# Was impressed with BRAVEHEART on Cinemax



## davcole (May 6, 2006)

I am in my first month of having DISH HD and have had the chance to sample several movies on Cinemax in HD. Some definitely look like upsampled 480 (Die Hard 2) while others have looked HD but not in their OAR. 

I was pleased to see last night that Braveheart was not only a true HD but also presented in OAR. It was a very nice picture. Now if they just would have had it in 5.1 it would have been perfect!

Thoughts??


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## phillipsfamily (Oct 4, 2002)

I totally agree with you about the superb quality of Cinemax HD! I opted to only record 300 and not Braveheart but now I wish I did. It was as good as or better than HD PPV I thought. And in DD 5.1! I was under the assumption that all the Max HD shows were in 5.1? Perhaps your receiver isn't properly detecting the 5.1 signal?

Bruce


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Not everything on MAXHD is in 5.1... sometimes that is ok for an older movie if the original sound mix wasn't 5.1... other times I think maybe they just "cheaped" and didn't go for 5.1 when it was available.

There are weird things like... I recorded Beverly Hills Cop 1 & 2 from HDNet Movies with 5.1 surround... but MAXHD aired Beverly Hills Cop 3 and it was not in 5.1. I recorded it anyway, but thought that was odd that the older movies had 5.1 and the newer one didn't.


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

davcole said:


> I am in my first month of having DISH HD and have had the chance to sample several movies on Cinemax in HD. Some definitely look like upsampled 480 (Die Hard 2) while others have looked HD but not in their OAR.
> 
> I was pleased to see last night that Braveheart was not only a true HD but also presented in OAR. It was a very nice picture. Now if they just would have had it in 5.1 it would have been perfect!
> 
> Thoughts??


I watched Grind house on STARZ. Complete garbage! I switched after an hour. Part 2 is on next Saturday, guess who won't watch.:lol: :lol:


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

HDMe said:


> Not everything on MAXHD is in 5.1... sometimes that is ok for an older movie if the original sound mix wasn't 5.1... other times I think maybe they just "cheaped" and didn't go for 5.1 when it was available.
> 
> There are weird things like... I recorded Beverly Hills Cop 1 & 2 from HDNet Movies with 5.1 surround... but MAXHD aired Beverly Hills Cop 3 and it was not in 5.1. I recorded it anyway, but thought that was odd that the older movies had 5.1 and the newer one didn't.


Why does 5-MAX say HD when it's not?

BTW Bustin Loose with Richard Prior (1981) was good. Saw it in SD


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

Paul Secic said:


> I watched Grind house on STARZ. Complete garbage! I switched after an hour. Part 2 is on next Saturday, guess who won't watch.:lol: :lol:


I watched it last night too. It is supposed to be complete garbage, that's the point of the Grindhouse movies. Crappy video, sound, burning film, hokey titling, bad story, worse acting. It is an experience, not meant to be great movie.

If you don't get into the whole scenario of what it is, then it will suck. I found it hilarious! :lol:


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## RTE (Aug 26, 2007)

Paul Secic said:


> Why does 5-MAX say HD when it's not?


Where does it say it?


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

lparsons21 said:


> I watched it last night too. It is supposed to be complete garbage, that's the point of the Grindhouse movies. Crappy video, sound, burning film, hokey titling, bad story, worse acting. It is an experience, not meant to be great movie.
> 
> If you don't get into the whole scenario of what it is, then it will suck. I found it hilarious! :lol:


I recorded but haven't watched it yet... In FFWDing through it to make sure it was all there, I saw one thing go flashing by that looked like it said "missing reel", like in the olden days where sometimes the drive-in would actually not get the whole movie even!

I learned, incidentally, to FFWD through a recording to make sure it is all there because all sorts of bad things can happen and you think you have a recording but don't. Just a month ago on Starz, for example, I recorded Bridge to Terabithia, but about halfway through Starz interrupted it and showed a couple of minutes of something completely different before realizing the screwup! Fortunately, I set a new timer and caught it again later.


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

HDMe said:


> I recorded but haven't watched it yet... In FFWDing through it to make sure it was all there, I saw one thing go flashing by that looked like it said "missing reel", like in the olden days where sometimes the drive-in would actually not get the whole movie even!


Yep, that's what it said. I think you get it! These types of movies were the ones at the $.10 show or $1.00 all day or the drive-in. All places where you went but not necessarily to see the movie.

In this one, getting Rose McGowan nearly nude is worth the price of admission alone!

