Hero

[theMaximus]

Has anyone seen this at the movies? Scenes from the trailer looked very good with extremely vibrant colors. Would this be worth owning in terms of SQ and PQ?

[Andrew Pratt]

I've only heard exceptional reviews about this from my friends that saw it at the movies and its one I plan on buying.

[Cowanrg]

i saw it in the theater.

its a great movie. its definately not a typical hollywood movie (well, because it isnt...). its very symbolic and the colors all mean something deeper, etc...

very good story, keeps you watching to figure it all out. great fight sequences. im defiantely buying it tuesday. i saw the chinese release dvd, and it didnt look all that great, but im sure the US release will look better (or hope it will). sound quality could be awesome if they've done it right. it seemed like it at least had potential in the theater to be a great dvd. i would get it for sure. if you liked crouching tiger hidden dragon, or just like japanese or chinese films (kurasawa, ang lee, etc...).

[Azeke]

I've only heard exceptional reviews about this from my friends that saw it at the movies and its one I plan on buying.

Ditto.

Regards,

Azeke

[Shane Martin]

The digital bits reviewed it here:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/reviews3/hero.html

Not a very favorable review and not suprising considering its a Buena Vista disc. Their discs always are kinda murky and hardly watchable. Kill Bill wasn't too bad but the others that are out there as of late are kinda poopy. Lots of EE.

I thought about buying it at $15.99 but I'm holding off.

[Shane Martin]

Hometheaterforum's reviewer David Boulet reviewed it and loved the film but hated the transfer calling it basically barely watchable.

Seems like If I were to buy it, I'd be better off buying a region 0 copy. I believe I can play those on my region 1 player.

[Cowanrg]

im pretty picky when it comes to video quality (im not a videophile, thats why i hate bad video, i dont like to think about the video when im watching something). BUT, after seeing the negative reviews here, i thought i would crack open my disc and toss it in the player and see what "unwatchable" looks like.

well, im surprised that anyone could call it unwatchable. its definately not reference, but by no means did i see anything wrong with it... i saw no artifacting, blocking, muddyness, loss of detail or incorrect colors. its just not one of those "HOLY SH**" dvd's. the sound is close to that though.

maybe these reviewers have far too revealing video systems? i just read the hometheaterforum review, and that guy needs a new tv or something. he is talking about stuff that just plain doesnt exist. granted, i dont have a very big display, but still. all the noise and artifacting he is talking about doesnt exist, period. i even had my tv set to standard (a VERY bright setting for daytime) because i get a direct beam of light on my screen in the daytime. i didnt have any problems there even.

or maybe im just not as picky as he is, but i will spend an extra $10 if there is a superbit, because the difference is HUGE.

but i think the negative reviews are blown way out of proportion for this release. the video is average, certainly not below average, and the sound is fantastic, and the movie is perfect. SO, why not get it for $15?

[theMaximus]

I definitely was going to buy it at Best Buy for $15 after reading the first few recommendations, but now I'm going to rent it first before buying it. Since I have a movie pass at Blockbuster (I'm ashamed to admit it), it won't cost me extra to rent it first. I'll post my impression after watching it.

[Shane Martin]

maybe these reviewers have far too revealing video systems? i just read the hometheaterforum review, and that guy needs a new tv or something. he is talking about stuff that just plain doesnt exist. granted, i dont have a very big display,

No he doesn't He is running a $5k+ Digital display with a dvd player feeding DVI via 720P. I have a 32" TV and when watching stuff on the big screen I notice lots of things that I simply don't notice on the smaller set. He is projecting an image around 100" so any issues that the disc has will be magnified. David is not uneducated regarding this stuff so to say he simply needs a new TV, is a bit fruity.

[Azeke]

I watched it last night, and the PQ is not the best, but acceptable, at least by my standards. Now, the SQ is very good, esp., in DTS Mandarin, very good use of the surrounds and the LFE.

Just my monies worth,

Azeke

[Burke Strickland]

I've watched part of "Hero" via my Sony VPL-W400Q projector on my DaLite High Power screen and part of it on my small screen direct view CRT Toshiba. It looks reasonably good on both. I'm looking forward to watching the rest later, when I'm really watching the movie instead of evaluating its video image.

"Hero" may have a slightly soft image compared to, say, Superbit "Spiderman 2" (which I have also watched part of on both displays), but it is NOT a defective image. It has a muted color palette and subdued, almost dream-like images sort of like a "Romantic" painting that underscore the mythic nature of the narrative. In some action sequences, it goes "black and white" with the color adding another dimension in the less frenetic scenes. On the whole, I find the images visually satisfying and quite effective.

DVD Talk's reviewer said of the DVD (and I read this review fo the first time AFTER viewing it for myself):

Miramax's transfer of Hero looks superb. ... The film's stylized color palette is faithfully reproduced here... The print is in pristine condition, with no flaws as far as I could see; the image is sharp and nicely detailed, with close-ups in particular looking stunning. The film is full of challenging shots with broad expanses of single colors, an environment that's unforgiving of the smallest amount of noise, so it's fantastic to see the clean, flawless picture here. The only thing between this transfer and perfection is a small amount of grain in a few of the shots, and the occasional touch of edge enhancement. Hero is a visual treat, as it should be.

