Those reviews are by Ken Brown who has proven to be unreliable IMO. He also blew it when reviewing Hustle and Flow and the Frighteners. I don't think he understands how the filming process works.
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Originally Posted by DVDTalk
This 1.85:1 high-def presentation of Mallrats has been culled from the same master as the 2005 DVD re-release, but it's a marked improvement in just about every conceivable way. The bright pastels of the Eden Prairie Mall are more vivid, and the image overall is considerably crisper and more detailed. This is particularly noticeable whenever the camera closes in, and the sunny opening with T.S. and Brandi that sets the stage for the rest of the flick really stands out. The compression hiccups from the DVD are all wiped away with this VC-1 encode. The shots of the blueprint as Jay runs through how Silent Bob is going to take down La Fours with a sockful of quarters always looked kinda blocky and unstable on DVD, f'r instance, but there's nothing like that on this high-def release.
Admittedly, Mallrats doesn't have the glossy sparkle of an $80 million flick -- wider shots in the mall are a bit on the soft side, and the film stock is fairly grainy -- but that's not exactly unexpected. The film elements are in good shape too, with wear limited to a handful of small specks. The only real problem is a mildly oversharpened appearance that occasionally results in some haloing around edges. It's noticeable but didn't strike me as overly intrusive, and the edge enhancement seems dialed down from the previous DVD.
Not perfect, no, but this HD DVD of Mallrats is a definite step up from the DVD, and it's one of the better looking releases from Universal's last couple waves of catalog titles.
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Mallrats looks outstanding considering the budget of the film, and a huge upgrade from the DVD. I haven't watched The Game, so I can't comment on that ATM.