The Blu-ray Blog » 3D

Cave of Forgotten Dreams Blu-ray Disc Review

Chris — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 23:41:36 +0000

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS (2010, Blu-ray released November 8, 2011 – MSRP CDN$ 39.99)

THE FILM:	★★★★☆
VIDEO:	★★★½☆
AUDIO:	★★★★★
EXTRAS:	½☆☆☆☆
BLU-RAY:	★★★½☆

NOTE: THIS IS A REVIEW OF THE CANADIAN BLU-RAY RELEASE OF THE FILM FROM ALLIANCE.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams follows an exclusive expedition into the nearly inaccessible Chauvet Cave in France, home to the most ancient visual art known to have been created by man. It’s an unforgettable cinematic experience that provides a unique glimpse of the pristine artwork dating back to human hands over 30,000 years ago – almost twice as old as any previous discovery.

I like to have my mind blown. When I saw Cave of Forgotten Dreams in theatres a while back my mind got severely blown. Werner Herzog‘s 3-D journey into the Chauvet cave documents some of the most amazing art on the planet. It left me speechless. 30,000 year-old cave art rendered in amazing 3-D amplifying all the contours of the caves took my breath away. I would have been amazed had contemporary artists crafted such masterpieces. Needless to say, I was excited about the Blu-ray release.

Unfortunately, I was reminded of my initial concerns with the film. Due to technical constraints all the footage was shot on ” a tiny non professional rig” and was all lit by heatless on-camera lights and headlamps. Dark, dank caves are not ideal shooting locations. The colors are unsaturated, the blacks are weak and the shaking hand-cam on exterior shots just left me disappointed. The video was choppy at times as well, it was a bit jarring and inconsistent. The video wasn’t as sharp as it could have been and often blown-out. All this leads me to believe the problems stem from shooting originally in 3-D, the best way this film should be viewed. Its presented in 1080p, 1.78:1, widescreen here.

As for sound, Herzog’s Bavarian bizarreness is exemplified throughout most of the film as he narrates over Ernst Reijseger‘s wonderful score. It might not always look as beautiful as it should but at least the DTS-HD MA 5.1 track always sounds beautiful.

The disc has little in terms of extras: trailer, dull photo album of old men doing weird things and upcoming releases. Boring. How about some more background information on the caves, or a visit to other caves, or more interviews by Herzog asking people random questions? Herzog broaches big philosophical question in the film but I just want to know why they skimped on the extras on the Blu-ray.

So while the content alone warrants a viewing, the disc itself is a bit of a let down and not on par with the subject at hand.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The US Blu-ray edition of the film from MPI, which will be released next week, November 29th, is on 2-discs and features both 2D and 3D versions of the film, along with “Ode To The Dawn Of Man“, a 40-minute doc about the making of the score for the film.

Resident Evil: Afterlife announced and detailed in 2D and 3D versions

Brenden — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 20:51:13 +0000

Why do I keep watching these ridiculous films? I had the dubious pleasure of experiencing Resident Evil: Afterlife on the big screen and in glorious 3D. And I actually had a good time watching it, despite my better sense. It’s not a good film by any stretch of the imagination but it certainly delivers the thrills. And the 3D wasn’t too bad either! The film will make its way to Blu-ray in just over a months time in both 2D and 3D editions with an otherwise identical feature-set. Details below:

RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE
(December 28, 2010 – MSRP $34.95)
Video: 2.39:1 1080p
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1

Special Features:

Sneak Peek of Resident Evil: Damnation
“Undead Vision” Picture-in-Picture Video
Filmmaker Commentary
Eight Deleted Scenes
Outtakes
Seven Featurettes
- Back Under the Umbrella: Directing Afterlife
- Band of Survivors: Casting Afterlife
- Undead Dimension: Resident Evil in 3D
- Fighting Back: The Action of Afterlife
- Vision of the Apocalypse: The Design of Afterlife
- New Blood: The Undead of Afterlife
- Pwning the Undead: Gamers of the Afterlife

ALSO AVAILABLE IN 3D EDITION:

[VIDEO] Panasonic's End-to-End 3D Solution: From Dealerscope

Brenden — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:58:17 +0000

[VIDEO] Panasonic’s End-to-End 3D Solution: From Dealerscope: http://bit.ly/5kYXfi (via @HomeMediaMag)

3-D is a Fad | A must-read opinion piece at Cartoon Brew

Brenden — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:05:19 +0000

3-D is a Fad | A must-read opinion piece at Cartoon Brew http://instapaper.com/z637jspG (via @drawn)

Sony's BDV-HZ970W is a 3D Blu-ray HTIB

Brenden — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:03:48 +0000

Sony’s BDV-HZ970W is a 3D Blu-ray HTIB http://bit.ly/4GxXmE (via @Dvd_BluRay)

Monsters vs. Aliens Blu-ray Details and Package Art

Brenden — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:19:48 +0000

So much stuff to get to today! I’m gonna keep my blethering short and sweet in an effort to get as much news out to you as possible.