DVD Talk review of "Hero"

If we are so addicted to razor sharp, crystal clear images that we cannot enjoy a movie masterpiece that happens to have "a small amount of grain in a few of the shots, and the occasional touch of edge enhancement", then I think we've forgotten what watching movies is really all about.

For the record, DVD Talk gave the video one less star than the maximum, meaning they did not consider it "reference quality", but as their comments indicate, "Hero" has a viewable image that is at least "above average".

If you want to see what "unwatchable" looks like, rent "The Last Emperor", which was also set in China, although in a different historical era. It had artifacts galore, including constant shimmering and blocking that was not just distracting, but overwhelming. "Hero" is not overwhelmed by those kinds of problems, nor was I ever really distracted by any such unwanted effects.

I, for one, am glad I bought the DVD (for $17.99 at Best Buy) and will enjoy viewing it many times in the future on whatever TV or projection system I have on hand at the time. For those who like well done action movies that also tell a story and engage our minds as well as our senses, I hope you'll give "Hero" a try rather than be too discouraged by a few nit-picky reviews of the video.

Burke

PS -- the surround sound is phenomenal. (During a fight scene with rain, I looked outside to see if it was raining here.) :>)

[Brandon B]

I have the Japanese R2 version of this, but have not watched it yet as I have not yet had my DVD player modified for region free and SDI output. Reports indicate the version I got has a much cleaner transfer. I'll dig up the thread when I finally get to watch it.

BB

[Cowanrg]

Shane,

i read what he is using as a display, and without being overly critical, its not exactly what i would call a reference system. an infocus project (albeit a higher end one), and a older toshiba dvd player. this system has a LOT of room for improvement.

honestly, i havent seen any projectors under $10k that could be used to judge anything... and im not saying there is anything wrong with his stuff at all, so if anyone is like "hey i won that, and he's saying it sucks!", its not that at all... im just saying he should use THAT system to call a movie unwatchable that is in fact just fine. many people have been turned off by a couple of reviewer's comments about the image quality. all of them have been unwarranted comments.

honestly, after this review, i will take everything he says with a grain of salt and be me own judge... also, i will bring this disc into work tomorrow and play it on every display at my disposal. anything from a samsung dlp, mitsubishi dlp, the full sony lcd wega line, and a couple runco projectors.

we have a runco at 100". if it looks bad on that, then ill agree with him. but i have a feeling it will look just fine, if not great. just because you are using a screen that is too big for your room or too big for your projector, does NOT mean that you have to say a movie is unwatchable. THAT is why i said its his system. there are VERY strict guidelines that one must follow when doing front projection. certain projectors just cant get 80" inches without showing serious flaws. it takes one helluva system to make a 100" screen look just like it would on a small tube tv.

[Shane Martin]

i read what he is using as a display, and without being overly critical, its not exactly what i would call a reference system. an infocus project (albeit a higher end one), and a older toshiba dvd player. this system has a LOT of room for improvement.

If you are talking about the HTF guy, he is using:

Benq PE8700 http://www.projectorcentral.com/BenQ-PE8700.htm
Momitsu 880 via DVI at 720P.

He is really damn picky about the video and I can understand why.

As far as Bill Hunt goes, I don't know but I trust his assertions after many years.

The guy whom posted about an old player that you mentioned compared the region 1 and region 0 release. He ended up giving the region 1 a 2 and the region 0 a 3.5 out of 5.

David the thread starter over there has alot larger screen and a nicer projector by a long shot.

It does get interesting later on:
Donny qouted saying basically that at his 10 feet back on his 55" He isn't having any issues.

Donny,

nothing wrong with your eyes. 10ft back from a 55" diagonal screen is over 2 screen-widths away...much farther than the 1.5-1.75 "theater" viewing angle, and I'd expect that from farther back the image might start to pull together a bit and look acceptable. Even Cold Mountain looked "good" when I backed up to about 2-2.5 screen-widths away from my screen.

Keep in mind that there's nothing wrong with your viewing angle/distance! That's a "normal" distance even for many HDTV viewers. However, my review is based on putting the DVD through the rigors of a "theatrical" viewing-angle...one that owners of finely-resolving displays could achieve by moving closer if they wanted and one that is common in most front-projection scenarios. At this angle, the goal is to have the DVD replicate the "film experience"...which a well-mastered DVD can do quite admirably.

As far as me, I watched part of it last night. Not an overall great transfer but not horrible. The rating of 2.5 out of 5 seems about right. The sound was pretty good. The movie I'm pretty undecided on. The majority of the opinions regarding the picture seem to indicate it sucks. Knowing Miramax, the jokers behind Cold Mountain and English Patients' awful transfers, I'm not surprised. I know they can do better. Kill Bill 1 and 2 looked awful good to me.

[SpOoNmAn]

Definitely worth buying. Great story, decent pq and better sound. This is the type of movie where I dont demand top notch pq, I get too engrossed to notice anyways.