Dragon Ball Z Movie Pack 1 & 2 (1-9) DVD sets at RightStuf!

[Jusenkyo_Guide]

Is there any official confirmation yet on whether these new Movie Packs are 4:3 or widescreen (cropped)? If they are 4:3, then they're certainly worth picking up at their current price, even if a Dragon Box for the Movies is going to eventually come out...

[Metalwario64]

Is there any official confirmation yet on whether these new Movie Packs are 4:3 or widescreen (cropped)? If they are 4:3, then they're certainly worth picking up at their current price, even if a Dragon Box for the Movies is going to eventually come out...

Yeah, the trailer that was just posted on the previous page showed that it is just the 16x9 Double Features' footage again.

[jjgp1112]

Those singles shots look pretty shitty to me. The Double Features look far better. The colors aren't even really "sharper." Dragon Box, now that's sharper, the singles are just darker lines. They don't look nearly as defined as the double features. I mean,

















C'mon, can you really say that the singles look better overall?

[LeprikanGT]

I wish they would do the Blurays like that, and put out one every month or every other month. This wait 3 and 4 months between releases is no good.

[Jusenkyo_Guide]

Is there any official confirmation yet on whether these new Movie Packs are 4:3 or widescreen (cropped)? If they are 4:3, then they're certainly worth picking up at their current price, even if a Dragon Box for the Movies is going to eventually come out...

Yeah, the trailer that was just posted on the previous page showed that it is just the 16x9 Double Features' footage again.

Ah, thanks! Sorry, I didn't see that... That sux!! Well, I guess I'll just continue waiting for a Dragon Box Movies release then!

[Metalwario64]

Those singles shots look pretty shitty to me. The Double Features look far better. The colors aren't even really "sharper." Dragon Box, now that's sharper, the singles are just darker lines. They don't look nearly as defined as the double features. I mean,

C'mon, can you really say that the singles look better overall?

Again. I'm not talking picture quality. The Double Features are encoded far better, and anyone arguing that is insane. Movie 1's UUE however, that one does look legitimately more defined than the Double Feature, but it's not encoded as well so it's a tossup.

I'm saying that I can't stand how over brightened, contrasted, saturated, and overall tampered with the colors are. When you are brightening it so much that you literally lose whole levels of shading, that completely negates any advantages the footage has in terms of encoding for me. Also, just out of personal preference, I like the 4x3 versions, and the singles are the only way, at least in terms of US releases to obtain those versions.

These are great examples to me:
Double Feature:


Single:


Why does Tullece look like he's suffocating on the Double Features? He's ridiculously pale!

Double Feature:


Single:


The guy in center looks like he's glowing orange in the Double Feature footage (and his clothes are WAY to over saturated), but looks more natural in tone on the single's footage. Also the tree looks more green on the Double Feature, and brown on the single. I'm not sure which is more accurate, but the latter is more natural.

Here's an example where the contrast boosting also makes things darker to the point of losing details:
Double Feature:


Single:


And again, I have to re-post this it seems:
Double Feature:


Nicktoons' Single Footage:


Again, just look at these. The colors perhaps aren't technically "season two" bright, but when they are Super Saiyans their skin is at "season two" levels, which is just as bad. Their skin is pure white, and the lightest level of shading on their skin is completely removed, and their hair highlight colors go from light yellow to pure white as well (with faint traces of yellow around the outlines, making it look extremely filtered and unnatural). Also the blue push makes the Namekian sky look teal, whereas it looks distinctly green on the original single footage.

Here is another good example of the over-brightening:
Double Feature:


Nicktoons' Single Footage:


This one isn't quite as extreme, as if you look hard enough, you can make out faint traces of the lightest shading on Goku's face, mostly around the neck. It's still just way too bright though, and the hair highlights are pure white once again.

To sum up, if the colors are so far off that they are literally removing large details from the film, and are altering established colors (Namek's sky, which looks more teal on the Double Features), then I don't think it looks overall as good as lesser encoded footage with more accurate colors. Even some of the ones that aren't too bright, they're still just too oversaturated for my tastes. I don't like the concept of trying to make old film look "new" by blowing the color levels through the roof. It just reeks of poor FUNimation marketing.

