Tony Keats
09-10-2001, 15:25
I was really looking forward to this too, an anamorphically enhanced 5.1 version of a cult classic. The disc arrived today and I was quick to give it a spin. Sadly, it only requires three nails to seal the coffin-lid:-
Firstly (and of least importance), there aren't any extras whatsoever. There are some uninteresting trailers, but nothing else.
Secondly (and more worryingly), the 1.85:1 anamorphic image isn't a "see a bit more" affair as the box claims, it's merely a noticeably cropped transfer of the more familiar 1.66:1 ratio master. Now, this isn't a big deal as such because it was always intended to be shown this way and most cinematic screenings would have been cropped in a similar fashion. Thing is, I've grown quite fond of the 1.66:1 framing (featured on BOTH existing NTSC releases) and I'd have preferred an anamorphic 1.66:1 really. Still, it's not the end of the world and I could have happily got used to it, but....
Thirdly, the audio is absolutely disgraceful!. If that sounds like an overstatement, then you obviously haven't heard the damn thing!. The English 5.1 track sounds hideously compressed and is virtually unlistenable. I don't mean that it's under-par/unnatural or just lacking, I mean it's an inhuman sounding catastrophe of "mobile-phone" proportions! (although most telephone conversations are considerably clearer than this track!).
I'm not one to jump to conclusions and my immediate reaction was that my player was malfunctioning. I tried several other discs which all played fine though and only when I re-inserted Robocop did the problem re-appear. I also considered that only this particular disc I received may be faulty, but a quick check of the Spanish and French audio revealed that it's obviously confined to this new english 5.1 mix. The other tracks (all three are 5.1) do sound a bit over-compressed aswell, but nothing like as bad as the default English one.
Anyway, consider this a warning! and if anybody else has this disc, I'd appreciate your feedback. If my disc IS faulty though (and I sincerely doubt that it's just my copy) I need to exchange it pronto.
Firstly (and of least importance), there aren't any extras whatsoever. There are some uninteresting trailers, but nothing else.
Secondly (and more worryingly), the 1.85:1 anamorphic image isn't a "see a bit more" affair as the box claims, it's merely a noticeably cropped transfer of the more familiar 1.66:1 ratio master. Now, this isn't a big deal as such because it was always intended to be shown this way and most cinematic screenings would have been cropped in a similar fashion. Thing is, I've grown quite fond of the 1.66:1 framing (featured on BOTH existing NTSC releases) and I'd have preferred an anamorphic 1.66:1 really. Still, it's not the end of the world and I could have happily got used to it, but....
Thirdly, the audio is absolutely disgraceful!. If that sounds like an overstatement, then you obviously haven't heard the damn thing!. The English 5.1 track sounds hideously compressed and is virtually unlistenable. I don't mean that it's under-par/unnatural or just lacking, I mean it's an inhuman sounding catastrophe of "mobile-phone" proportions! (although most telephone conversations are considerably clearer than this track!).
I'm not one to jump to conclusions and my immediate reaction was that my player was malfunctioning. I tried several other discs which all played fine though and only when I re-inserted Robocop did the problem re-appear. I also considered that only this particular disc I received may be faulty, but a quick check of the Spanish and French audio revealed that it's obviously confined to this new english 5.1 mix. The other tracks (all three are 5.1) do sound a bit over-compressed aswell, but nothing like as bad as the default English one.
Anyway, consider this a warning! and if anybody else has this disc, I'd appreciate your feedback. If my disc IS faulty though (and I sincerely doubt that it's just my copy) I need to exchange it pronto.