Tuesday, April 5, 2011

#1047: Silent Hill

10:09 PM / Blu-ray / Comments14 Comments

BD

Édition Collector (BD, Metropolitan, Region ABC, France)

Thanks to FoxyMulder for pointing out that a version of this film had finally been released without the raised blacks issue that has affected every version I've come across so far. Now I can finally retire my German HD DVD.

This 2-disc French edition from Metropolitan is ridiculously generously stacked in terms of bonus content, with exclusive documentaries, two commentaries and two picture-in-picture modes, one of which allows you to watch the entire film pre-colour grading and digital effects. Best of all, everything is either in English or in French with English subtitles.

 
14 Comments

1. Christopher D. Jacobson said:

Are the extras in HD, or PAL SD?

Hope to see a post comparing this to the German HD DVD (which I assume looks exactly the same as the German Blu-ray).

(Posted on Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 11:40 PM)

2. Author Profile Page Michael said:

The picture in picture modes are both SD (although, in a nice touch, you can full-screen the PiP content), while the rest of the bonus content is a mix of 1080i60 HD and 50i PAL (the majority of it the latter). If you're a fan of the film (and I very much am - I think it's the best video game adaptation so far), I'd be inclined to recommend picking it up for the AV alone.

I should hopefully get round to a comparison before too long.

(Posted on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 6:25 PM)

3. CraigTheRave said:

Hi Michael. Can you let me know either on here or by e-mail, where you source your Blu-rays from, especially these ones from France etc.

Would love to own some of these.

(Posted on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 6:43 PM)

4. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Craig:

No big secret: I tend to get my French discs from Amazon.fr - they're not exactly cheap, but I don't order from them often and I haven't come across any cheaper alternatives for French releases. I've used Fnac a few times too - they have some exclusive releases, such as the INFERNO and TENEBRAE BDs.

For US releases: PlanetAxel, MovieTyme or, if I come across a good deal, Amazon.com. I basically shop around for the cheapest option and go with it. Axel are probably my favourite because they tend to ship early, meaning I usually get my US discs on or before the official release date, and I also build up bonus points and redeem them for free titles.

(Posted on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 6:52 PM)

5. Christopher D. Jacobson said:

Looking at comparison shots at caps-a-holic, this French BD is looking good. Although, despite being technically superior, in some instances I actually remember the movie in the theater looking far more like the German BD in terms of how freaking dark everything looks. There were times when I had a difficult time seeing damn-near anything, ha.

I already shelled out a bunch of money for the German BD, but I may pick up this French one at some point. It's not a movie I adore, because, as a Silent Hill fan (well, more so of the first four games), I feel it goofs up a LOT of things—but one thing it's definitely got goin' for it are the visuals, which are terribly impressive. So, it would be nice to see these in the best quality possible, though I am pretty content with what I have.

(Posted on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 9:53 PM)

6. Christopher D. Jacobson said:

Checking out Amazon.fr right now, it'll only be $34.07 with shipping to import. That's not too bad, considering the German release I paid close to $50 with shipping for, and certain Japanese Blu-rays I've paid close to $70 prior to shipping costs. :p I'll probably pick this up soon.

Any suggestions on other English-friendly French Blu-rays or DVDs? Need the former to play on a Region A player.

(Posted on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 9:58 PM)

7. Christopher D. Jacobson said:

Anybody know where an American could get both the French BDs for Silent Hill and Tenebrae—somewhere other than Amazon.fr? They don't have the latter in stock. :(

(Posted on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 10:05 PM)

8. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Do Fnac ship State-side?

http://video.fnac.com/a3063338/Tenebres-Blu-Ray-Anthony-Franciosa-Blu-Ray

They're probably your only realistic option, seeing as (to the best of my knowledge) TENEBRAE is exclusive to them. They don't seem to stock the collector's edition of SILENT HILL, though.

(Posted on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 11:10 PM)

9. Christopher D. Jacobson said:

I've filled out all my information at Fnac and they've given me a total with shipping price, so yeah, it sure looks like they deliver here.

What's included in the collector's edition of Silent Hill? I'm guessing a lot of the additional features exclusive to the two-disc version is probably stuff I can't watch anyway. :p Although Fnac's page for the title does show two discs in the details, it's just the cover image doesn't show the slipcase.

Any idea how the French Blu-ray of Suspiria is, and whether it'll play on a Region A player? I assume it's sourced from the same HD master that's been going around, but I'm curious if I should pick this up while I'm ordering from France, or just hold out for a US release or something else better.

(Posted on Wednesday, April 6, 2011 at 11:45 PM)

10. Anthony said:

Speaking of French Metropolitan releases. Has anyone had a chance to compare its release of 'True Romance' to the WB releases. Caps-a-Holic has some captures that seem to show a good amount of detail more due to the brighter appearance. They look slightly boosted to me but the WB ones look even more off in the opposite direction.

(Posted on Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 11:01 AM)

11. Author Profile Page Michael said:

Chris:

OK, I've been through both discs of SILENT HILL, and here's a full run-down of the content:

DISC 1:
- Commentary by director Christophe Gans (French with English subs)
- Commentary by producer Andrew Mason and editor Sébastien Prangère (English)
- Picture in picture: the film pre-visual effects (720x480 NTSC)
- Picture in picture: behind the scenes filming (720x480 NTSC)

DISC 2:
- Video game presentation: Silent Hill (720x576 PAL) (English captions)
- Video game presentation: Silent Hill 2 (720x576 PAL) (Japanese captions with French subtitles)
- Akira Yamaoka interview (720x576 PAL) (Japanese with English or French subtitles)
- Amkira Yamaoka and Christophe Gans masterclass (720x576 PAL) (French with English subtitles)
- Interview with Christophe Gans on Silent Hill 2 (720x576 PAL) (French with English subtitles)
- Silent Hill, Between Two Worlds (1920x1080 60i) (various languages with English and French subtitles)
- The Path of Shadows: The Making of Silent Hill (720x576 PAL) (English with French subtitles)
- On the set (720x576 PAL) (English with French subtitles)
- About the film (720x576 PAL) (English with French subtitles)
- Gallery (1920x1080 24p)
- Teaser trailer (1920x1080 50i) (English)
- Theatrical trailer (1920x1080 24p) (French or English)

As for SUSPIRIA, I'm afraid I don't know anything about it - region, language options - other than that it uses the same HD master as the other BD releases. The other Wild Side Argento BDs have been region free with forced subtitles, though, so I'm guessing it follows the same pattern.

(Posted on Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 12:06 PM)

12. FoxyMulder said:

As for French releases, if you are a fan of Ridley Scott films then i recommend 1492: Conquest Of Paradise, it's not a perfect disc but i found it watchable and with no other country seemingly releasing it then it's your best bet for now, although it's 20th anniversary is 2012 so you might want to wait it out for that one.

The French edition of True Romance is released by Metropolitan, same company responsible for Silent Hill, i do not think the contrast is boosted, i have watched it and my comments regarding it are on my site along with many more comparison shots.

http://www.darkrealmfox.com/film_reviews/2011/03/06/hd-comparisons-true-romance/

Hopefully the spam filter will be kind to this post.

(Posted on Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 2:47 PM)

13. Christopher D. Jacobson said:

So Metro's True Romance BD is Region B but Silent Hill is all regions? That's rather inconsistent of them.

(Posted on Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 8:13 PM)

14. Anthony said:

@FoxyMulder.. nice comparison and summary for 'True Romance'. Thanks.

(Posted on Thursday, April 7, 2011 at 11:42 PM)

 
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