And top of the list today, is some animation news. Paramount and Dreamworks have previously announced the release date of Monsters vs. Aliens but now they’ve given us the full details for the Blu-ray disc. The really interesting thing about this release is the lack of 3-D on the feature.

Much has been made of the theatrical 3-D experience lately, with almost every new animated feature turning up in the format on the big screen. In the cinema, we get to experience the film through polarized lenses, colours staying true and image fidelity relatively uncompromised. The best we can do at home at the moment is the old school, blue/green lens anaglyph 3-D format, which changes colours and generally looks a bit shifty on screen at the best of times. While Monsters vs. Aliens was released in 3-D in the theatres, Paramount/Dreamworks have decided to hold off downgrading the film’s image for the Blu-ray release. Instead, issuing only the 2-D version, and keeping the 3-D version on the drawing board, ready to rerelease when the Blu-ray consortium has ratified and standardized a method to bring the experience home.

For those a little peeved that they’re missing out on an opportunity to wear their anaglyph glasses, the studios offer up a little taste of 3-D in the new short film, B.O.B.’s Big Break.

MONSTERS VS. ALIENS

(September 29, 2009)
Video: 1080p AVC
Audio: 5.1 Dolby TrueHD

Special Features:

• B.O.B.’S BIG BREAK in Monster 3D & 2D
• Paddle Ball Game in Monster 3D
• Modern Monster Movie Making
• Three Never-Before-Seen Deleted Scenes

• DWA Music Video Juke Box
• Filmmaker Commentary
• The Tech of MONSTERS VS. ALIENS
• Top Secret Sneak Peek Files

• Karaoke Music Party with:

• Exclusive Blu-ray Extras

'Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience – Deluxe Extended Edition' Blu-ray disc review

Brenden — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:51:16 +0000

‘Jonas Brothers: The 3-D Concert Experience – Deluxe Extended Edition’ Blu-ray disc review http://bit.ly/13hqBt #music #film

Friday the 13th Part 3 3-D Blu-ray Disc Review

Stone — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 23:28:50 +0000

FRIDAY THE 13TH: PART 3 3-D (1982, Blu-ray released June 16, 2009 – MSRP $34.98)

“An idyllic summer turns into a nightmare of unspeakable terror for yet another group of naive counselors. Ignoring Camp Crystal Lake’s bloody legacy, one by one they fall victim to the maniacal Jason who stalks them at every turn… Friday the 13th, Part 3 will have you frozen with fear, as Jason finds his way into your living room!”

Iconic. This is the movie where the Friday the 13th series leaps from being a couple of mediocre slasher flicks into a whole new category. This is where Jason becomes JASON.

Sadly, it’s a 3D movie and this makes for some technical complications. Paramount offers you both viewing formats (2D and 3D), which is brilliant if you have 5 friends over and not everyone remembered to bring their own 3D glasses (the disc comes with two hockey-mask themed, blood-splattered pairs). But sadly, I don’t think much, if any, effort went into cleaning up and enhancing the movie, and I think it’s due to the fact that it’s a 3D flick. And, oddly, the flashback footage from Friday the 13th Part 2 at the beginning of the film looks worse than on the Part 2 disc (read my review here.) All told, whether cleaning up the transfer couldn’t or just wasn’t done, the high-def picture on the Blu-ray still looks better than I remember it ever looking on TV or *gulp* VHS. Better than the DVD release? I’d have to see them side by side.

What you don’t get on the Blu-ray are bonus features with any depth, like the excellent cast commentary track from the 2004 DVD box-set. However, Paramount does offer up about thirty minutes worth of featurettes, a continuation of a Fan Fic story-line and some interesting trivia/trivial interviews. The interviews are definitely worth watching if you are at all a fan of the slasher XII-ology or horror in general but honestly, I was looking for more.

For better or worse, Friday the 13th Part 3 3D is the birth of a horror legend. Even the awkward cinematic moments that are only there to serve the 3D “scares” can’t dampen the entertaining quality of the film. The unfortunate part is that the quality of the transfer seems to have been sacrificed for eye-ball dangling, pitchfork thrusting, machete swinging action.

A fair trade in my eyes.

Jonas Brothers in 3D on Blu-ray

Brenden — Mon, 04 May 2009 23:13:21 +0000

Jonas Brothers in 3D on Blu-ray … http://snurl.com/hd69r

Panasonic developing 1080p twin-lens P2 camcorder for native 3D captures

Brenden — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 01:23:08 +0000

Panasonic developing 1080p twin-lens P2 camcorder for native 3D captures … http://snurl.com/gbpup

The Blu-ray Blog » 3D

Cave of Forgotten Dreams Blu-ray Disc Review

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