never regretted my silence.

Richard

[Edited by onbelay on 03-19-01 at 01:47 PM]

OK, I picked this up on an impulse buy for under $10, foolishly before I'd checked out reviews of it's quality online. What a mistake. I like the movie a lot, but the DVD is truly the worst I've ever seen.

The transfer is worse than any VHS tape I'd owned, including the copy of this very movie. It is incredibly grainy, and there are so many white specks on it I thought it was snowing throughout the movie (or rather the portion I was able to stand watching before I shut it off in disgust).

How does this happen? I also picked up No Escape (Ray Liotta) recently for about the same price, but the sound and picture quality on that DVD are surprisingly excellent, and it includes more extras than the one (trailer) that Rob Roy has.

Then of course I had to TRY return it, though I could only get the same title because it had been opened. I tried to explain it was not the particular copy but the transfer quality that made in unwatchable, but that didn't work well. Luckily, they let me exchange it for an unopened copy, so all worked out well in the end.

However, as far as Rob Roy the DVD goes, you may have guessed that I do NOT recommend it...

BLECH.

I'm afraid uteota is right.

The Rob Roy dvd has one of the worst transfers I've ever seen.

I think it's worse than the Scarface dvd.

I'm not even that picky when it comes to A/V presentaions. But this one is horrendous. Basically it's the grainiest, bluriest looking and most muffled sounding thing you've seen or heard.

MGM should be ashamed of this.

You are right (esp. in saying that I was right ).
And it's REALLY hard to return/exchange an opened DVD when all copies are inherently defective. I, too, am not that picky (only have a 25" TV, etc.), but this was truly unwatchable. But how do you explain this to a Target clerk, who knows the store's policy is strictly "opened media for same title only"? It's MGM who should be returning my money, and they also ought to issue a public apology, but fortunately I got Target to bend this once...

Moral of the story: Always read up on a title before purchasing it, esp. if it's an older/cheaper title.

Wait a second!@!!!!! I only paid 9.88 at Walmart. It is anamorphic and 5.1 The video is quite good on my 65 16x9. Artifacting is almost non existant and sound is good. Infact the bit rate is fairly high!!!! Did I get a different copy??? It was good.

I got it for $9.44 at WalMart, and I have no problems with the quality. If you like the film, buy the disc. Granted it's not the best looking or sounding disc I own, but it is far from unwatchable.

OK--but caveat emptor. Nightliner says "it is far from unwatchable" and I have to say for me it was TOTALLY unwatchable--and I love the movie, too, but HAD to return it because it was so bad, and I have never said that about any DVD I've ever purchased.

The only way we could all be right is if there are two versions w/ different transfers out there?

Berkowitz, how does your Rob Roy compare with, say, Braveheart?

Braveheart doesn't have the best transfer, but it is miles beyond Rob Roy. But the way you describe it, it sounds like your Rob Roy may be better than Braveheart. What "popular" dvd of yours has a worse transfer than your Rob Roy?

Because out of my almos 300 dvds, none of them look worse than Rob Roy.

I'm disappointed to hear about the poor transfer, but will probably pick a copy up anyway because this movie is just too good to be without, IMHO. A re-issue would be nice, though.

Same for me out of my 100: not one looks worse than Rob Roy.

Scarface is 100 times worse. Sex and the City I and II is 100 times worse. Predator DTS is worse. The quality is not bad at all. Infact my copy of Twister has a worse video. I am usually very concerned about video quality. That is why I love the SuperBit line, but this disc is not bad at all!!!!

The only one of those I have is Scarface, and although it looks bad, it easily looks better than my Rob Roy.

This is getting interesting.

I still don't think that Rob Roy is that bad, but I think Braveheart and Twister are better.

Right off hand I can't think of what my worst looking disc is. I'll have to get back to you on that one.

I don't have Scarface or Predator dts, although I have thought about getting Predator. How does it compare to the dolby digital version?

Predator DTS almost makes you forget about the poor video. OK, not really forget(because it is so bad) The dts track is excellent. I just watched the entire movie again last night. I even checked bit rate and it was fine. There are certains scene with artifacting and shadowing, but there a more scenes that are good!!! I have a large TV, so flaws in DVDs show up easily. Like that Twister!!!!! Great sound, but grainy video and bad artifacting. But Rob Roy looked pretty good. Not Superbit, but on par with a majority of my DVDs.

The ONLY plausible explanation for this is that Berkowitz has a different version of Rob Roy, some region 32 copy, limited edition numbered top secret version. Because MY copy of Rob Roy is THE worst DVD picture quality I've ever seen, much worse than Predator DTS, IMO. This is the only explanation that makes any sense.

I'm puzzled about the picture quality. According to Amazon.com,
Widescreen Review gave Rob Roy 5/5 rating for picture quality.

Widescreen Review:
Picture Quality: 5 (5 is the highest rating)
The picture quality on the DVD component anamorphic version is sharp and detailed with excellent color fidelity, high resolution and a wonderfully natural character. Virtually without noise or artifacts, this is a wonderfully pleasing experience. The anamorphic and letterbox aspect ratios are 2.35:1.




Amazon link

No F'ing way!!!

I'm not exaggerating when I say that I've taped shows off of tv onto a much-taped-over vhs tape in EP speed that looked better than my copy of Rob Roy.

I'm going to have to buy another one and see what happens.

Is there an easy way to get a screen shot online from my TV??? Because i will do it and show you. It really is pretty good. Like I said it was 9.88 at Walmart. Well worth it if you ask me. Tim Roth was great in it!!!!


"The smell of quim, in the morning!!" LOL!

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by slop101
I'm afraid uteota is right.

The Rob Roy dvd has one of the worst transfers I've ever seen.

I think it's worse than the Scarface dvd.

I'm not even that picky when it comes to A/V presentaions. But this one is horrendous. Basically it's the grainiest, bluriest looking and most muffled sounding thing you've seen or heard.

MGM should be ashamed of this.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I thought Highlander (1986) is the worst DVD ???

It does occur to me that this old movie may not warrant this level of discussion.
That said, I could not agree more that shows I've taped off TV in EP mode do actually look better than MGM's Rob Roy. Is there any way there's more than one version out there? Because the one I have is NOT 5/5; it's at BEST 1/5.
I think I'll leave it at that. I bought it, tried to watch it, returned it. Anyone else want to buy it, knock yourself out. But don't say I didn't warn you...!