What DVD Did You Watch Last? (1 Viewer)

[YANG]

was attempting to terminate the last weekend Sunday with Terminator Trilogy...

...kind of pity that the first episode have to end after 90mins run, as the rest of the length cannot be read by the player.
at least......i got to see and knew how John Connor was conceived.
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[Kaskade1309]

NEW ARRIVAL IMMEDIATE REWATCH

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[YANG]

what a beginning of weekend with 4 troubled kids...

...with 2 girls seeking relieve from Demonic Possession, and 2 boys from turning into Psychotic Killers due to their growth filled with Jealousies.​

 

[YANG]

terminating one another weekend with...

...the last 2nd Trilogy of Terminators!​

 

[JimJasper]

terminating one another weekend with...

View attachment 219004
...the last 2nd Trilogy of Terminators!​

Those were FUN! Underrated, imo.

 

[JimJasper]

....i'll never forget that I got this for my college buddy, Marc, for his birthday. I gave it to him when I was driving us somewhere in Portland Oregon. He did not see it coming, we'd never even talked about this film. I just bought it spontaneously, and took a chance. Marc was shocked and literally started jumping, kicking the floor, and yelling in the passenger side of my car, "Jim this is sick!!! This is amazing!!! This is SICK!!!" He was so excited. Haha! Fun memory. Fun movie!

 

[YANG]

Those were FUN! Underrated, imo.

in SALVATION we were brought straight into the unknown future where John Connor is played by Christian Bale, the whole adventure stays there.
in GENYSIS, John Connor wasn't played by Christian Bale anymore, but rather created a big void having the Brit replaced by an Aussie, and this latter version of John Connor is killed by the T1001. this is probably where GENYSIS story still pisses off some folks as majority would have "John Connor is still alive and kicking in the future as portrayed by Christian Bale".
in DARK FATE, with James Cameron participation in the story writing team, there won't be John Connor's character anymore as John "the kid" Connor got terminated in this episode.

when it comes to story continuity, i guess lots will view SKYDANCE made GENYSIS as the worst episode or screw up in the whole anthology that twist the story development. i agree in this part... hence, with GENYSIS, will tend to drag in DARK FATE into the mess pool of "underrating".

 

[Kaskade1309]

NO "DISC ROT" DETECTED ON THIS ONE...

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[Kaskade1309]

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[Kaskade1309]

what a beginning of weekend with 4 troubled kids...

View attachment 218864
...with 2 girls seeking relieve from Demonic Possession, and 2 boys from turning into Psychotic Killers due to their growth filled with Jealousies.​

You didn't want to pick up Exorcist Believer on 4K?

I'm waiting for it to drop in price before I snag it; it was nowhere in the same stratosphere as the original, of course, and it felt like a totally separate universe from the Exorcist franchise (save for the inclusion of Regan and Chris, which was misplaced and odd at best) especially considering that this wasn't supposed to be the same demon that tormented Regan in the first one (Pazuzu), but I didn't think it was quite as bad as people were making it out to be.

 

[Kaskade1309]

....i'll never forget that I got this for my college buddy, Marc, for his birthday. I gave it to him when I was driving us somewhere in Portland Oregon. He did not see it coming, we'd never even talked about this film. I just bought it spontaneously, and took a chance. Marc was shocked and literally started jumping, kicking the floor, and yelling in the passenger side of my car, "Jim this is sick!!! This is amazing!!! This is SICK!!!" He was so excited. Haha! Fun memory. Fun movie!

Cool story, Jim -- you bought this Extreme DVD for him?

