tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566408705248423573.post4636981899954226628..comments2024-03-28T22:35:51.127-04:00Comments on DVD Exotica: Controversial DVDs: Blackadder Supposedly RemasteredJohn W McKelveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07224424721208024907noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566408705248423573.post-1147361440546485092023-10-20T07:16:34.115-04:002023-10-20T07:16:34.115-04:00Perhaps because SkyTV produced it, so there's ...Perhaps because SkyTV produced it, so there's a separate licensing issue? It is a real shame though, and obviously they were able to pull it off previously for the DVDs. So it's definitely a bummer.John W McKelveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07224424721208024907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566408705248423573.post-84234482995659490062023-10-14T13:49:38.212-04:002023-10-14T13:49:38.212-04:00Why Isn't "Black Adder: Back & Forth&...Why Isn't "Black Adder: Back & Forth" not included in the British Blu-ray Collection. The set wouldn't be complete without it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566408705248423573.post-57458979034507074732022-08-28T07:34:08.049-04:002022-08-28T07:34:08.049-04:00Yeah, that may've been an over-simplified way ...Yeah, that may've been an over-simplified way to review the interlacing on my part. But you sound like you know your stuff, so you know there's more to it than a binary "Interlaced/ Progressive" or "Interlaced Y/N" question. An extreme example would be the US Sword of Honor DVD (review coming soon!), which clearly took a transfer with interlace combing in it and re-encoded it, adding a lot more/ worse interlacing on top. I'm not saying Blackadder has done that (though I wouldn't be 100% surprised either), but the frame rate and interlacing is clearly messed up somehow... how else is it possible that there are entire frames that exist on one version and not the other? And certainly, comparing the interlacing on these discs to, say, Network's recent Monty Python remasters, the combing looks far less destructive to the original image than this... Of course, that was a recent HD release, but it's still another decades old British television film/ video hybrid that I think shows the interlacing wouldn't have to look as nasty as it does here if the BBC did it right.<br /><br />And you're right - I didn't even notice that the Ultimate Edition puts episode 1 first! Sheesh. It's a good thing they came up with new extras (and goodness only knows why the made-for-DVD Blackadder Rides Again disc would also be interlaced?), or it would've been a complete rip-off. At least we get the restored joke and some new content...John W McKelveyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07224424721208024907noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566408705248423573.post-28858100108266406742022-08-27T00:51:03.320-04:002022-08-27T00:51:03.320-04:00PS. Not having a moan at you personally (aside fro...PS. Not having a moan at you personally (aside from the interlacing...), but this "remaster", with my deliberate quotation marks, is a real pet peeve of mine. It was bollocksed from the start, with issues even a quick Google search could have avoided. And these people had access to masters and original paperwork! (Note how the remaster uses the original, unintended broadcast order for series one, unlike every single other release on any format ever that uses the correct, intended order.)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566408705248423573.post-36835645655386523002022-08-27T00:18:08.388-04:002022-08-27T00:18:08.388-04:00Why wouldn't the discs be interlaced? That'...Why wouldn't the discs be interlaced? That's how it was made - 50i field-based interlaced VT. It would only be progressive if they messed up the process (either clicking the wrong flag during authoring, or ingesting the tapes incorrectly, both of which have happened quite a lot in the UK and Europe over the past few years). Interlacing is a good thing here, and you shouldn't see combing if everything is set up correctly, just a very smooth but soft picture. Visible combing would be weave deinterlacing by the player instead of the correct bob (no pun intended). The Blackadder discs were definitely mastered correctly (unlike the US release of Dr Who's The Moonbase for example), 50i for the UK and 60i for America using motion estimated conversion. <br /><br />As for the "remaster", it is, as you spotted, pants. It was done by an outside company that no longer exists who were able to do nice work with film but nothing existing on a tape. Their "remastering" of old video involved zooming the picture and blasting with noise reduction, plus softening the picture to reduce jitter caused by the zooming. If it had been handled internally this wouldn't have happened, and we might also have had new transfers of the series one film inserts. But the job went to the company down the road. <br /><br />As for edits, the Pimpernel episode had rights issues - seems no one checked that Scarlet Pimpernel was still in copyright. So it wasn't always shown in each repeat run, and sometimes the lines from the book were snipped. The other edit was to Xmas Carol about five minutes in. The UK transmission master had the bit about coming back at Easter to see them nail up the dog cut after the first or second tx, and only earlier dubs keep it intact (e.g. the copy used for the original US disc, and the dub provided to UKTV channels like Gold and Dave).<br /><br />Back and Forth is meant to be 16:9 as it was intended for cinema (at the Millennium Dome). The initial US version was open matte in the old school way, with some clipping of the sides. I think the geometry of the American widescreen transfer is a bit off because someone stretched it to remove the little blanking bars on the sides during the standards conversion (as seen on the PAL disc). <br /><br />As for a blu-ray, if it was like Fawlty Towers then we'd just get upscales of the "remastered" dvds with the remaining fine detail filtered off (the Fawlty remasters themselves, in SD, are good work done inside what was BBC Resources - but that's all closed down now). The recent Only Fools blu ray wasn't that bad though, all work done fresh, but that was mostly film based work and there were still some little quirks I'd have preferred not to see, like a little too much DNR and off flesh tones even for British skin.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8566408705248423573.post-90477236518498052742022-08-25T18:51:46.743-04:002022-08-25T18:51:46.743-04:00I've owned the original since release and sinc...I've owned the original since release and since the remaster release I've been looking for an image comparison online but have never found one. Thank you so much for your work here, it basically confirms my what I already suspected. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com