Sleepy Hollow -- Still Grainy

[PeterB]

Making my way through the Paramount Blu-ray titles. Got to 'Sleepy Hollow' just in time for Halloween:

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/sleepyhollow1999.html

Still a pretty grainy, dank movie. Wish the source was a bit cleaner -- I suspect Paramount hasn't touched the master for years. Still, though this one barely squeaked by, as the film looks appropriatelly gloomy and Tim Burton-y...

[hmurchison]

It'll still be a purchase for me. I loved this movie and I don't necessarily need it pristine.

May have to double dip if they come up with a superior "special" version in the future. We'll see.

[Tejstar]

Judging by your review the pq doesn't seem to be that different from the HD-DVD. Another one I'll wait on...

[MentokTheMindTaker]

Originally Posted by hmurchison

It'll still be a purchase for me. I loved this movie and I don't necessarily need it pristine.

May have to double dip if they come up with a superior "special" version in the future. We'll see.

I will also get it despite any minor deficiencies. I loved the film like I loves
taffy... <Adam West voice> and I'm a man who loves his taffy.

[BostonMA]

i've always been fascinated with the legend of sleepy hollow and i've been wanting to see this movie for a long time and i was deciding on whether or not i should blind buy it or not. i finally did today, after reading the legend a little while again and i finished it about a half hour ago. i liked it alot, but i thought and i wish that the movie needed/had a lot more scary and suspenseful feel to it, like the story and plays. i like johnny depp but hes not the best for a role like this and i guess that i should have expected this type of movie from tim burton, a serious movie nontheless but with some silly parts to it but i guess that i had it coming cuz that how all of burtons films are that i've seen (the what now seem awful batmans to the now amazing batman begins, beetlejuice, this movie). i liked it alot but i wish the movie was twice as scary as it was bloody or at least as scary as the legend is. decent movie, glad i bought it and saw it but probably wont be watching again until this halloween if that.

[Spideybat]

BostonMA, what did you think about Christopher Walkin? I thought he was perfectly cast.

[Iggytx]

I would think there would be intentional grain in Sleepy Hollow due to the type of movie it is.

[Nicodimus22]

This is the only Blu-Ray I've bought, watched, and sold in favor of keeping
the DVD version. I love the movie, but the graininess is so severe on the
Blu-Ray version that I found it distracting and irritating. I flipped back and
forth between the DVD (upscaled) and the Blu-Ray, comparing several
scenes, and I honestly prefer the look of the DVD, even though it is less
detailed. It's a much smoother, easier-to-look-at picture.

Some people defend this much film grain as an artistic decision, and
that's fine...I just personally don't care for it. Your mileage may vary.

[Iggytx]

Originally Posted by Nicodimus22

Some people defend this much film grain as an artistic decision, and that's fine...I just personally don't care for it. Your mileage may vary.

Me neither, I don't even know if that's the intention, I just figured they have added this grain for a reason - being a "old creepy" type movie and all.

[BostonMA]

Originally Posted by Spideybat

BostonMA, what did you think about Christopher Walkin? I thought he was perfectly cast.

yeah, i'm huge christopher walken fan and i also thought that he was perfectly casted as thye headless horseman, i loved how they made his character not speak any realw ords, just raw screaming but yes, i thought that he was perfectly casted for the role but as much as i like depp, i think that his acting was not what the movie should of had. like i said, he was too silly in too many parts of the movie, i thought that the movie should have been more scary and suspenseful but nevertheless, great movie and for the people that were talking about the grain in the movie, that didnt bother me at all cuz of the way it was filmed (blue camera lens, 1700s/1800s feel to it).

i didnt feel like doing a mulitple quote haha.

[Dave Mack]

The grain and look are DEFINITELY intentional by Burton and the DP..

[parabola]

While I understand that some people are allergic to film grain, I have to disagree wholeheartedly.

<RANT>
The grain is in the film stock, and certainly isn't added there by anybody. It should be visible, even if it doesn't always look good. Of course dirt, specks etc can be removed, but removing film grain in favor of "smooth" picture for video release should, IMO, be avoided because it ruins the visual look the director and DP were going for. For me visible grain only means that the picture is sharp and detailed enough for the grain to become visible.

I think the high definition (and all video) releases should retain to the look seen in theaters, and not look "cleaner".
</RANT>

[LizardMan101]

I've always wondered: What does grain add to a film? Why would they intentionally keep it in? I had just always thought grain was an unavoidable misfortune that many filmmakers had to accept. I always imagined that if a director could take the grain out, they would. All it seems to do to me is just clutter the screen. I've never once thought, "Oh, this scene seems to have more depth because of all of these little dots on screen."

[Nicodimus22]

My beef isn't about the abscene or prescence of grain. What drives me crazy is movies that have such an excessive level that it shatters the viewer's suspension of disbelief every second. I don't WANT a movie that
came out in 1999 to look like a rough movie from the 1930s on my $2000 HDTV. The whole point of buying and owning a HDTV (to me) is experiencing the clearest, most detailed picture possible, which makes
the source more real and lifelike. Feel free to agree or disagree, but that's my position.

[Nicodimus22]

<The grain is in the film stock, and certainly isn't added there by anybody.

I disagree. The DVD version running on the exact same TV shows virtually
no film grain. It's a night-and-day difference. It was clearly added to the
Blu-Ray version, or removed from the DVD version.