Yume Pictures
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
- Steven H
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 3:30 pm
- Location: NC
I have those discs, the Raro ones. They're not that impressive (picture quality or subtitles), actually, and VERY overpriced. I guess they went with those transfers since they're PAL, because the Japanese DVDs are *beautiful* but NTSC. A serious shame.MichaelB wrote:If you really can't wait, you can order both those titles from Italy right now - Yume tells me that the transfers will be the same (non-anamorphic Scope in the case of Naked Youth), and the Italian discs have English subtitles.
- Don Lope de Aguirre
- Joined: Fri Apr 14, 2006 5:39 pm
- Location: London
Terrible, terrible news! The picture quality of the Italian R2 DVDs is pretty crappy. I had high hopes for the Yume releases but these have been dashed. Oh well, if you can afford it the Italian DVDs have good extras (filmed discussion and booklet).If you really can't wait, you can order both those titles from Italy right now - Yume tells me that the transfers will be the same (non-anamorphic Scope in the case of Naked Youth), and the Italian discs have English subtitles.
- The Fanciful Norwegian
- Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 2:24 pm
- Location: Teegeeack
I bought the Raro Naked Youth and never bothered with the others because the picture on the former was so poor. I take it Yume's Violence at Noon and Night in Fog in Japan will be Raro ports as well. More UK distributors should take a cue from MOC and release Japanese films as unconverted NTSC if no equivalent PAL master is available.
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- Joined: Sun Jul 02, 2006 2:54 am
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
I just watched Yume's The Sun's Burial - and sadly, it's another terrible transfer.
Non-anamorphic, smeary, faded colours, jerky pans (betraying an NTSC-PAL conversion job), and the subtitles aren't 16:9-friendly so I couldn't zoom the picture edge to edge. The only positive thing I can say is that it does at least appear to be the OAR, but that's really all it has going for it.
I'm guessing this is another Raro port, as the final subtitle reveals that they were done in Rome.
Non-anamorphic, smeary, faded colours, jerky pans (betraying an NTSC-PAL conversion job), and the subtitles aren't 16:9-friendly so I couldn't zoom the picture edge to edge. The only positive thing I can say is that it does at least appear to be the OAR, but that's really all it has going for it.
I'm guessing this is another Raro port, as the final subtitle reveals that they were done in Rome.
- hamsterburger
- Joined: Fri Nov 05, 2004 11:12 am
- Location: Norway
- Contact:
Yume Pictures Japanese Classics
Yume Pictures have recently begun releasing some classic Japanese films on DVD in the UK like, Madadayo (Kurosawa), Naked Youth and The Suns Burial (Oshima)
I haven’t found any reviews though. Does anyone know if they are anamorphic?
I haven’t found any reviews though. Does anyone know if they are anamorphic?
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
Naked Youth and The Sun's Burial definitely aren't anamorphic, and the transfers are extremely mediocre NTSC-to-PAL conversion jobs.
On the other hand, I thought Yume's DVD of Yasuzo Masumura's Kisses was surprisingly good, so I suspect they licence existing transfers and the quality depends entirely on those.
On the other hand, I thought Yume's DVD of Yasuzo Masumura's Kisses was surprisingly good, so I suspect they licence existing transfers and the quality depends entirely on those.
- Fan-of-Kurosawa
- Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2008 10:48 am
- Location: Athens, Greece
As Michael B says, it really depends on their source.
The four Suzuki films that I have from them:
Tokyo Drifter, Branded to Kill, Pistol Opera and Angry Waves are magnificent.
On the other hand I am also very interested to know if their Madadayo release is anamorphic. I've searched everywhere for a review and I can't find anything. Hasn't anyone bought it?
The four Suzuki films that I have from them:
Tokyo Drifter, Branded to Kill, Pistol Opera and Angry Waves are magnificent.
On the other hand I am also very interested to know if their Madadayo release is anamorphic. I've searched everywhere for a review and I can't find anything. Hasn't anyone bought it?
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- Joined: Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:39 am
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
- Fan-of-Kurosawa
- Joined: Wed Feb 27, 2008 10:48 am
- Location: Athens, Greece
It's actually funny. Two days ago I praised the Yume dvds Tokyo Drifter and Branded to kill which are really quite good. (a lot better from the Criterions).
So yesterday, wanting to save some money and instead of buying the expensive Criterion version of Fighting Elegy, I bought the Yume disc.
To my utter horror I discovered that the transfer is horrible. The contrast is unbelievably bad. The white is blinding you, the black is non-existent, and there is no detail. During a few wide shots you can not even recognize who is speaking.
The contrast here is worse than in Animeigo's Samurai Assassin. And I think that you all know how horrible that one is.
But it is strange because the transfer does not have other significant problems. It is clean. There are no specks, no noise, no missing frames. So they must have used a relatively new transfer. But from looking at the screenshots in dvdbeaver I am certain they did not use the Criterion one. From looking at the screens at dvdrama I am also certain they did not use the French one either. So what did they use? I can't believe that the Japanese one is so bad.
Anyway, has anyone else seen the Yume Fighting Elegy?
Edit: Since my last post in this thread I have bought Masumura's Kisses and Irezumi from Yume. I am happy to report that both transfers are quite good, especially the transfer of Kisses. It is so good that it approaches Criterion levels. Irezumi's transfer is not that good (neither is the quality of the film) but it is certainly satisfying and acceptable.
