Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Fight Club on Blu-ray is superfabuloustic!

This is topic Fight Club on Blu-ray is superfabuloustic! in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-17-2009, 10:05 PM:

Actually we haven't watched it yet, but what it with the super flimsy box? Open it up and there are giant holes in it in the shape of the lame "recycle" logo on one side and the disc on the other. Recycling is for losers. I would rather have a sturdy Blu-ray case than save the world. The world be still be around when I die so it really doesn't matter if it goes on after that or not.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-17-2009, 10:17 PM:

I really liked the package design for the original 2-disc special edition DVD of Fight Club.

It's too bad Fox couldn't do something as good for the Blu-ray. Too many geeks out there are more interested in a perfectly identical set of movie cases rather than have any sort of variety.

I may be waiting another day or two before my BD copy of Fight Club arrives. Right now its stuck in Coffeyville, KS. Tracking info says its been there all day and still there this evening. They'll probably let it sit there a good while longer before it hops to Tulsa, Oklahoma City and finally Lawton.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-17-2009, 11:07 PM:

Yeah, I don't like it when something stands out on the shelf like a sore thumb. That's why I put all the digibooks together in the corner where they belong, out of sight. Fight Club looks fine on the shelf, it's just super-flimsy.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 11-17-2009, 11:20 PM:

I saw that same recycle-logo cutout on the Woodstock DVD box. I thought it was some lame "green" thing just being done for that movie or something since I hadn't seen it anywhere else.

Posted by Bill Gabel (Member # 1105) on 11-19-2009, 04:05 PM:

Remember the "Never Been Kissed" menu is just a joke from the director to you. The Blu-ray disc is not defective. [Smile]

Posted by Todd McCracken (Member # 4718) on 11-19-2009, 04:09 PM:

Im still watching my D-theater tape of this. I miss D-theater.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-21-2009, 12:00 AM:

My parents have the D-Theater tape (along with around 20 or so other D-VHS releases). It's a shame D-VHS never caught on with the public, but the tape cassettes looked just like VHS tapes and you had to rewind them just like VHS tapes. The picture quality was vastly superior to DVD though.

On Blu-ray Fight Club looks as good as I've ever seen it on a TV set. I think the video on this release has to have been sourced from a new master. The picture is very steady, sharp in many shots and often shows a natural, subtle layer of grain. Of course the color is desaturated -obviously an appropriate creative decision on the part of the director.

One other thing. The Blu-ray version is dark. The black levels are noticeably pumped upward even to the point of crushing out certain shadow details. Even some details closer to mid range are even darkened. One example: the first scene between Brad Pitt and Edward Norton on the airliner. On the DVD you could more easily see Brad Pitt's eyes through his glasses when he tells Edward, "you have a kind of sick desperation in your laugh." On the Blu-ray version his eyes are more hidden. I don't necessarily think this is a mastering error. It seems more like a creative decision. Fight Club is meant to look really dark with very inky blacks and a lot of gritty detail.

Another thing about the improved video quality, the photogrammetry CGI shots look a little more CG in 1080p. The limits in rendering quality were more easily hidden in the low resolution of 480p DVD. Also, the subliminal shots of Tyler Durden appearing early in the movie are noticeably easier to spot. They're also more funny to look at when stepping through the shot frame by frame.

I wonder if the new Blu-ray version has its audio sourced from a newly tweaked master. I don't have a HDMI-enabled surround sound receiver yet, but the DTS mix I heard had better surround imaging and more subtle details coming through than the previous DVD version. The disc also seems louder too. That mid air collision thing is pretty damned startling. Wow.

I love the opening menu. Funny joke. During the movie a magazine is laying on a table showing Drew Barrymore on the cover. I think there has to be more to this joke than any of us know. Probably a big inside joke.

quote: Joe Redifer
Actually we haven't watched it yet, but what it with the super flimsy box?

Yeah, the paperboard sleeve really sucks. This is one area where the Blu-ray is a downgrade from the 2-disc SE DVD. That package was far better both in function and design. The BD has the usual, plain jane BD case with nothing in it but the disc and the shoplifter prevention thingie. The DVD has more. Where the hell is the "How To Start A Fight" booklet? This is one of those cases where I'm going to have to keep my DVD of the movie along with the Blu-ray.

The holes in the actual plastic case are a major head scratcher. What the hell is up with that nonsense? Is Fincher calling for that stuff? I'm only wondering about that over the paperboard designs of the Seven and Fight Club 2-disc DVD cases. Does he have something against plastic?

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-21-2009, 01:12 AM:

The paperboards are completely useless and go direct to the trash can where they belong. I suppose the "green" plastic case is supposed to compensate for all of the extra landfill space that the pointless paperboards will require.

quote: Bobby Henderson
It's a shame D-VHS never caught on with the public

Not really.

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 11-21-2009, 01:46 AM:

I think D-VHS had its rightful place for the time being. A lot of time passed between the launch of DVD and Blu-ray. Still a lot of time passed between when D-VHS was launched and the launch of Blu-ray. The Blu-ray format isn't perfect either. No home theater HD video format will be "perfect" until we're playing 1080p or higher resolution video in lossless or uncompressed form.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-21-2009, 02:34 AM:

Nah. Even when it came out I kept thinking: "Tapes? Please."

Posted by Mike Olpin (Member # 1115) on 11-21-2009, 07:16 AM:

quote: Joe Redifer
I suppose the "green" plastic case is supposed to compensate for all of the extra landfill space that the pointless paperboards will require.

It's all cool because the paper sleeves are biodegradable... except in landfills where there is no air or soil.

The best thing about my D-VHS deck is that it has component out so I can still play my VHS tapes on an HD monitor.