Jim H
06-01-2009, 10:48 PM
One of the things I find most infuriating are DVDs that have seriously altered sound effects from the original. This is usually only noticeable on older films, where they end up redoing sound effects to create a 5.1 or DTS mix. Basically, you get laughably bad mixes where it sounds like the tracks from almost two different movies. It's distracting and incredibly irritating. Sometimes the new effects sound like something from a different era. Compare the gunshots from The Terminator on the 5.1 mix and the mono mix (both are on the special edition DVD).
It's especially bad since all they all have to do is also include the original mono/stereo mixes to not have this problem, but in many cases they do not.
This happens a lot in Hong Kong films, which have lovable frequently reused sound effects that always are dated, but that's part of the charm of the films. On many DVDs, we get a mixture of the old sound effects mixed together with very poor, much newer sounding effects. Usually the volumes of the two different vintage sounds are also different, making the situation even more appalling.
Example:
Botched audio, compare gunshots at :58 through 1:14 versus return fire at 1:15 on. Also note how bad the glass shattering, etc, sounds are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlQ_iyQ61ig
Original audio version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxKFVaQgoWM
Anyway, can anyone name some more examples? DVD releases like this deserve to be shunned - it's along the line of full screen only DVD releases, only worse since in many cases people don't realize what they're losing and often there isn't even a better version available!
It's especially bad since all they all have to do is also include the original mono/stereo mixes to not have this problem, but in many cases they do not.
This happens a lot in Hong Kong films, which have lovable frequently reused sound effects that always are dated, but that's part of the charm of the films. On many DVDs, we get a mixture of the old sound effects mixed together with very poor, much newer sounding effects. Usually the volumes of the two different vintage sounds are also different, making the situation even more appalling.
Example:
Botched audio, compare gunshots at :58 through 1:14 versus return fire at 1:15 on. Also note how bad the glass shattering, etc, sounds are.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlQ_iyQ61ig
Original audio version
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxKFVaQgoWM
Anyway, can anyone name some more examples? DVD releases like this deserve to be shunned - it's along the line of full screen only DVD releases, only worse since in many cases people don't realize what they're losing and often there isn't even a better version available!