The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
#1851
DVD Talk Special Edition
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Holy mother of harlots... They really ended up going all out on this one!
Bonus Features
-Audio Commentary With Director Philippe Mora
-Audio Commentary With Composer Steve Parsons And Editor Charles Bornstein
-Leading Man - An Interview With Actor Reb Brown
-Queen Of The Werewolves - An Interview With Actress Sybil Danning
-A Monkey Phase - Interviews With Special Make-Up Effects Artists Steve Johnson And Scott Wheeler
-Behind The Scenes Footage (In HD - From Philippe Mora's Archive)
-Alternate Opening And Alternate Ending (In HD – From Philippe Mora's Archive)
-Theatrical Trailer
-Still Gallery
https://www.shoutfactory.com/film/fi...-is-a-werewolf
#1852
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
I saw it at the theater, and was the only person there, haha. So, yeah, I definitely can remember it tanking too.
#1853
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Dog Soldiers was one of my most anticipated Shout releases.
#1854
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
It looks pretty rough, Scream Factory seems to have gone overboard with the contrast boosting:
http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergl...ess=#vergleich
http://www.caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergl...ess=#vergleich
#1855
DVD Talk Gold Edition
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re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
I watched Dog Soldiers last week and thought it looked pretty bad. The contrast boost might not bother some who aren't familiar with the film. You sort of knew going in that this release wouldn't look fantastic because of the way it was filmed. The extras are the only reason to buy this release over the original.
#1856
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Dammit. This was one of their releases I was really looking forward to. The sound is awful on the first release but no one seems to mention that.
I see a lot of bitching about Ginger Snaps as well. What was wrong with it? Same thing?
I see a lot of bitching about Ginger Snaps as well. What was wrong with it? Same thing?
#1857
DVD Talk Limited Edition
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Here's a $10 off code with a $40 purchase if someone wants to use it, please help yourself.
7PA7IHPDLE
7PA7IHPDLE
#1858
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
When was the last time they released a blu with "good/great" picture quality? Man they seem to keep dropping the ball...
#1859
DVD Talk Hero
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Scarecrows had pretty good picture quality from them. The MGM transfer looked relatively recent. Scream Factory is content licensing the cheapest available HD master for one of their releases.
#1860
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Does anyone have Sleepaway Camp II & III? Are those even worth the 'upgrade'? Been hearing the transfers are just alright for those.
#1861
DVD Talk Hero
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
People have been complaining about Dog Soldiers' transfer. Neil responded and SF posted it on their FB page:
It seems myself and Scream Factory are experiencing some major flack regarding the Dog Soldiers blu-ray release. So I figure I should fill in a bit of background here. First of all, I wholeheartedly support the Scream Factory release. The previous blu-ray (not available in the UK) was made without any involvement from me, and I remember when it came out the general consensus was that the picture quality was not great. All credit to Scream Factory for wanting to involve the film-maker in this process as much as possible.
When they first announced this blu-ray release last year, the original plan was to work with me to create a whole bunch of original extras based on new interviews with all the key cast and crew, but that the movie itself would essentially be the same version as last time. I asked them to delay the release because I felt that we could do better for the fans and try and track down some original film elements to make a fresh HD transfer. Since the movie never received a theatrical release in the US (although I believe it screened at The Egyptian for a week) I knew we’d have to turn to the UK to find the best possible elements available. What I didn’t know was that after an exhaustive search I’d discover the original negative was nowhere to be found. Neither the UK producer, distributor or film processing lab has any idea where the negative is. Without it we simply could not achieve the kind of high quality HD transfer I would have wished to deliver. Instead we managed to get hold of 2 original cinema prints, and despite being 13 years old and having a few scratches here and there, they represent the most accurate version of the original theatrical release that we could find.
However, as close as they are, they are just cinema prints, and in terms of colour timing for the new blu-ray we were limited to the parameters of the print itself. Which means, in basic terms, if the contrast is high on the print and the blacks are crushed (as indeed they are) then there is no more visual information to be gained from them. You can’t brighten up the image and see what’s hidden in the darkness like you can when you’re working from the negative or from digital. All that will happen is that the black will turn to grey and just give the movie a washed out flat look.
