'American Gangster' – High-Def Digest Review

[Attebery]

Peter's review of 'American Gangster' has been posted. He says the film is entertaining, but largely derivative of other mob genre films. He was satisfied by the picture, if not blown away, but otherwise says this HD DVD release is pretty middle of the road. Audio is good, but there's no high-res option. Supplements are also lacking, with only some of the two disc standard DVD features being ported over. Unless you're a huge fan of the movie or the genre, this one is a rental.

Full review here:

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/1292/...ngangster.html

[Centauri]

Oh wow.

As somebody who has yet to see the film, I was expecting a glowing review of a glowing HD DVD offering.

You may have just saved me from a blind buy.

The worst part of this is that with studios watching the sales numbers of new HD DVD releases right now, the fact that this movie may not be buy-worthy is rather bad news for the entire HD DVD marketplace.

[Liqwid]

Isn't there a HD DVD exclusive deleted scene that you're supposed to be able to access as Web-Enabled content?

[wyattest30]

Well, hopefully when Universal goes to the Blu side, they'll include a TrueHD track and the extended version. I'll give this one a rental, missed it in the theaters.

[Bighairyman]

Easily one of the best films of the year. No one needs the extended cut garbage anyways (it's not a directors cut). Basically this movie is the only reason I haven't sold my HD DVD player yet.

[Blurry]

Uh, this was a phenomenal movie which did very well at the box office, so I don't agree with his analysis of the movie itself. As far as PQ goes, it was pretty gritty, so I suspect that he is right, it may not pop - but I suspect it is true to the release.

[TurboSpool414]

Well, from what I remember of seeing it originally it is a far more entertaining movie than the review depicts it to be. I surely didn't expect 'The Godfather' as the reviewer apparently did.

However, I got what I usually look for here: thoughts on picture and audio quality as well as other HD specific features. I'll certainly be purchasing this movie. Denzel was excellent, I love how he can play such contrasting roles from film to film.

In retrospect I certainly think that some of the reviews tend to get too 'artsy'. What I mean by that is it seems that are trying to review it more as an art piece. While film is definitely an art form, if they reviewed the movies more as just a 'movie', maybe their perspective would change.

I don't know though, it just seems like sometimes they miss the point.

[Blurry]

Originally Posted by TurboSpool414

Well, from what I remember of seeing it originally it is a far more entertaining movie than the review depicts it to be. I surely didn't expect 'The Godfather' as the reviewer apparently did.

However, I got what I usually look for here: thoughts on picture and audio quality as well as other HD specific features. I'll certainly be purchasing this movie. Denzel was excellent, I love how he can play such contrasting roles from film to film.

No question, I think this movie will be a classic of sort (but agreed, not at the same level as the Godfather, of course) - a definite purchase for me.

[don luprie]

Originally Posted by Blurry

Uh, this was a phenomenal movie which did very well at the box office, so I don't agree with his analysis of the movie itself. As far as PQ goes, it was pretty gritty, so I suspect that he is right, it may not pop - but I suspect it is true to the release.

I'm still going to pick it up.

It will be a blind buy but I have heard only good things from my friends.

[pantsofdoom]

Wow, what a slap to the face. While the movie is far better than this reviewers opinion, I'm a little dissapointed that the audio and video seem pretty weak.

[Snadinator]

Ummm This movie was critically praised at the box office. I loved it.

Points taken off PQ for featuring the theatrical presentation - Are we awarding/removing points for stats or for merit?

I haven't seen the disc, but I saw it at the theatre and it was a very good film. Sorry to say this reviewer is going to be in the minority, at least for the movie's value goes.

[TurboSpool414]

I think when you see how Denzel 'interrupts' a lunch with his brothers you will be enjoying the film. That scene, for me at least, really set a tone for the film. Denzel is usually the hero, but not as Frank Lucas. Frank Lucas is a murdering drug dealer, yet one that had a likable personality. Actually a pretty intriguing character.

As a related note, just think about Frank Lucas himself. Here is a man who murdered people in broad daylight and has admitted to much worse crimes. Now he is a old, but free, man who has a film made about himself in which none other than Denzel Washington (I mean, if you are black isn't that like the jackpot?) is shown depicting those very crimes.

Sometimes our legal system can be very confusing.

[Blurry]

Originally Posted by pantsofdoom

Wow, what a slap to the face. While the movie is far better than this reviewers opinion, I'm a little dissapointed that the audio and video seem pretty weak.

Uh, he hardly says either AQ or PQ are weak, in fact he gave PQ a 4 star rating which is often described as very good:

That said, this 1080p/VC-1 encode (framed at 1.78:1, slightly opened up versus the 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio) is very nice in its own right. Befitting a new release, the source is clean as a whistle. Ridley Scott eschewed the more glossy look of some of his '80s and '90s pictures for 'American Gangster,' but this is still a slick enough image that you won't mistake it for Steven Soderbergh's 'Traffic.'

He had some gripes about contrast, which is probably why he marked it down, but his description is far from calling it "weak".

His main gripe about audio was simply that it was not TrueHD, but stated it sounded just fine (I personally feel TrueHD is more about marketing anyways - but I understand some people insist for those specs - I really wish they would review how it sounds irregardless of codec, 1.5Mbps DD+ is plenty of bandwidth to faithfully reproduce the sound).

[Snadinator]

His main gripe about audio was simply that it was not TrueHD, but stated it sounded just fine (I personally feel TrueHD is more about marketing anyways - but I understand some people insist for those specs - I really wish they would review how it sounds irregardless of codec, 1.5Mbps DD+ is plenty of bandwidth to faithfully reproduce the sound).

Of course... look at Transformers. Are we basing reviews off stats or merit? Dolby TrueHD may look good on paper, but it can suck too.

I'll wait for more reviews from other sites.

[chipvideo]

Blind buy for me. I am buying it because of the actors in the movie. I know both can make a good film.

I am sure I wont be dissapointed watching it in my theater.