Perhaps the edge enhancement is not as apparent as some would have us believe.

In all fairness it's not a consistently noticeable issue and shouldn't be a deal breaker for anyone, and is really only noticeable in a few sequences. I grabbed a couple of what I thought were the worst offenders. I still have to say in those few sequences I thought it was fairly obvious on my TV, a 46" LCD/LED (the first instance where I noticed it was one scene with Agutter walking across the landscape while wearing her black hat) and then in the grabs I pulled of the sequences in question. I still think it looks rather good otherwise, the only other complaint maybe being that the source materials hold it back but that's not Criterion's fault, and they at least didn't alter it/sharpen it to make it look "better" on Blu-ray.

Thanks for that, Chris. Still, even accounting for the fact that the EE affects only a handful of scenes, it begs the question of why no else has brought it up in their reviews. Either they have not caught it (which in the case of R Harris I'd find rather hard to believe) or they are ignorant of it. I don't mean to sound like I'm splitting hairs over this but even if the reviewer personally considers the edge enhancement not detrimental or significant enough from their perspective, it should have merited a mention since other people's mileage may vary (as evidenced by the reactions of others in this same thread). I can live with it but I'm grateful that Chris' A/V assessments are reallly thorough and more consistent than the Beev (with their thumbs up for the atrocious Gladiator BR).

Good afternoon,

I would like to quickly address the claims about EE as well as halos that have appeared on a few online forums.

Walkabout is a film in which natural light is of utmost importance - hence the reason why it has such an "inconsistent" look. The "edge-enhancement" that you observed during selected scenes really has very little to do with Criterion's presentation; and everything to do with how light is captured by the camera. Example: the balloon releasing scenes. The thick lining fluctuates dramatically from frame to frame.

This is the exact same reason why other enthusiasts are seeing "edge-enhancement" and strong halos on the Criterion Blu-ray release of Mr. Malick's Days of Heaven -- another film where natural light is of utmost importance, and understanding how the film camera captures it in a specific environment is crucial.

To sum it all up, Walkabout looks very convincing in high-definition.

Pro-B

Agreed on how Days of Heaven has incorrectly been accused of EE, and I wondered the same about Walkabout, whether it was the lighting. I mentioned Agutter's hat was the first instance I noticed it and in all honesty I had trouble figuring what the issue was, but I think what did it for me were a couple of shots of Gulpilil in the foreground against the sky which presented slight halos that looked artificial, not natural to the photography. The DVD has the same thing as well, if a little more prominent (though comparing a DVD and BD doesn't really mean much admittedly.) At least that's how it looked to me. I could be wrong, and I've been wrong on other things (Kagemusha's transfer is not as near-perfect as I originally thought and The Last Emperor's is far worse than I originally thought) but I was stating what I felt to be the case and I don't feel it's exactly the same thing as in Days of Heaven.

I still have to say I'm a little stunned people on this site are making a big deal about it (though I guess I shouldn't be, especially after posting M grabs that I thought looked wonderful only to find a very vocal group who thought anything but,) but I still think it looks great, and it's not like The Assassination of Jesse James... I'm more than happy with it, especially after their original DVD, which is really stunningly bad in the video department.

Got my copy today and unfortunately it seems the problem with the first batch of Days of Heaven Blu-Rays has been reproduced on Walkabout: my disc played fine until the 50 minute mark when the Aborigine boy finds the little brother whimpering in his sister's arms. The picture freezes and then skips several minutes before resuming play. I can't test the disc on other machines with the Sony being my only BR player but with the exact same error occuring on the Malick and in a similar timeframe, I suspect that Criterion have mucked up yet again. I have reported the fault to Movietyme and am returning the disc this weekend, and can only hope that I don't get another faulty disc. Could everyone else check their discs upon receipt and confirm if they're having the same problem? Thanks.

It could be a firmware issue with your Sony Blu-Ray player. Check if your player is on the latest firmware; if not, perform the required update and try playing the disc again.

My shop-bought copy played fine.

Is this new version (or the '98 release while I'm at it) licensed by Fox?

It opens with the Fox logo (like the old one) but it's been licenced from Janus Films.

Does the same go for Paris, Texas?

No. There's no Fox logo for Paris, Texas and it was licenced from HanWay Films.

