Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler The Bourne Ultimatum on HD DVD - too quiet?

I'll try to find the chapters and times tomorrow, and I'll get back to you. Anything to help a guy get more out of his Christmas present pre-Christmas.

Well, the motorcycle chase seemed better today. I still would have liked to hear more of the motorcycle engines, but there was a lot of sound to mix in. I suppose they didn't need to have the engines overpower the rest.

As for the car chase in chapter 16, at around 1:26:00, a lot of the crashes just don't seem to have enough impact. I'm sure it's just how they chose to mix it, but for me, I kept wanting more. I don't know. I'm interested in what other people think.

Charles,

I haven't watched this on DVD and probably never will because the way the movie was edited made me nauseous. But I remember thinking in the theatre that the sound wasn't very good or impactful. I thought it was the theatre but now that you're complaining about the same thing it makes me think that it was the sound engineering.

One movie I do like for the impact of sound is Children of Men on HD DVD. I can't speak for the SD version, but yeah, I was just watching the car/motorcycle scene in chapter 6 at around 0:27:40, and it still impresses me. The sound throughout the whole movie is pretty great, really. They do a good job with the quieter effects and then the sudden loud ones. I wish more movies paid as much attention.

Watched Bourne on the weekend. There was a lot of impressive surround effects and a lot of detail in the HD track. I was impressed.

To your point, I think that they did put more emphasis on the sounds that were happening around the vehicle chase scenes verses the engine noises. I think it was more of a production decision verses a soundtrack weakness though since engine noise was about the only sound that wasn't loud.

If you like engine noise, try "Fast & Furious Tokyo Drift" in HD. Not one I would have bought myself but it came free packaged with the player. It was actually more entertaining than I thought, has brilliant color and LOTS of engine noise.

Back to Bourne. I was very entertained but if they make another, they really have to add another aspect for drama other than chase scenes. I know it's this movie series's "thing" but it's getting a bit reliant on it.

Well... If this movie is too quiet, I prefer not to listen to a loud one! Watched it Yesterday and the soundtrack is amazing.

I agree with all the comments on camera shake in Ultimatum. Paul Greengrass needs to look into a Steadicam

I second Murphs's take on the Children of Men soundtrack on HD DVD. It's "only" DD+ and it is definitely one of the better sounding discs I own. Bitrate hounds complaining about lossy audio tracks on some hi-def discs can just stop and insert foot in mouth as they hear the experience of this disc.

I have the trilogy of borne movies for me waiting for me under the christmas tree :-).

All in normal DVD's though...I don't care...I'm waiting for the format war to be over.

Just watched Bourne last night. I didn't think the audio was that bad. I see what Charles meant about wanting more impact with the chase scenes. I can't help thinking about the slippery slope of always wanting to get the most out of our HTs, though. I admit wanting room shaking explosions with every action movie I watch, but I have to remind myself that it's not always going to happen.

Yes, some movies I get to enjoy the equipment, like "War of the Worlds," and some I get to enjoy the actual movie, like "To Catch a Thief." The former offers a visceral kind of thrill in terms of my whole room shaking, and the latter offers a dramatic thrill--something that seems to be a losing commodity in a lot of modern movies. Oh well, that's a rant for it's own thread.

Yeah, the audio's not bad by any means. I just thought there was a wasted opportunity is all.