Pincho, a SD disc -let alone a HD- on a good display and source looks (and sounds) better than the cinema. The picture does not have to fill a thirty foot screen for starters, thus sharpening the image considerably.
I've just watched all of
Superman Returns this afternoon, having just browsed through the box set last night. The image on this movie is absolutely fine. As has been stated above, not the sharpest in the world, but then neither was the cinema image. And no brown capes to be seen. A very dark red / burgundy cape, yes, but brown no.
The image of this movie has been highly processed - a lot of it looks slightly unnatural, but that's how it looked in the cinema, nothing wrong with the DVD transfer. Just a creative decision by the film makers, just like the colour of the cape. If you're in doubt watch the "making of" on the disc where we see the costume outdoors in natural daylight, shot on a hand held camcorder. Colour is that same dark red. Indeed in one on-set shot in the documentary one of the other actors (the guy in the bullet in the eye scene) remarks when he sees Routh in costume "That's a funny shade of red - it's like it's rusted."
Pincho - can I ask you something? Have you actually watched this movie in the cinema and / or on DVD? It's just that you seem to be constantly refering to screen shots of the movie. The
007 Ultimate Editions thread has a link to a German website showing screen shot comparisons of the SEs and UEs of the movies. I own the UE set and until recently the SE set. Both the SE and UE screenshots are appaling quality and look nothing like the image quality of either edition.
You also asked Will Scarlet to take a photo of his TV image - I can't think of a more wildly inaccurate barometer of a DVD's image quality than a shot from a TV display.
If you're wavering on buying this disc then here's one professional review that seems fairly unequivocal:
Video:
As we might expect, one of the year's biggest blockbusters should be afforded a no holds barred transfer and that's exactly what has been created. Presented in its original AR of 2.35:1, this enhanced for widescreen transfer looks fantastic – one of the best of the year. The HD version comparison will no doubt be interesting as this is almost perfect.
First up, colors. Gorgeous, lush and vivid. Skin tones looked real and accurate. Shadow detail and contrast levels also looked perfect – although, the film has a slightly dark look to it. Image detail was excellent as sharp images emerged not only on close-ups but on wider and longer shots. The film also exhibited an impressive amount of depth and texture with virtually no film grain evident.
As we would expect, the print was absolutely immaculate and free of any marks or blemishes. Perfection was also performed in the authoring of the disc as compression errors were non existent – same with edge enhancement; none.
Another example of how well standard definition can look when done right. Full marks - fantastic.
Video: 5/5