Another Thumbs-Down Rental Review: Mystic River (Warner)

[Lexmark3200]

Never saw this in theaters, and rented it last night with my better half who really wanted to see this....the Hollywood Video chain we rented from only offered copies of this in widescreen, which appeared to be properly framed at 2:35:1; I dont have to get into the plot, because many of you have probably already seen this.....except for the fact that I didnt really know what to make of this film --- it won two Oscars, with Sean Penn getting an award that year for lead and Tim Robbins winning best supporting, and I believe the acting was the only thing that carried this Clint Eastwood directed crime docu-thriller based on a novel of the same name. I dont care for anything Eastwood directs, but thats my opinion.

Unfortunately, Warner has delivered yet another terribly mixed drama on DVD; only two instances of surround usage were noted by me and my better half......but forget all that and forget the fact that I know this was not a reference disc for 5.1 algorithms, but even in its OWN CONTEXT, this DVD had horribly low recorded dialogue....perhaps the worse I have experienced since the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the so-called "new" DiviMax version of Dawn of the Dead (in DTS no less)....my receiver needed to be CRANKED way up just to hear the whisper soft replies from Tim Robbins and Sean Penn.....I mean WAY up....the overall sound of this DVD was muted, allowing me and my better half to speak over the film during its entire duration....horribly low power levels.

At the end of the viewing, my better half mentioned to me that we would have been better off just watching this DVD through my TV's speakers because it sounded that weak.....very disheartening.

On a positive note for Warner Bros, I recently finally purchased the T3 DVD so I can enjoy that absolutely BREATHTAKING Dolby 5.1 track any time I want....the T3 Dolby Digital track is surely the best Dolby 5.1 track I have ever heard....besting many DTS mixes, in fact.

[cam]

Never saw this in theaters, and rented it last night with my better half who really wanted to see this....the Hollywood Video chain we rented from only offered copies of this in widescreen, which appeared to be properly framed at 2:35:1; I dont have to get into the plot, because many of you have probably already seen this.....except for the fact that I didnt really know what to make of this film --- it won two Oscars, with Sean Penn getting an award that year for lead and Tim Robbins winning best supporting, and I believe the acting was the only thing that carried this Clint Eastwood directed crime docu-thriller based on a novel of the same name. I dont care for anything Eastwood directs, but thats my opinion.

Unfortunately, Warner has delivered yet another terribly mixed drama on DVD; only two instances of surround usage were noted by me and my better half......but forget all that and forget the fact that I know this was not a reference disc for 5.1 algorithms, but even in its OWN CONTEXT, this DVD had horribly low recorded dialogue....perhaps the worse I have experienced since the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre or the so-called "new" DiviMax version of Dawn of the Dead (in DTS no less)....my receiver needed to be CRANKED way up just to hear the whisper soft replies from Tim Robbins and Sean Penn.....I mean WAY up....the overall sound of this DVD was muted, allowing me and my better half to speak over the film during its entire duration....horribly low power levels.

At the end of the viewing, my better half mentioned to me that we would have been better off just watching this DVD through my TV's speakers because it sounded that weak.....very disheartening.

On a positive note for Warner Bros, I recently finally purchased the T3 DVD so I can enjoy that absolutely BREATHTAKING Dolby 5.1 track any time I want....the T3 Dolby Digital track is surely the best Dolby 5.1 track I have ever heard....besting many DTS mixes, in fact.

You mentioned it was framed at 2.35:1, have you learned your aspect ratios finally.

[This Guy]

Maybe if you calibrated your system like we all said you should, you wouldn't have had any trouble at all with this movie like I hadn't. You're giving this movie a thumbs down because you thought the sound was sub-par on your non-calibrated system? The movie was a crime drama, not Terminator so don't expect terminator sound. There wasn't even much action in it, it was mostly dialog. You really aren't qualified to make such a statement.

[Lexmark3200]

You mentioned it was framed at 2.35:1, have you learned your aspect ratios finally.

When did I ever not "know" aspect ratios? Are you referring to when I asked if the larger black bars were creating a "matted" effect? If so, yes I know aspect ratios just fine.

[Lexmark3200]

Maybe if you calibrated your system like we all said you should, you wouldn't have had any trouble at all with this movie like I hadn't. You're giving this movie a thumbs down because you thought the sound was sub-par on your non-calibrated system? The movie was a crime drama, not Terminator so don't expect terminator sound. There wasn't even much action in it, it was mostly dialog. You really aren't qualified to make such a statement.

Maybe if YOU read my post correctly, I CLEARLY stated that IN ITS OWN CONTEXT and that I REALIZED that this was a drama....learn to read, lesson number one.

Lesson number two: I HAVE FOUND MULTIPLE SITES where other people who reviewed this DVD stated this: I NEEDED TO TURN MY AMPLIFIER BEYOND WHAT I USUALLY NEED TO JUST TO HEAR DIALOGUE.....

I KNOW this was not a Terminator film.....I was commenting on Terminator SEPARATELY.....I believe you are not qualified to even speak as a semi-educated individual who can hardly read English when someone writes it.

EVEN AS A CRIME DRAMA, "That Guy" (love the anonymous-"ness" of it all),this DVD was lackluster at best in the audio department. And I will say once more whether you believe me or not....my system has been calibrated by a team of employees at American Hi-Fi of Lynbrook, New York. Even still, my receiver needed to be cranked up to way beyond normal listening levels to be heard at all....