I'd rather have the poorly encoded singles footage with their aged look than a "faux" new looking version which sometimes wipes out entire details, and overall just looks too saturated.

[jjgp1112]

We're heading into subjective territory now. I, personally, think the colors in the double features are far better than those of the singles and much easier to look at (though Movies 6 and 8 are odd cases). I mean, just look at the Goku closeup shot from Movie 3.

You mentioned the contrast obscuring detail in Movie 3 and yet...in that Turles­ shot, you can see his hair much more clearly in the Double Feature, as well as the lines in his armor behind the shadows.

[Metalwario64]

We're heading into subjective territory now. I, personally, think the colors in the double features are far better than those of the singles and much easier to look at (though Movies 6 and 8 are odd cases). I mean, just look at the Goku closeup shot from Movie 3.

Removed shading isn't really subjective though. It's a fact that in a some scenes of movie 6 and movie 1 (and maybe 2, but I can't recall) that lighter shading was nearly and completely removed). I admit color choices and whatnot are subjective, but I personally can't see how footage that literally removes large details through color tampering can be considered superior.

It's all opinion whether you prefer the Double Features or not, but at least movie 6 (and perhaps movie 8 as well) are way too bright, and it is only detrimental to the film, so I at least can't really see those as better in any way, as they fundamentally change the look of the source material. I'm not sure if Movie 8's as bad or not, but from some screenshots I've seen it may be worse.

So, if you like them, then that's perfectly fine too.

You mentioned the contrast obscuring detail in Movie 3 and yet...in that Tullece­ shot, you can see his hair much more clearly in the Double Feature, as well as the lines in his armor behind the shadows.

I dunno, the visibility of the hair seems about the same to me, but the contrast also boosts brighter colors so it may be a bit easier to see, but the lines in the shaded areas of the armor to me seem to likely be the result of simply inferior masters.

That example wasn't really for the whole movie either, really just that shot.

[DanielGClapp]

Now I don't know how accurate the 4:3 singles screenshots you have are, but heres a comparison with the first shot you had. These are screenshots that I just took with VLC. One is the double feature, one is the Japanese movie single that I currently own, and one is the shot provided by Metalwario64.

Double Feature


Japanese Movie Single


The American single shot that Metalwario64 provided. (Again, I don't know how accurate this is since I couldn't take the shot myself)


If I had to choose between American releases I'd go for the double features, mostly for the accurate aspect ratio. Both American releases are over saturated to the point of Goku's hair disappearing. Also, even though the double feature is washed out and over saturated, I still think the colors correspond more to the Japanese release.

[Jusenkyo_Guide]

From the examples posted above, the Singles color is better over-all. The Double-Features seem WAY too bright, their colors seem overly vibrant and contrasted. As for encoding, it doesn't matter how far better it is on the Double-Features... If they're 'cropped for widescreen', then I want nothing to do with them. I'm all for the 16:9 apect ratio, but not if it's falsely achieved by cropping.

[DanielGClapp]

.....As for encoding, it doesn't matter how far better it is on the Double-Features... If they're 'cropped for widescreen', then I want nothing to do with them. I'm all for the 16:9 apect ratio, but not if it's falsely achieved by cropping.

What? The movies are supposed to be in widescreen. If you look at the screenshot of the Japanese single that I posted, that will give you an idea of what the footage is supposed to look like. The American singles in 4:3 are the ones that are "falsely cropped".

Edit: Here is another comparison of the Japanese movie single Vs. the double feature. Just a reminder that the movies are meant to be in widescreen and that is how they're presented on the Dragon Boxes.

Japanese movie single


double feature

[Jusenkyo_Guide]

Learn something new everyday.. I was not awar the original films were in 16:9, and was assuming these new packs were cropped as it's being stated that they're based on the Double-Feature releases that are listed here http://www.daizex.com/guides/dvd_guide/dbz_movies/ as being cropped. I'm unsure, as from the comparisons above showing the difference between the Double-Features vs. Singles, you can clearly see missing footage at the top & bottom of the Double-Features.

[DanielGClapp]

Learn something new everyday.. I was not awar the original films were in 16:9, and was assuming these new packs were cropped as it's being stated that they're based on the Double-Feature releases that are listed here http://www.daizex.com/guides/dvd_guide/dbz_movies/ as being cropped. I'm unsure, as from the comparisons above showing the difference between the Double-Features vs. Singles, you can clearly see missing footage at the top & bottom of the Double-Features.

