Hustle & Flow: HD-DVD/Blu-ray

[Pirate]

I wanted to start this thread to talk about this transfer. I loved this film and it pains me to see such a harsh review for both the HD-DVD and Blu-ray.

Originally Posted by Review

'Hustle & Flow' is presented on HD DVD in 1080p using the VC-1 codec. Sadly, the video is the weakest part of this release -- a heavy hurricane of grain covers the image and the fine object detail is lacking. To be fair, the film was shot on 16mm so heavier grain is to be expected. However, the grain is so intrusive at times that it severely flattens the image, pulling background elements into the same field of view as the foreground. In high definition, the effect is jarring. Each dot of grain is sharper than any of the textures rendered on the screen and the entire picture lacks dimension and depth.

If grain were the only problem, I'd chalk it up to the film stock and give the video a higher score. However, edges are soft and the print is speckled with damage and scratches. Contrast levels also occasionally waver and fail to establish any sort of consistency throughout the production. If this was the director's intention, it's a big misstep -- compared to the image quality of 'Black Snake Moan' (Brewer's follow-up film, released simultaneously to high-def), the video quality is from another era. 'Black Snake Moan' retained a gritty feel without sacrificing the picture -- 'Hustle & Flow' is simply a messy disappointment.

If you look past its flaws, colors are generally well saturated, skintones are natural, and black levels are good. Compared to the standard DVD, this HD DVD transfer of 'Hustle & Flow' offers a decent upgrade in resolution and fidelity -- but the high definition presentation works against the video quality and calls too much attention to the on-screen grit. Some may argue that the print enhances the mood, but I'd personally much rather immerse myself in the film on its own merits.

Note that while the HD DVD and Blu-ray editions of 'Hustle & Flow' sport different encodes (this HD DVD gets a VC-1 transfer, while the Blu-ray gets AVC MPEG-4), a direct compare between the two transfers yielded identical results.

Now, I don't trust Brown as much as Bracke, but this review may be hard to argue with. Print damage is print damage. What I don't understand is the comments about grain. As far as I understand, HD shouldn't make grain look worse than it would have in the cinema. I thought the SD-DVD looked quite good (even with the intentional grain). Anyone here see it in the theatre? Did it look terrible there?

Or is this another case of a reviewer looking for the wrong things?


http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/hustleandflow.html

[tomdkat]

Did Hustle & Flow have these same kinds of video issues in the theater?

Peace...

[Ruined]

Its 16mm. Please.

Hidef will not make grain look "worse." But it the grain will be more pronounced because on DVD the high frequencies are rolled off/grain filtered in order to prevent MPEG2 compression artifacts. With hidef you can put back all the original grain with no blocking - but of course, then, it will be more noticable because its actually there!

This new reviewer on HDD is a joke IMO. That makes it 2 terrible reviews on his part IMO. "It was shot on 16mm, but I was expecting it to look like King Kong. What a disappointment."

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Its 16mm. Please.

That's what I'm thinking too, but he makes it seem like the HD exaggerates the images somehow.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

That's what I'm thinking too, but he makes it seem like the HD exaggerates the images somehow.

The HD simply exposes the grain because its not filtered out like the DVD release, because MPEG2 on DVD can't handle heavy grain without horrible artifacting. This is the same guy who blew the review on The Frighteners.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Ruined

This is the same guy who blew the review on The Frighteners.

Perhaps we shold write a letter.

[ganthc]

Well, Sleepy Hollow had a large amount of grain on it. Excessive amount. I wonder if that is the same thing.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by ganthc

Well, Sleepy Hollow had a large amount of grain on it. Excessive amount. I wonder if that is the same thing.

It is if reviewers took points off for it.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

It is if reviewers took points off for it.

Tim Burton came out and said THE GRAIN IS INTENTIONAL, STUPIDS! so no, most reviewers did not

Now we can look forward to a 45-page thread on AVSFORUM'S BD Software Subforum with people crucifying Warner Bros for not having a seperate 40mbps AVC encode of the BD version of the movie, because the additional bitrate would most likely remove the film grain and give the film immense 3D "pop".

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Ruined

the additional bitrate would most likely remove the film grain and give the film immense 3D "pop".

And we all want that!

[dizzlle01]

Damn it, I really liked this film too. I was looking forward to it

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by dizzlle01

Damn it, I really liked this film too. I was looking forward to it

I think that may have been a bad review. I'm going to watch it over the weekend. I'll report back on how it looks.