Another issue seems to be that one scene in particular now seems to be a daytime scene when it used to be a nighttime scene. Well, this is wrong on both counts. It’s meant to be a dusk scene, and since it features shots of the sunset then it’s graded accordingly - with a warm sunset glow that then gets cooler and darker as it fades into night. Again, this is all taken directly from the print. It was never intended to have such an extreme dark blue tint over it. We had major continuity issues filming this sequence because the weather kept changing from dull grey and rainy to bright sunlight. This is far from ideal for pulling off convincing day-for-night photography.
Like it or not, when the movie was originally released in the UK in 2002, the blacks were crushed, the contrast was high, the colours were rich and the image was grainy as ****, because let’s not forget, this movie was shot on 16mm and blown up to 35mm. So under no circumstances was a blu-ray of this movie ever going to look as smooth and pristine as a movie shot on 35mm or any of the hi-res digital formats we use today. In fact, transferring it to HD actually highlights the grain just as it does any other detail, so this version inherently looks more grainy than before. It’s unavoidable unless you have the money to do a full restoration and clean-up, but again, you need the negative for that.
So, is this version of Dog Soldiers the best it could ever be? No. Of course not. If we had the negative and a shit-load of cash we could have done a lot better. Is it the best it could be under the circumstances? Yes. Will it appeal to everybody? No. But that's movies for you!
At the end of the day everybody involved, myself included, put in a lot of work to give the fans a blu-ray worth forking out their hard-earned cash for. And nobody involved, myself included, got paid anything for doing it. There are no royalties, ancillaries or anything else. This is not an attempt to exploit the fans. It was, on my part, an attempt to give the fans something new and unique, and not simply a repackaged version of what’s already out there.
NEIL MARSHAL
When they first announced this blu-ray release last year, the original plan was to work with me to create a whole bunch of original extras based on new interviews with all the key cast and crew, but that the movie itself would essentially be the same version as last time. I asked them to delay the release because I felt that we could do better for the fans and try and track down some original film elements to make a fresh HD transfer. Since the movie never received a theatrical release in the US (although I believe it screened at The Egyptian for a week) I knew we’d have to turn to the UK to find the best possible elements available. What I didn’t know was that after an exhaustive search I’d discover the original negative was nowhere to be found. Neither the UK producer, distributor or film processing lab has any idea where the negative is. Without it we simply could not achieve the kind of high quality HD transfer I would have wished to deliver. Instead we managed to get hold of 2 original cinema prints, and despite being 13 years old and having a few scratches here and there, they represent the most accurate version of the original theatrical release that we could find.
However, as close as they are, they are just cinema prints, and in terms of colour timing for the new blu-ray we were limited to the parameters of the print itself. Which means, in basic terms, if the contrast is high on the print and the blacks are crushed (as indeed they are) then there is no more visual information to be gained from them. You can’t brighten up the image and see what’s hidden in the darkness like you can when you’re working from the negative or from digital. All that will happen is that the black will turn to grey and just give the movie a washed out flat look.
Another issue seems to be that one scene in particular now seems to be a daytime scene when it used to be a nighttime scene. Well, this is wrong on both counts. It’s meant to be a dusk scene, and since it features shots of the sunset then it’s graded accordingly - with a warm sunset glow that then gets cooler and darker as it fades into night. Again, this is all taken directly from the print. It was never intended to have such an extreme dark blue tint over it. We had major continuity issues filming this sequence because the weather kept changing from dull grey and rainy to bright sunlight. This is far from ideal for pulling off convincing day-for-night photography.
Like it or not, when the movie was originally released in the UK in 2002, the blacks were crushed, the contrast was high, the colours were rich and the image was grainy as ****, because let’s not forget, this movie was shot on 16mm and blown up to 35mm. So under no circumstances was a blu-ray of this movie ever going to look as smooth and pristine as a movie shot on 35mm or any of the hi-res digital formats we use today. In fact, transferring it to HD actually highlights the grain just as it does any other detail, so this version inherently looks more grainy than before. It’s unavoidable unless you have the money to do a full restoration and clean-up, but again, you need the negative for that.
So, is this version of Dog Soldiers the best it could ever be? No. Of course not. If we had the negative and a shit-load of cash we could have done a lot better. Is it the best it could be under the circumstances? Yes. Will it appeal to everybody? No. But that's movies for you!
At the end of the day everybody involved, myself included, put in a lot of work to give the fans a blu-ray worth forking out their hard-earned cash for. And nobody involved, myself included, got paid anything for doing it. There are no royalties, ancillaries or anything else. This is not an attempt to exploit the fans. It was, on my part, an attempt to give the fans something new and unique, and not simply a repackaged version of what’s already out there.
