The Host: HD-DVD/Blu-ray

[Pirate]

Hide the children and pets! Magnolia Home Entertainment plans to let the Asian scare flick 'The Host' loose to feast on HD DVD this summer.

Though 'The Host' has enjoyed only a very limited theatrical release in the U.S., it has quickly earned a reputation as the biggest cult horror flick the genre has seen in years.

Magnolia says it will bring the ode to classic monster movies to HD DVD on July 24. No specs are yet available, though the preliminary info from the indie distributor indicates a special edition, so we look forward to at least some supplemental features.

Magnolia currently has no word on a comparable Blu-ray version. However, given that the majority of their past releases have ultimately been released on both formats, a Blu-ray announcement may be forthcoming.

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/sh..._on_HD_DVD/593

I loved this film! However, the FX will look even worse in HD.

[Shawn Watson]

At the risk of thread-crapping, I thought that this film was an over-rated bore with shitty, one-dimensional characters and at least 20 minutes too long.

But I did like the effects.

Shawn

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Shawn Watson

At the risk of thread-crapping, I thought that this film was an over-rated bore with shitty, one-dimensional characters and at least 20 minutes too long.

But I did like the effects.

Shawn

Did we see the same film?

[Astrakan]

While I wouldn't go as far as Shawn, I have to agree to a certain extent. To me it feels like people are going ga-ga over The Host because it's an Asian monster movie. If you took the exact same story with the exact same special effects, but have it be set in San Fransisco with English speaking actors, I'm thinking it wouldn't get nearly the same response.

Then again, I could be wrong. Slither (a movie I feel has its heart in the same place as The Host) received a similar (although not quite as rosy) response from the critics.

By the way, for my money, Slither kicks The Host's ass without even trying. It was one of my favourite movies of last year.

But yeah, we're definitely in thread-crapping territory now.

Yay for The Host in HD!

KM

[Pirate]

I strongly disagree. The Host, in my opinion, had way more going on than Slither. In fact, I wouldn’t even compare the two. The socioeconomic issues brought up in The Host make it a rare breed of monster movie. The family aspects were also surprisingly good for the genre, which is why the "one-dimensional" comment bothers me. Perhaps each character didn’t get as fleshed out as we’d like, but they were far from one-dimensional.

Slither had its moments, but I was bored throughout most of the film. With The Host’s sketchy effects, it would have been just as easy to lose interest in the film, yet because of the thoughtful script and believable characters; I was fully captivated and very entertained.

And why is discussing the film thread-crapping?

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

And why is discussing the film thread-crapping?

This thread seemed more geared towards announcing its appearance on HD DVD than discussing the merits of the movie, that's all.

Originally Posted by piratehunter

I strongly disagree. The Host, in my opinion, had way more going on than Slither.

The Slither comment was more of a throwaway last thought than anything else and isn't really worth a discussion.

The main point of my original post was how I think the cultural curiousity of Asian monster movies have given it a better reception than it deserves.

As for the socioeconomic issues... to me they were too on the nose to be effective. And most of the characters shared the dumber-than-a-brick characteristics of most movies of this kind, so I can't say I much agree with you there either.

And don't get me wrong, The Host was enjoyable enough, but from where I'm sitting it is way, WAY overhyped. To me, it's just another run-of-the-mill monster flick. Nothing more, nothing less. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.

KM

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Astrakan

As for the socioeconomic issues... to me they were too on the nose to be effective. And most of the characters shared the dumber-than-a-brick characteristics of most movies of this kind, so I can't say I much agree with you there either.

Which dumb characteristics are you talking about?

[Astrakan]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

Which dumb characteristics are you talking about?

The standard stuff of not behaving like a real person would.

Spoiler (Highlight or Triple Click to Read):

Like when the dad didn't run when he was out of ammunition. Or dozens of government agents not being able to catch the brother. Or the sister not keeping all her arrows (I can't quite remember how she "dropped" them, but I remember groaning). Or Gang-Du attacking the monster with a traffic sign. Or the daughter just standing there, staring at the monster after she woke it up.

Admittedly it's hard to come up with a comprehensive list off the cuff like this, but I do remember consistently rolling my eyes at their behaviour throughout the movie.

And, again, not that there's anything wrong with that. Characters in movies of this genre tend to behave unrealistically, so I'm fine with it. I'm just using it as an example of why I don't think the movie deserves the extreme praise it's gotten.

KM

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Astrakan

And, again, not that there's anything wrong with that. Characters in movies of this genre tend to behave unrealistically, so I'm fine with it. I'm just using it as an example of why I don't think the movie deserves the extreme praise it's gotten.

It’s funny because I absolutely hate horror/shasher films for the very reasons you're talking about, yet I had no issue with the examples you provided. They made perfect sense to me within the context of the situation.

[esc]

I don't know if I should wait for HD or order the regular overseas special edition from ebay in the mean time.

[Pirate]

Using the HD-A1, what am I getting when I listen to the DTS-HD track? When I played it for a few minutes I noticed that the surround channels were WAY louder than the rest of the system (it was fine with DD+). Does that make sense to anyone? I'm using the analogs, btw.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

Using the HD-A1, what am I getting when I listen to the DTS-HD track? When I played it for a few minutes I noticed that the surround channels were WAY louder than the rest of the system (it was fine with DD+). Does that make sense to anyone? I'm using the analogs, btw.

You are getting DTS-HD core (standard 1.5mbps) decoded to PCM, it should sound similar to DD+.

It sounds like there was an audio mastering error. Theatrical masters have surround levels +3db higher than home levels. They likely failed to attenuate the master properly. Does the DTS version also have stronger LFE response? If so, then its definitely a theatrical master without proper attentuation. Or it could simply be a mismatering with the wrong levels set for the surrounds on the DTS soundtrack.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Does the DTS version also have stronger LFE response?

A little bit, yeah.

Oh well. The DD+ still sound goods.