Went to Best Buy at Orange, CA for Dark Knight’s midnight release. About 70 people were in line. The ratio of male to female was about 6 to 1. This really was a nerd event. Here’s the video of the line:
Best Buy started letting 10 people in at a time around 11:55. We were in the back of the line so we got in around 12:15. All of the exclusives were still available except for the DC Direct 3 inch Joker figure. Looked at the Batman DC Direct figure and for $10, it’s about $9 too much. The figure was a joke. Here’s another clip of the other exclusives and the Dark Knight display:
Some people bought a couple of the exclusive box sets. I picked up the Blu Ray version and my brother bought a couple of Gotham Knights for $5 as Christmas gifts.
Now to the Blu Ray impressions….
This is a disappointing release for the biggest movie of 2008. The IMAX scenes(1.85 format, fills the whole widescreen tv) are really clear but there’s some edge enhancements. Most of the movie is in 35mm, 2.35 format and the quality is even worse. It’s still better than DVD but edge enhancement is still apparent. The blacks are really dark and you lose the shade of blacks. Some shots that were well lit in the movie theatres now looks like silhouette, especially the Hong Kong and the armored car chase scenes. The audio is also average, lacks the tightness that Wanted had. The surrounds were too loud compared to the center. The early reviews from fans were right: quality could have been better.
Why so average?
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Reboot
Dec 9, 2008 -
I didnt think that alot of people where going to go to the midnight release, i laughed at the manager, who gave and estimate of the amount of people that would come to the midnight release.
I sure as hell wasnt going to get up at midnight to go buy a dvd that i was 90% sure was going to be fully stocked when i get there in the afternoon.
I dont have a bluray player so i will be getting the normal dvd version, which im sure is better then the torrented version i have.
Mongoose
Dec 9, 2008 -
If they want to impress people with Blu-ray’s HD quality, they better do better than this. For $25, I want to feel like I am flying when they show the aerial shots of Gotham. Instead, i’m bitching and moaning about the jaggy edges and the shitty color balance. This is not worth $25. The consumers should stop supporting shitty quality HD movies, so they’ll make it better next time. It defeats the purpose.
But, since it’s Batman, it’s going to sell a trillion copies, and WB will soon release another shitty quality Blu-ray movie because people will still buy them.
John Spartan
Dec 10, 2008 -
This is Warner Bros, so quality won’t be as good as other companies.
But I’m pretty impressed with the quality on my HD. As for the contrast, I enjoyed the solid blacks. Batman’s a dark character, and I love the choices of dark areas vs light areas.
I wouldn’t say it’s shitty quality, but a very good quality.
Cricket
Dec 10, 2008 -
Warner Brothers used to be one of the best when HD and Blu Ray still had their battle. Training Day and Harry Potter 5 had a very impressive transfer in both video and audio.
Once Blu Ray won, they started putting out mediocre/lackluster Blu Rays such as Speed Racer not having lossless sound. Now Dark Knight is released and the picture quality looks a little bit muddy. I was checking out the trailers on the second disk and noticed how clean the video looked compared to the actual movie. WTF WB?
Mongoose
Dec 10, 2008 -
Spartan, I think you need glasses 🙂
Reboot
Dec 10, 2008 -
So i bought the 2 disc special edition on DVD heres the run down:
The video quality is up to par, some scenes were dark, but could be fixed easily by changing the TV settings.
The audio quality was on par, batmans voice was alittle loud sometimes, but overall was pretty good
Ok, now the bonus features:
Crap, all crap, lol.
It was ok, some of it was interesting but overall not really good, and there wasnt much. It left much to be desired.
NO COMMENTARY, WTF, how do you release a DVD on the biggest movie of the year with no commentary! The *bonus feature* on disc one, is language, and scene selection! It does have a digital copy though!
Overall, its worth a rent, unless your a die hard Batman fan(like my wife and myself, then just get the standard Dark Knight dvd. It left much to be desired in bonus features and featurettes.
Biggest pro for the dvd: Digital Copy
Biggest con for the dvd: NO COMMENTARY!
As much as it pains me i grade it:
Movie: 9/10
Audio: 8/10
Bonus Feature: 4/10
Overall: 6/10 D+
Cricket
Dec 11, 2008 -
Watched it at Spartan’s 32″ (4 x 3) Sanyo HDTV and I couldn’t see the edge enhancements and everything looked sharp. It didn’t look too dark either.
Watched it again on my 30″ Sony HDTV and I saw the edge enhancements and some parts looked really soft. Also, some parts looked pretty dark.
Both used PS3 through HDMI. I’m confused.
Regardng the extras, it’s half assed. I wanted to see more behind the scenes featurette. Especially Ledger’s take on the Joker and how he prepared for it. Expect a double dip within the next year.
Reboot
Dec 11, 2008 -
I imagin WB will be milking Ledgers death with a Joker special dvd or something.
Cricket
Dec 18, 2008 -
I totally agree.