'Deer Hunter' - High-Def Digest Review

[jed]

Peter's review of 'The Deer Hunter' on HD DVD is now up. It scored well by him in the two most important categories -- he loves the film itself, and had great things to say about the video transfer as well. Alas, he says the soundtrack suffers from limited fidelity, and the extras are a bit slim for a title of this caliber. Still, overall a positive review:

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/deerhunter.html

[krammer]

Unfortunately this transfer does not do leaps over the Legacy Series DVD upconverted. Aside from the really nice looking shots while they go hunting & some scenes in vietnam, the rest of the PQ is a wash compared to the latest DVD release.

I'd only recommend this HD DVD if you do not own the Legacy Series DVD.

[dobyblue]

3/5 for limited fidelity?

Did anyone with an HK receiver listen to the Logic-7 encoded DVD version of this?

[Cameron]

Originally Posted by krammer

Unfortunately this transfer does not do leaps over the Legacy Series DVD upconverted. Aside from the really nice looking shots while they go hunting & some scenes in vietnam, the rest of the PQ is a wash compared to the latest DVD release.

I'd only recommend this HD DVD if you do not own the Legacy Series DVD.

So you're saying that one should get the DVD instead of this one, since that version has the best PQ, overall? Hm, reading the review I would say the picture is very good on this HD-DVD, which should mean that it's better than the DVD version!?

[Blurry]

Originally Posted by Cameron

So you're saying that one should get the DVD instead of this one, since that version has the best PQ, overall? Hm, reading the review I would say the picture is very good on this HD-DVD, which should mean that it's better than the DVD version!?

I last watched it a while ago, but I remember being happy with the HD transfer. Enough that I added it to my "to buy" list.

[eNoize]

This is another definite buy, since I need to replace my VHS version. I never bought the DVD version because I never felt the need to, albeit I didn't watch the Legacy Series.

[krammer]

Originally Posted by Cameron

So you're saying that one should get the DVD instead of this one, since that version has the best PQ, overall? Hm, reading the review I would say the picture is very good on this HD-DVD, which should mean that it's better than the DVD version!?

No, I am saying if you already own the Legacy Series DVD, the HD DVD isn't worth the upgrade in my opinion.

[Cameron]

Originally Posted by krammer

No, I am saying if you already own the Legacy Series DVD, the HD DVD isn't worth the upgrade in my opinion.

Ah, yes. Thanks krammer. I had a feeling you meant something like that

[BostonMA]

i'm a huge De Niro fan and i love Christopher Walken as of late in wedding crashers and click and all of that. i havent watched many vietnam movies, cuz i'm much more interested in world war 2 movies for some reason, i guess i like how there were huge figures at the time like the big 3 and hitler, all the weapons that i know of the m1 garand and thompson from watching saving pr and playing call of duty 2. but i've always wanted to see this movie cuz i heard it was perhaps de niro's best performance EVER, which is saying something since hes also perhaps the greatest actor to ever live. and i also heard that it was one of the few great performances by Chris Walken in a serious role. so i've been planning on buying this for a long time but i ended up buying other movies and saying that i'd buy this next. i bought it yesterday and watched it with my dad, who told me all about it and feels like its one of the top 3 movies ever. after it was over, i thought it was avery good movie and i think the hole movie revolves around the ending, which in my mind is one of the most emotional endings i've ever seen, but a great ending.

[dbn1875@yahoo.co.uk]

I have a version issued by a company called Optimum Releasing (OR). This has a different cover on it to the version released in the US, although you can get the Universal one from Amazon UK. The OR version not only has no special features at all (it's website says "Extra DVD Features: HD") but also has 7 or 8 minutes (depending on where you are looking) of footage missing. I am very dissapointed about buying this version and would much rather of bought the Universal one even with the small amount of extras you get.

[beyondmediaonline.com]

For those that bought this movie, how is the PQ and how is the movie in general? I have never seen it before.