A word of warning about Ring Two Unrated
 

I've seen this topic on the Home Theater Forum, but wanted to publish it here with my own take on the matter. I just finished watching The Ring Two Unrated Edition, widescreen of course, from Dreamworks and I am quite disappointed with the presentation. First of all, as noted by others, there is a noticable change in video and audio quality when the new scenes are intercut with the film. As far as the transfer goes, the original film element is fairly good. Aside from a bit of edge enhancement and some specks, the regular transfer is satisfactory. The new footage is NOT the same and in several places there is a large difference in quality between the two elements.

What is strange is that all the new footage isn't this way. The movie has somewhat of an alternative opening and to me, that footage branches seemlessly in terms of audio and video. Other scenes are quite subpar. The worst are the fairground scene, which features several noticable quality shifts and even "pops" when the audio downgrades. It really took me out of the film. The other noticable transitions are

The audio on the disc is somewhat disappointing to begin with; I often felt dialogue was a bit flat and some effects were too loud. Some of the new scenes have scratchy and popping audio that made quite a difference on my 5.1 set-up.

As for the film itself, most of the new scenes weren't needed, but a few were decent. I liked the one where Rachael talks to the women at the fair, but other than that I felt they only added to an overly long runtime. I liked the opening which I seem to remember being different in the theater. It's also interesting to note that a shot were Aidan sees deer at the fair is swapped for a game of apple bobbing. Why, I don't know.

Not that it matters to anyone here, but I'm sending a letter to Dreamworks (yeah I know...I'm going to be really, really angry and...write a letter) to express my disappointment with the presentation of the film. If they couldn't make all the new footage align correctly, the theatrical cut should have been on the disc and audiences should have the choice to watch the film with the new stuff integrated.

It seems to me that Dreamworks is fast becoming one of the worst DVD studios. My Gladiator E.E. had damn well better not be like this.

I can't speak to the video problems, but from what you are saying, the audio seems normal, especially for a horror film. There is a tendency to keep the dialogue very quiet in the mix, to keep the audience straining to hear, so that when the scares come it is that much louder and scarier.

Also, it seems a bit harsh to label Dreamworks the worst DVD studio because of this one disc. Every studio has put out less than admirable discs before.

Glad I decided to wait on getting Ring 2 until it hits a lower price. Thanks for the info.

I suppose you're right. Although this dvd is less than perfect and several others are as well (i.e. bad transfer on Anchorman), I forgot that they have put out nice discs like Collateral so I take that back a little. :)

Also, the dialogue even goes above being low. It almost seems distorted in some scenes.

I did enjoy the "Rings" short on the disc though. There are also a bunch of other deleted scenes and some short and fluffy epk style featurettes.

Wait, how can dialogue mixed extremely low be distorted? Distortion usually comes from sound elements being recorded or mixed too high(loud). I guess I would need to hear it to know what you are talking about.

Fink,

Imagine recording yourself screaming into your computer mic as loud as you can and recording it. It will be distorted when you play it back. Now, turn your computer speakers way down......see, the audio level is real low, but the audio is still distorted. I hope that helps your understanding....


Also, I have the RINGS bous disc from a few months ago -- is there still material on the bonus disc that's not included on the Ring 2? And, does this disc contain both cuts? or is there a seperate PG-13 release? the above post made it seem that there were 2 releases...


Thanks,

Matt

Thanks KillerQ, that's exactly the way I couldn't think of to describe the sound quality.

The Ring 2 unrated disc only has that cut on it. As a bonus feature it has Rings, which is 16 mins I believe.

It's been difficult finding reviews on this disc. I've never seen Ring 2, but liked The Ring. Would you say that the extra footage is truly disturbing thereby pushing the rating up like the Grudge Unrated, or is it more like just a marketing ploy?

Watched this last night, even on my 32inch I did notice the poor A/V in the scenes described. It wasn't terribly distracting for me, but it did stick out. A branching version for both would've been perfect...of course that would eliminate the need for the two releases.

What's even more frustrating here is that, for anyone who is bothered by the audio/video issues and/or does not appreciate the added footage, they CANNOT purchase a widescreen version of the original theatrical edit.

Switching course only slightly (since I won't be able to check my own copy of the Unrated Edition until Friday), I found that the fool-screen only theatrical-edit disc features two featurettes ("Faces of Fear: The Cast" and "HBO First Look: THE RING TWO") that are not advertised on the back on the Unrated Edition. Does the Unrated Edition contain these two featurettes, or are uber-collectors expected to purchase both versions of THE RING TWO to get all bonus features yet STILL not be able to walk away with a widescreen version of the theatrical edit?

I understand how that could have happened (I work in post-production audio); it just didn't make any sense the way Willh51 was describing it, so low it's almost distorted.

Yes, these are on the unrated cut as well.

No, none of the footage is disturbing and yes, it's a marketing ploy. Almost all the new scenes are just dialogue and filler, nothing at all that would make this R, ala The Grudge Unrated.

Whew...well consider me thankful for that, at least...

This may be a good example of why the pan & scanning of theatrical versions,while the 'unrated' version gets a widescreen/OAR release needs to stop!!

Both versions should be presented in their OAR no matter what!

All the new scenes are just fleshing out characters/situations...and you know what, I thought they actually did add a new layer to the film. I hated it the first time around, but this new cut I liked a bit more...sure, the ending is still garbage, but I enjoyed the pacing of this cut a lot better.

MATT

That's why I rented this. I didn't care for it in the theaters, but I wonder if the new cut will improve the film. If only it got rid of the deer scene.

Saw it last night. Didn't notice anything wrong with video anywhere. Then again, I never saw it in the theater, so I don't even know what scenes were new or not. Still, I didn't notice anything wrong with the video.

Sound levels seemed really low at times (compared to the effects), but I never know if that's the DVD or me going deaf.

Good flick, though. A good, old-fashioned horror movie.

Walmart has a BONUS DVD with this. It said it contains OVER 35 minutes of bonus features. Some seemed to be slips of Ring/Ring2/Ringu

Others were behind the scenes making of....I think there were 4 bullets (features) on the back. I passed for now....

There's quite a bit of extra features on the unrated widescreen edition that aren't listed on the box. Probably a good 60+ minutes worth (18 min deleted scenes, 15 min HBO special, 3-4 five minute featurettes)

Just an update on the picture in my case...I watched some of the areas I felt were problematic on my laptop and it's much less noticable. The sound is also pretty identical when not in 5.1 except for the part where Rachel tells her son that the women at the fair are the "secret police." I could barely understand what she was saying here.

I watched it last night, and besides (threadcrap) being terribly boring (/threadcap) I noticed no problems with the video other than a cinematographer's style.

Well since others say it was okay, I went to walmart today and picked it up for $14. ALso came with a second Bonus disc as well that I didnt know Walmart was giving out. Gonna check it out tonight.

definately noticed it during the fair scene and some interior hospital scenes.

That's the WS unrated right? Never sure with Wal-Mart.

Yep, they have WS UR edition