Just got my preview copy to review from CT, and I must say I was hoping CT would have improved on the DVD by using a much better film source, however instead its the exact same one for the region one version, with much film debris. However the picture quality has slightly improved as the bit rate has increased and more information can be seen. But this will make no difference to those with a small television screen, only to those who have phat screen's (40+).

What I hate about this two disc is the way they have laid out the film. I was hoping that when you put in disc two the film would begin straight away, but instead you have to go through the boring copyright, dolby, and CT crap before the film begins.

Only worth upgrading for the two disc set if you love this film like mad, and you have a large screen.

Will review in greater detail on dvd.reviewer real soon. Also have been told that I will be getting a preview copy of Mission Kashmir, and Monsoon Wedding soon so watch this space for an update!!

Sunny you can skip those copyright stuff if you have a feature called PBC (play back control) on your DVD player. I had posted a thread abt this earlier in the forum (General)

sunny, could you post some screen shots too? I was hoping to get the R2 too

is the PAL speed-up noticeable on the DVD?

I'm sure Columbia Tristar in the US gave Columbia Tristar in the UK the HD master to make the R2 DVD. That's probably why the same print problems are there. How is the sound?

I just want to know if the picture and sound are good on the region 2.

Similarly the R3 dvd and CT video cd have the same print as R1. I wasn't expecting them to use another print

Does R2 (PAL) LAGAAN run 4% faster??

If it runs at the same speed, then is it transferred from Film to NTSC and then to PAL??

Rana

R1 NTSC DVD running time is: 225 mins

R2 PAL DVD running time is: 215 mins

Ali

dang it...
I wish they would do us all a favor and release lagaan spread across two-discs... forget the extras.

One HD master can be used to make NTSC and PAL versions. This is why most US studios make HD masters of their films.

replies to all posts

screenshots can be seen on dvd.reviewer website.

sound is exactly the same as region one, just average. Picture is only slightly better on region two version due to high bit rate.

yep used HD master, but the way it is encoded can show a better difference in quality. I think the HD encoding wasn't that good on this title (or on most CT titles like s.little, cthd, Bridget Jones).

PAl speed up is always noticable if you compare it to its NTSC version.

and this version is released on two discs (with addtional extras of two trailers gandhi & Lawrence Of A, filmography and the deleated scene)

the release is spread onto two discs, and the picture is only slightly better?

that's even sadder. where did they split it? at the intermission?

I'm not sure they did a HD master for "Lagaan". I'm not sure
they did the transfer themselves. The aliasing in the picture
is very unusual for Columbia-Tristar. I have not seen this
before on a NTSC DVD from them. Something is fishy.
cheers
Michel Hafner

Well, from shots, picture looks very simillar to r1 release.? Ali, could u pls. give us joint comparative shots to see where is that marginal difference? pls. :vsneaky: