'Stranger Than Fiction (Special Edition)' - High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

Peter's review of the 'Stranger Than Fiction (Special Edition)' is up. He's a fan of the film, but finds himself scratching his head at this pretty pointless double-dip. This Blu-ray has an identical video transfer, TrueHD audio that seems to offer no audible difference from the last time around, and a couple of new audio commentaries and some deleted scenes. If you already have this, not much reason to upgrade, if you don't have it on your shelf yet, by all means, grab a copy!

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1822...iction_se.html

[TheRescue]

Weird that they double dipped on this title. Still don't understand that. That being said, I already own it, so if the right deal comes and I can sell mine, I'll upgrade. Otherwise oh well.

[messin18]

Originally Posted by TheRescue

Weird that they double dipped on this title. Still don't understand that. That being said, I already own it, so if the right deal comes and I can sell mine, I'll upgrade. Otherwise oh well.

What's just as weird is wasting a review on this movie vs all of the other ones we're still waiting for...

[posters5]

the double-dipping might have to do with the fact that the director is the same guy who helmed "quantum of solace". sony probably figured that it could get another couple of bucks out of people who follow directors.

[bembol]

^ For sure.

Studious should be focusing on releasing New Titles (still waiting TRUE LIES), instead we get this ridiculous/unnecessary re-releases like this.

[rayley1]

Originally Posted by messin18

What's just as weird is wasting a review on this movie vs all of the other ones we're still waiting for...

Right............We're still waiting for a Hellboy II review!

[Emoney7]

good review..... still for me gonna wait for a really good price.

[ben1080p]

hmmm...good flick but definitely not worth the double dip

[BostonMA]

love this movie: one of the best blind buys ive ever made but in no way will i double dip this, no point at all.

[cheez avenger]

I tried watching this, but 20 minutes in, I stopped and sent it back.


I guess I wasn't feeling it at the time.

[project-blu]

cheez, it is a great flick. i too find the timing to be a little too fast for a return to the well, but hey, whatcha gonna do

[Hastor]

I checked this movie out from Netflix after good word of mouth from friends, then later rented it from the local Blockbuster to show a friend (both times the original Blu-ray). I suppose that means I really like it, and I do. I just hadn't gotten around to buying it, and the next time I feel like watching it, which will happen, I'll just pick up this edition. I agree with the review of the Mpeg2 encode. It is really well done, you probably wouldn't guess it was Mpeg2 if you didn't already know. It would have been nice if they did a re-encode, but then again there's not much wrong with this one. It even plays well to high-def, when it show's Will Farrel's character's obsessive compulsiveness by superimposing numbers and outlines and statistics over the world he sees. The letters and numbers can be small, and while knowing what they say exactly is never important, it is still fun and you can tell that some thought was put into it, not just random numbers thrown at things. When he walks in the company restroom and it shows percentages next to each soap dispenser telling how full they are is a good example of this.

Would I buy it again if I had already? Nah, with no new encode on the disc, and me having a receiver that can do DD-EX/DTS-ES 6.1 at best, the new features wouldn't be worth buying again. Wanting to own it however, I'd be dumb to not get the better version unless I see the older one in a bargain bin. I see myself watching the movie more than checking out special features, but why not take them when they are there?

Also, to those complaining about a double dip instead of a new title altogether - a double dip is way less effort and money on the studio's part. Most of this disc was already done with the initial release. The resources put into this double dip would not have been enough to properly release a title that hasn't even been encoded in HD yet. And they aren't gonna release LOTR or Star Wars or anything else huge that isn't a new release until more people own players! No one said "Hey, scrap Fellowship, lets just release Stranger Than Fiction again!". I will agree that this disc was fine to begin with and there are others in more need of a double dip, or to be released on Blu to begin with after having an HD-DVD (so we know there's already an HD encode out there).

[project-blu]

definitely no one ever said to scrap LOTR to re-release STF. because if the people at Sony controlled those at Warner/New Line, and told them what to do, then we'd see a different marketplace, same if roles reversed.

[Flay]

Originally Posted by cheez avenger

I tried watching this, but 20 minutes in, I stopped and sent it back.


I guess I wasn't feeling it at the time.

The pacing is a little slow at first. I didn't get into the movie until about 30 minutes into it; after he starts pursuing the baker anyway.