This transfer still holds up to this day -- I swear, as upscaled by my Panasonic UHD BD player, the DVD comes across like a good Blu-ray transfer, even on my 65-inch sized display. I don't see any need to upgrade to the 4K version any time soon. Plus, it comes with that super-cool metallic-looking slipcase.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Those were FUN! Underrated, imo.

in SALVATION we were brought straight into the unknown future where John Connor is played by Christian Bale, the whole adventure stays there.
in GENYSIS, John Connor wasn't played by Christian Bale anymore, but rather created a big void having the Brit replaced by an Aussie, and this latter version of John Connor is killed by the T1001. this is probably where GENYSIS story still pisses off some folks as majority would have "John Connor is still alive and kicking in the future as portrayed by Christian Bale".
in DARK FATE, with James Cameron participation in the story writing team, there won't be John Connor's character anymore as John "the kid" Connor got terminated in this episode.

when it comes to story continuity, i guess lots will view SKYDANCE made GENYSIS as the worst episode or screw up in the whole anthology that twist the story development. i agree in this part... hence, with GENYSIS, will tend to drag in DARK FATE into the mess pool of "underrating".

Here's my take on these:

First of all, regardless of this severely unpopular opinion, Rise of the Machines is my favorite of the whole franchise. Don't know what it is -- Ms. Loken looking sexy as hell, the fight sequences, Nick Stahl in the role of John (which I personally loved)...but it's my hands-down favorite, even over Judgement Day.

I cannot stand Salvation -- to me, it was the black sheep of this franchise, just like the Bourne film with Jeremy Renner, and I felt like Bale was completely out of place. My wife and I enjoy Genysis (we watch the Blu-ray often; it's her favorite of the bunch) and Dark Fate (we have the 4K), but the issue I have with these last two entries is the way they play with the timelines. In Genysis, I simply couldn't follow what was going on (okay...John gets "assimilated" by Skynet before Kyle goes in the time machine, changing the flow of time, but the whole "John is now skipping from year to year to change events before Kyle and Sarah" confused the shit out of me).

They also played with the concept of being able to "meet your younger self in the same plane/universe" thing too much, wherein Reese was able to talk to his child variant (which I believe is contrary to universal law); then, we had the whole "John was working for Cyberdyne to create the time machine technology" in the midst of all this....what???

There are a myriad of issues that bother me about Dark Fate, as well, including the way they basically undid all the things that came before by having John killed by the T-101 (I think it was) in the beginning (during Sarah's flashback narration). Essentially, everything we came to invest our emotions in from the first two Terminators onward was undone, suggesting the Terminator actually completed its mission with John.

And don't get me started on the woke overtones introduced into this last one, what with the whole "Well, I wish you two weren't so WHITE" rhetoric spewed by the female Mexican "lead."

 

[JimJasper]

Cool story, Jim -- you bought this Extreme DVD for him?

This transfer still holds up to this day -- I swear, as upscaled by my Panasonic UHD BD player, the DVD comes across like a good Blu-ray transfer, even on my 65-inch sized display. I don't see any need to upgrade to the 4K version any time soon. Plus, it comes with that super-cool metallic-looking slipcase.

Yes, this one with the metal casing on the outside, young stud. Should be a 2-Disc, 2003 release. Before high definition majorly took off, this release had a new high def transfer for both:
* disc one on the standard def disc
* disc two with a unique high definition option

Check out this cool add link on YT. It's only 2min. Just for this Extreme DVD!

IGN review: in 2003 "One of the big attractions of disc two is "T2: High-Definition". This is the theatrical cut of Terminator 2 presented in Windows Media 9 format that you need to view on your PC. If your monitor supports the resolution, you can see it in the full 1920x1080 res, but you'll need a monster PC to run it. The recommended requirements call for a Pentium 4 3ghz, 512MB of RAM, an internet connection (to activate Media Player's Digital Rights Management), a 128MB video card, and a multi-channel soundcard. Now, those are only the recommended requirements, but I wouldn't try to run it on anything slower than a 2.5ghz. We checked it out here in the office on a 3ghz system, and it does look stunning."

And a lot of the DVD review sites at the time (back in 2003) were freaking out about this breakthrough, their balls sweating in their trashed home office chairs including mine

.

