Gladiator comparison *PIX* + reviews with REMASTERED version

[Xylon]

Update: Remastered version added. Exchange program initiated for the defective product.


Poll is now close.





************************************************** ***********************




Wow. What can I say? One of the most anticipated title for the new format and they dropped the ball big time. There is quite a few HD titles that has been infected by excessive Digital Noise Reduction and Edge Enhancement and it looks like this is going to continue. Its right there with Patton where its not what the movie supposed to look like. Forget expecting every HD transfer being "film like". AV enthusiasts beware. And to make matters worse the lazy people in charge of the "Sapphire"(sic) brand included the 17 minutes extended edition where DNR and EE was not applied! Where you can see clearly the huge difference in PQ over the rest of the movie.

Here is a few examples compared to the BEV broadcast Mpeg-2 version:

Spoiler:

This is the NON-DNR, NON-EE extended scenes compared to the DVD SE. The BEV broadcast does not have additional extended scenes.

Spoiler:

As you scroll down to the rest of the pictures the BEV broadcast version is still the superior version with No EE, NO excessive DNR and overall kept the artistic intent of the film makers.


Wait there's more . . . . . . at AVS comparison thread the application of DNR erased some of the special effects used during the battle scene!


Braveheart somehow escaped this travesty.

Studios should recall all DNR and EE infested HD titles. But that is not going to happen. Like DVD you will be double dipping, triple dipping, . . . . . . . .

[Xylon]

Spoiler:

[Xylon]

Spoiler:

[Xylon]

Spoiler:

[Xylon]

Spoiler:

[Xylon]

Spoiler:

[Xylon]

Spoiler:

[Xylon]

reserved010101

[Xylon]

Blu-ray File size: 44.00 GB

Bitrate: 23.18 mbps

                                                                                                                Total   Video                                             
Title                                                           Codec   Length  Movie Size      Disc Size       Bitrate Bitrate Main Audio Track                          Secondary Audio Track
-----                                                           ------  ------- --------------  --------------  ------- ------- ------------------                        ---------------------
00013.MPLS                                                      AVC     2:50:58 40,230,770,688  48,345,664,332  31.37   23.18   DTS-HD Master 5.1 4404Kbps (48kHz/24-bit)

DISC INFO:

Disc Title:     GLADIATOR_D1
Disc Size:      48,345,664,332 bytes
Protection:     AACS
BD-Java:        Yes
BDInfo:         0.5.2

PLAYLIST REPORT:

Name:                   00013.MPLS
Size:                   40,230,770,688 bytes
Length:                 2:50:58 (h:m:s)
Total Bitrate:          31.37 Mbps
Description:            

VIDEO:

Codec                   Bitrate             Description     
-----                   -------             -----------     
MPEG-4 AVC Video        23185 kbps          1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1

AUDIO:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
DTS-HD Master Audio             English         4404 kbps       5.1 / 48 kHz / 4404 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio             French          640 kbps        5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio             Spanish         640 kbps        5.1 / 48 kHz / 640 kbps
Dolby Digital Audio             English         224 kbps        2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / Dolby Surround
Dolby Digital Audio             English         224 kbps        2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps / Dolby Surround
Dolby Digital Audio             English         224 kbps        2.0 / 48 kHz / 224 kbps

SUBTITLES:

Codec                           Language        Bitrate         Description     
-----                           --------        -------         -----------     
Presentation Graphics           English         20.963 kbps                     
Presentation Graphics           English         22.698 kbps                     
Presentation Graphics           French          21.193 kbps                     
Presentation Graphics           French          0.303 kbps                      
Presentation Graphics           Korean          13.338 kbps                     
Presentation Graphics           Spanish         20.776 kbps                     
Presentation Graphics           Spanish         0.301 kbps                      

FILES:

