GODZILLA 2014 BD+DVD 09/16/14

[Cookie]

Um yeah.... The darkness is just the same in theaters, which is the way it was meant to be. There's no issue with the video. Bluray.com's review is spot on. This movie looks fantastic. That bonus feature from Target is pointless really. Its just recycled stuff from other special features on the normal release. Though I like the cover better. Still hoping to find Takaradas scene hiding somewhere...

The release is fine... Go get it.

[msweets13]

[Cookie]

[jamaal7]

I watched the film this afternoon (in two parts-around a thunderstorm), and the PQ was...great.

I'm very happy with the extras too. The featurettes on Monarch and Operation: Lucky Dragon are nice additions to the film's backstory. They're well done, and the 1950's-era look to them enhance the feel that the whole Godzilla story is real.

The making of, behind the scenes features provide great insight into the talent, skill and dedication that went into Godzilla.

I plan to watch it a few times this week, features and all.

[C.Miller719]

Just got done watching this on my 50inch LG LCD. And my honest opinion?
This film simply looked FANTASTIC on bluray to me! I was expecting the worse after reading all the reviews but I honestly can't see anything wrong with the picture.

As mentioned above, go get it, and enjoy it!

[Dr Kain]

I went to Best Buy because I had a coupon but they couldn't be bothered to even find their exclusive edition. As such, I used the coupon on Mothra and left. I go to Target and all 23 copies they had were in the back, which even made the employee who helped me dumbfounded. I figured he did a great job of customer service that I might as well pick it up. Haven't opened it yet, will probably do that later.

[Shokara]

I know I said it in an earlier post, but I'll say again that I'm very happy to hear from everyone that after all the month long worrying over the supposedly "way too dark" picture that we really had little to nothing to worry about. I'll be looking forward to seeing this once I get done watching my new Sony BDs (I just got done watching the Japanese version of Rebirth of Mothra).

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

I was watching the 3D version just a bit ago and got near the end after the male MUTO delivers the warhead to the female and right after when the military is discussing strategies the audio kept going in and out. Not sure if I have a bad disc or if our living room BD player needs an update. I would assume it's the former because the audio worked fine up until that point.

I'm going to test it out on my Xbox One and see if I get the same issue, if so then I'll return it and exchange it for a new copy.

[jamaal7]

And, oh yeah, for the record:

that Gareth Edwards is some kind of filmmaker.

I saw Godzilla 9 times at the theater, and never got tired of it, not once.

So I watch it this afternoon, and find it as enjoyable as I did this summer. It is great moviemaking, well-crafted and filmed with a lot of care.

And, it shows.

[lhb412]

Didn't we have this same conversation about darkness 14 years ago with Gamera 3?

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

Just saw my copy today on blu-ray. I really have no problems at all with the picture quality. Thank GOD!

My TV is a Panasonic HD tv. Uh... dunno what make, but it's one I got a free XBox360 with >_> a few years ago.

THAT SAID, I have no complaints about the picture quality. Or the movie for that matter. Pretty cool.

[sachiel]

Got a copy of the exclusive Target version of the blu ray release today. I demoed it earlier today and had some initial qualms about the dark scenes with MUTO in Hawaii's mountains and the bridge scene with MUTO and Brody later in the movie. When compared to the promo clips used in the bonus materials in the disc, there definitely seems to be a difference in darkness levels, as if a fine grey filter has been applied on the final film's transfer presented on blu ray and dvd. As such the colours are definitely less vibrant than they should be, but ultimately still serviceable. Even so I think overall the picture quality on this release is definitely excellent albeit on the darker side. Its best to see this movie in the dark instead of a well it room to appreciate all the details the movie has to offer. Make no mistake though, this movie's blu ray release is presented in HD and looks fantastic overall when considering the sum of its parts. Those other reviewers at TK forums are just ridiculous to write off this blu ray release as having sub-par picture quality, akin to standard def release. Fools.....

Overall definitely a worthy purchase. Might I add this is one of the best audio tracks I've experienced on the blu ray format. We may have some complaints about the darker image on the video, but the audio impresses a lot! Every sound, military choppers, foot steps, tire noise from vehicles, trains on the rails, and roars/grunts from the monsters ring LOUD AND CLEAR! It really sucks you into the movie. A totally immersive experience!

[Gman2887]

[Tom R VanSlambrouck]

The audio issue was indeed with my player in the living room so that's good probably needs an update or something.

Also I skimmed the 2D version and it is darker than what's presented in the theater and the 3D cut but it's not as dark as some of the pictures we've seen. This probably has to due with the fact that PC monitors and TVs act differently in terms of displaying images. I know from my expierence that any video I play on the PC will look a lot different than one played on a TV also when I've hooked my PC up to a TV it doesn't look as good as having it hooked up to a PC monitor.

[MouthForWar]

I've taken some pics of how Godzilla looks like on my setup. I think a lot of people have poorly calibrated TVs, cuz its definitely not the transfer. The professional reviews that gave it a near perfect score aren't lying. Here's how it looks on my own television with the same custom calibration settings I've used for years. Keep in mind that these pics are in a room where ALL MY LIGHTS ARE ON, didn't require me tinkering with the image at all, and they are just crappy cell phone pics. If I could take screen captures, they'd look even better, and it looks even better in person.

They're all from the final battle, which is by far the darkest portion of the film.