So I'm guessing that is why this particular release probably looks terrific on your 65-incher (heheh), first of all because the transfer was new for this release. But secondly, this leads me to ask you....I wonder if/could/have you tried hooking up a computer that has Windows Media, and trying to play the high definition 1920x1080 film like the review suggests from disc two on your 65 incher? Or maybe you can play that disc 2 from your Panasonic?

Lastly, if you don't know, the 4K releases (yeah a few) of T2 now show some improvement, but are under debate with "excessive DNR" and consternation in home theater land. Ultimately it's an under-utilized transfer I guess.

 

[YANG]

You didn't want to pick up Exorcist Believer on 4K? ... ...

Heee~~~
I'm kinda "old chicken" to be spooked by the makeups and effects in the EXORCIST: BELIEVERS.
anyway, the FHD BluRay would look very impressive on my display so... 4K can be given up to save me little more on the expense, for other titles.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Yes, this one with the metal casing on the outside, young stud. Should be a 2-Disc, 2003 release. Before high definition majorly took off, this release had a new high def transfer for both:
* disc one on the standard def disc
* disc two with a unique high definition option

Check out this cool add link on YT. It's only 2min. Just for this Extreme DVD!

IGN review: in 2003 "One of the big attractions of disc two is "T2: High-Definition". This is the theatrical cut of Terminator 2 presented in Windows Media 9 format that you need to view on your PC. If your monitor supports the resolution, you can see it in the full 1920x1080 res, but you'll need a monster PC to run it. The recommended requirements call for a Pentium 4 3ghz, 512MB of RAM, an internet connection (to activate Media Player's Digital Rights Management), a 128MB video card, and a multi-channel soundcard. Now, those are only the recommended requirements, but I wouldn't try to run it on anything slower than a 2.5ghz. We checked it out here in the office on a 3ghz system, and it does look stunning."

And a lot of the DVD review sites at the time (back in 2003) were freaking out about this breakthrough, their balls sweating in their trashed home office chairs including mine

.

So I'm guessing that is why this particular release probably looks terrific on your 65-incher (heheh), first of all because the transfer was new for this release. But secondly, this leads me to ask you....I wonder if/could/have you tried hooking up a computer that has Windows Media, and trying to play the high definition 1920x1080 film like the review suggests from disc two on your 65 incher? Or maybe you can play that disc 2 from your Panasonic?

Lastly, if you don't know, the 4K releases (yeah a few) of T2 now show some improvement, but are under debate with "excessive DNR" and consternation in home theater land. Ultimately it's an under-utilized transfer I guess.

Yes, my big-D'ed friend...I remember the second cut of the film on that second disc of the Extreme set (apparently, it had to be accessed via a PC). I never tried, so I always watch the special extended version.

And you are most likely right about the reason why the transfer looks good on my display -- it was remastered for this release, so it is looking its very best (for the time). I didn't have a chance to try and play the alternate original cut on my Panasonic, but my thought was always that it shouldn't work if everyone is saying you need a computer to do it. Maybe I'll try one day (I don't have a PC anywhere near my HT display to try and play it directly from a computer).

As for the 4K release, I didn't know there were multiple versions out now -- I know the first release was supposedly marred by excessive DNR and that fans weren't happy (like they apparently aren't now with Aliens), but I didn't realize there have been subsequent 4K releases.

 

[Kaskade1309]

Heee~~~
I'm kinda "old chicken" to be spooked by the makeups and effects in the EXORCIST: BELIEVERS.
anyway, the FHD BluRay would look very impressive on my display so... 4K can be given up to save me little more on the expense, for other titles.

But are you set up for 4K?

 

[YANG]

my 75" display is 4K.

i've been stocking up some "selected" titles with 4K "transition packs", that contains both UHD and FHD discs in a single case.

i can get a 4K player just to play 4K discs easily but i didn't do so, as that specific model sold in my country is famous for being problematic in reading 100GB discs. still waiting for parallel importer to bring in the PANASONIC UB820 while i'm still...jobless. so i'm currently still living with my relatively old and reliable PHILIPS BDP7750 for BD/DVD playback.

yeah... i'm set in a certain way... but holding back as i'm currently living in a frugal way on my savings such that i don't spend too much over some part in this hobby.