At the same time, because I was so pissed with Yume's transfer of Suzuki's Fighting Elegy, I went and bought the Criterion disc (something I should have done in the first place). Well now that I have both discs at hand I can say with certainty that Criterion's transfer is at least 10 times better. One only has to see Kiroku's "white fantasy" to understand what I mean. In the Yume disc you can't see anything. The whole screen is white and you can't see what is happening. In the Criterion disc it is still very white (because that is how Suzuki wanted the scene) but you can clearly see what is happening.
So, if anyone is still undecided about which version to buy, the whole thing is a no brainer. Buy the Criterion without a second thought.
So yesterday, wanting to save some money and instead of buying the expensive Criterion version of Fighting Elegy, I bought the Yume disc.
To my utter horror I discovered that the transfer is horrible. The contrast is unbelievably bad. The white is blinding you, the black is non-existent, and there is no detail. During a few wide shots you can not even recognize who is speaking.
The contrast here is worse than in Animeigo's Samurai Assassin. And I think that you all know how horrible that one is.
But it is strange because the transfer does not have other significant problems. It is clean. There are no specks, no noise, no missing frames. So they must have used a relatively new transfer. But from looking at the screenshots in dvdbeaver I am certain they did not use the Criterion one. From looking at the screens at dvdrama I am also certain they did not use the French one either. So what did they use? I can't believe that the Japanese one is so bad.
Anyway, has anyone else seen the Yume Fighting Elegy?
Edit: Since my last post in this thread I have bought Masumura's Kisses and Irezumi from Yume. I am happy to report that both transfers are quite good, especially the transfer of Kisses. It is so good that it approaches Criterion levels. Irezumi's transfer is not that good (neither is the quality of the film) but it is certainly satisfying and acceptable.
At the same time, because I was so pissed with Yume's transfer of Suzuki's Fighting Elegy, I went and bought the Criterion disc (something I should have done in the first place). Well now that I have both discs at hand I can say with certainty that Criterion's transfer is at least 10 times better. One only has to see Kiroku's "white fantasy" to understand what I mean. In the Yume disc you can't see anything. The whole screen is white and you can't see what is happening. In the Criterion disc it is still very white (because that is how Suzuki wanted the scene) but you can clearly see what is happening.
So, if anyone is still undecided about which version to buy, the whole thing is a no brainer. Buy the Criterion without a second thought.
- MichaelB
- Joined: Fri Aug 11, 2006 6:20 pm
- Location: Worthing
- Contact:
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- Joined: Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:49 pm
But Michael, aren't the Kisses and Irezumi discs NTSC -> PAL conversions? (I ask because before buying them I, er, <cough> stumbled across bootlegged copies in a US rental outlet, so I can't vouch for what sort of translation those underwent, but I'd guess it was just a straight data rip -- the Yume menu screens & pre-menu material were intact.)
In any case, the copies I saw did indeed have a nice image, but also a flutter effect (which I've read is typical of NTSC->PAL, although, being in the US, I haven't had much experience with it myself) that made them quite unpleasant to watch.
In any case, the copies I saw did indeed have a nice image, but also a flutter effect (which I've read is typical of NTSC->PAL, although, being in the US, I haven't had much experience with it myself) that made them quite unpleasant to watch.
- ltfontaine
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 3:34 pm
Huh. I'd love to pick a Masumura title or two, but can't decipher whether the image is "nice" or "unpleasant to watch." Any additional evaluative descriptions would be appreciated.Perkins Cobb wrote:In any case, the copies I saw did indeed have a nice image, but also a flutter effect (which I've read is typical of NTSC->PAL, although, being in the US, I haven't had much experience with it myself) that made them quite unpleasant to watch.
- Scharphedin2
- Joined: Fri May 19, 2006 7:37 am
- Location: Denmark/Sweden
I have not yet picked up either of these releases, so cannot comment on the technicalities of the transfers, but I did see MichaelB pass positive comment on Kisses in the past, and with respect to quality of transfers he is nothing if not discerning, so I think this title should be a safe buy.ltfontaine wrote:Huh. I'd love to pick a Masumura title or two, but can't decipher whether the image is "nice" or "unpleasant to watch." Any additional evaluative descriptions would be appreciated.Perkins Cobb wrote:In any case, the copies I saw did indeed have a nice image, but also a flutter effect (which I've read is typical of NTSC->PAL, although, being in the US, I haven't had much experience with it myself) that made them quite unpleasant to watch.
Should this be a matter of simply sampling Masumura's work, a safer route may be the series of his films that Fantoma released in R1 some years back. In my memory they all looked very good, and with the DD sale going on, they can probably be had for a song.
- ltfontaine
- Joined: Mon Nov 08, 2004 3:34 pm
Thanks, Scharphedin2, I have the Fantoma Masumura discs and they are indeed excellent. I had noted MichaelB's recommendation of the Yume disc earlier, but read conflicting reports since, including the recent one from Perkins Cobb. I'm not overly fussy about transfers, but conversion flutter may be a bridge too far.
- otis
- Joined: Mon Aug 08, 2005 11:43 am
Afraid I can't answer the conversion question, but both Kisses and Irezumi looked fine to me. And I strongly recommend Kisses. It's a charming movie about two teenagers who meet cute visiting their respective fathers in prison, go to the cycle track together, then borrow a motorbike and head off to the beach for a spot of bathing-suited rollerskating. Things get darker as the film progresses. Rosenbaum references Nicholas Ray in his article on Masumura, and the couple here are up there with Farley Granger and Cathy O'Donnell in the teenage heartbreak stakes.
- Rufus T. Firefly
- Joined: Wed Nov 10, 2004 4:24 am
- Location: Sydney, Australia
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- Joined: Tue Feb 05, 2008 8:07 am
- Location: London