Ugh. I'm so used to seeing crisp beautiful transfers of Argento's films that the Troma DVD of the Stendahl Syndrome felt especially bad. Extremely poor quality and not anywhere close to the level I'm used to seeing on movies like Opera and Deep Red.
Beware! Beware of the big green dragon that sits on your doorstep. He eats little boys...
Agreed, the Troma transfer is terrible. Try to get a hold of the Italian 2-disc set: its transfer makes it look like a completely different film. After seeing the muddy, washed-out Troma DVD it looks almost like Suspiria in terms of colour (well, not quite).
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Yes, order the 2-disc Italian edition here:
http://www.xploitedcinema.com/dvds/dvds.asp?title=2354
Disc 1
- DVD 1Italian Version
- Anamorphic (16:9) Widescreen (1.78:1)
- Italian 5.1 and 2.0 Audio Options
- Optional English and Italian Subtitles
Disc 2
- English Language Export Version
- Anamorphic (16:9) Widescreen (1.78:1)
- English 5.1 Audio
- Optional Italian & English Subtitles
- On The Set (In Italian Only Without Subtitles)
- Interviews with Dario and Asia Argento (In Italian Only Without Subtitles)
This marks the first time the longer Italian version has been released on DVD. The English language export version's audio and video quality are much better than all other releases.
$34.95
That's of course the one I bought. But hell, at least the bonus Interviews are either in English or Italian with English subtitles (those interviews are much better with Ruggero and Sergio - Dario just always sounds better in Italian, he talks faster and is easier to understand when you're reading him, but they have to put English subtitles there!).
"Carol, one word of advice: send Cindy to a special school"
Yeah, I was pretty "shocked" (get it? :) ) by the piss poor quality of the Troma DVD. Crappy transfer, crappy menus, terrible introduction monologue . . . it seemed like a crummy martial arts DVD from Ground Zero!!!
shareI have the Trauma DVD and, considering I haven't yet seen the Italian language version, (which I would love to because I am a stickler about watching films in their original languages) I thought the DVD transfer for the Troma version was pretty good. Granted, it's not as crystal-clear sharp as other DVD transfers of Dario Argento movies I've seen in the past, I felt that the grainy, dark look reflected more what it looked like when actually shown on film in a movie house. I figured this was meant to be a grittier film than his other works, so I was able to roll with it. It's not such a horribly BAD transfer, though. OK, it's not a beautiful transfer, but it's not terrible.
shareThe Troma DVD looks amazing.
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Yes. Just... yes.
sharei love the guys who say "I have the Troma version, and it looks great!"..... What??? Troma is notorious for releasing terrible transfers. Do u have eyes?? hahaha. u can't be serious........ u either worked for Troma or are just plain moronic... they look good compared to a 20 year old over played bootleg on VHS, yeah if ur comparing it to them....
H.W.
Yeah, the Blue Underground two-disc version is > to the Troma version... no surprise there, really.
http://shareddarkness.com/2007/10/12/stendhal-dvd.aspx
I bought the Troma edition of this the other week and after watching it I wish I had spent the extra money getting the Blue Underground version. The Troma DVD is pretty awful especially the horrible menus and interviews (was it so difficult for them to just film the interviews without the awful effects, wonky camera work and cringe inducing "nodding shots" from the Troma president? The transfer looked pretty bad and although not unwatchable, the blatent Troma labelling throughout the whole DVD was really cheap looking. I watched the trailers for the other films they have released on DVD and they looked like piss poor crap, I was suprised they even released a film like "The Stendhal Syndrome." Their little slogan of "From Troma... of course" seemed fitting and not in a good way...
shareThe Troma cover is the ugliest cover I've seen...
guaranteed tremendous safety
Yeah, thats really important to the enjoyment of a film. hah.
It's the same mediocre movie either way.
Absolutely loved the Troma cover, but ther quality wasn't amazing... considering they don't have the top-o-da-line transfer equipment, it stands to reason that they wouldn't give us great quality...
...a great poster, on the other hand...
I'll swallow your soul!
Liberals suck...
but really, what the heck, man? why can't troma just do a better job with their darn dvds? the dvds film students come home with from their 16mm classes usually look better. i understand they have no money, but neither do film students. jeez.
EDIT: wait, i just watched the movie. What are you guys up in arms about? It looks great, especially compared to what Troma usually turns out.
EDIT2: okay, yeah, i guess it is pretty bad. on the bright side, at least it makes the CGI look less squeaky clean.
The Troma dvd doesn't look bad AT ALL. Everything is clear and can be seen, it's not too dark, not too grainy. Plus, it's like a fourth of the price of the Blue uNDERGROUND dvd..
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pre·ten·tious: characterized by assumption of dignity or importance.
The arrow video version has came out, it is amazing quality and has tons of special features
shareI wouldn't exactly recommend the Arrow DVD. The picture is horribly over-matted and has a strong bluish tint which results in Rotunno's marvellous photography being impaired. The Troma DVD - while looking perfectly dreadful - at least has the correct aspect ratio whereas the Blue Underground DVD with its beautiful colors has the best picture quality overall - despite still being a tad over-matted.
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