Friday, March 25, 2011

BD impressions: Inferno (Blue Underground release)

2:19 PM / BD Impressions / Comments14 Comments

BD Impressions
Blu-ray

The film: See my review from a couple of years back here. 8/10

Image quality: This is the fourth BD release of INFERNO so far, with UK, French and Japanese versions having preceded it. (A fifth, from German label Camera Obscura, should have been out by now as well, but it has yet to materialise. Any word on that one, guys?) Of these, the only one I'd previously seen in motion was the UK release by Arrow Video, which I found to be most disappointing due to its overzealous application of grain reduction, which rendered it soft, overly smooth and video-like. I've been very impressed by US label Blue Underground's Argento BDs so far, so obviously I was curious as to whether it would improve on Arrow's mediocre offering.

The answer is that it does, quite substantially. It's worth pointing out that every BD release of INFERNO has been derived from the same master, one created in 2007 by 20th Century Fox and first used for the Italian Fox DVD release of the same year. It differed quite noticeably in terms of colour palette than what was at the time the only other DVD of the film, a 2000 release from Anchor Bay (later re-released with the same transfer by Blue Underground). In comparison with the Fox DVD, Anchor Bay's version was darker, with heavier saturation and a colour palette that tended to push the reds towards a rich pink rather than the more muted oranges found on the Fox version. I mention this because, unlike the UK, Japanese and French BDs, Blue Underground seem to have digitally colour corrected the Fox master in an attempt to bring it more in line with the colours found on the Anchor Bay DVD. Sometimes the differences are subtle to the point of being unnoticeable, but on other occasions they are quite striking, particularly during Rose (Irene Miracle)'s conversation with Kazanian (Sacha Pitoeff) in the doorway of his antique shop in the opening minutes of the film.

Which look - if either - is the more accurate? I'm going to quote Thomas Rostock, as I did when I reviewed the Arrow BD:

Having plowed through several VHS, Laserdisc and film-print incarnations of this the director's most accomplished visual achievement (seeing this on the big screen by way of the excellent UK print in circulation around 1995 was truly an astonishing experience for me. Totally blew me away in a way SUSPIRIA couldn't even begin to match), I must say that look of the Anchor Bay DVD of 2000 actually fares much closer to Romano Albani's intended look than the new MGM/FOX. Romano Albani along with Argento worked hard to achieve a fuller, more lush look than SUSPIRIA using in particular the two new lighting color gels named Rose and Deep Blue introduced into the market in 1979.

[...]

In short, Rose and Deep Blue are the governing colors of INFERNO. However, the MGM/FOX transfer suppresses exactly these two colors to the point oblivion (Rose) and to a dull, faded hue (Deep Blue) [...] If one is aware of literally the hours it can take to light with different color-gels on a film-set, it is especially disheartening to witness MGM/FOX's negligent attitude towards the intended color-specific look of INFERNO. But perhaps even worse is the fact that this is the only transfer making its rounds to all corners of the world commercially through MGM's cost-efficent licensing and will stand as a misrepresentation of the real beautiful and haunting color-scheme that is at the very heart and soul of INFERNO. One can voice many a fault about William Lustig's AB/BU releases, but on the visual, color-correctional side of things, he has yet to make mistake.

I haven't had a chance to speak to Thomas about the look of the Blue Underground BD, and unlike him I can't claim to have ever seen an actual print of the film, but it's worth pointing out that, since the 2007 Fox master materialised, I've come across comments by three or four other people on various forums, all of whom had seen INFERNO theatrically and felt similarly let down by the Fox version. As for myself, speaking purely from the point of personal preference, I rather like this curious hybrid that Blue Underground has created. While it lacks the extreme (?over-)saturation of the Anchor Bay DVD, in most other respects it matches its colour palette quite closely. That was the first version of INFERNO I ever saw, so perhaps that's why I tend to prefer it.

As for the rest of the transfer, basically it's very pleasing to the eye. The grain that was all but obliterated on the Arrow BD is in full force here and looks extremely natural and film-like. I suspect INFERNO was always a somewhat soft film, so detail doesn't measure up to the likes of the BDs of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE or TENEBRAE, but the transfer consistently looks like film, and I should point out that it looks better in motion than in static screen captures. The grain is quite coarse, which doesn't always result in the best still images, but in motion, the continually moving grain creates a far greater sense of detail. This is all compressed very well - an area where Blue Underground always seems to excel.

The image quality on this release more than makes up for the shortcomings of the Arrow version and, in my opinion, is the one to get (although there's always that niggling sense that the much-delayed Camera Obscura version may surprise us all). I'm not convinced by the claim on the back cover of the BD that the film is "freshly transferred... from the original uncut and uncensored negative", given the number of black (positive) flecks on display, and the overall texture of the film, which has more in common with some of the interpositive- or internegative-sourced presentations Criterion have put out than, say, an OCN-sourced presentation of an 80s film like the recent releases of TAXI DRIVER and STAND BY ME. If so, I suspect if Fox had gone back to the camera negative when creating their master is would have looked noticeably better. Still, it's a very satisfying presentation that allows the film's sumptuous visuals to shine. 7.5/10

PS. It's worth pointing out that, like the Arrow release, the Blue Underground version is very slightly cropped at all four sides (unlike the Italian DVD and French BD). It's a minor point, admittedly, but one worth noting.