Here's one line that had me in stitches. They are dragging in a bunch of bodies and such to the hospital, and one guy asks another how this girl died:

2nd guy: "this is a no brainer"

Then they turn her head, where her brain is missing!! Gory, bloody but hilarious!


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## zlensman (Jan 15, 2006)

I was terribly disappointed with MAXHD's airing of Braveheart. I flipped over to watch and immediately noticed the lack of DD 5.1 sound. To me, it's not really HD unless it's all HD: video _and_ audio.

Like HDMe, I scan through every movie I record to check for end credits and any transmission problems. I've also started checking each film to make sure it is shown a) in the OAR, and b) with all channels of the OST (original soundtrack), which usually means DD 5.1. If it does not meet these criteria, I erase it. I would rather rent the DVD to get the proper OAR and proper soundtrack.

I do like how MAXHD pulled those other "fighting warrior" movies out to play along with 300. I wish they would do that more often. If you have films such as Braveheart and Gladiator in your catalog, pull them out and show them every once in a while (in _proper_ HD). A few months back, MAXHD showed Star Wars episodes 1, 2, & 3 all in a row, looking stunning in HD. I got 2 & 3 recorded but not 1 and they haven't shown it again since.

Grindhouse: Planet Terror was awesome, but Death Proof was my favorite of the two.


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## paja (Oct 23, 2006)

I loved it


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## Jack White (Sep 17, 2002)

davcole said:


> I am in my first month of having DISH HD and have had the chance to sample several movies on Cinemax in HD. Some definitely look like upsampled 480 (Die Hard 2) while others have looked HD but not in their OAR.
> 
> I was pleased to see last night that Braveheart was not only a true HD but also presented in OAR. It was a very nice picture. Now if they just would have had it in 5.1 it would have been perfect!
> 
> Thoughts??


That's because I believe that HBO Networks have it in their contract that their HD channels must be Full Bandwidth and never under 8Mbps for Mpeg4 video. They are one of the few content providers to challenge even the most powerful among the Evil Forces of The Overcompressors and win.


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Jack White said:


> That's because I believe that HBO Networks have it in their contract that their HD channels must be Full Bandwidth and never under 8Mbps for Mpeg4 video. They are one of the few content providers to challenge even the most powerful among the Evil Forces of The Overcompressors and win.


Keep in mind that wit the exception of Cinemax for a penny, you pay $10 or more for HBO. I'm sure Charlie fly a bunch of new satellites up there in a rocket himself if we all were willing to pay $10+ to other channels for 1 HD channel with new programming and several more that recycle movies and that original programming.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Jack White said:


> That's because I believe that HBO Networks have it in their contract that their HD channels must be Full Bandwidth and never under 8Mbps for Mpeg4 video. They are one of the few content providers to challenge even the most powerful among the Evil Forces of The Overcompressors and win.


This is not true yet... HBO is trying to negotiate this into their carriage agreement when they launch all of their channels in HD at some point. I expect there will be backlash from providers on this point.


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## zlensman (Jan 15, 2006)

It feels to me as if MAXHD is one of the worst offenders when it comes to messing with the aspect ratio of movies. HDNet Movies does a better job, as does Showtime HD. I don't get HBO or Starz in HD, so I can't comment on them. In the nonHD category, IFC is great about showing films uncut -- in content as well as framing. So, I'm looking forward to when Dish gets IFC HD.

Not Braveheart, not Gladiator, not even 300 was shown in the OAR on MAXHD. Shame on them. Don't these pay channels bid for the best movies? If I ran the studios, I would give preference to the channel that agreed on OAR and 5.1 sound for all HD screenings.

What about OAR on other movie channels? I don't get Fox Movie Channel or MGM.


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## allargon (May 3, 2007)

zlensman said:


> I don't get HBO or Starz in HD, so I can't comment on them. In the nonHD category, IFC is great about showing films uncut -- in content as well as framing. So, I'm looking forward to when Dish gets IFC HD.
> 
> Not Braveheart, not Gladiator, not even 300 was shown in the OAR on MAXHD. Shame on them. Don't these pay channels bid for the best movies? If I ran the studios, I would give preference to the channel that agreed on OAR and 5.1 sound for all HD screenings.
> 
> What about OAR on other movie channels? I don't get Fox Movie Channel or MGM.


The only one worse than HBO and Cinemax for open matte is TNT with its cropped stuff. Wait--I forgot about the stretched pan and scan on TBS and A&E. I almost puked watching the vertically stretched _Sleepy Hollow_ a few months ago. HD PPV is another OAR hater.


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