Magnum on Blu Ray!

[ConchRepublican]

I do hope Region 1 gets a release soon (and with awesome extras), though I do know Region 2 generally gets DVD/Blu-ray releases later then us. And yes, like everyone else, I am dying for screencaps!

Me too! I don't want to invest in a Region Free blu-ray player, but if I have too . . .

[Higgins (aka Bondtoys)]

@ conch

please contact me via pm.

I can send you one Blu Ray from the box and let you try with your US player - assuming that you'll return it to me later

Many Blu Rays are not Regional Code protected, it may be the case here, too.

[ConchRepublican]

@ conch

please contact me via pm.

I can send you one Blu Ray from the box and let you try with your US player - assuming that you'll return it to me later

Many Blu Rays are not Regional Code protected, it may be the case here, too.

Thank you, that is exceptionally generous offer! Unfortunately I'd be afraid, with my luck, the disc would get lost in transit - either coming to me or going back to you - and then you'd have an incomplete set.

[308GTS]

Drum roll...........!!!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnum-P-I-Com ... pi+blu+ray

Man oh man, I simply cannot wait!

[eagle]

STOP THE PRESSES

AMEND MY CHRISTMAS LIST

It now contains exactly 1 item!

[MagnumsLeftShoulder]

I bought a black Friday bluray player in hopes that MPI would soon get a bluray release. I popped in a random MPI dvd from season 2 and it looks awful! Watching Hawaii Five-O (current one) on Netflix in HD has spoiled me!

Bring on a region 1 release!!!! How does an American show get a bluray release for a foreign market before it gets one at home anyway? And how does Airwolf get one before Magnum? https://www.amazon.com/Airwolf-Complete ... F41XY2XWN0

[308GTS]

Run Time: 7813 minutes

Eeeek!

Let's hope there are some extras, but I doubt it!

[308GTS]

Pretty sure it will get a Region A release as it's being released by The Shout Factory, and they are US based.

[Higgins (aka Bondtoys)]

I've just received my Magnum PI Blu Rays from the UK:

Guys, it's not worth the money!
Currently watching Thank heaven for little girls....

I'd say that the picture quality is nothing better than the DVD. Colours are off, grainy, picture noise - I don't see any difference.

The language is only english (I was hoping to have the german track, too) but the picture quality means that they are going back immediately.

They are not worth spending any money if you have the DVDs already.

Very disappointed!!!

[ConchRepublican]

I've just received my Magnum PI Blu Rays from the UK:

Guys, it's not worth the money!
Currently watching Thank heaven for little girls....

I'd say that the picture quality is nothing better than the DVD. Colours are off, grainy, picture noise - I don't see any difference.

The language is only english (I was hoping to have the german track, too) but the picture quality means that they are going back immediately.

They are not worth spending any money if you have the DVDs already.

Very disappointed!!!

NO!!! Say it isn't so!!!!

[Higgins (aka Bondtoys)]

It is - unfortunately

I was so much looking forward to that and am so disappointed!
Would have been my top Christmas present if the picture quality has improved.

One word on the pricing: The recently offered Miami Vice Blu Ray set is GBP 165,-- currently on Amazon - around 200 US$ while it is below US$ 50,-- in the US.

So the GBP 170,-- that Amazon UK is currently asking is far exaggerated (though 7 1/2 seasons vs. 5) regardless of the picture quality.

[JungleBird]

Okay, I say it isn't so!

Well, I also have my set now since wednesday and tried some episodes from each season.
Having a pretty big screen/ projector with 120'', I can tell pretty good the difference between the DVDs and BluRay.
And for most epidodes I reviewed so far I found the picture quality and clarity to be actually.. well yeah, "fabulous" (and no, sadly I'm not getting paid for this )

So, I have to disagree with you here Bond, sorry

However, I could imagine that on a 'regular'/ smaller screen the improvement may not be that obvious at first as it is on a big screen.
In this case, I'd really suggest to try and tweak the picture settings (especially sharpness and contrast; not to much of course either).
This gave me an extra boost of picture quality.

