Euro-crime: policier, polar, poliziesco all'italiana, poliziottesco/poliziotteschi

[Mr. Deltoid]

Cinestrange's The Iron Commissioner unfortunately does "look like shit". I'll gladly pay $40 for Euro-crime films even with mediocre to bad presentations but this one has a bigger flaw then fake grain, no color correction or DNR. Please excuse my not knowing the technical terms but there is "jitter" whenever there is swift movements onscreen. It doesn't look like the jaggy "combing" I'm used to seeing in PAL-to-NTSC DVDs. It's more like missing frames. Its not obvious when pausing and stepping through so it won't show in screenshots. It does seem to subside the longer the film plays. My Oppo shows "50i" so wonder if that is the problem. Another issue is DNR. It wasn't so bad that it would have bothered me but likely would have drove some batshit.

If another release comes down the line I won't be upgrading unless it has the English dub. It seems like a decent Merli flick but I couldn't get past his voice. Whoever dubs Merli sounds incredibly weak/inappropriate for the bitch-slapping mustachio'd commissioner that doesn't play by the rules. Just not manly enough. That said, the Italian track sounds very good. The German track sounds like garbage.

It is a damn fine looking mediabook so at least it looks good on the shelf.

It has trailers for American Rickshaw which looks freaking fantastic. I must see this film. Here's hoping it gets a competent release as Cinestrange's clearly isn't.

Cheers for taking one for the team Jason. I won't be wasting my money on that. I wish these Italian Policier's would get more respect on physical media. I've really got into them over the past year or so. I watched the Blue Underground disc of Revolver (aka, Blood in the Streets) recently and thought it was great. A lot more sober-minded than I expected, with the question of personal versus professional loyalties at the heart of the film. A pity big Ollie was dubbed by someone else though. His voice was always an intrinsic part of his performance. Great soundtrack and location photography compensate! It would be nice to see this one in HD sooner, rather than later!

[Jason C]

Cinestrange's The Iron Commissioner unfortunately does "look like shit". I'll gladly pay $40 for Euro-crime films even with mediocre to bad presentations but this one has a bigger flaw then fake grain, no color correction or DNR. Please excuse my not knowing the technical terms but there is "jitter" whenever there is swift movements onscreen. It doesn't look like the jaggy "combing" I'm used to seeing in PAL-to-NTSC DVDs. It's more like missing frames. Its not obvious when pausing and stepping through so it won't show in screenshots. It does seem to subside the longer the film plays. My Oppo shows "50i" so wonder if that is the problem. Another issue is DNR. It wasn't so bad that it would have bothered me but likely would have drove some batshit.

If another release comes down the line I won't be upgrading unless it has the English dub. It seems like a decent Merli flick but I couldn't get past his voice. Whoever dubs Merli sounds incredibly weak/inappropriate for the bitch-slapping mustachio'd commissioner that doesn't play by the rules. Just not manly enough. That said, the Italian track sounds very good. The German track sounds like garbage.

It is a damn fine looking mediabook so at least it looks good on the shelf.

It has trailers for American Rickshaw which looks freaking fantastic. I must see this film. Here's hoping it gets a competent release as Cinestrange's clearly isn't.

[Jason C]

Anyone order Cinestrange's The Iron Commissioner?

[Mark C.]

I really enjoyed that 88films blu-ray release of THE CYNIC, THE RAT AND THE FIST. Although I did think there was something funky going on with the English dub, either I was hearing some kind of compression artifacts or some weird flanging echo effect during some parts. Picture quality was great, and what a nasty little film with 2 big Italian stars that never share any screen time.

[Paul L]

Nice that someone is doing Eurocrime on blu ray.

Definitely :)

Screenies from 88 Films' IL CINICO... Blu-ray, as promised...

[IanIcon]

It's not bad, Ian, but not great either. It seemed a little soft, as if the coarse Techniscope texture has been muted by some application of digital noise reduction. There's a very noticeable step up in detail from the DVDs I've seen though, and the inclusion of the Italian track (with translated English subs, albeit ones with quite a few errors) is a bonus. The Mike Malloy interview is excellent; I haven't got round to watching the interviews with Milian and Lenzi yet though. For £10, I was happy with it; I guess given how weak the pound is at the moment, if you're placing an order from Amazon UK, it'll work out as quite a reasonable purchase. I'll upload some screengrabs later, when the kids have gone to bed :)

I thought it was a leap up from the boot DVD I had, which kind of goes without saying. Definitely great for the price. Nice that someone is doing Eurocrime on blu ray.

[Paul L]

How's the image quality on that one, Paul? I don't see it getting a US release anytime soon.

It's not bad, Ian, but not great either. It seemed a little soft, as if the coarse Techniscope texture has been muted by some application of digital noise reduction. There's a very noticeable step up in detail from the DVDs I've seen though, and the inclusion of the Italian track (with translated English subs, albeit ones with quite a few errors) is a bonus. The Mike Malloy interview is excellent; I haven't got round to watching the interviews with Milian and Lenzi yet though. For £10, I was happy with it; I guess given how weak the pound is at the moment, if you're placing an order from Amazon UK, it'll work out as quite a reasonable purchase. I'll upload some screengrabs later, when the kids have gone to bed :)

[Ian Jane]

How's the image quality on that one, Paul? I don't see it getting a US release anytime soon.

[Paul L]

I revisited THE CYNIC, THE RAT AND THE FIST last night, via the new 88 Films Blu-ray. (The interview with Mike Malloy on that disc is great stuff.) I watched the film in Italian, for the first time; my previous viewings had been via the English dub. I hate to say it, but the English track is a much better 'fit' for the picture: the Italian track lacks the profanities which give the oh-so-macho dialogue so much of its bite, and it also lacks the running gags about Merli's blonde hair and blue eyes (eg, the joke about his 'azure contacts').

It's obvious the scenes with Milian were filmed separately from those with the other actors; I'm interested in seeing what Milian has to say about the film in the interview with him that's included on the disc, though sad to say he seems to have aged dreadfully in the past ten years or so.

[enandalusiskhund]

It'll surely go down in price. All Studio S releases end up dirt cheap sooner or later. I'll also wait for that, can't shell out big SEK for subpar releases.

[The Silly Swede]

I heard from a Swedish fan who bought the box that Smutsiga Fingrar looks real bad, like it's taken from a VHS era master. I'm very interested to hear your opinion on it, Silly Swede, if you do indeed buy it.

I might. The boxed set is a bit pricey though. I really want it, but not at that price. I am hoping desperately for a price reduction sometime somewhere.

[enandalusiskhund]

Too bad about the transfers. It would be nice if they did it right instead of half-assed, considering these'll probably never have another release anywhere. Thanks for the input.

[Recoil]

I heard from a Swedish fan who bought the box that Smutsiga Fingrar looks real bad, like it's taken from a VHS era master. I'm very interested to hear your opinion on it, Silly Swede, if you do indeed buy it.

I've seen two discs from the box-set including this one and picture quality isn't good, definitely old transfers. The uncompleted film included as an extra looks better. It does have swedish subtitles included making it possible for someone to create translated subs.

[enandalusiskhund]

I heard from a Swedish fan who bought the box that Smutsiga Fingrar looks real bad, like it's taken from a VHS era master. I'm very interested to hear your opinion on it, Silly Swede, if you do indeed buy it.

[Scyther]

I might have to try Cynic. I can't remember if I've seen that one or not.

It's worth it!