The Sand Pebbles' - High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

Kenneth has been pleasantly surprised by 'The Sand Pebbles.' He says don't judge the film by it's cover (which is AWFUL isn't it?). This Blu-ray is full of surprises. Stunning video! Impressive DTS HD MA audio! Massive supplemental package! This one does everything right. Highly recommended.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1342/sandpebbles.html

[bluskiessmingatme]

I don't think the cover is awful. It is a reproduction of the movie poster art. Beats the current standard enormous closeup of a guy practically kissing his gun and a speeding car to the side racing off of the cover.

[Blu-News.com]

Great read! I think the cover art is awful as well.

[ben1080p]

havent seen..doubt I ever will

[Super-VHS]

179 min of good-looking MPEG-2 w/lossless and all the extras on same disc? Is that correct? If it is that's impressive...

[Ken Brown]

Originally Posted by Super-VHS

179 min of good-looking MPEG-2 w/lossless and all the extras on same disc? Is that correct? If it is that's impressive...

Yep, the flick looks great and everything's neatly tucked onto one disc. Quite impressive.

[Blu-News.com]

Originally Posted by Ken Brown

Yep, the flick looks great and everything's neatly tucked onto one disc. Quite impressive.

Great review Ken! I'm definitely ordering it now!

[Filler]

Was this title delayed?

I thought Fox stopped using MPEG-2.

[Protean]

The cover art awful? What the hell are you guys smoking at HDD? It's a reproduction of the hand-painted poster art. Compare with today's boring "cast shot" covers, a la SCREAM. I wish more posters these days had the hand-painted quality instead of looking cheaply Photoshopped together.

[Ken Brown]

Originally Posted by Protean

The cover art awful? What the hell are you guys smoking at HDD? It's a reproduction of the hand-painted poster art. Compare with today's boring "cast shot" covers, a la SCREAM. I wish more posters these days had the hand-painted quality instead of looking cheaply Photoshopped together.

Compared to the striking BD covers for 'Patton,' 'The Longest Day' and 'Battle of Britain,' the look of 'The Sand Pebbles' isn't going to inspire newcomers (especially younger filmfans) to rent it... or even pick it up.

Anyone who's seen 'The Sand Pebbles' prior to this release wouldn't care and probably would enjoy the old poster artwork. But anyone scanning the shelves of Best Buy or Blockbuster would skip it and inadvertently miss a film that's darker and more complex than its cover suggests.

Anyway, I certainly agree with your assessment of some modern posters and coverart. Ugh. Thanks as always for posting!

[flinx1241]

Easily one of my favorite BDs! Great movie and the BD has done it justice. Bring on "The Great Escape"!

[zaphod]

Saw this on TV years ago and loved it. I would love to get the BD.

HOWEVER.... (it's time for a rant again):

Those worthless p***-of-s**** m*****-f"**** at Fox insist on region-coding their catalogue releases, so I can't, unless a region B version comes out that judging from past experience will cost around double the price of the US version. D**** those f**** w****** at Fox. (/rant)

(Oh yeah, the same goes for those r**** w***** at Lionsgate [The Bank Job], but at least there's already a UK version available for that one).

[Dave Mack]

Originally Posted by ben1080p

havent seen..doubt I ever will

Thanks for sharing...

[Atomic Age]

Originally Posted by Ken Brown

Compared to the striking BD covers for 'Patton,' 'The Longest Day' and 'Battle of Britain,' the look of 'The Sand Pebbles' isn't going to inspire newcomers (especially younger filmfans) to rent it... or even pick it up.

Anyone who's seen 'The Sand Pebbles' prior to this release wouldn't care and probably would enjoy the old poster artwork. But anyone scanning the shelves of Best Buy or Blockbuster would skip it and inadvertently miss a film that's darker and more complex than its cover suggests.

Anyway, I certainly agree with your assessment of some modern posters and coverart. Ugh. Thanks as always for posting!

I would have much preferred the original poster art on Patton and The Longest Day. The Longest Day looks like it might have been designed by Saul Bass and its a shame they lost it.
The art on the blu-ray shows a serious lack of creativity. I'm quite happy they kept the original poster art for The Sand Pebbles.





Doug

[Jimbo976]

The Sand Pebbles is a great movie and the Blu-ray is great! Thanks for the review and I totally agree.