 

[JimJasper]

Yes, my big-D'ed friend...I remember the second cut of the film on that second disc of the Extreme set (apparently, it had to be accessed via a PC). I never tried, so I always watch the special extended version.

And you are most likely right about the reason why the transfer looks good on my display -- it was remastered for this release, so it is looking its very best (for the time). I didn't have a chance to try and play the alternate original cut on my Panasonic, but my thought was always that it shouldn't work if everyone is saying you need a computer to do it. Maybe I'll try one day (I don't have a PC anywhere near my HT display to try and play it directly from a computer).

As for the 4K release, I didn't know there were multiple versions out now -- I know the first release was supposedly marred by excessive DNR and that fans weren't happy (like they apparently aren't now with Aliens), but I didn't realize there have been subsequent 4K releases.

T2 Extreme: DVD & DVD-highdef-hybrid: Good points, & I think you aren't alone: probably most home theater folks found the computer-to-TV set up to be very awkward to impossible. Anyway, if the stars align in the future (maybe a laptop?) and you get to play around with it, and compare the 2 disc picture qualities, maybe you can give us your thoughts. Also, I wonder if any other films tried to do this DVD-highdef-hybrid around that time in 2003-ish...??? I'm just geeky curious. Hopefully Exorcist II: The Heretic received the treatment ← Everyone's favorite film!

T2 4K: I have a Blu-ray set of the first 4 Terminator films (from about 13 years ago, methinks). Been a while since I binged through them. Always thought they were so much fun - especially the ambition and backstory of making the first Terminator (1984). Anyway, been kinda bummed about the discouraging "DNR" news about the multiple 4K releases of T2 (2017-2021!!), literally from 2 different studio/production house release$$$ via digitalbits.com ...here are separate screen shots. Though, for the record, I haven't seen any of the 4K releases yet:

Lionsgate:

Studio Canal:

And getting back to the DVD conversation and the Terminator films themselves. I always did like, and was fully entertained by Terminator: Rise of the Machines. So it was a fun surprise to read in your 65-incher (hehehe) post #1392 above that it was your favorite.Great to hear!!!!! + I thought the DVD looked very clean and sharp back when I rented it I believe.

Upfront: as most fans know, the writing of the John Connor character was heavily criticized for him being whiny and mopey in this particular Terminator ("3") chapter. I was conflicted about this: while, yes, part of me wanted to see John Connor to be more of an aggressive, fighting stud, however:

I also thought there was a strong, realistic argument for Connor to naturally be overwhelmed by his tragic life, amplified by the menacing destruction rushing toward humanity. With that, I thought Nick Stahl was wonderful and believable, full of pathos, and of course he did have his stud/fighting moments, which was good! I wished Stahl could have been worked into the future T films. I always liked him.

At the time, IRL, I believe Stahl was battling substance abuse and his own demons, so it was evidently a horrible time for him, if you look into it. Maybe that enhanced his performance in strange ways. Rehab in 2012, though & I hope he's better. Further, I liked T:Rise of the Machine's story, fights, racing, action sequences, the sexy villainesse, and I thought the ending was actually pretty cool. Seen this film about 3 times (theater release, DVD, Blu-ray). And plan to see it again when the Terminator binge-bug bites.

 

[Kaskade1309]

RECENT PURCHASE SECOND REWATCH - STARS THE MAN BEHIND HELLRAISER'S PINHEAD HIMSELF, MR. DOUG BRADLEY!

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[YANG]

it was some chaos yesterday, i with modern day reiteration of “battle in the Pacific Theater”...

...reference to the events that happened in the history about 80yrs ago?​