'12 Monkeys' - High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

E has revisited '12 Monkeys.' He says it's just as entertaining and thought-provoking as ever. This Blu-ray has average video, improved sound, and a few extras. Recommended.

Full review here:
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/2424/12monkeys.html

[Arkadin]

a shame that's it's the same as the HD DVD as far as pq.
oh well.
guess the improved bitrate didn't do much.
people who obsess over bitrates take note.

[DaveS1138]

if its the same encode then there isnt an improved bitrate.

Pity, I love this movie it's a shame to see it score so low.

[Arkadin]

I meant the size of the encode I guess.
the review at dvdbeaver talks about how much bigger the bd is gbwise.
unfortunately that doesn't seem to have improved the pq any.
remember the endless claims that more space will always result in a better picture?

[Blu-News.com]

Score so low? 3/5 isn't that bad, especially for a catalog title and considering the film's look.

[Josh Z]

Originally Posted by DaveS1138

if its the same encode then there isnt an improved bitrate.

Universal has been re-encoding all of their former HD DVD titles to give them higher bit rates on Blu-ray. On most titles, there is no visible difference whatsoever. On a few (like The Thing), they've applied some extra DNR so the high bit-rate Blu-ray actually looks worse than the low bit-rate HD DVD.

[Maxx_75]

I see no reason not to enjoy a less compressed disk as long as they dont add DNR. I don't go around claiming that it makes some huge difference but I will take a marginal improvement if its there.

[DaveS1138]

Originally Posted by Josh Z

Universal has been re-encoding all of their former HD DVD titles to give them higher bit rates on Blu-ray. On most titles, there is no visible difference whatsoever. On a few (like The Thing), they've applied some extra DNR so the high bit-rate Blu-ray actually looks worse than the low bit-rate HD DVD.

My bad. I miss read the review. I thought it said it was an identical encode when it just said it looked like an identical encode.

Yeah.......re encoding to make it look worse......that's exactly why I got into Blu-ray It took the studios a while to work out DVD too......I just hoped they might learn faster this time around.

[JAWoOKIE]

I dont think the film looks bad at all. I may be swayed by my love for it though.

[vinnie97]

DTS-MA tracks are encoded louder than DD+. I should hope he did a fresh comparison and at least volume-matched. The audio comparison is utterly useless otherwise.

[jetthead]

I guess I'll stick with my .

[therewillbenodoubledippin]

really hoped for a good blu-ray edition, hopefully it'll get a special edition in the future

[BladeRunner2019]

Originally Posted by Josh Z

Universal has been re-encoding all of their former HD DVD titles to give them higher bit rates on Blu-ray. On most titles, there is no visible difference whatsoever. On a few (like The Thing), they've applied some extra DNR so the high bit-rate Blu-ray actually looks worse than the low bit-rate HD DVD.

Really? Peter Bracke's HDD review gave The Thing on Blu-ray 4.5 stars in the video department and said there was "no appreciable difference" between the Blu-ray and the HD-DVD. Is this not the case? The Thing was going to be my next purchase. If it is overly DNR'd I might have to reconsider.

[Lakersvh]

Never seen it. Madeline Stowe was hot back in the day. She looked great in Unlawful Entry.

[Bob X]

TWO stars for "Hamster Factor" (which is worth 5 stars by itself) AND an audio commentary by Gilliam? What does a disc have to do to get a decent rating these days? Cook you dinner?