The Dark Knight Blu-ray disc leaking out, complaints already rolling in
by Richard Lawler 
posted Nov 24th 2008 at 3:46PM
Don't let that December 9 street date fool you, it seems like many are taking our advice and getting their hands on The Dark Knight Blu-ray disc as soon as possible. Reports have popped up on more than one forum over the last weekend of people ordering -- and receiving -- copies from retailers with 7-11-style views of release date tyranny, or for the less scrupulous, downloading ripped copies. Even worse the biggest Blu-ray debut to date is being met with criticism before it even (officially) goes on the shelf, with complaints about edge enhancement, compression and director Chris Nolan's aspect ratio choices in relation to IMAX / non-IMAX footage. Need to check it out for yourself? A bit of poking around should earn a copy sooner rather than later, no mail-ins necessary.Read - AVSForum
Read - Blu-ray.com
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The Fuzz 53 @ Nov 24th 2008 3:55PM
So how do I go about getting this now?
rrdmxjedah @ Nov 24th 2008 3:58PM
theres a store in NY that I know of, and a website but they are charging 40 and 60, respectively. I say wait a couple more weeks and save that money for another Blu ray
J.Goodwin @ Nov 24th 2008 4:17PM
Well, there's always 7-11.
Or grocery stores that carry movies might well be convinced to let you buy one.
NewYorker111 @ Nov 24th 2008 4:01PM
Just because the ***** idiots over at AVS forum don't know how to enjoy a movie without looking for EE does not mean that the disc is bad in any way. I own it, love it. The IMAX AR changes are awesome and work really well. The soundtrack is amazing. This is a must own. If you don't own a Blu-ray player yet, here's the reason to get one.
that1guypictures @ Nov 24th 2008 4:13PM
Don't let the forum posters get you down. A lot of people's expectations are just a little too high for this title. It'll look and sound great on Blu-Ray. "Could it look better?" is just beside the point. It'll look and sound great, for an average of $5-10 more than the DVD. I think it's a no-brainer.
TrentD @ Nov 24th 2008 4:30PM
Still, nothing's going to stop this from being the bestselling Blu-ray release yet.
This is the kind of movie that sells players, just like Transformers did for HD DVD in 2007, and the Matrix did for DVD years ago.
ben @ Nov 24th 2008 4:44PM
right on the money there... those are the two movies that inspired me to get said player... Dark Knight, might not push me over the edge to get a blu-ray, but it's the first time i've put actual thought into buying one. We'll see what kind of deals there are on black friday...
Tyler @ Nov 24th 2008 4:54PM
This comparison shows how much Warner screwed up this Blu-ray release (again):
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=15137857&postcount=381
TrentD @ Nov 24th 2008 4:55PM
What's going on there? It looks like there's been a major color temperature change, but I can't say for sure which is "Better".
daaper @ Nov 24th 2008 5:12PM
They're comparing someone's personal screen cap to a screen cap from the online trailer. It's funny because the Blu-ray picture is taken from DVDBeaver.com and they loved the picture quality:
"Image: 9~10/10
...What I can tell you is that the image on my 104-inch screen is as dense as any live action film I've seen outside of Baraka...And if you thought you were seeing noiseless blacks before, just wait until you see these nighttime shots in IMAX!"
Sounds like people being waaaaay too picky. Can't please them all I guess...
hey hey @ Nov 24th 2008 5:25PM
I will wait for more reviews to come out. I know this is "The Dark Knight" but we cannot give Warner to much credit. I mean look what they did to the audio on Speed Racer BD. I know this is apples and oranges, and Dark Knight is amazing in comparison to Speed Racer, but the Audio mix of Speed Racer is still a wonderful mixed that was dismissed by Warner by giving us a standard AC-3 encode.
Shame on WHV if they screwed up this BD release.
Shame on them.
Mike @ Nov 24th 2008 6:52PM
I was going to ask for Speed Racer for Christmas..will they offer a download of better audio later or will a new version just be sold later?
Loban @ Nov 24th 2008 5:26PM
sceneHD.org
Sorry, had to say it. ;) Feel free to vote me down.
DrXym @ Nov 24th 2008 5:35PM
The issues with EE are pretty slight and virtually unnoticeable with most screen caps. I doubt many people would notice or care about them. There are movies which have received hideous treatments due to EE or DNR but this disk is not one of them.
More prominent is the changing aspect ratio. I really don't get the point of this at all. If they can show the 35mm print at a fixed aspect ratio then they could certain do it for the blu ray disc. Shifting from IMAX to 35mm ratio is just going to confuse people. It might even confuse a few TV sets which use black bars to control zoom levels.
TrentD @ Nov 24th 2008 6:21PM
The changing aspect ratio gives some of the effect from the IMAX version, which uses a "taller" image than 2:35 widescreen.
If the director is okay with it, then so am I.
plonk420 @ Nov 24th 2008 8:40PM
i dunno, but this looks like EE/ringing to me...
http://www.hdimage.org/viewer.php?file=ogv5jvapqr8nquuf5aef_imaxdk1.png
http://www.hdimage.org/viewer.php?file=kctmdh51h7sutk1nudhi_dk9.png
supposedly the IMAX process introduces EE/ringing. strange that the non-IMAX screens still have it .. unless they're from the/an IMAX print...
but then again, i'll wait until i can watch it on my PJ before i cry foul about EE/ringing being noticeable. it may not be. i didn't notice it at the IMAX, but then again i wasn't looking for it...
DrXym @ Nov 25th 2008 9:58AM
A small number of screenshots any ringing and its fairly slight. I am guessing that it's not a big deal overall for most people and certainly wasn't for reviewers.
There are some folks in the AVS Forum who perceive ANY EE or DNR in an image to be a deal breaker. Even if you have to stare at a screenshot for minutes to find it. Some movies definitely suffer from excessive processing (e.g. Patton, Zulu, Gangs of New York) but I see nothing to suggest TDK is in that league or anywhere close.
LonnieDvD @ Nov 24th 2008 6:17PM
This movie is Warner's biggest seller of the year, and they still managed to screw up the Blu-Ray version? Ouch, good one Warner.
Ryanvalle@me.com @ Nov 24th 2008 9:40PM
can someone do a comparison of the opening scene sequence from the dark knight blu-ray and the one included int he batman begins blu ray? The screen shots doesn't seem as sharp, but from the batman begins clip, it looked amazing.
A1 @ Nov 25th 2008 3:56AM
Complaints my ass
http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/1825/darkknight.html
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews43/the_dark-knight_blu-ray.htm
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/movies.php?id=743&show=review
KevinW @ Nov 25th 2008 5:43AM
The key to determine where the 'artifacts' come from is knowing how the film was made, a large portion of the film was made from the film negative directly, with no 'DI'. Obviously the VFX sequences were scanned either from IMAX, or 35mm, and recorded back onto both 35mm and IMAX through different routes. These were send for printing and went to the theater.
If you find the effect on 'straight shots', then it could come from the telecine/scanning, or in the mastering of the HD master (noise reducing/edge enhancement/colour correction/etc) or in the compression, or in any number of places post the disc (like the decoder/player/tv!)
Or for a really big spanner, it could come from the original film stocks which have edge enhancing technology inbuilt as part of their designs!
Does the film look good?
Do you like the film?
then buy it, of not...