Highdefdigest also notes "a technical hiccup" at the 51 minute mark...I hope this isn't a big deal and requires replacements or something.

I'm so glad they put the David Gulpilil documentary on this release - his is one of the more unique and fascinating film careers in the history of film.

Weird. My Sherwood didn't have any sort of problem with either this or the Days of Heaven disc.

This seems to be a problem affecting a small percentage of copies of a number of titles on Blu in exactly the same way. (As I've mentioned before, I had the same problem with Che Pt. 2, right at the 51 minute mark.) I know it's not a player-specific problem, because a) I tried my bad disc on two different brands of players, and b) the replacement Criterion sent me worked just fine. It's probably a good idea for the time being to check any Crit BD you purchase first thing to make sure it plays fine between 50 and 52 minutes. If you have the problem, email Mulvaney and get a replacement.

Will this offer be extended to anyone outside the US though, I wonder?

Yes and no. Unless anything has changed in the system, Criterion can and will replace discs for anyone outside of the US but they can't themselves send the product out of the country. To replace a disc from the Mr Arkadin set, I had to have a third party lined up (in the US) who could relay the disc on to me from Criterion. It was, to say the least, a pain in the arse.

on the other hand, the missing booklet in Clean/Shaven was a known Criterion "problem", and I give my addy in France to Jon Mulvaney and Criterion sent me the booklet.
But it's probably different with CD/Blu-Ray.

One thing I did notice with the blu-ray, is that if you look in the booklet of Walkabout, the Blu-Ray authoring/mastering is not made by Criterion. It's a different company than the DVD edition. I don't know if this means that for Blu-Ray, Criterion can not supervise as well the Blu-Ray mastering/product.

I don't have the problem described with Walkabout. I watched the film twice.
I did have a problem of freeze with Days of Heaven (but the freeze occurs before the 51mn), which I described on blu-ray.com forum. For reason I don't understand, I had to eject the bluray and he did play again with no frame skipping or freeze
The second and third time I watched Days of Heaven Blu-Ray it plays just fine.

why 51 mn btw ? is it the change of layer mark/timing ? I thought it was different from each movie.
Perhaps this has something to do with the location of the menu bar on the disc (the way the blu-ray is authored).
Perhaps a good thing would be to refresh to bookmark, and add some bookmarks if there are some problems with a BR which would have the same I.D than a previous disc played.
I this problem is recurrent with several Criterion Blu-Ray releases, there something wrong with the full compatibility of their Blu-Ray authoring...

This happened to me on Pierrot Le Fou....I thought my player was acting up, as when I ejected the disc and tried the same part it played fine. I'm using a Momitsu 799 btw.

I watched my "Pierrot Le Fou" BD recently on a 60GB PS3 and it played fine, no 51 min. prob. "Vivre Sa Vie" BD is on tap for tonight, wish me luck.

Sometimes I think you are the only person on this board who watches Criterion movies

mine arrived today and I immediately sat down to watch it...been waiting so long! First the reported glitch: no problems whatsoever for me viewing w/ a samsung bd-p1500. I ordered from Amazon - so the issue is at least not one with EVERY disc.


As for the film, seeing it again after a few years on blu ray was a revelation, and it remains solidly among my ten favorite films of all time. Every frame is striking - and even while the odd asides don't fully "work" in a narrative sense, the imagery and elegiac tone of it all is just mesmerizing. And it has one of the single most astonishing endings i've ever seen. It doesn't just make me cry, it punches me in the face first. Pow, right in the kisser.

I rewatched the final 25 minutes with the commentary and I'm now going to be sure to listen to the entire thing - both Roeg and Augutter offer tremendous insights, especially regarding the climactic scene. I've always felt a couple of ways about it, so it was nice to get input from David Gulpilil himself (via Jenny anyway). I will sit down with the Gulpilil Documentary later too.

And, just for the record, I looked specifically for halos or ee and didn't notice anything on a 42" panny LCD. That was also a relief...there simply were no technical issues at all with this one, and the palette is astonishing in hi-def. Their best re-release so far imo (though I've yet to see M)

Unfortunately, same problem with Walkabout here. My BD freezes at 49min 57sec mark and I can't move past that point neither by skipping chapter nor by fast forwarding, nor even by trying to open next chapter through menu.
I am using Momitsu 799.