'The Game' - High-Def Digest Review

[jed]

Kenneth's review of 'The Game' is up, and while he's a fan of the film itself, unfortunately he says this HD DVD release doesn't hold up its end of the bargain: a poor video transfer doesn't look much better than the standard DVD, an average audio package fails to impress, while a complete lack of features decrease the disc's value even further.

Full review here:
http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/game.html

[Iggytx]

WOW!! Universal really messed up this week. The Jerk and The Game both. I hope they get back to high quality for the list this summer.

[chooch]

That sucks! I am thinking about cancelling my order from Amazon. The one time I order HD DVD without reading a review and this is the thanks I get. I thought we were beyond bad transfers now with HD on discs. Bastards!

[bembol]

I can't believe it, one of my most wanted HD DVD's ends up getting a poor review. I can't wait for my copy to arrive from amazon.

This is Universal or Poor Film Stock/Master? Casino, Out of Sight, The Sting, The Deer Hunter...what went wrong?

[honey1]

I agree I was disappointed by the PQ of the presentation. But, in all honesty, I think the review in not quite fair. I watched the HD DVD on a rather large (108") screen. The picture was clearly HD; it was admitedly poor HD, but definitely HD nonetheless. The picture is soft, but I do not know how the movie was shot and if the softness does not, at least in part, represent the intentions of the director. On the positive side, I must say I did not detect any artefacting. Also, if memory serves, there has been only one presentation of the Game on SD and it was non-anamorphic (I'll try to check this afternoon and keep you guys posted).

All in all, I agree the HD DVD of the Game is not quite what we expected, but I am still happy to have it. What I did regret is the absence of supplements on this release; do any of you guys remember the old Criterion LD?

[Blurry]

I am glad that Universal is at least releasing these old title in HD DVD, even if they are not the best demo material. It is bound to be better than the SD DVD version simply by being anamorphic. Also, I have little doubt that it is faithful to the master, so even if the master only gives minor improvement over the the SD DVD, we are still likely getting the best possible at this time.

I am certainly looking forward to my copy, even if I have no expectation that it is going to be a razor sharp image.

[Dr_Gonzo]

I own a PAL version of the SD DVD of 'The Game' the PAL version is anamorphic. After this review I inserted borth versions (SD and HD) into my hardware to do compare them. I have to say the HD-version dosn't look to good, but it looks way better than the SD-version.

I have bought this film 4 times now, and I still think the best release, because of the exstra, was the very first i bought, Criterion LD. Since then I have owned the NTSC DVD, PAL anamorphic DVD and now HD DVD. Unestly, the HD DVD is so bad, that if it ever get released again, I will have to buy it for the fifth time, but next time I think I'll wait for the review before I buy

[MrChaos]

I agree on the film and audio, but I found the video quality was a lot better than he gave it credit for. Sure it doesn't boast that 3-D quality some of the bigger titles boast, but it looks just fine IMO. I guess that's what difference is for

[Ken Brown]

Originally Posted by Dr_Gonzo

I own a PAL version of the SD DVD of 'The Game' the PAL version is anamorphic. After this review I inserted borth versions (SD and HD) into my hardware to do compare them. I have to say the HD-version dosn't look to good, but it looks way better than the SD-version.

Keep in mind I'm referring to certain shots where the difference between HD and SD is negligible, not the entire film. The transfer is obviously HD -- it's just very poor HD.

One of the big things I noticed was in comparing 'The Game' to an HD released film of similar age and washed out palette like 'Payback' -- 'Payback' looks phenomenally better in its HD transfer.

Thanks for following up with a comparison! Just thought I should clarify.

[nickdalodger]

Dag nammit, mines in the post

I think I will wait for any film that isnt brand new to be reviewed before I buy it in the future, but its so hard to resist !

I can't believe we are still getting short changed with dodgy transfers!

[mrkiller]

damn, i was gonna get this HD DVD today with Smokin Ace's, looks like i have to skip it.

[Ph8]

I think we have to be careful before we judge these movies too much. Not every movie can have the eye popping great picture of the newer films or even some of the classics that might have had great preservation methods done to insure its survival. We also have to think that some of this softness might be becasue that ws the way it was intended OR it could be that they did the best they could with the master that they had without diversly changing the actual picture......If you dont have the R1 DVD then its still recommended as a pick up, I own the R1 and I have it sitting waiting for a viewing as I love this movie. This is a grat movie IMO and deservs a buy it may be the ONLY way to see it in HD (even if its a "bad" HD) ever. TO each his own, but unless the disc is faulty I have always beleived that it is better to make the decision based on what you see rather then what someone else does (even though I do value reviews). I think with the rash of bad reviews lately all it would take is a few well placed posts to ruin an otherwise "good" transfer, becasue it seems many people jump on the oh no it cant be bandwaggon.....If anything rent it and see what you think before passing judgement on a movie based on someonelses viewpoint.

[Vriess]

Guess I'll just be renting this, damn.

[Brad1963]

I got both ETERNAL SUNSHINE and NUTTY PROFESSOR yesterday. Both look really good on HD.

[Jared]

Originally Posted by Brad1963

I got both ETERNAL SUNSHINE and NUTTY PROFESSOR yesterday. Both look really good on HD.

Why is this in the thread about this site's review for The Game?