The Prestige (Japan release) impressions

[kannisto]

Many B&M shops had The Prestige (Japanese release by GAGA Communications) already available today (28-Dec) although the official release date for it is 1st of January. I picked it up since I don't yet have any releases by Gaga and I was curious about it.

Cover pics:


Closeup of my first "TrueHD trading card" (not a bad one at all):


Pop-up menu pic (my TV screen photos have a lot of artifacts in them):


This version's specs:
Video: MPEG4/AVC (2.40:1)
Audio: Dolby TrueHD 5.1 English, DD+ 5.1 English, DD+ 2.0 Japanese narrative
Subtitles: Optional Japanese and Japanese narrative
Extras: 5 trailers/teasers, text based production notes, cast/staff information
Case: Amaray (DVD-thick) HD DVD case
Also includes a Dolby TrueHD "trading card" and a Japanese Dolby TrueHD leaflet

PQ looks at least every bit as good as in the European import in my quick comparison - I couldn't do a "side by side" comparison though as I have only one standalone player. AQ seems better than in the European import (and it should be as it is TrueHD), however my setup is not supporting lossless so I couldn't really evaluate it it's best form.

Unfortunately the extras are slim, GAGA put 25 minutes of extras on their 2 disc DVD release but most of those extras seem to be missing from the HD DVD and Blu-ray releases. The European import has more extras, including 5 Making-of featurettes.

Menu has labels in Japanese and English. Text based extras are in Japanese only though.

I think this one can be recommended for those who definitely want The Prestige on HD DVD with lossless audio and who don't care so much about missing the extras that are on the European import.

[ben1080p]

I have the UK version and looks stunning. I love this movie.

[Arkadin]

very nice Kannisto. thanks for the info. maybe I'll get the UK version when I order "Crank." Xploited is getting "400 Blows" for me, and I could call and add "The Prestige" to my order also. sounds like a plan.

[Randyboy]

Hey Kannisto, thanks for the heads up. I was about to get the UK version at the time, but I read that there would be a Japan (Gaga) release.

To all,

I noticed that the video aspect is MPEG4/AVC (Gaga release), as similar to the Blu-Ray release, but the UK's version is a VC-1 encode. In Peter Bracke's review, he states, "that VC-1 transfer has a slightly smoother veneer than the AVC MPEG-4, but really the two transfers are so similar as to be virtually indistinguishable".
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/997/prestige_uk.html

I'm really on the fence here now, as I weigh my options between the two. I do own the SD version, and they have the special features there (assuming that the UK's version of the special features are in SD).

What would you do, video over audio, or audio over video?

Tough decision on a purchase to make here.

[Randyboy]

Is there a pop up menu during movie play?

[Sky_Captain]

I wouldn't go out of my way to import this just for the TrueHD track. I got the local UK release for what would be $20, brand new. Glorious PQ.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by Randyboy

Is there a pop up menu during movie play?

Yes, actually the movie starts playing automatically after a couple of short intros (one for Dolby TrueHD, one for GAGA Usen). The pop-up menu is available while the movie continues playing. I like the menu design quite much, it looks pretty nice.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by Randyboy

Hey Kannisto, thanks for the heads up. I was about to get the UK version at the time, but I read that there would be a Japan (Gaga) release.

To all,

I noticed that the video aspect is MPEG4/AVC (Gaga release), as similar to the Blu-Ray release, but the UK's version is a VC-1 encode. In Peter Bracke's review, he states, "that VC-1 transfer has a slightly smoother veneer than the AVC MPEG-4, but really the two transfers are so similar as to be virtually indistinguishable".
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/997/prestige_uk.html

I'm really on the fence here now, as I weigh my options between the two. I do own the SD version, and they have the special features there (assuming that the UK's version of the special features are in SD).

What would you do, video over audio, or audio over video?

Tough decision on a purchase to make here.

I think almost certainly the Blu-ray release's MPEG4/AVC encode and the encode used by GAGA on this one are not the same though they are both in AVC so Peter's comment is not necessarily valid for referring to the Japanese release. To me the Japanese release's PQ looked very similar to the UK release's (that I also have), but I couldn't compare them side-by-side. In my view it's more of a question between audio and extras and the price you have to pay for one or the other.

I had the feeling some of the extras on the European disc are actually in HD although the case says they are in SD, I'll try to check it out sometime later today. I remember thinking that the extras looked like HD when I watched them some months ago.

[Sky_Captain]

I thought this as well regarding The Prestige's extras. They look far too good to be 480p.

[Randyboy]

Originally Posted by kannisto

I think almost certainly the Blu-ray release's MPEG4/AVC encode and the encode used by GAGA on this one are not the same though they are both in AVC so Peter's comment is not necessarily valid for referring to the Japanese release. To me the Japanese release's PQ looked very similar to the UK release's (that I also have), but I couldn't compare them side-by-side. In my view it's more of a question between audio and extras and the price you have to pay for one or the other.

I had the feeling some of the extras on the European disc are actually in HD although the case says they are in SD, I'll try to check it out sometime later today. I remember thinking that the extras looked like HD when I watched them some months ago.

Yeah, the menu looks fit for the movie (all those hats, lol).

Seems interesting, I'm still on the fence between the two...I'm going to ask Xploited if they'll be carrying the Gaga release on this one, and at what price.
I'll post the results here.

Yeah, definitely...if it comes down to audio and extras, I'd take audio over extras and pq over audio.

Thanks.

[Randyboy]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

I thought this as well regarding The Prestige's extras. They look far too good to be 480p.

Nice price, Sky. Yeah, I'd take pq over audio for sure and audio over more features, since I own the SD version. I'll post back results on what the word is from Xploited.

Thanks.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

I thought this as well regarding The Prestige's extras. They look far too good to be 480p.

Yep, I checked the Euro-version's extras again and the featurettes that run 19+ minutes are definitely in HD. Also the photo-galleries are in HD. Both of those are encoded in VC-1 as well which further indicates that they are not just ported over from a DVD version. The included trailer is in SD and is encoded in MPEG-2.

[Randyboy]

To all,

I just got a reply from Xploited, so this should help some foeks out if you are waiting for 'The Prestige' (Japan's version) to hit XploitedCinema:
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
hi!
i'm not planning on carrying the Japanese release, but can order it for you if you'd like. the cost is $45 and it comes out next week so i would have it here in about 3 weeks. let me know if you want me to order it for you and i can email you once it's here. i don't know anything about the specs of the dvd and how it'll compare to the UK release.
thanks!
tony

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I think I've just made up my mind...I'm gonna go with the UK version. I don't think I can wait for three weeks.

I run my movie play through a digital receiver anyway, so I'll just turn it up.

Thanks.

[krylonman]

Thanks for this thread. I had this pre-ordered from Amazon.jp, but wasn't aware that they'd dropped the extras. And frankly, given the equipment I'm likely to have for a while, I'd rather have behind-the-scenes footage than a TrueHD track.

[Blacklac]

Can someone verify this has a TrueHD track? The review only says a DD+ 1.5mbps.