When HD Disappoints

By Shane Buettner • Posted: Apr 29, 2007

Not all HD is created equal. We all know this, and it's the same whether we watch on cable, satellite, or even Blu-ray or HD DVD. It just sucks when it's a worthy movie that didn't even receive a decent DVD release, as is the case with David Fincher's The Game, which was just released on HD DVD by Universal.

Before anyone accuses me of being partisan and picking on an HD DVD release, let me state for the record that Blu-ray has had a disproportionately high number of stinkers (Stargate, Fifth Element and House of Flying Daggers are just the first few that jump to mind) and this is actually all the more surprising because Universal's HD DVD releases have been so consistently excellent.

I'm a big fan of David Fincher as a filmmaker. The Game was released in Fall of '97 as Fincher's follow-up to his dark classic, Seven starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. Seven was remarkable in elevating such grisly subject matter to the rare trifecta- it was an artistic, critical and commercial success. This is something that hadn't been accomplished since Silence of the Lambs, and hasn't been accomplished again in the intervening years.

The Game wasn't as successful as Seven on any of those levels, but it's an excellent movie still, featuring standout performances from Michael Douglas and Sean Penn and virtuoso direction from Fincher. Prior to this Universal HD DVD, this movie had only received an early, awful non-anamorphic DVD transfer from Polygram. I was damned excited when I pulled this screener out of the package. Unfortunately my enthusiasm didn't last five minutes into this transfer.

This isn't worth making any fine points; this transfer is simply among the worst I've seen on either HD format. I know the film is dark, so was Seven. I kept waiting for a single scene or instance in which this transfer would clearly demonstrate its superiority to a respectable DVD. It never happened. While this disc is a big step up from that early DVD, I'm still waiting for a worthy remaster of this movie.

Universal is the only studio exclusively releasing its content on HD DVD. In championing the format it has promised to deliver over 100 titles to the market this year. This is in response to the onslaught of titles coming from Blu-ray's exclusive studios, which are numerous.

HD DVD has had two things in its favor to this point. By my own unofficial reckoning HD DVD has been far more consistent in providing top notch HD image quality than Blu-ray, and it's a mile ahead in offering compelling enhanced interactivity features. I don't think it will behoove the format or its fans to compromise on quality and try to win the war on quantity.

Comments

Submitted by Steve on May 17, 2007 - 6:07pm.

In response to my e-mail of Sat Feb 24, 2006, 6:06 PM in your "Is the format war over?" I indicated concern over the quality of tranfers by studioes to get there product to market quickly. You responded with "First, re-issues with newer, ostensibly better transfers and/or extras will be something that happens now until the end of time. But at this point I don't see image quality or hi-res audio taking a back seat. HD DVD releases have been rock solid from the get-go...". Above you indicate "this transfer is simply among the worst I've seen on either HD format". And you go on about the poor quality. Dare I say...I told you so.

Submitted by Shane on May 19, 2007 - 11:48am.

An I told you so is warranted and accepted! But that's why I wrote that Blog. I'm hoping that Universal won't release subpar xfers just to prop up HD DVD in the market. And if Uni does, I'll continue to point it out. We'll see when Smokey and the Bandit comes out later this month. Don't mess with Burt.

Submitted by David Vaughn on May 20, 2007 - 8:30am.

Shane and Steve, I didn't think The Game was a stellar transfer, but from the trailer and the previous DVD, it could be considered reference! ;) All kidding aside, the HD DVD can only look as good as the master, and in this case, I would be willing to bet that the master is in piss poor shape for some unknown reason and this is the best we will ever see this title look, but hopefully I am wrong because it is a very good movie! David

Submitted by Shane on May 20, 2007 - 10:22am.

First, the movie is around ten years old. If they want to sell me a movie again for $25-$30, and their master won't yield a decent transfer, they should damn well go back to the original elements and remaster the damned thing. Period.

Submitted by David Vaughn on May 20, 2007 - 8:02pm.

Agreed...but what if the original print is messed up in some way. I doubt that is the case here though...until there is more profit in the HD discs, I doubt we will see the effort.

Submitted by Shane on May 21, 2007 - 10:08am.

It's only a ten year old movie and much more is known now about how to store film elements these days. And, forget profit. If you don't have a good master and won't remaster it you should be choosing a different title to release.