Strip Mind (Germany - Laser Paradise) impressions and pics

[kannisto]

I got Strip Mind together with Death Sentence from Amazon Germany today. This is quite an indie title, seems very little information can be found in the internet about it.

This comes in a steelbook case, I think it's a first HD DVD release with a steelbook case anywhere in the world (?).

Case pics:



Video: MPEG-2, AR looks like 1.85:1
Duration = 1:23:27.002
MPEG-2 video stream 0 found!
size = 1440x1080
Aspect ratio = 16:9
Frame rate = 29.97 fps
Sequence header bitrate = 24700 kbps
Progressive Sequence = 1

English and German DD 5.1 tracks at 448 kbps each
No subtitles, no extras.

Disc image size: HD-15, 12.0 GB (12 985 235 456 bytes).

The resolution of the video stream reported by the PC tools seems to be 1440x1080. Back cover says Full-HD (1920x1080) though.

The disc is not AACS protected.

A couple of quick screencaps with WinDVD9 from the video stream. It seems the SW may have done some interpolation here because the resolution of the caps became 1932x1088.


The English audio track seems like a dub at least in case of some actors, it doesn't seem like it matches the actors' expressions perfectly.

Looking forward to watching this in full. I'll comment more about it after I have watched it.

Storyline is explained here:
http://twitchfilm.net/archives/008619.html

[jhuehne]

Sounds cool. Let me know what you think after watching it. I might have to grab this as well.

[GamerGuyX]

Bah! Low bitrate 448 kbps audio tracks do not belong on HD media .

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by GamerGuyX

Bah! Low bitrate 448 kbps audio tracks do not belong on HD media .

I can pretty much understand that this kind of low budget indie production uses a fairly low bitrate audio, though I'd of course prefer a higher resolution audio track.

What I don't understand is why I get 448 kbps audio track when I play a new Sony BD release (Across the Universe) on my PS3 with optical. They have only put an English TrueHD track there with a hidden 448 kbps DD track for the majority of users who don't have a setup for lossless audio. I don't see why they have to skim on the DD track there.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by jhuehne

Sounds cool. Let me know what you think after watching it. I might have to grab this as well.

I'll certainly write more comments after I've watched. It's next on my watch-list so hopefully I can watch it already tonight.

[kannisto]

I watched the movie last night. It had thematically something in common with some of David Cronenberg's early works, but the overall execution was kind of student-like, it had the feel of an early work of some film students.

Most of the actors seemed to be quite inexperienced and it was clear that some were not native English speakers (mostly German I guess) as their pronunciation was quite accented. The original language of the movie is English in any case so the English track is not a "dub track" like I speculated in my initial post.

The production values were quite cheap-looking, including the few special effects. I think the beginning title credits looked pretty professional and good though.

Overall the movie had interesting themes but didn't really make the best out of the ideas it had. I was expected it to be more horror-oriented than it was, but instead it was kind of a medical science psychological thriller -type of movie with a "surprise twist" towards the end, without that many horror elements. The ending was not so unpredictable though. I never quite figured out the meaning one or two of the plot elements along the way...

The PQ was fairly good. Some pans were not very smooth though. AQ was not that good, the sound was a bit too compressed / lifeless and didn't have very good clarity. The music didn't make much of an impression. In at least one scene there was like an echo to some of the dialogue for one person while there was no echo for the other person's voice in the same scene, kind of strange.

Overall I found it a nice idea to see this kind of an indie production on HD DVD with a Steelbook case and everything - I'm pretty sure we will not be seeing this release on Blu-ray ever and the production volumes must be pretty limited.

It's a nice collectible in some ways but I wouldn't pay the current Amazon Germany price (over 30 EUR) for it. I got it for 21 EUR (VAT reduced earlier Amazon price). So I guess this can be recommended only if you want it as a nice rare collection item - the movie itself is not so impressive and has quite cheap production values. It's definitely the lowest cost production movie in my HD DVD collection and the only one with a Steelbook case so far Interesting combination as such.

[kj23]

interesting. looking forward to reading what you think of death sentence if you haven't already. i'm just about to watch a rental of it in sd so i'd consider getting if it i's good. although you said in another thread it's been taken off amazon, i think.

[kannisto]

Originally Posted by kj23

interesting. looking forward to reading what you think of death sentence if you haven't already. i'm just about to watch a rental of it in sd so i'd consider getting if it i's good. although you said in another thread it's been taken off amazon, i think.

I'll write my comments to the Death Sentence impressions thread once I have watched the movie, it's next on my watch-list. Tonight I didn't have time to watch anything though - main TV has been otherwise occupied.

[pkde]

Laser Paradise is not known for best quality in Germany/Austria/Switzerland.
There are only a handful of good presentations on DVD.
But their releases are mostly disappointing.

[bruceames]

I was thinking of throwing this in with my next Amazon.de order (probably last). Anybody else getting this?

[HD-DVD_4_Me]

Originally Posted by bruceames

I was thinking of throwing this in with my next Amazon.de order (probably last). Anybody else getting this?

I was just ordering a bunch of stuff from Amazon.de and I skipped it.

34.99 EUR = 54.5828 USD and that's not including shipping. After reading Kannisto's impressions, I just don't feel it's worth the blind buy. Kind of like he said, if I did buy this title, it would mostly be for the rarity of it.

Don't forget to get Death Proof pre-ordered, comes out in 10 days

Too bad "Mr. Brooks" and "30 Days of Night" are cancelled, I really wanted to add those 2 to my cart this morning.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by HD-DVD_4_Me

I was just ordering a bunch of stuff from Amazon.de and I skipped it.

34.99 EUR = 54.5828 USD and that's not including shipping. After reading Kannisto's impressions, I just don't feel it's worth the blind buy. Kind of like he said, if I did buy this title, it would mostly be for the rarity of it.

Don't forget to get Death Proof pre-ordered, comes out in 10 days

Too bad "Mr. Brooks" and "30 Days of Night" are cancelled, I really wanted to add those 2 to my cart this morning.

I still can't decide. After they strip the VAT, my cost is 29,38 --> $45.75 and shipping is the same whether I add it or not. I know it's mediocre but I like psycological thrillers and it intrigues me to see Steelbook treatment on such an obscure title. I'm leaning towards getting it, since I doubt it'll ever be on Blu-ray and I like the rarity factor. But as you say, it's not cheap.

[Jester217300]

I've got it on order at the EUR 21.00 price. It'll ship when T2 is released.

[bruceames]

Originally Posted by Jester217300

I've got it on order at the EUR 21.00 price. It'll ship when T2 is released.

Seems like you always get the lowest price on imports. I need to have somebody page me when a sale hits because they're always picked clean by the time I read about it.

[Jester217300]

Originally Posted by bruceames

Seems like you always get the lowest price on imports. I need to have somebody page me when a sale hits because they're always picked clean by the time I read about it.

I've just gotten lucky lately. Without HDD I probably wouldn't have imported any of these. I think I'm at the point now where when I get all of my orders in I'll have more impored discs than domestic discs. That's kind of crazy.

I'm not expecting much from Strip Mind and if it wasn't an HD-DVD I would never buy it. This is totally a format novelty purchase but I'm cool with that. Sometimes when wading through low budget junk I find a gem that I personally enjoyed even if most others didn't. I also doubt it'll have much resell value as the prices of imports have dropped quite a bit on ebay. There's always the option of trades on HDD though.