Official: No Jack The Giant Killer Blu-ray - Officially Disappointing!

[Smith Dr John Smith]

Watch a black-and-white movie on DVD or Blu-Ray. Instead of the dark shadows smoothly fading into each other beautifully like on the original film, you get blotchy gradients of gray. Eventually we'll be so used to that gradient stuff that we won't care. But it's still an example of how film doesn't look better on DVD or Blu-Ray.

I have a number of black and white movies on Blu-ray. And don't experience anything like what you're seeing.
Your TV set must not be calibrated right or something. Because there's been plenty of B&W films that look amazing.
The Day The Earth Stood Still and Casablanca for instance are nothing short of A-Mah-Zing on Blu-ray compared to DVD.

I'm guess whatever degree he has he got before there was such a thing as HDTV and it focused mailing on videotape not film because most of what he is saying seems to apply to video tape but anyone with good eyesight can tell you it doesn't apply to film.  I have better then 20/20 eyesight and the difference between many B&W films that I have seen many times just blows me away.  I mean I must have John Ford's films 50 time each since I was a kid and I had most of them on DvD but when I watch them on Blu Ray I feel like I have never seen them before because there are so many details I seem that just could not be seen on DvD.

Saying Blu Ray and DvD show the same amount of detail is like saying DvD and VHS show the same amount of detail,it is clearly not true to anyone who has used the products when they are hooked up right and in working order.

[Smith Dr John Smith]

The sales numbers of the previous BluRay releases couldn't be very accurate as they are for movies that Rifftrax has released in so many versions - Of course people are sick of buying the same thing again and again.

Jack on BluRay would have been a much better test.

Exactly. That's why it's a shame they're pointing to the previous releases to try to claim there isn't a market.

Big shock. The last 2 Blu releases were just re-releases of two earlier releases. So not many likely upgraded.

And the pair of releases before that were planned for release at the same time, but then were delayed til after the DVDs.

Yeah that is what happened to me.  I got the DvDs and now that the Blu Rays are out while I would like the added picture and sound quality when I have a choice between spending $15 rebuying a track I already own or getting trax I have never seen before I have to go with the latter. Now if the Blu Ray came out at the same time as the DvD I would go for the BLuRay every time.

[Edward J Grug III]

I did re-buy two of the three BluRay, but haven't bought the third yet.

I would have bought the BluRay of Jack immediately (and probably bought the other one I don't have yet at the same time) instead I opted for the digital release assuming a BluRay would be coming later.

[Raefire]

Jeezus...Chill. I'm NOT saying DVD and Blu-Ray have the same amount of detail. I know Blu-Ray has more detail. I was mentioning how both are still compression formats... Maybe I should have clarified one of my statements: To someone with a trained eye, you can spot the gradients of greys in shadows and dark spots in a B&W movie on discs. They're not as noticeable on Blu-Ray as they are on DVD,  but they're still there. On the source film, those greys and darks blend together seamlessly, because film is the lossless video format.

But this movie isn't Casablanca, where people labored with love to make sure those gray gradients were supressed as much as possible, leaving the Blu-Ray transfer gorgeous. This is a cheap movie that really won't fare much better quality-wise in the jump from the DVD quality we saw live to Blu-Ray. And neither will the segments with the guys in the theater look much different in quality, either.

So my main question still remains the same: Why do you care about the video quality when the video quality is NOT the primary focus of Rifftrax?

So far I've only seen two decent arguments:

1) SJP's about his personal distate for pixelation

2) Edward J Grug's argument about sales testing.

[k1]

The jokes are funnier in HD.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

The jokes are funnier in HD.

20% more funny? 

Is the sound recorded in a lossless format?  Better sound would be a good reason to go Blu-Ray, along with what I said earlier about when they split the screen.

[Raefire]

It was already mentioned the live shows were recorded in Dolby 2.0 (or basic AC3 codec, to be technical), I believe, so the audio wouldn't be much different quality, either.

[Edward J Grug III]

I'm at the point where I'd rather not be buying DVDs at all any more, if I've got the choice, I'm going to buy the BluRay.

The MST3K boxsets, of course, means that I can't eliminate DVD buying entirely. :/

[MartyS (Gromit)]

It was already mentioned the live shows were recorded in Dolby 2.0 (or basic AC3 codec, to be technical), I believe, so the audio wouldn't be much different quality, either.

OK.

Have you watched any of the live show Blu-Rays on a screen larger than 40 inches?  A nice clean image vs. a slightly blurred one is always nicer to look at.  And no matter how good the upconversion is on the player no DVDs look real sharp when you blow them up that large.

[Smith Dr John Smith]

It was already mentioned the live shows were recorded in Dolby 2.0 (or basic AC3 codec, to be technical), I believe, so the audio wouldn't be much different quality, either.

OK.

Have you watched any of the live show Blu-Rays on a screen larger than 40 inches?  A nice clean image vs. a slightly blurred one is always nicer to look at.  And no matter how good the upconversion is on the player no DVDs look real sharp when you blow them up that large.

Also even mono tracks sound better on blu ray if you have your sound system hooked up right because the audio is not compressed.  Oh and if I want a clearer picture how does that hurt you again?  You are free to stick with VHS tapes or slideshows or whatever other format you want The shorts and VODs have not been cleaned up either but I watch the MPEG2 instead of the iPod format when I watch them on TV because even though the movie is old and not cleaned up I still like the picture to be as clear and free of pixels as it can get.

[Raefire]

Whoah whoah whoah...Doc, what the hell? Please explain to me where I said anyone who cares about the video quality is a worthless loser? I just don't think the extra cost for a Blu-Ray of something that will look just fine on DVD is worth it for Jack.

I love HD, but I will admit to not being enthused about Blu-Ray. Hell, our family didn't even have a DVD player until 2003... I have a Blu-Ray player on my computer now, but I own exactly ONE Blu-Ray disc because I found it on sale. The still-bloated cost of most Blu-Rays over DVDs makes no sense to me when I find DVDs enhanced for HDTVs (Here, read up on what that means) look just fine for my eyes on my 42" plasma.

If you want a Blu-Ray, by all means, ask for a Blu-Ray. I won't stop you. I'm just saying I see no point in paying more for a Blu-Ray release when the difference in image and audio quality is neglible to my eyes. If it was a release of "Rifftrax Live - The Lord of the Rings Trilogy," then I might be wanting a Blu-Ray. But for a crappy movie that looked fine in the theater and will look fine on DVD for me? No. I'll go with the DVD.

Are we done? Have I made my point? Jeezus.

[MontyServo]

What?  You mean you don't watch Rifftrax on slideshows?   

Whoah whoah whoah...Doc, what the hell? Please explain to me where I said anyone who cares about the video quality is worthless loser?

You know how it is.  You say "to-may-toe", he says "to-mah-toe".  You say "po-tay-toe", he hears "worthless loser".

[Edward J Grug III]

Doc thought better of and deleted his post, let's move on.

[Wernski]

I'm just saying I see no point in paying more for a Blu-Ray release when the difference in image and audio quality is neglible to my eyes. If it was a release of "Rifftrax Live - The Lord of the Rings Trilogy," then I might be wanting a Blu-Ray. But for a crappy movie that looked fine in the theater and will look fine on DVD for me? No. I'll go with the DVD.

Yeah, I think for most of us, it's really more about the footage of the Riffers than the footage of the film itself (though if the movie can look better, too; that's definitely a plus).