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Rating the DVD Releases of Sound Serials; Best picture and sound quality available on DVD
Topic Started: Jun 16 2014, 07:30 AM (21,470 Views)
The Batman
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Bart,

I will make those changes and additions, thanks. It's great when someone has two edition of a serial to compare.

All input is welcome!

Are there any other releases for KING OF THE WILD? I suppose I can put the Alpha version in for now, as technically, it is the "best" release so far.

Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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Laughing Gravy
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I'm off today, so here are three more...

The Last of the Mohicans (VCI, 1 DVD): 9. Really lovely.
Extras: Trailers for The Phantom Empire, Winners of the West, Riders of Death Valley.

Fighting with Kit Carson (VCI, 1 DVD): 8
Extras: Trailers for Law of the Wild, The Phantom Empire, Blackhawk
Bios of the principal players. Not by me. So don't blame me for spelling Noah Beery's name wrong(!).

Zombies of the Stratosphere (two different versions on hand!)
Cheezy Flicks (1 true DVD): 7
Extras: Clips from trailers for other CF offerings, some of which are serials; intermission ads.

AC Comics (2 DVD-Rs): 8 (well, it's a tad better than the other one, what can I do?)
Extras: 24 min. of previews of other AC offerings; episode 1 of Captain Video, tinted in Cinecolor, continuity by Moree Herring.



"I'm glad that this question came up, because there are so many ways to answer it that one of them is bound to be right." - Robert Benchley
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The Batman
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Additions have been made.

LG, I went with your AC Comics version of ZotS, since you gave it a higher rating, was on 2 discs instead of one and it had better serial-related extras.


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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rodney
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The Batman
Jun 20 2014, 08:28 AM
Are there any other releases for KING OF THE WILD? I suppose I can put the Alpha version in for now, as technically, it is the "best" release so far.

Sinister Cinema has a 2 disc edition, that from what I have read is better than Alpha's in terms of picture quality but has splices in the same places. This is according to an Amazon reviewer. I don't own either of them.

Sinister says that theirs is straight from 16mm. My guess is that Alpha either bought their old VHS release or their 2 DVD set and crammed it all onto a single DVD.
Edited by rodney, Jun 20 2014, 11:35 AM.
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williejg
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Hi Bats~ I also would like to thank you for all of your hard work. It is greatly appreciated.

As far as the grading goes, I think that I should say that I'm probably the only person in this group still using a tube TV. That may have some affect on my grading compared to you other fellows. But not much. a bad print is a bad print, and a great print is a great print no matter what you're watching it on.

Next, I've always used the G-E grading system and not quite acclimated to the 1-10 system. So, I'm going to compare LG's system to mine, if that will help.

Laughing Gravy Jun 18 2014, 05:08 PM Post #73
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I find some of these ratings to be all over the place.

I'd rank a 5 or less as unwatchable, a 6 as below average, a 7 as average, an 8 as good, a 9 as terrific, and a 10 as high definition. I wouldn't compare two Lone Rangers and say one is an 8 'cause it's way better than one that's a 6, if they're both actually poor.

Now here are my ratings:

5 or less = unwatchable
6 = Fair-watchable but you'll get a headache or double vision
7 = Good-watchable but still tough on the eyes
7.5 = G-VG-watchable but just shy of a sharp picture
8 = VG- A clear fairly sharp picture but still some flaws
8.5 = VG-E-A clear very sharp picture but still not perfect
9 = E - A very clear very sharp picture without any flaws
10 = Hi Definition.

I hope this helps.

willie
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williejg
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i Have both versions of KING OF THE WILD. The Alpha version has chapter 1 cropped at the top. The Sinister Cinema version does not. I have not watched either one yet, but did a quick check and the Sinister Cinema version gets my vote as being better. But I can't offer a grade for it until I watch it. Sorry.

willie
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The Batman
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Rodney and Willie,

Thanks guys, I will definitely change the KotW entry to the Sinister Cinema release. I see it's not available on Amazon, do they still sell from their own site?


Thanks for the ratings system, Willie, it does help.


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JazzGuyy
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rodney
Jun 20 2014, 11:27 AM
My guess is that Alpha either bought their old VHS release or their 2 DVD set and crammed it all onto a single DVD.
Putting something on a single DVD is not necessarily bad. With the right equipment and the proper codecs, you can get very good quality with modern dual-layer DVD mastering. 3 hours of film material can be handled without loss of quality. Warner Archive has put out a lot of dual-layer DVDs that look gorgeous and contain close to 3 hours of material. The problem is that many small releasers have neither the equipment or the skill to do this. Alpha split all their serials in the early days because they were only doing single-layer DVDs since they were a lot cheaper to produce in those days. I'm not defending Alpha, just explaining why some of their serials are on two discs and others on one. Some of their single-disc issues are a lot better than their two-discs releases.

It is my understanding that a lot of Alpha's source material came from TV station tapes created from old 16 mm masters they stations originally used. If they were broadcast tapes, they were not VHS. Broadcast stations almost always used a higher quality tape format than VHS. Of course, by the time many of the stations went to tape, their masters were worn out and we don't know what equipment and skill Alpha has used to create their transfers.
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The Batman
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Thanks, Jazzy, that's good to know. In the case of KING OF THE WILD, I am going to stick with the Sinister Cinema version, as it doesn't have cropping, and from Willie's cursory examination of the two releases, appears to be the one of better quality.

But still good to know, when considering future 1-disc vs 2-disc releases.




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JazzGuyy
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Actually you can get close to 4 hours without any loss of quality on a dual-layer DVD, if done right. For instance, the Warner Archive Mavericks have 4 episodes per disc with each episode being about 52 minutes and they all look fine. You would get a little less with color and widescreen material because they have more information to encode. DVD production has come a long way in the past 15 years or so. Of course, not everyone takes advantage of these improvements.

Also with modern technology it can be easy to make things worse by doing too much digital cleanup, noise reduction, and the use of edge enhancement (this last should never be used, IMO.)

I would ask Trev whether and how he is using any of these techniques on his remasters.
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The Batman
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What is edge enhancement, Jazzy? That's the only term I am not familiar with in your post.


Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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williejg
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Hi Bats~ LG lists VCI's LAST OF THE MOHICANS as a 9--really lovely. I heartily agree with him. It is the best print of this title that I have seen. Likewise for Roan's version of THE 3 MUSKETEERS. It is a beautiful 35mm print and I think it's just a bit sharper than Mohicans. So I stand by my rating of 9. There is no better print of 3 Musketeers anywhere, and is one of the jewels of my collection.

willie
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The Batman
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Thanks, Willie, I have Roan's 3M and agree it's a great print, just not a 9 for me. So I've put both 3M and LotM to an 8, since you say they are similar in look.

If enough others think they should be 9's, I'll definitely bump them up.






Always be yourself! Unless you can be Batman...then always be Batman!
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williejg
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The Alpha and Sinister cinema prints of KING OF THE WILD are 2 different critters. Easy to tell when you have both and can compare. I've heard that they were the same print for several years. Absolutely not.

willie
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williejg
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Bats~ They should both be 9's. No question.

willie
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