'A Clockwork Orange' - High-Def Digest review

[jed]

Kenneth's review of 'A Clockwork Orange' is up. Sadly, he says this new Blu-ray edition is something of a mixed bag. Although it boasts a strong audio package and a batch of top notch supplements, he says the video transfer is problematic, failing to offer a significant upgrade over the concurrently-released standard-def DVD.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/259/...orkorange.html

[RandellG]

I was wondering when the review was coming. I'm waiting for mine to come in.

[runchuckrun]

Another good and balanced review by Kenneth. I agree with his rating for the PQ and AQ, as I was a little disappointed that the transfer didn't reach the heights as 2001: A Space Odyssey. Nevertheless, I think the movie is masterful and belongs in everyone's film library.

[SBrooks1]

Glad I didn't buy this now....

[Valaquenta]

I've watched it twice already and I can say that regardless of scrutinized picture quality it is far better looking than any previous US release, and will not disappoint any fans.

[ckybd]

The Blu Ray is may only be slightly above the DVD as far as picture quality goes, but remember that the Blu Ray is only slightly more expensive than the DVD. $5 more give or take. I would still reccomend everyone picks up the Blu Ray version.

[squall4008]

on Warners site the DVD and BD are the same price so you might as well get the BD

[Hastor]

This sounds like, while not as bad of a disc, but being the movie that it is, they need to do a 5th Element Style replacement. I can understand the softness from the original film, but the problems due to the compression etc are not excusable with HD. I have the laserdisc of this movie which, at least as far as 480i transfers go, I've found to look absolutely beautiful. It is laserdisc so it isn't compressed, and it changes aspect ratios from the main movie being 1.66:1 to the newspaper headlines being 1.85:1 to the credits being (not sure on this one but i think) 1.77:1. Kubrick oversaw that release in some way and it is the only version I know of that retained those subtle changes. Does this transfer retain them, or stay in 1.66:1 the entire time like most? The only prob with the laserdisc is the resolution of the picture, 480i with black bars tying up some of those lines even. I'll definitely netflix this before I buy it like I was just going to. It seemed like a no brainer HD purchase, but it also seemed like a no-brainer that it would get the best treatment possible when transferred. I was expecting 4 out of 5 stars based on the age of the print, but the rating given sounds justified by the review, disappointing. I'll still get the other Kubrick movies that are in HD now, but I'll hope for a re-release of this one in the future for now unless getting it from Netflix changes my mind. I dunno what I would enjoy better, the uncompressed 480i with no digitally caused picture problems, or 1080p (1080i for me) with artifacts. Since I have a really small TV, the laserdisc might be my best bet still. There were tons of DVDs that didn't look as good as their laserdisc counterpart, sad when HD isnt a big step above the DVD.

[SpecialEd]

Hello!
I am from Germany and with great interest I read the reviews of highdefdigest.
Generally I very much like the reviews and share the opinions.
But the reviews could improve by including more specific information - but first
I want say that the reviews of some of the new Stanley Kubrick-HD DVDs/BRs
are not specific enough - because they miss some important information!
In fact, why do the reviewers not state, that "FMJ", "Eyes Wide Shut", "2001" and "A Clockwork Orange" also have GERMAN SOUND? This in-
formation is missing on ALL the reviews! How can it happen that something
important like this is not stated? Obviously you only glance at the package for the medium and write what´s stated there instead of checking the content by
yourself! Take a look at bluray.com; all the audio tracks are stated correctly!
So, please, could someone correct the reviews and please take more care in future reviews? Shouldn´t be too hard to list all of the audio tracks.

Now I come to a suggestion: As a foreign customer I ALWAYS MISS the infor-
mation about subtitles for bonus material, for example making of´s or audio
commentaries. I consider this an important information - not only for myself
but for many other foreign customers and I consider it important for English-
speaking DVD-enthusiasts, too. Again, it shouldn´t be too much hard work to include information about subtitles for bonus material on the medium, and the reviewer would very much improve his work and many readers, I am convinced, would be very thankful.

So I hope that my critic is taken seriously and that the reviewers, who work for this very informative website, will consider my suggestions; thank you very much in advance!
Kind regards!

[Josh Z]

Since you are posting this complain in multiple threads, I will post my response here as well, for the benefit of other readers.

