'Spartacus' -- High-Def Digest review

[PeterB]

Just finished reviewing 'Spartacus.' I wasn't impressed:

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

The transfer suffers poorly, the soundtrack is no great shakes and there is not a single extras. This is certainly my least favorite Universal HD DVD release along with 'Army of Darkness.' A real bummer.

[Grubert]

Bummer indeed. I had ordered it blindly because I'm such a Kubrick fan, and I thought, if Warner can make such a stellar work with The Searchers, why not Universal with Spartacus?

Sadly I was mistaken.

In the future I'll wait for reviews before ordering, no matter how much I like the film itself (case in point, Excalibur).

[Tejstar]

That's a shame, probably will pass on this. Hope the other 'classics' fare better...

[Blurry]

Seems to have gotten a pretty good review at DVD-Town:

http://www.dvdtown.com/reviews/spartacus/4067

[Crispin]

I watched a HD-DVD rental copy of Spartacus over the weekend and found that it had lost little of its visual impact since I saw it as a teenager in 1960...and subsequently as the restored version in 1991. I thought the colors were well saturated and although the image wasn't crystal sharp it looked very good for a 46 year old movie. When I think of Kirk Douglas I think of Spartacus which I feel was his landmark film. Most people interested in Spartacus know of the production problems involving Kubrick who basically disavowed involvement in later years.

Spartacus is a simplistic film in many ways especially in how the main character is viewed as an idealistic savior of all slaves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spartacus

But this film set the mold for later movies like Gladiator and Braveheart.

[irascian]

Originally Posted by Blurry

Seems to have gotten a pretty good review at DVD-Town:

http://www.dvdtown.com/reviews/spartacus/4067

Do DVD Town ever slam any HD-DVD releases?

DVD Review have just slated it too (wish I hadn't ordered the thing now - we shouldn't be encouraging these companies to rip us off the way they did in the early days of DVD):

http://www.dvdreview.com/reviews/pages/2476.shtml

[The Bandit]

I caught Spartacus in 35mm at the AFI in DC after Kubrick's death in 1999. Judging from that print, I am certain that Spartacus could have looked a lot better in HD.

I mean, it's not just an issue of the noisiness of the image, it's color timing and black levels. They're not right. Granted, it's been several years, but I don't remember the print looking like that. Colors really seemed to be all over the place and that was pretty jarring. I did a side-by-side with the Criterion DVD and yes, there is a lot more resolution on the Universal disc, but if I was watching on a smaller TV I'd probably opt for the Criterion DVD.

[Tejstar]

Originally Posted by The Bandit

I caught Spartacus in 35mm at the AFI in DC after Kubrick's death in 1999. Judging from that print, I am certain that Spartacus could have looked a lot better in HD.

Well as I have stated elsewhere in this forum, I have seen a HD copy of Spartacus on a 10 foot projector which was very impressive. It was on a format called VMD which they hope will take off in China. So, I’m sure they could have done better.

[Sporadic]

I know this is a very old thread but did anybody notice a red band appear twice at the top of the screen about 1:05-6 in during the "oh I forbid you" scene?

What was that and how did the reviewer miss it?

[The Bandit]

That's a bit of color instability that's been in every version of Spartacus I've ever seen. It's an issue with the source elements, not with the HD DVD.

[EatingPie]

Horrifying HD transfer.

Grain is readily apparent throughout, but it's so bad it takes on a digital look. I've heard this is a 540p bob, whether that's true or not, this is the WORSE HD transfer I have. It's so bad it actually distracts from the viewing experience. HBO macro is the only thing more objectionable.

-Pie

[padanx]

It's the only HD title I've sold based on poor PQ.

It's a shame that Universal didn't step up and take responsibility for this one, the way Sony did with 'The Fifth Element'. All the criticism met with silence, like they pooped their pants and scurried out of the room.

[Jon B.]

Is this one better than the Criterion SD DVD.

[bettzysdaddy]

I was hoping to get all of Kubricks HD DVDs but I guess this one will have to wait for a good BD release.

[Centauri]

You're assuming it's going to get one.