Ed Oscuro wrote:Finally, I wish PC-E Fan X! would show up to mention that the opposite-direction prop design does work; it's been in use since at least when that topic was out in a Russian military helo design.
For Ed,
The opposite-directional prop scheme is featured in the experimental U.S. miltary copter/aircraft hybrid. Plus it is very expensive to maintain and keep operating. It's our taxes hard at work knowing that the military doesn't cut corners with it's aircraft whether it be the tried and true old school like the CH-47D twin-rotor type helicopter (from the Vietnam era) or experimental and cutting edge technology.
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Since this thread has developed into a general Blu-Ray discussion thread, my question is this:
What can I expect if I buy the Blu-Ray version of the classic John Carpenter's 1982 remake of The Thing? Is the background scenery as good if not better than the standard 480p DVD version of the same name?
Ed Oscuro wrote:Finally, I wish PC-E Fan X! would show up to mention that the opposite-direction prop design does work; it's been in use since at least when that topic was out in a Russian military helo design.
Since this thread has developed into a general Blu-Ray discussion thread, my question is this:
What can I expect if I buy the Blu-Ray version of the classic John Carpenter's 1982 remake of The Thing? Is the background scenery as good if not better than the standard 480p DVD version of the same name?
PC Engine Fan X! ^_~
For an older movie it looks great in HD so don't hesitate. The bad thing is there are NO extras on the disc (1 commentary though) so if you own the collector's edition DVD you may want to hold onto it. People were getting this for 5 bucks last week because of the $5 Universal coupon and the $9.99 price at Best Buy. Here is a Facebook link to the coupon. (You have to fan them and dl the coupon software which is bug free so don't worry.) http://www.facebook.com/universalstudio ... 389&ref=ts
Edit:I forgot the Blu has some kind of U-Control feature that lets you watch some ofthe special features while viewing the film, never tried it though.
Forget the lackluster US Blu-Ray of The Thing. The UK release has all of the special features that were on the collector's edition DVD and it's region-free (source) too. Image quality on the Blu-Ray is a huge step up. I was disappointed by the poor source print on the UK DVD release, which was covered in dust and scratches and transferred in non-anamorphic letterbox. By comparison, the blu-ray is from a far superior print and kicks the crap out of the DVD in audio and visuals. What's more, like Blade Runner, the higher definition doesn't reveal any flaws in the effects but only reinforces what high quality work it was. The matte paintings of the alien ship buried in the ice are seamless.
Ed Oscuro wrote:Finally, I wish PC-E Fan X! would show up to mention that the opposite-direction prop design does work; it's been in use since at least when that topic was out in a Russian military helo design.
For Ed,
The opposite-directional prop scheme is featured in the experimental U.S. miltary copter/aircraft hybrid. Plus it is very expensive to maintain and keep operating. It's our taxes hard at work knowing that the military doesn't cut corners with it's aircraft whether it be the tried and true old school like the CH-47D twin-rotor type helicopter (from the Vietnam era) or experimental and cutting edge technology.
For PC Engine Fan X!,
The Soviet-era design bureaus didn't like to build things that are hard to maintain, and I assume that the general lack of money in Russia still dictates that maintenance be as cheap as possible. Also, this is a much older design than I thought (I just saw pictures of one such machine a couple years back, the Kamov KA-52), check it out:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coaxial_rotors
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Also thanks for making the topic an umbrella, I suppose this choppers discussion ought to be branched off!
US version sucks balls, Universal didn't put any extras and got a slamming over it. The UK version released slightly later and had the extras re-instated per this avforums quote -
Just had the UK Blu-Ray come from amazon. £12.98, good deal I thought. (its now £8)
Anyway...it DOES have the extras missing from the US version, so the great thing is we have the full version of the doc 'Terror Takes Shape' - 84 mins, 4:3 format in SD-DVD resolution. It's only authored as one chapter and obviously it doesn't have the isolated score from the old R1 release, but at least it's there!
There are also:
Production archive photos
Cast photos
Production art
Location design
The Saucer / Blairmonster (frame by frame / full motion stuff)
Outtakes
The trailer (superb)
- all in all, really good. Transfer looks good, much better than the old DVD but I couldn't tell you from this brief look whether it's exactly the same encode as the US Blu-Ray rather than the HD-DVD. Probably is, because although the encode is apparently nearly 2GB larger than the US release for the film itself, I would imagine that could be taken up by all the foreign DTS tracks (French / Italian / German) & multiple subtitle tracks?
If you want the US edition I would sell it for the price you can get it, then I can get the UK edition myself.
This industry has become 2 dimensional as it transcended into a 3D world.
Watched Avatar on a 1080p HDTV setup, it really is the benchmark Blu-Ray disc to showcase/demo with the dual layer 50GB BR disc format (with the slight pause of transitioning from one layer to the other in a key scene). Not to mention the lossless audio format presented in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio format via HDMI interface. Of course, the old standby of Dolby Surround 5.1 is available for those with older stereo AV reciever setups via Toslink input is a plus.
When Avatar was still playing on the big screen, there was a cool 30 minute documentary on how the world of Pandora was created. One segment had a box being delivered to Mr. Cameron as a present but it was an inside joke from his film crew. He definitely got the last laugh though.
A special tiny camera was aimed at the actor's face to capture the facial expressions & emotions of the Na'vi species when doing motion-capturing sessions. This was all done in real time.
The Pace 3D camera system that director Cameron had a hand in developing was used in conjunction with a traditional 2D camera setup and shot simultaneously. After the daily scenes were shot, it was possible to watch the film dailies in 3D. Amazing stuff indeed.
neorichieb1971 wrote:The thing - UK edition - blu ray (region free).
I was reading the reviews on amazon.co.uk and was alarmed to see some of the UK discs had an audio lag, though it wasn't largely reported, so maybe this isn't a problem now.
The Thing is a film I definitely want to pick up on blu ray, but now I've got to worry about the words not coming out of Kurt Russell's mouth at the right time
Randorama wrote:ban CMoon for being a closet Jerry Falwell cockmonster/Ann Coulter fan, Nijska a bronie (ack! The horror!), and Ed Oscuro being unable to post 100-word arguments without writing 3-pages posts.
Eugenics: you know it's right!
