The reviews of the new Cold Mountain DVD at Hometheaterforum.com and DVDfile.com say that the video looks overly filtered:

HTF (click for full review)

SHIT.

What a beautiful movie and what an ugly DVD image.

Something must be going terribly wrong over at MIRAMAX. I'm seeing the same problem now with several of their recent DVD releases: Station Agent (to be reviewed shortly), English Patient, and now Cold Mountain. The prognosis is identical with all three titles: Excessive high-frequency filtering (loss of real film detail), coupled with excessive HF boosting (EE ringing), and a strange, pasty, digitally-processed looking result.


DVDfile.com

The film's theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1 is presented in disappointing anamorphic video. This fine film deserves better. Perhaps the combined data requirements of a running time of two hours and thirty-four minutes, a Dolby Digital audio track, a DTS audio track, a commentary track, and a French language track all contributed to blowing out the bit budget. The result is a transfer that looks like it was video low-passed to reduce data density. To further insult our senses, the compression level was likely set so high as to cause visible edge halos. Consequently, on my eight-foot wide screen, small object detail and fine textures suffer. Facial features in medium and long shots become obscured. Colors are a bit muted; green foliage isn't as vivid as I'd expect. And yet, flesh tones are quite natural. Shadow detail in the nighttime scenes, both indoors and outdoors, is fine. I did not notice any mosquito noise or macroblocking. We're left with images that do not resemble film as much as they resemble video. What a pity. Viewers with smaller displays, perhaps fifty inches or less, and who don't sit too close, may not find this transfer objectionable.

I was expecting Miramax to make a super DVD for Bride and Prejudice.

There are some possible explanations for this decline at Miramax.

1. Mr Lulla of Eros bought Miramax then ? Maybe he is using his business expertise or lack of it to undertake a cost cutting exercise.

or

2. Miramax have employed Mr Lulla of Eros as a consultant.

i bet it will still be of better quality then eros dvds i wish they get their act sraight by the time they put chaddas movie on dvd

The recent MIRAMAX and Disney dvds have disappointing transfers.