I believe the reason for that is because the movies were originally made in 4:3, but with 16:9 in mind. They cropped the movies when they released them to give them more of a cinematic feel. What aspect ratio you enjoy is personal preference.

[Metalwario64]

Learn something new everyday.. I was not awar the original films were in 16:9. and was assuming these new packs were cropped as it's being stated that they're based on the Double-Feature releases that are listed here http://www.daizex.com/guides/dvd_guide/dbz_movies/ as being cropped. I'm unsure, as from the comparisons above showing the difference between the Double-Features vs. Singles, you can clearly see missing fottage at the top & bottom of the Double-Features.

They were animated in 4x3, but Toei cropped them to 16:9 for the Dragon Boxes (and all of the VHS films after 3 I think). It's said that they were intended to be viewed solely in 16x9, but there is some debate over that.

I prefer the 4x3 versions, because the 16x9 ones, even if intended, crop out heads and cramp the framing sometimes, just like the season sets. Also, the 16x9 version of movie 8 has some unfinished animation on the right side of the frame, much like the Masenko error in the 4:3 version of movie 3.

Examples here and here.

However, even cropped, I would still take the Dragon Boxes any day due to the great color and clarity. My dream release would be the Dragon Box footage in 4x3, but that will most likely never happen.

[Rukura]

Wow...I don't know about in-motion on either side, but those Double Feature screenshots make the FUNimation singles almost look like Dragon Box lol That is crazy to me

The ones with Tullece break my heart a little

[Jusenkyo_Guide]

Learn something new everyday.. I was not awar the original films were in 16:9. and was assuming these new packs were cropped as it's being stated that they're based on the Double-Feature releases that are listed here http://www.daizex.com/guides/dvd_guide/dbz_movies/ as being cropped. I'm unsure, as from the comparisons above showing the difference between the Double-Features vs. Singles, you can clearly see missing fottage at the top & bottom of the Double-Features.

They were animated in 4x3, but Toei cropped them to 16:9 for the Dragon Boxes (and all of the VHS films after 3 I think). It's said that they were intended to be viewed solely in 16x9, but there is some debate over that.

I prefer the 4x3 versions, because the 16x9 ones, even if intended, crop out heads and cramp the framing sometimes, just like the season sets. Also, the 16x9 version of movie 8 has some unfinished animation on the right side of the frame, much like the Masenko error in the 4:3 version of movie 3.

Examples here and here.

However, even cropped, I would still take the Dragon Boxes any day due to the great color and clarity. My dream release would be the Dragon Box footage in 4x3, but that will most likely never happen.

I typically prefer 16:9, but only for releases animated in that aspect ratio. Cropping really bothers me, even if heads weren't missing and scenes weren't cramped, it would still be in the back of my mind that it was cropped and that I was missing out on footage in some regard. It's a tough decision on which to buy for me, either seek out the the original Funi singles (4:3) or wait in hopes for a Dragon Box (16:9). Either way given the above Caps, it won't be the Double-Features or the new Movie Packs if their based on the Doubles.

BTW; Great Ranma Avatar Metalwario64!

[samuraix123]

Did anybody notice that movie pack 4 on the cover its listed as pack 4 but rightstuff.com has it listed as movie pack 2?

Edit - ooops sorry about that guy's, I misunderstood the first pack is called movie 5 pack and the 2nd pack is movie 4 pack sorry

Also if anyone does gets movie pack 1, please if you are aware of the audio being out of sync in the steel-sets.
please tell me if they fix it with this release. I am speaking of the English audio only

[Ashura]

In the age of Bluray, they really should just do a better re-release in both widescreen and 4x3. You could put both on the same disk and people would stop bitching. These movies aren't very long to begin with.

[Pokewhiz7]

I actually think the double features look pretty damn great, honestly. I would say the Dragon Box isn't much of an upgrade, but then...the audio. It's so fucking fantastic on the Dragon Boxes.

[samuraix123]

So has any news been released about this yet? or did someone get it early? I can't get no one to tell me if the cooler movie english audio is in sync. also I have seen the dvd packs, and they are doing them like the dragonball movie pack. they look great