I've seen many blu ray releases from that time now and this actually is one of the best imho.
There are little jumps in picture sharpness sometimes (but not very often) but that's perfectly normal as they shot with different cameras and films.
However, they are not annoying or extreme at all! Most people probably won't even notice it as it's still quite normal HD.
The only time it really gets obvious is during the title sequences, but don't get me wrong, they still look waaay better than on DVD. For the first seasons I fast-forwarded through now, I don't have much complaints yet.

To sum up, I'm quite happy with the release so far (even though it wasn't very cheap at all... ).
Better picture quality, better colours.. it's great to see Magnum in HD glory, finally!

So, to all who own it and aren't that satisfied yet: Try your picture settings. The release may have much more potential than you may see at first.


P.S.: in darker scenes, there sometimes is some grainy noise, that's true. But that also is normal for film masters. Owning the DVDs,
I actually even expected it to be way worse than it now luckily is on BluRay.

One point I'd like to add here is that sometimes, blu ray releases are so denoised in post production that everything looks blurred and the sharpness is gone.
Luckily that doesn't seem to be the case here, at least for the first seasons I fast-forwarded through so far. We have normal film grain, and if someone is annoyed by that, I suggest looking for noise reduction in your picture settings.
Most of today's blu ray players have this function and, depending on your device, it might help to reduce it.
But for me, that's not been necessary...

Oh yeah, and coming from germany too, I'm also hoping to get a german release soon, Bond...
Maybe Koch Media could do that, they've done several blu rays from that time already...

Maybe I'll post some screenshots later the day or tomorrow in comparison with DVD quality...

Oh yeah, btw: Here are the first "professional" reviews I could find. They state:

"I hitherto considered The A-Team to be champ of Universal/Fabulous’ lineup of Blu-Ray remasters for 1980’s TV shows.
That one had a really nice restoration, with full colors, deep blacks and unmolested clarity. However Magnum P.I. now takes this crown,
even though it’s an older show. (...) I can honestly say that Magnum P.I. on Blu-Ray is the best I’ve ever seen any 1980’s television look."

"every episode looks like it was filmed yesterday."

So far, I can honestly agree with that!

http://www.manlymovie.net/2016/11/revie ... x-set.html?

http://60minuteswith.co.uk/reviews/revi ... ollection/

[Higgins (aka Bondtoys)]

Well, I have a professionally calibrated 70'' TV.
As said, I've only watched "Thank Heaven...." and immediately returned the Blu Rays.

The colors are the same like on DVD
Hiss in darker scenes is annoyingly strong - at least as much as on DVD
It may be that sharpness on Blu Ray is better than on DVD but it also enhances hiss

If the masters would have been really restored, those points would have done at first.

So, I stand with what I've said: The Blu Rays are not worth buying.
I am looking forward to see the opinions of others.

[JungleBird]

I'm really sorry that you experienced it that way...
As I sad, imho it's really much better than on DVD.
I also have to say that the colours aren't the same as on DVD.
For example, the water in the sea/ tidal pool always looked oddly blue on DVD.
That's due to Universal's often used (imo awfully done) colour correction.
On BluRay now, the water has a more realistic colour with more amounts of 'green' and less
exaggerated contrast (I don't really know how to describe it better).

The film grain is nearly impossible to remove- you only have two choices:
Either denoise it very much- as a effect you'll have less noise but also a terrible washy and blurry picture.
Or you leave it mostly as it is and maintain the original look and sharpness.
This is the best method imo.

This way, you're free to tweak your player's denoising settings if you wish.
But, most importantly, the picture you get isn't already disimproved and lost much of it's potential.
If it was, there would be no chance of getting back the sharpness and details destroyed by denoising in the first place.

I've seen many negative examples of exaggerated denoising, that's why I'm rather happy to see it than to have a soft image..

In the future, it may be possible to remove it without damaging the whole picture but for now, these methods have more disadvantages than they do good.

For those who are interested in this issue on BluRays I really recommend these two clips on youtube
explaining the whole topic a little bit better:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4RDxHEsUzM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ3CArAmOeA

[ConchRepublican]

Well, I have a professionally calibrated 70'' TV.

It seems it always comes back to size.