Hero: Technical Notes

Technical Notes Technical Notes:
Hero
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    by HKFlix
    www.hkflix.com

All specs/features manually re-verified 5/22/2007. Running time changed from 98 to 96 mins; "making of" changed from 23 to 24 mins. Added stereo audio track.



    by Gary W. Tooze




This is an official DVD release from China. It is the updated DVD-9 version, which includes a higher bitrate (for better picture quality), a DTS soundtrack, a slipcase (shown in picture) and alternate sleeve artwork.

The image quality for this DVD is not as sharp as I was hoping for. It is still very strong (see captures below) with vibrant colors and relatively tight lines. The downside is there appears to be hazy spots in some scenes, but this may be part of the film. The sound is a strong 5.1/option for DTS and the Eng subs are correct and discernable (in white). The MENU options are only in Chinese (no Eng.). There are only 9 chapters and the featuretette is only in Mandarin (with Chinese sub-titles - Cantonese?). A shame because it looks very informative. A well-presented DVD but not a perfect one and that was my expectation. Contrast is fine, shadow detail fine, it is just not as sharp as an anamorphic image could be. I see no edge-enhancement and the colors are quite striking.

NOTE: The opening and closing comments (re: All Under One...) are not translated to English. This is an important part of the film and its absence is neglectful on the part of the DVD production company.




    by Opus Zine
    www.opuszine.com

The picture quality on this DVD is quite amazing, which is a true blessing considering the vivid colors that Yimou liberally splashes across the screen. The movie is in Mandarin, and the DVD comes with Chinese and English subtitles (which are quite good) . As far as special features go, the DVD also contains a "Making Of..." documentary. Unfortunately, the documentary does not have English subtitles.

Those of you without region-free DVD players can rejoice. The disc is encoded for all regions and is NTSC.

The movie contained on this DVD is the theatrical cut and runs 98 minutes. At some point in the future, a director's cut will be released, with nearly 20 minutes of additional footage that was cut from the film (apparently at the behest of Miramax, who owns the film's worldwide distribution rights) .




    by HKFlix
    www.hkflix.com

This DVD-9 (double-layer) version uses a higher bitrate to achieve slightly better picture quality. It also includes a DTS audio track and an outer slipcase.



    by Steve Howe

The DVD is an excellent print and the sub-titles are some of the best I have read. They are no spelling errors like with some films.
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