422 The Last Emperor

Discuss releases by Criterion and the films on them. Threads may contain spoilers!
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dad1153
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:32 am
Location: New York, NY

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#251 Post by dad1153 » Sun Nov 15, 2009 1:01 pm

Saw "Last Emperor" for the first time last week on BD. I don't care what Criterion and cinematographer Vittorio Storaro say, the movie's framing feels 'OFF' at 2:00:1, which isn't helped by a very soft and undetailed HD remaster that makes the Blu-ray or "Last Emperor" a Pu Yi-sized baby step from the DVD version. As far as the flick itself I'm going to need to watch this again because, on first viewing, Bertolucci's bio epic felt extremely disjointed and confusing. I have to admit that most of the characters speaking in understandable English really threw me off for a loop (except for Peter O'Toole) and became such an unpleasant distraction I just couldn't get past the language barrier to enjoy "The Last Emperor." I'm so used to international movies featuring foreigners speaking in their native tongues with English subtitles for me to follow along (call it the 'Criterion' effect O:)) that this throwback to the old Hollywood style of storytelling just became an obstacle I couldn't overcome. To be continued. :oops:

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aox
Joined: Fri Jun 20, 2008 12:02 pm
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Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#252 Post by aox » Sun Nov 15, 2009 8:00 pm

dad1153 wrote: Bertolucci's bio epic felt extremely.......confusing.
How so? I thought the film was fairly straightforward.

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Cash Flagg
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:15 pm

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#253 Post by Cash Flagg » Wed Dec 02, 2009 8:14 pm

Cash Flagg wrote:A technical problem here. I just popped the Blu-ray in my player for the first time, and the DTS audio track is silent. The secondary track with the commentary plays fine, and the music over the main menu does as well. I tried it with both my television speakers and my sound bar, and neither play anything. I've never encountered this problem with a DVD or Blu-ray before. I'm not much of a tech guy here, so apologies if this is all basic stuff. Could it be that my Blu-ray player cannot process the audio? The Blu-ray disc of For All Mankind is the same audio format, correct? I played that one without issue.
So I received a replacement copy from Criterion today, and the DTS audio is once again silent. I have a Samsung BD-P3600, and tried playing the audio through both my Yamaha Soundbar and my Panasonic Viera TV speakers.

Caged Horse
Joined: Wed May 13, 2009 2:41 pm
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Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#254 Post by Caged Horse » Thu Jan 21, 2010 6:29 am

Everybody speaking English wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't for the banal expository dialogue and hammy delivery.

Also, the cast never uses contractions in their speech even when talking to friends and family -- always "it is" and not "it's", "cannot" rather than "can't", etc. Presumably this is supposed to convey their foreign formality but it just adds to the artificiality.

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Wood Tick
Joined: Sat Jul 19, 2008 9:11 am

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#255 Post by Wood Tick » Thu Jan 21, 2010 7:10 pm

Caged Horse wrote:Everybody speaking English wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't for the banal expository dialogue and hammy delivery.

Also, the cast never uses contractions in their speech even when talking to friends and family -- always "it is" and not "it's", "cannot" rather than "can't", etc. Presumably this is supposed to convey their foreign formality but it just adds to the artificiality.
What you say is absolutely true. And yet I love the living piss out of this movie.

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HistoryProf
Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2006 3:48 am
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Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#256 Post by HistoryProf » Sat Mar 06, 2010 2:56 am

well, I can't quite express how incredibly underwhelmed by this flick I was. Far too overlong, the transfer is subpar, and just a generally bad experience. I was absolutely expecting to love the living piss out of it too, but it just didn't do anything for me. I hate it when that happens - especially with historical epics, a genre I absolutely love and generally can't get enough of...and the longer the better!

I didn't find myself caring about the aspect ratio, but the standard def dvd is pretty close to crap...I was shocked at how grainy and ill-defined it was. Frames that were constructed beautifully just became distracting instead - and I think that was much of my problem watching it - I couldn't get past the shitty picture....and I don't know what i'd cut but it just felt excruciatingly long. 162 minutes felt like 324. It's never a good thing when you spend more time looking at the clock than the movie!

PNeski
Joined: Fri Feb 22, 2008 3:11 pm

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#257 Post by PNeski » Wed Nov 07, 2012 2:45 pm

The Japanese Blue Ray is excellent ,looks like The Criterion one and isn't cropped ,also includes long version ,and a small amount of the extras thatwere on The Criterion
its region A and the subtiles are removable

TedW
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 6:57 pm
Location: A Theatre Near You

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#258 Post by TedW » Wed Nov 07, 2012 10:59 pm

PNeski wrote:The Japanese Blue Ray is excellent ,looks like The Criterion one and isn't cropped ,also includes long version ,and a small amount of the extras thatwere on The Criterion
its region A and the subtiles are removable
Where did you find it? Wasn't on DVDAsian.

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Caligula
Carthago delenda est
Joined: Wed Nov 03, 2004 2:32 am
Location: George, South Africa

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#259 Post by Caligula » Thu Nov 08, 2012 3:00 am


Costa
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:10 pm

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#260 Post by Costa » Tue Oct 31, 2017 3:01 pm

Anyone know what are these?
They couldn't be the new 4k restoration in 2d bluray, could they?

http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Last- ... ay/157088/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Last- ... ay/190302/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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andyli
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 4:46 pm

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#261 Post by andyli » Tue Oct 31, 2017 11:57 pm

Yes they are. Theatrical version is 2D from the same 4K restored master as used by the Itailian 3D blu-ray. TV Version should probably be the existing master used by the Japanese blu-ray. Quite a release if you ask me.

Also, the Mandarin track features original voices from some of the Chinese cast members.

Costa
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:10 pm

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#262 Post by Costa » Wed Nov 01, 2017 4:02 am

andyli wrote:Yes they are. Theatrical version is 2D from the same 4K restored master as used by the Itailian 3D blu-ray.
Oh, really? :)
i was expecting something like this.
How are you sure about this?

And why so few copies? where can we order this?

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andyli
Joined: Thu Sep 24, 2009 4:46 pm

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#263 Post by andyli » Wed Nov 01, 2017 4:09 am

I know because they have advertised the specs (only in Chinese though). I think doing very limited releases is their current business model. It's the same for all the other releases (this is numbered the first yet there are quite a few others already out).

Costa
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 5:10 pm

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#264 Post by Costa » Wed Nov 01, 2017 4:13 am

Ok, thanks.
I've found it but it's very expensive!
https://www.ebay.com.hk/itm/WCL-exclusi ... Sw-ChZze0M" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

87 euros or $102!

telecode101
Joined: Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:05 am

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#265 Post by telecode101 » Tue Jul 17, 2018 6:53 am

Hi, I just received my copy of the 4 disk DVD edition. I am posting on here because am curious if there are others that have the same edition. I am noticing something strage. Disk 1 contains the theatrical version and disk 2 contains the television version. I am noticing a huge difference in image quality between the two disks. Its as if they are from completely different transfers or masters. The picture is jittery and seems digitally grainy on disk 2 compared to disk 1. Are they not the same transfer and same film -- just longer version.

Can anyone confirm, are there any manufacturing defects reported for this release?

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Toby Dammit
Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2008 10:03 am
Location: Santiago de Chile

Re: 422 The Last Emperor

#266 Post by Toby Dammit » Tue Jul 17, 2018 10:53 am

I have the same edition on DVD (purchased approximately 2009-2010)
and yes, the television version seems of inferior visual quality.

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