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HistoryProf wrote:has anyone used that retailer beaver links to (Chaos)? it's only $27 shipped to the U.S., which is more than reasonable - I love that they charge less for shipping than most American retailers. But i'd like to hear from anyone who has it in hand first...anyone buy it yet? I'm getting tired of waiting for a Criterion blu of this!

Second Sight’s Blu-ray marks the first time the film has been released in high definition in the UK, but the wait was clearly worth it: The transfer is stunning, capturing the soft-focus, sun-bathed visuals in beautiful detail. The audio is fantastic too, with the dialogue crystal clear, all the subtle nuances of Weir’s intended score and the eerie panpipe theme sounding wonderful. Audiophiles have a choice between LPCM Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS Master Audio tracks (all English), while there’s a lone English subtitle track.

I'm not sure what the LCD brigade who demand scrubbed up ultra-sharp presentations from their BD discs will think of this release as Picnic at Hanging Rock was never going to look like that, given Weir and cinematographer Russell Boyd went to pains to achieve a very diffuse, soft focus look. Thankfully Second Sight have not attempted to remaster out any of that inherent diffuseness and have delivered a 1080p AVC transfer that is suitably sun-kissed and as delicate as the girls from Appleyard College themselves. Colours are extremely rich throughout and brightness and contrast levels seem perfectly weighted - which means in some shots black levels may seem a little hazy due to the amount of exposure no doubt, there is also some brightness flickering and/or a fading of the print on the right hand side in some shots,. Shadow detail is also quite strong. In particular the scenes during the picnic at the start of the film look absolutely gorgeous, with lush golden hues contrasting evocatively against the grey outcrops of Hanging Rock.

There are no surprises with regard to grain and detail, opticals look quite soft and grainy and certain scenes also exhibit heavy grain depending on shooting conditions, otherwise the transfer has a moderate layer of grain and is reasonably detailed but obviously fine detail falls shy of what HD fans are used to - which again I have to stress is most likely inherent to the print. DVNR doesn't seem to be an issue judging by the amount of flecks and pops that appear throughout the film, it's nothing too heavy but they can sort of appear in waves at times.

Only 2 niggles let the transfer down a touch, one is that there is some slight Edge Enhancement in some shots, perhaps most noticeably in the up-shots of the rocks around Hanging Rock when Miranda and co. go off exploring, but also the encoding seems to struggle in some scenes. It has a pleasantly high average bitrate of 32.20Mbps but you can spot some minor compression noise in grainier shots like the opening titles (which is understandable I guess), but also there's noise and banding in some night time scenes.

There are three audio options offering the film's English presentation in lossless LPCM 2.0, DTS-HD MA 5.1, and lossy DD5.1. Obviously the LPCM stereo track should be the way to go given the age of the piece, and it offers a fairly impressive presentation that belies its age with little damage or tearing and hiss being kept to a rather unobtrusive level. In general the audio is nicely separated and suitably refined; bass is lacking a little but I doubt anyone with have a problem with the quality of this presentation. If you absolutely must have a surround-sound presentation then popping the LPCM track into pro-logic mode on your amp will offer pretty much the exact same presentation as the DTS-HD 5.1 track, so the latter is rather redundant. Finally the DD5.1 track is noticeably quieter and seems to have slightly flatter bass levels and a slightly less dynamic sound than its lossless counterpart, but perhaps cranking up the volume a few notches may address those issues a little.

Optional English audio descriptive subtitles are provided, with no spelling or grammatical errors that I can recall

perkizitore wrote:I don't think someone will watch the theatrical cut more than once (its shape doesn't enhance the chances of multiple viewings)

perkizitore wrote:Can i assume that Terrence Malick is their favourite director?

swo17 wrote:Transfer looks kind of meh though admittedly I haven't watched too many newer films on TCM HD to know how one should compare to Blu-ray. Does any of this mean anything?

Weir impatient, reckless smothering of this film cut away not just scenes that in his words 'detracted from the storyline', but he cut out moments that greatly added depth to the story

Saimo wrote:My two cents: I like the director's cut the best.