The Leopard

Discuss releases by the BFI and the films on them.

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ellipsis7
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 1:56 pm
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Re: The Leopard

#176 Post by ellipsis7 » Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:11 pm

Subs are pale yellow... although lying outside image frame...

Somehow I've developed a profound dislike of yellow subs, but maybe that's just me!...

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: The Leopard

#177 Post by Michael Kerpan » Fri Jan 13, 2012 9:20 pm

How hard would it be to offer a choice between white (suitably outlined) subtitles and yellow ones? (for those of us whose eyesight is bad enough that easy legibility might trump purely aesthetic concerns)

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MichaelB
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Re: The Leopard

#178 Post by MichaelB » Sat Jan 14, 2012 7:14 am

If I remember rightly, Mondo Vision's Andrzej Zulawski DVDs do indeed offer that choice - and also a choice of sizes.

But that's the only example I can think of.

I can't imagine it would be very difficult at all - the subtitle files would otherwise be identical, so it would just be a case of re-rendering them in a different colour.

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bugsy_pal
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Re: The Leopard

#179 Post by bugsy_pal » Mon Feb 27, 2012 1:30 am

I picked up the Madman bluray recently and have done a quick A/B comparison with the Criterion on a few scenes (sorry, I can't do sceenshots).

The yellow subtitles on the Madman are fine with me - it's a fairly pale yellow, not the lurid acid yellow on some DVDs.

My impressions would generally support what the previously available screenshot comparisons between the French/Italian versions of the later restoration and the Criterion/BFI edition have shown. The Madman is definitely from a different restoration to the Criterion - there's more image on the Madman, often to the left side of the frame. The colours are somewhat juicier on the Madman compared to the Criterion. I don't know which version is more 'truthful', but after watching the two versions for a while, I generally liked the Madman better - blacks were deeper and the image just looked more lively. There was probably a bit less detail visible in the blacks on the Madman, but nothing to be concerned about. The Criterion looked somewhat faded and drab in comparison - it looks like an older print, whereas the Madman looks like it has been restored to resemble a more modern film.

My preference for the Madman's image relates also to other image differences - the Criterion seemed to have a more variable grain pattern, some of which seems at times to be digital noise or shimmering. This is evident in the opening shot right after the credits when the camera pans and zooms across the side of the stone building. On some other scenes the grain/noise is quite intrusive in motion. On the Madman, grain or noise is much finer.

I also noticed a scene or two where the Criterion exhibited pulsing of brightness - the scene where the carriage is going across the dry barren hills. There was none of that pulsing on the Madman.

I'd be happy with the Criterion of the Madman didn't exist.

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