Hey Horhay,
I agree with some of what you've said. It's this type of debate that is very interesting to me,because it shows a very wide breadth of preference and perception, within the consumer market place.
As I, and many others have said, I don't think all of the new Predator Ultimate Hunter Ed looks waxy-just some scenes-which were failures, as far as I am concerned. I chose to compare the two discs myself, as I am the one that needs to watch the film, or share it with friends & family. As mentioned, I chuckled at the "waxy" scenes, because the actors should not look like a figurine from Madame Tusseud's Wax Museum-unless that is where I am visiting. But there were numerous scenes with stellar clarity for the new Ult Hunter release, over the previous BD release, and I think this kind of inconsistency shows that the studios and companies charged with these "clean ups" are also trying to find their balance in how to present the finished product to a consumer base, that expects Blu-Ray to delivery "stunning clarity in picture and sound", etc. BD is still relatively infantile, and each time any kind of "restoration" or cleanup occurs, the public will always compare how they "felt" when they first watched a film, to determine if the new release is an "upgrade".
For me, I prefer the extra clarity in the new release, because the "murkiness" of the old VHS, and the previous BD made a lot of detail virtually imperceptible. That doesn't mean I like the "waxiness"-it just means that I like some of the technological enhancements that were made to the film, to allow me to enjoy what Blu-Ray has to offer, which is enhanced clarity and detail. All detail was not scrubbed from Predator-I've seen that movie numerous times, on various formats, and there were scenes in the new BD, that were absolutely stunning-in a good way.
As for Aliens, Cameron, himself commented that he was limited by the technology at the time, and is glad that his film now looks cleaner and clearer. this doesn't mean that he is right, but he is a visual master, in my opinion, so I'll need to trust that he would not sanction that his own film be released in a version not to his liking. That film is dirty, gritty, sweaty-but I believe they can show us that,without ruining the "feel" of the film. If Cameron has seen and embraced the new transfer and doesn't feel it has ruined his intention, I choose,to give that mindset the benefit of the doubt, until I see the disc, for myself. Now, if once the disc is released, and I see it myself, I personally hate it, I will be the first to say that they $%^& # it up, and I will be very upset, because I am obviously looking forward to it. If they can communicate the claustrophobia and paranoia/anxiety that exists in that film, while still showing me the film in a visual upgrade (remove dirt, artifacts, etc etc), that a Blu-Ray should showcase, I will be happy.
As as a HUGE fan of this series, especially part 1 and 2, I want to see every bead of sweat on Ripley's face!) Many of those aspects were hidden by the grain that existed, 20+ years ago, not by choice, but because of the limitations of the technology at the time. I have 400+ Blu-Rays and growing, and though I've not had a chance to watch them all, the most annoying feeling I can experience as a consumer, about to pick up an "upgraded" version of one of my favorites, is popping it in the player, and seeing a film exactly how I saw it on DVD or on VHS. It's a wasted opportunity and a con to customers.
"New" is not always better, but I think that sometimes we also have a tendency to clutch on to how something "was", for nostalgia or some other emotional connection, and and we can perceive a visual "clean up" as some kind of "robbery". So, somewhere in between of those two things, each person has to decide where their "midpoint"-and that midpoint is what makes these discussions very interesting and lively. For me, Eggs, Acid spitters, life-sized Nostromo Alien space ships aside-if my Alien Blu-Ray looks like my VHS, it's being projected out into space for Ridley's Space Jockey to find in the prequel
DB