Inferno
studio: Blue Underground; country: USA; region code: ABC;
codec: AVC; aspect ratio: 1.85:1

Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno Inferno

 
14 Comments

1. Kenneth said:

Nice one, I will order this a.s.a.p. :D great review again Michael.

(Posted on Friday, March 25, 2011 at 3:02 PM)

2. FoxyMulder said:

Is Tenebrae out on blu ray. ?

I already knew the Blue Underground edition was vastly superior to the Arrow one but i'm glad you are confirming this and hopefully in time more people will speak up about some of Arrow's transfers.

Looking forward to Deep Red which is out in the not too distant future.

(Posted on Friday, March 25, 2011 at 3:33 PM)

3. Author Profile Page Michael said:

>> Is Tenebrae out on blu ray. ?

Yep, in France: http://www.landofwhimsy.com/archives/2010/11/some-thoughts-on-wild-sides-new-tenebrae-bd/

Forced subtitles, unfortunately.

(Posted on Friday, March 25, 2011 at 3:34 PM)

4. FoxyMulder said:

Shame about the forced subtitles, who has the rights to Tenebrae in the UK and USA. ?

I recently bought Face/Off from France, no forced subtitles and a superior transfer to the waxy looking American edition, uncut too unlike the UK edition which also has a better transfer.

I also bought 1492: Conquest Of Paradise, i think that one may be a tv master but it was better than i expected, hopefully next year on it's twentieth anniversary a new transfer will be made.

Oh and i bought True Romance from france, vastly superior transfer to the UK and USA Warner edition, at least in my opinion, some have said the transfer is too bright, i disagree and feel it's got the intended look and the Warner transfer is muted and too dark. I have a comparison on my site between those two transfers.

Anyway it's great to have a multiregion blu ray player and the ability to buy from different countries and get better transfers.

I'm surprised that Inferno blew the reviewer away more than Suspiria when he saw it at the cinema because wasn't Suspiria the last film to receive the full blown Technicolor dye process treatment.

(Posted on Friday, March 25, 2011 at 3:48 PM)

5. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Anchor Bay has TENEBRAE (and PHENOMENA) in the US, while in the UK both reside with Arrow. Arrow are planning on releasing it later this year, and the list of extras (including separate commentaries by Alan Jones/Kim Newman and Thomas Rostock) looks impressive, but if the presentation of the film itself disappoints then I won't be picking it up.

(Posted on Friday, March 25, 2011 at 3:53 PM)

6. Phil Quail said:

Thanks for the INFERNO review and comparison, nice to see it's an improvement on the Arrow. I find it interesting that different labels are taking the same master and doing their own tinkering with the colours etc.

I will be buying the Arrow TENEBRAE come what may, the French BD looks OK but I do find the non-removable subtitles irritating (I always managed to defeat forced subs on French DVDs, but BDs are a different matter - that's progress I suppose...)

(Posted on Friday, March 25, 2011 at 5:58 PM)

7. Christopher D. Jacobson said:

I'm not terribly impressed by these screengrabs. Could just be due to the limitations of the film, or perhaps a new master should have been struck. Still, this looks better than the competition, so I'll pick it up and hope it looks much better on my TV in motion.

(Posted on Friday, March 25, 2011 at 8:38 PM)

8. Kentai said:

As always Michael, thanks for your exhaustive selection of screencaps and thoughts on the release at hand. It really is appreciated.

Having recently seen how sharp and fine-grained the abysmally cheap Alien 2: On Earth was courtesy of Midnight Legacy, I'm having a real hard time swallowing that this is as good as INFERNO could ever look. It certainly isn't bad, and with Camera Obscura working from the same telecine I'd expect fairly similar results, but I'm still a bit underwhelmed. It's light years ahead of the Arrow BD and Anchor Bay DVD, but as you say, it has a hell of a lot of grain for being from the OCN...

Then again, it looks so much better than the BU transfers for Django, Manchester Morgue and Stendhal Syndrome I guess we should be rejoicing all the same. I'm doing my best to hold out for that DP approved German release and see what that looks like first, but if I ever see this for cheap enough (under $20, preferably) I might just grab it and be done with it.

This release also more or less proves that Blue Underground's talk of "freshly transferred" is all - in a word - bullspit. This telecine was made back in 2007, so the only thing 'fresh' about it is the color timing, framing and encoding. Certainly BU has spent the most time and effort polishing it up than Arrow or Wild Side, but it troubles me on a fundamental level that they'd talk about materials that old as if Mr. Lustig had just gotten back from Rome to oversee the new telecine himself. It's disingenuous marketing-speak at best.

