Predator Ultimate Hunter Blu-Ray $13.99 AMZ

I'm hesitant to jump on this deal. I heard the picture quality was wrecked by Fox removing almost all of the film grain?
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']I'm hesitant to jump on this deal. I heard the picture quality was wrecked by Fox removing almost all of the film grain?[/QUOTE]

Ask yourself this. Would you prefer to see lots of grain or have characters that look waxy, and much less grain when you watch a movie. If it's the first, buy the original release. If it's the second, buy this release.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']I'm hesitant to jump on this deal. I heard the picture quality was wrecked by Fox removing almost all of the film grain?[/QUOTE]

Why dont you read the 4 page thread about this issue just a few posts down?
 
[quote name='Jodou']Is the movie cash exclusive to BB? Has anyone received this from Amazon who could verify?[/QUOTE]

don't know about amazon or not, but it's at Walmart and borders as well.

if you want just pick up a copy from your local store and get the cheaper copy from Amazon and just return the amazon one to your local store if it doesn't have the movie cash
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']I'm hesitant to jump on this deal. I heard the picture quality was wrecked by Fox removing almost all of the film grain?[/QUOTE]

That's about it. Fox did a new transfer and destroyed it with DNR.

http://www.imagebam.com/image/e23f5984389422

When Predator debuted on Blu-ray in April 2008, on a 25 GB disc, it featured a relatively low bit-rate MPEG-2 transfer, prone to excessive noisiness and compression artifacts. While the film has never been a slick-looking production, and though the 2008 version was certainly the best the movie had looked on home video up until that time, there was an outcry from videophiles who felt it could look even better. The solution, really, was simple: do a remaster, use a less antiquated encode, a higher bit-rate, and put it on a 50 GB dual-layer disc. 20th Century Fox complied for this new Ultimate Hunter Edition, but unfortunately, they've must've taken complaints about the film's graininess/noisiness to heart, because they've also slathered this re-release with an ungodly amount of digital noise reduction. Now, this is bound to be controversial. The vocal minority of so- called "grain-haters" will praise this transfer because there's no longer any evidence that Predator was shot on film—it now has a bright, glossy, smeary, plasticized sheen that's as far from filmic as you can get. And, it should be said, about as far from how Predator is supposed to look as you can get. This is revisionist re-releasing at its worst, and most film collectors —who tend to want films to look as close to their original appearance as possible—are going to be severely disappointed. I know I'm going to get hate mail, but I can't conscionably give this transfer any higher than a 2/5.

The texture of the film's grain structure has been stripped entirely from the picture, obliterating the finest details in the process. Arnie's face looks like a candle wax stump, oily and smooth. Carl Weathers' mustache seems airbrushed onto his face. The jungle might as well be digitized. Even the 20th Century Fox logo that opens the film appears soft, under a thick coating of Gaussian blur. This is easily one of the worst abuses of DNR to hit Blu-ray yet. What's frustrating, then, is that in most other regards, this transfer could have been a massive improvement. What's the point of a higher bit-rate if you're just going to scrub away the film's texture? Yes, the transfer looks clean, ultra-colorful, and bright—a good deal brighter than the previous release—but it also looks unnatural, artificial, unnecessarily tampered with. The good news—if you want to call it that—is that black levels are solid, compression artifacts are absent this time around, and edge enhancement is nowhere near as prevalent or overzealous as it is in other DNR'ed-to-oblivion titles. None of this really matters, though, when you're watching an image that looks like it's been rubbed down with Vaseline. I suddenly feel the urge to pray for the fidelity of the Alien quadrilogy box-set being released later this year.
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='wormraper']if you want just pick up a copy from your local store and get the cheaper copy from Amazon and just return the amazon one to your local store if it doesn't have the movie cash[/QUOTE]
One step ahead of you, mate. ;)
 
[quote name='Jodou']Is the movie cash exclusive to BB? Has anyone received this from Amazon who could verify?[/QUOTE]
I got mine from amazon on Tuesday and it had the movie cash under the plastic right on the front. Time to get some money refunded.
 
[quote name='Jodou']Is the movie cash exclusive to BB? Has anyone received this from Amazon who could verify?[/QUOTE]
Walmart has the movie cash too. It was $15.00. I couldn't tell what theathers it's good for though.That's what's holding me back.
 
WTF Amazon, this deal is dead already? Wanted to secure a BB copy before ordering one online and they already upped the price to $22. Oh well, your loss Amazon.
 
Still $14.99 at Best Buy. I picked mine up this afternoon ... actually thinking I was going to purchase from Amazon and return the Best Buy copy, guess not.
 
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