Unless otherwise indicated, the reviews on this site are for Blu-rays and HD DVDs released in North America. The situation may be different in other regions, but the North American Blu-ray and HD DVD releases of the Stanley Kubrick films do not have German audio. They contain:

English Dolby TrueHD 5.1
English Dolby Digital Plus 5.1
French Dolby Digital Plus 5.1
Spanish Dolby Digital Plus 5.1

I have the '2001' HD DVD in my player right now and have confirmed that these are the only audio options on the disc.

[SpecialEd]

Hello Josh Z!

Thank you very much for taking the time to check the disc and to answer.

To be clear on the matter, I mean the new American releases of the
Kubrick-movies "2001", "FMJ", "Eyes Wide Shut" and "A Clockwork Orange".

The term "American" may not be really appropriate since these are discs for
the international market - for example, just like the "Hellboy"- and "Identity"-
Blu-Rays wich also have German soundtracks and subtitles.

Several users in our German forum cinefacts.de bought these new Kubrick-
Blu-Rays in America (mostly on amazon.com), and they confirm the German
soundtracks. And if you please could see for yourself, they are also listed
on bluray.com, look for "2001" in the "New Releases"-section.

I wonder now what exactly is the problem: I cannot imagine that they sell
in America two different Blu-Rays of the same release and the same movies,
one with and the other without German soundtrack. And I cannot imagine
that the German BR-buyers only imagine the German soundtrack on their
American disc.
Maybe it is not clearly stated on the package, but I think you overlook the
soundtrack.
I will now order one of these Blu-Rays myself and check them. Anyway, it is
for us even cheaper to buy at amazon.com and let it be send over here.
Originally I intended to buy the European releases because I like their cover
art much more, but I will at least buy one of the discs in America.

Kind Regards,
Ralph

[Josh Z]

Originally Posted by SpecialEd

To be clear on the matter, I mean the new American releases of the
Kubrick-movies "2001", "FMJ", "Eyes Wide Shut" and "A Clockwork Orange".

The term "American" may not be really appropriate since these are discs for
the international market - for example, just like the "Hellboy"- and "Identity"-
Blu-Rays wich also have German soundtracks and subtitles.

Warner Bros has never included German audio or subtitles on any of their American Blu-ray or HD DVD releases. English, French, and Spanish are their standard options.

Several users in our German forum cinefacts.de bought these new Kubrick-
Blu-Rays in America (mostly on amazon.com), and they confirm the German
soundtracks. And if you please could see for yourself, they are also listed
on bluray.com, look for "2001" in the "New Releases"-section.

I wonder now what exactly is the problem: I cannot imagine that they sell
in America two different Blu-Rays of the same release and the same movies,
one with and the other without German soundtrack. And I cannot imagine
that the German BR-buyers only imagine the German soundtrack on their
American disc.
Maybe it is not clearly stated on the package, but I think you overlook the
soundtrack.

I haven't overlooked the soundtrack. There are no German audio or subtitle options on these discs.

[SpecialEd]

Hello, dear Josh Z!

Can it be that you checked only the HD DVDs - although I have always talked
about the Blu-Ray-Discs from the beginning?

It seems that there is indeed a difference between the HD DVDs and the
Blu-Rays of the same new releases of the Kubrick-movies - and one can
clearly see the difference on the back-covers of the blu-rays! I just saw
them myself on dvdempire.com! Check it out and take a look at them yourself!

Only on the back-covers of the new BRs, there is INDEED always a German
audio track listed - but not on the HD DVDs! And there are also German
subtitles listed for the BRs!

It may be that there aren´t any German audio tracks on the HD DVDs, but
there are definitely on the BRs!

So far, bluray.com lists German audio tracks, German customers confirm them, and they are to be seen on the back-covers of the BRs. So tell me: what do
you think about that?

[Josh Z]

I only have the HD DVD. If the Blu-ray includes extra dubs, I will stand corrected.

[SpecialEd]

I just learnt that obviously Warner uses the bigger storage capacity of the BRs to produce Blu-Rays with additional soundtracks for wordwide marketing, benefitting from a reduction of production costs. This is the explanation because the BRs of the new Kubrick-releases indeed have additional soundtracks for Germany and the HD-DVDs not.
So, dear reviewers, please check next time both discs instead of assuming the contents are identical; thank you!
And please, don´t forget to mention if the extra material is sub-
titled in English or not, there are readers here who would appreciate this information!