Blade Runner (HD DVD)

So I finally got my copy of the 5-disc edition. A couple interesting things:

- I watched the Theatrical cut for the first time (my first exposure was with the 1997 Warner DVD "Director's Cut"). I too liked the 1982 Theatrical release quite a bit. Harrison Ford's jaded voice fit the tone of the movie rather well and his off-the cuff comments gave a little more flavor to some scenes (like him pretending not to understand Gaff).

- The audio is much better than I remembered from the old Warner disc I had, but I noticed quite a bit of hiss during much of the dialogue. I suppose the old audio stock had quite a bit of hiss in them and the sound engineers probably tried to do some dialogue normalization, so the in-band noise got jacked up too whenever the vocals were amplified. The result is a "pumping" noise floor that is quite distracting on my headphones. After a while I managed to ignore it, but hey, I guess sometimes degraded originals show.

YCH,

The midrange edge I noticed in the "Blade Runner" audio might be exacerbating the hiss you hear. It's also possible that the hiss is only noticeable through your headphones because it didn't bother me through my main speakers. Sometimes headphones can be too precise, pinpointing problems that bigger system and room acoustics would mask. And sometimes the frequency response of certain headphones can elevate the very area of the sound where hiss is most likely to occur, thus increasing the problem. Dunno.

John

John,

I agree. The midrange edge you mentioned is probably a byproduct of dialogue enhancement or some form of equalization, and yeah, headphones have a few things going for them reveal tiny noise: the fact that they have some acoustic isolation from the environment, and that the transducers are right next to one's ears. Also, my headphones are Grados, which have a reputation to be a bit "bright" anyways.

Still, newer movies generally don't do this, if they are recorded and mastered properly. I noticed a few scenes where the audio stock noticeably changes its sound signature, one key moment being the first scene where Deckard meets Bryant. Bryant goes "Come on, Deckard, don't be an asshole" and then the next line he says "I've got FOUR skinjobs running the streets" sounds radically different. Different recording sessions and equipment, perhaps?

"Different recording sessions and equipment, perhaps?" --YCH

Probably. You have to remember that WB never originally intended this movie to be released in more than two channels. So for the new discs they did what they could to create 5.1 channels from additional tracks they found and from manipulating existing material. Under the circumstances, I still think they did a good job.

John

Hey, can we talk about how lame this movie is? :-D

LOL @ Tim. Hey it was a good movie and it looks good in hidef too :p

YCH, I also like Harrison Fords narration in the movie. Apparently that wasn't the directors decision though. The studio asked for it so the audience would understand things more? Anyway good movie and the 5-disc set is perfect. So glad they included all the different versions.