NEIL MARSHAL
#1862
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Super 16 .
Shame about what happened, but it sounds like without the negative, there just isn't much they can do. I guess we can hope it'll surface at some point, but it's probably pretty doubtful. You probably could do a more extensive restoration of a release print (and I'm pretty surprised at the detail they can squeeze out of 16mm in HD), but it'd probably be a very expensive restoration process for such a small niche title, and that probably wouldn't be financially viable for Shout.
Shame about what happened, but it sounds like without the negative, there just isn't much they can do. I guess we can hope it'll surface at some point, but it's probably pretty doubtful. You probably could do a more extensive restoration of a release print (and I'm pretty surprised at the detail they can squeeze out of 16mm in HD), but it'd probably be a very expensive restoration process for such a small niche title, and that probably wouldn't be financially viable for Shout.
#1863
DVD Talk Hero
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Super 16 .
Shame about what happened, but it sounds like without the negative, there just isn't much they can do. I guess we can hope it'll surface at some point, but it's probably pretty doubtful. You probably could do a more extensive restoration of a release print (and I'm pretty surprised at the detail they can squeeze out of 16mm in HD), but it'd probably be a very expensive restoration process for such a small niche title, and that probably wouldn't be financially viable for Shout.
Shame about what happened, but it sounds like without the negative, there just isn't much they can do. I guess we can hope it'll surface at some point, but it's probably pretty doubtful. You probably could do a more extensive restoration of a release print (and I'm pretty surprised at the detail they can squeeze out of 16mm in HD), but it'd probably be a very expensive restoration process for such a small niche title, and that probably wouldn't be financially viable for Shout.
You read the blu-ray.com thread on it. It's fucking hysterical how some of these mouth breathers behave. They basically burned SF and Marshal in effigy all day today and once he released that statement some changed their minds and decided that they would buy the BD after all. I was like whaaaaaaat?!?!?!
#1864
DVD Talk Gold Edition
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re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
To be fair, Scream has sullied their own reputation by producing mediocre quality discs. They're never going to get the benefit of the doubt like a Criterion or Arrow. The first instinct is that Scream is to blame for everything. It may be a little unfair, like in the case of the Halloween set, but that's the way things are going to be. Delaying the Dog Soldiers release probably didn't help either. Expectations are higher when you announce that you're locating better elements.
I actually feel better about the purchase thanks to that response from Marshall. I don't like the boosted contrast but it relieves me to know that they put in the best effort possible. The biggest shock for me is that nobody got paid for participating in this release. I thought the extras were really well done and in-depth. They're certainly the best reason to buy the release.
I actually feel better about the purchase thanks to that response from Marshall. I don't like the boosted contrast but it relieves me to know that they put in the best effort possible. The biggest shock for me is that nobody got paid for participating in this release. I thought the extras were really well done and in-depth. They're certainly the best reason to buy the release.
#1865
DVD Talk Legend
#1867
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Yeah I doubt that Scream Factory would just make that up and the director wouldn't call them on it.
#1868
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Mystery solved.
#1869
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
The first time I ever saw Dog Soldiers was on the Sci-Fi channel back when it was spelled correctly. It was marketed as a "Sci-Fi Original Movie." I remember being skeptical, because unlike most "Sci-Fi Original Movies," it didn't suck. It was actually quite good. I don't much remember what it looked like, but as it was probably panned-and-scanned, edited for television, and on a small CRT set, it probably didn't look very good.
#1870
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
As somebody that was interested in picking up Dog Soldiers given the great reviews of the movie, now I'm left wondering now what? Pick up the old DVD or go with this flawed BD because of the extras? Seems unlikely there will ever be a better BD release, even in bare bones form.
#1871
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
I guess I don't consider the Scream Factory version of Dog Soldiers to be flawed if the director approved it.
#1872
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
What I don't get, given the reviews I have read, is why they (including Marshall if he indeed approve it ahead of time) boosted the contrast so much.
#1873
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Well he did say that they weren't able to find the original film elements. I think in some cases exceptions have to be made and the director/studio in charge of the release are able to do what they see fitting.
#1874
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
#1875
DVD Talk Legend
re: The One and Only Shout! Studios (and Scream Factory!) Blu-ray Thread
Isn't that the big thing people have been upset over? I guess I'm not sure what I'm missing but that seems to be the big thing. The director addressed the contrast issues as being related to not having the original film elements.