MovieChat Forums > Far and Away (1992) Discussion > DVD Transfer

DVD Transfer

posted 17 years ago by mac1165
6 replies | jump to latest

Wow! What a rotten transfer to DVD. It's really a shame, because this was the last feature length movie to be shot using 70mm film, not 35mm blown up to 70mm.

The merits of the movie can be debated ad nauseum, but the cinematography is truly stunning and the DVD is a total wash in that department. The transfer is full of digital artifacts and is blurry and grainy looking. Even the sound is lacking. Anyone with a decent sound system will notice how shallow the bass is. I had to crank my subwoofer up twice as high to compensate.

Anyone else notice this? The movie deserves a better transfer, but is not likely to get one until a Blu-Ray version comes along. If Criterion is willing to produce Armageddon and The Rock, maybe they would give Far and Away some consideration.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] mac1165 17 years ago

"I think the picture is much richer and the sound is much more natural from VHS tape."

I hope you're kidding. I agree that LPs often sound better than digital CD music, but I'm yet to find a VHS transfer that looks better than a DVD, particularly when projected onto an 84 inch screen (the set up I have in my home). In a good DVD transfer, upconverted to 720p, it is often possible to even see the skin pores on actor's faces.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] mac1165 17 years ago

Pixelation is generally a problem created by a bad film to DVD transfer.

What really helps to bring that natural, "film-like" quality to DVD is throwing out your TV (even the best LCDs and plasmas) and replacing them with a $900 Mitsubishi DLP projector. Dim the lights a little, buy a decent quality screen for around $300, a good upconverting DVD player (Onkyo makes a great one) and the image quality is stunning, very smooth looking and much easier on the eyes. I'll never buy another television.

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[–] wwestar 17 years ago

Little Buddha 1993 and Hamlet 1996 were both 70mm.

[–] MovieMan1975 16 years ago

I agree, the DVD transfer is terrible. The visuals and sound are not much of an improvement over my old VHS copy.

They really need to give this a nice special edition treatment, remastering the pic and sound for HD and DTS, and give us the Director's Cut that was shown on TV years ago!!!