Name            Time In         Length          Size            Total Bitrate   
----            -------         ------          ----            -------------   
00102.M2TS      0:00:00.000     0:10:02.977     2,408,994,816   31,961          
00198.M2TS      0:10:02.977     0:07:11.806     1,696,794,624   31,436          
00103.M2TS      0:17:14.783     0:01:31.007     355,799,040     31,276          
00105.M2TS      0:18:45.791     0:14:05.928     3,302,670,336   31,234          
00107.M2TS      0:32:51.719     0:00:38.538     148,439,040     30,814          
00201.M2TS      0:33:30.258     0:20:39.738     4,852,752,384   31,315          
00203.M2TS      0:54:09.996     0:01:14.365     289,167,360     31,107          
00204.M2TS      0:55:24.362     0:00:46.921     183,097,344     31,217          
00205.M2TS      0:56:11.284     0:01:40.934     396,091,392     31,394          
00208.M2TS      0:57:52.218     0:12:25.995     2,942,631,936   31,557          
00207.M2TS      1:10:18.213     0:00:41.750     164,388,864     31,500          
00206.M2TS      1:10:59.963     0:10:39.138     2,503,962,624   31,342          
00209.M2TS      1:21:39.102     0:04:11.376     967,243,776     30,782          
00210.M2TS      1:25:50.478     0:16:12.638     3,862,474,752   31,769          
00212.M2TS      1:42:03.116     0:02:05.542     486,672,384     31,013          
00213.M2TS      1:44:08.658     0:04:38.528     1,087,586,304   31,238          
00214.M2TS      1:48:47.187     0:03:15.111     761,665,536     31,230          
00215.M2TS      1:52:02.298     0:12:40.926     3,002,327,040   31,565          
00216.M2TS      2:04:43.225     0:01:19.913     311,820,288     31,216          
00217.M2TS      2:06:03.138     0:04:01.658     947,380,224     31,363          
00218.M2TS      2:10:04.796     0:05:20.778     1,248,227,328   31,130          
00219.M2TS      2:15:25.575     0:09:13.261     2,152,175,616   31,120          
00220.M2TS      2:24:38.836     0:00:41.291     163,153,920     31,610          
00221.M2TS      2:25:20.127     0:05:54.020     1,392,826,368   31,474          
00222.M2TS      2:31:14.148     0:02:53.047     677,658,624     31,328          
00223.M2TS      2:34:07.196     0:09:34.073     2,251,530,240   31,376          
00224.M2TS      2:43:41.269     0:07:17.603     1,673,238,528   30,589

[space-monkey]

Recall, but I will be renting just to see.

[ccfixx]

Wow, Xylon has made it over to the HD Digest forum. Xylon brings forth lots of great comparison pictures, for sure. I think it's great he's here now.

CC

[Filmmaker]

I gotta be honest--I feel two of the options reflect my opinion. I think it is faulty product, possibly the worst looking BD in my collection (in comparison with how it should have rightfully looked), and should be immediately recalled and replaced with a properly remastered version (hell, Warner Bros was willing to do this for a single botched frame of THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS). If the studio forgoes that route (which is what I expect) then I am still glad I own this BD since, compromised as it is, it is still clearly an improvement over both SD-DVD editions.

[ZebraMajor]

Xylon, in the interest of getting right to the point for everyone to see, please show the stealthy ghost spears and cloaked flaming arrows. Throw in a really juicy "protective force field", Dark Knight style while you're at it too. Nice to know the Romans where using Gotham City police force fields back in the day.

Defective product, no doubt.

[RoadLizard]

I can definitely see some of the artifacts people are talking about. I was on the fence with this film as it is but this pretty much kills it. Rental.

[Philnerd]

Well I've already stated elsewhere that the removal of actual film elements by overzealous scratch/damage filtering makes this a defective disc.

Had that not been the case, I'd have considered this a sub standard release due to the DNR and EE which are quite heavy (except the Extended Edition scenes which appear to be great).

I'm extremely confident this'll get a re-issue. Unfortunately a re-issue might just use the DNR/EE master again sans the poorly used scratch removal techniques.

<edit>
Comparison of Theatrical vs. Extended:


Sample of Scratch/Damage removal software that has either painted out and/or obscurred film details:

Spoiler:

This has the original elements from the HD broadcast overlayed on the Blu-Ray shot with guide arrows to show corresponding positions of the elements. Sometimes elements are missing, sometimes there is some data left. This can happen if automated scratch/damage filters are run without proper quality control in place. In this case flames and arrows change enough between consecutive frames that the software simply sees them as random imperfections such as scratches or burn marks and attempts to paint them out.

Cropped and zoomed 200% to make identifying the partially blotched out arrows easier. At 100% some people didn't see the partially erased arrows and thought that the frames were at different times.