(P.S. - Have you heard that the upcoming Arrow release of The Bird with Crystal Plumage is going to be in Storario's ridiculous 2:1 ratio?)

(Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 2:25 AM)

9. Greg M said:

Haha, Kentai. Looks like I'm not the only one who's been spoiled by Midnight Legacy. I can't wait for their next release.

(Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 6:09 AM)

10. BobaFett said:

You asked about the Camera Obscura release: There is still no release date, but it is definitely coming. The latest statement from them was that "unfortunately it costs a lot of time and money to make something perfect". They also made a statement about the BU release, saying that their release will be closer to the Arrow BD in terms of color. Previously they had stated that their look will be different from Arrow, so they might be somewhere in between. But until their release is out, no one can tell for sure.

(Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 6:35 PM)

11. FoxyMulder said:

There are far too many variables to compare the grain structure of two different films shot by different people using different filmstock and cameras and maybe developed at the lab differently, also probably different film scans were made for the home market and thats before we even get into any tinkering done by the company releasing the film onto blu ray, so i just don't think you can compare Alien 2: On Earth to Inferno.

I found an interesting article on the web about film grain, its an interesting read and scientific.

http://www.tmax100.com/photo/pdf/film.pdf

(Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 9:28 PM)

12. Kentai said:

Whilst I agree that film stocks, lenses, lighting and a host of other factors will effect how prevalent film grain is, I'm tiring of all this talk about how old, low-budget films just look "worse" (not to say anyone here is suggesting that). I'd mentioned Alien 2 because I had watched it less than a week ago, but a number of films I had low expectations for - I Spit On Your Grave, A Nightmare on Elm Street, My Bloody Valentine, just to name but a few - have looked stunning in HD thanks to getting high quality, negative-sourced transfers. Even the French release of Tenebrae looks nowhere near this harsh.

My guess as to some of what we're seeing (and mind you, this is only a guess) is that when Fox transferred whatever print they had, they boosted the gamma somewhat to try and show as much shadow detail as was possible. Whilst admirable in theory, manipulating gamma and contrast for the brighter tends to exaggerate whatever "noise" is in the signal (in this case, film grain). Blue Underground dialed the gamma down and the contrast up, crushing the shadows in an attempt to bring levels back down to what they probably should have been in the first place, but that doesn't really "undo" the boosted grain - it just crushes out the worst of it. Again, this is all me looking at the various transfers that are out there and guessing based on what I know from my own (very limited) experience with color correction, but I don't think it's a totally unreasonable theory.

As for wither it's from the OCN or not - honestly, who knows? We can't trust a damn thing Blue Underground has to say, so unless I have a reason to assume the OCN was involved for a "cult film" I tend to assume it wasn't. Michael, did the Italian DVD from 2007 mention being restored from the negative, by any chance?

But let's assume Lustig's right for a moment. Even if it was from the OCN,look no further than Django, or The Living Dead at the Manchester Morgue. Something is very, very wrong with the both of them, and I can only chalk it up to the lab work being faulty. I know we have to have some level of trust that the techs know how to do their jobs, but sometimes there's just no other sensible explanation than "they f**ked up".

By the by, Alien 2: On Earth is an amazing looking release (of a god-awful film). It gives me hope that we'll have one studio who's output we can use as a consistent measure for preserving Italian horror pictures on BD, regardless of when or how they were made. I can't imagine they'll do any Argento pictures, though... a pity.

(Posted on Saturday, March 26, 2011 at 11:43 PM)

13. Marcus said:

How are the special features? Also, since I am probably never going near the Arrow disc, could you tell me what Daria thought of Mother of Tears?

(Posted on Sunday, March 27, 2011 at 7:15 PM)

14. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Kentai:

Oh, don't get me started on Storaro and his "Univision" practices. I understand that Arrow couldn't get access to Blue Underground's master and had no choice but to go with the Storaro-approved version, but geez, that's going to be a tough sell.


Bobafett:

Thanks for the info about the Camera Obscura release. I'm all for them delaying it to make it as good as it can possibly be - I just wish they had a web site where this sort of information was readily available.


Marcus:

I enjoyed the special features - the new interviews with McCloskey and Miracle, that is. They only run for about 15 minutes each, but they're polished and concise, and it's interesting to hear from both actors. Of the two, McCloskey was the one who most surprised me: I had no idea he brought such a methodical approach to his acting, and he clearly loved the subject matter in a way that I really wouldn't have guessed from his (deliberately) detached performance in the film. The Arrow version has more to offer in terms of extras, but that's not to say what's on the BD release is bad by any means.

As for Daria Nicolodi, if memory serves she's fairly dismissive about MOTHER OF TEARS, but says that she recently saw it on TV and feels that it works better on the small screen than the big screen. She's very annoyed about the Christian imagery in the film, describing SUSPIRIA and INFERNO as purely "secular", and states that as far as she's concerned it's not the conclusion to the trilogy but something of an unofficial offshoot.

(Posted on Monday, March 28, 2011 at 11:30 AM)

 
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