So far, the only review to tear into this video presentation is Toho Kingdom, and I honestly think what they did over there, and the reaction to it is rather appalling. There is nothing wrong with the way this movie looks. I don't know if the people over there don't understand television calibration or what, but the fact that the fans there were SO riled up about TK's uber-dark screencaps that they put out a petition for WB to create a new transfer and replace their discs, is the very worst kind of example of the super entitled mentality of that part of the fandom. Aside from the initial reviewer at TK, none of these people had seen the disc for themselves and went off poorly calibrated screengrabs and its just downright embarrassing. The fact that TK tried to back up their claim about the transfer being too dark with brighter screengrabs from trailers, TV spots and EPK featurettes doesn't help either since those things are usually done before a film is even done in post, so they don't always have the right color correction. But somehow, people took that as meaning the transfer was messed up and the movie is "supposed" to look how it looks in the trailers, which is hardly the case. SO many people freaked out and JUMPED ALL OVER this release based on ONE (non-professional) review, rather than listening to the fantastic professional reviews that were all over the place. The mob mentality that got behind this "blu ray is too dark" thing that ONE reviewer set off is just awful.

Rant over. The disc looks great. Buy it, (and for crying out loud calibrate your TVs properly because its something you should have done already anyway).... end of story.

[RaymondBurr]

I'll add my voice to the "picture looks fine" crowd. I watched the DVD that came in the Target Exclusive Bluray pack. I have a "OH GODZILLA! WHAT TERRIBLE LANGUAGE!" TV too, and the darkness levels were all fine. I could see all the details that I saw in the theater. Looks great!

[Cookie]

[angilas]

[jellydonut25]

[KaiserGhidorah]

Picked up my copy yesterday at Hastings and tried it out on my 40 inch Sony TV and had no issues with it whatsoever.....I can make out just about everything there is to make out and to me, that's good enough.

[ultrazilla2000]

Watched it last night at a friend's house and it was PERFECT. I told them when I got there that we may need to tinker with the settings, as many people were griping online about it being too dark. Needless to say, it was beautiful and no one there could understand what the complaints were about! I saw this four times in the theater, and last night was the exact picture quality I remembered. My friend said that upon getting their TV last Christmas, he went online and found the recommended settings from the manufacturer, and calibrated it properly. SOMETHING MANY PEOPLE NEVER DO. I can't say enough how awesome it looked, and darkness wasn't an issue in the slightest. I'm glad others are having a similar experience!

[Gargantuan Gargantua]

MoW what are your picture settings if you don't mind me asking?

Brightness : 80%...

Sharpness : blah blah %

I'm beginning to think something is wrong with my 1 year old TV as far as settings go.

I noticed it was harder to see details in the actual film and when I watched the extra features they showed clips from the movie and they were significantly brighter and had a more colorful pallet.

I was asking if I was nuts for observing this.

[william newell]

Picked this up yesterday and haven't had a chance to do more than skim through it so far, and yeah, I found the picture to be quite dark, especially during the "Hawaii" scenes. Now, I have more than a few "dark" movies in my collection, Cloverfield, Silent Hill, and Dark City to name a few and I've had no problems with any of them. This, on the other hand, I found to be about the same as Echo Bridge's release of Godzilla vs. Biollante, which I had to bump up the brightness considerably to make out any details. Unfortunately, using these settings, while making details visible, also washes out the colors to some extent making the picture look somewhat "flat", with no pop like it had in theaters. Perhaps when I have a chance to sit down and watch the whole film, and give my eyes a chance to adjust, my opinion may change, but for now, I have to say that for a major studio release, I'm a little disappointed. I would think that with this coming direct from Warner's, that video quality shouldn't be an issue at all. I'm curious how the general public(who could care less about calibration, all they want to do is pop the disc in and enjoy it)will feel. On the plus side, as others have said, the audio is phenomenal! Can't wait for the weekend when I can throw some volume behind this(my neighbors love me! ).

[John Schuermann]

As Dai posted the other day, here is a link to a downloadable calibration disc:

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/139-displ ... ation.html

Unfortunately, no two brands of TV will share the same calibration settings, so it's vital that you do it YOURSELF with your own TV (in other words, a Panasonic has an entirely different set of picture controls than a Samsung, for example, and the numerical values for brightness, contrast, etc, will be wildly different) . For certain models of TVs, it's possible to google "(Model number of your TV) calibration settings" and at least get a starting point. Problem is, no two sets off the production line will be exactly the same, even if they are the same model #. However, this can be a good place to start. Usually you can find settings for plasma sets online, since they are so well regarded by "videophiles" and many plasma owners take the time to calibrate the sets carefully. You can sometimes find settings for some of the higher end LCD sets as well.

Plasma sets as a rule will generally do a much better job with darker scenes than LCD sets, as LCD has definite limitations with black levels and reproducing the various darker shades of grey as approach true black. However, most people won't notice these issues on their LCD sets and the image will look perfectly fine to most.

Usually choosing the "cinema" or equivalent setting on your set will get you about halfway there, as most of the time this is the most accurate setting out of the box. If you have a "THX" setting, even better. Modes like "Sports" "Game" or "Vivid" should be avoided.

[John Schuermann]

Hopefully I will have a copy of the Blu-ray tonight, and I can share my impressions from my two calibrated displays - a 60" Panasonic plasma and a JVC projector projecting onto a 132" Scope (2.35:1) reference screen.