Let me ask you a question.....what does it really matter-----honestly----just how my system is calibrated exactly when the overall VOLUME OF THIS SOUNDTRACK sounded EXTREMELY EXTEREMELY low to me.....I mean REALLY low....and that is WITH slightly boosted dB levels from the guys at American Hi Fi; lets say all speakers were at ZERO dBs....all across the board.....wouldnt that STILL MEAN that this soundtrack would be extremely low at volume settings? I still wouldnt get what I thought should have been much louder recorded dialogue.....there were times when I couldnt even MAKE OUT what Penn was saying....and you say Im not qualified to comment?

What world 'you from?

[cam]

Hey Lex, I have had similar movies where I thought the dialogue or center channel information was low. Example: Matrix Revolution, the first half hour was basically all talking and it did not sound to me that it was loud enough so I turned my master volume up louder then my reference levels. But then when all the fighting and machine gun scenes were on my ears would bleed. Yes all my speakers are spl matched so I have to just chalk it up as normal even though my ears interperated the dialogue to being few db's low on the soundtrack.

[Lexmark3200]

Hey Lex, I have had similar movies where I thought the dialogue or center channel information was low. Example: Matrix Revolution, the first half hour was basically all talking and it did not sound to me that it was loud enough so I turned my master volume up louder then my reference levels. But then when all the fighting and machine gun scenes were on my ears would bleed. Yes all my speakers are spl matched so I have to just chalk it up as normal even though my ears interperated the dialogue to being few db's low on the soundtrack.

Hey Again Cam,

Yeah, I sure know what you mean man.....I have so many discs in my collection that have horribly low recorded dialogues and then the action overtakes the system because the master volume needs to be turned up so god damned high....as a matter of fact, I have found this with almost ALL my discs....dialogue is always much softer than any other aspect of the soundtrack....and my center channel IS a couple of dBs higher-set than the other speakers, so it just cant be that. I think its just a Dolby Digital thing....

Hey, speaking of this, let me ask you: do you know anything about a Dialogue Enhancer feature on DVD players? I am running a Panasonic DVD-RA60, and the manual says there is a Dialogue Enhancer feature, which is supposed to boost center channel volume, but when I engage it, nothing happens.....reading the manual, it clearly says this: IF THE DIALOGUE ENHANCER HAS NO EFFECT, THIS FEATURE DOES NOT WORK WHEN THE UNIT IS OUTPUTTING BITSTREAM SIGNALS.

The player is indeed set up to output BISTREAM for Dolby Digital and DTS signals, but WHY shouldnt the dialogue enhancer work for these types of soundtracks? What WOULD it work for then, only PCM signals? Why would this be? I was hoping I could compensate for low dialogue with the dialogue enhancer but the book is telling me I cant do it.

[cam]

Hey Again Cam,

Yeah, I sure know what you mean man.....I have so many discs in my collection that have horribly low recorded dialogues and then the action overtakes the system because the master volume needs to be turned up so god damned high....as a matter of fact, I have found this with almost ALL my discs....dialogue is always much softer than any other aspect of the soundtrack....and my center channel IS a couple of dBs higher-set than the other speakers, so it just cant be that. I think its just a Dolby Digital thing....

Hey, speaking of this, let me ask you: do you know anything about a Dialogue Enhancer feature on DVD players? I am running a Panasonic DVD-RA60, and the manual says there is a Dialogue Enhancer feature, which is supposed to boost center channel volume, but when I engage it, nothing happens.....reading the manual, it clearly says this: IF THE DIALOGUE ENHANCER HAS NO EFFECT, THIS FEATURE DOES NOT WORK WHEN THE UNIT IS OUTPUTTING BITSTREAM SIGNALS.

The player is indeed set up to output BISTREAM for Dolby Digital and DTS signals, but WHY shouldnt the dialogue enhancer work for these types of soundtracks? What WOULD it work for then, only PCM signals? Why would this be? I was hoping I could compensate for low dialogue with the dialogue enhancer but the book is telling me I cant do it.

I could be wrong but I believe that the dialogue enhancer will only work with the analog out from your dvd player. If you were using your tv for your speakers you can engage the dialogue enhancer and it will work. What I have done to help with low dialogue volume was to keep my center channel 1 db higher then the mains and surrounds, but you mentioned you alresdy have it a few db's higher. Another possible solution that may work is put your dynamic compression on. This works only with DD. My receiver I can put it on low, mid or high. My understanding is that it will tame down the loud sounds and boost the soft sounds. I don't like it on mid or high because you lose all of the dynamics of the sound track. Low for me maybe an option but I know that if I watch it on low compression I am altering the soundtrack so for me my happy medium is just to set the center channel 1 db higher and just live with it.

[Lexmark3200]

I could be wrong but I believe that the dialogue enhancer will only work with the analog out from your dvd player. If you were using your tv for your speakers you can engage the dialogue enhancer and it will work. What I have done to help with low dialogue volume was to keep my center channel 1 db higher then the mains and surrounds, but you mentioned you alresdy have it a few db's higher. Another possible solution that may work is put your dynamic compression on. This works only with DD. My receiver I can put it on low, mid or high. My understanding is that it will tame down the loud sounds and boost the soft sounds. I don't like it on mid or high because you lose all of the dynamics of the sound track. Low for me maybe an option but I know that if I watch it on low compression I am altering the soundtrack so for me my happy medium is just to set the center channel 1 db higher and just live with it.

I see.....I guess the Dialogue Enhancer then will not work, as the book says, with digital signals like Bistream DD and DTS, as you have suggested a confirmation of. I will play around with the compression but I dont think I will like it too much because just like you, I have a feeling this mode will simply turn down the dynamics of an aggressive Dolby Digital soundtrack.

You have mentioned that you yourself keep the center channel one dB higher than the other channels and I myself keep the center two dBs higher than the rest; still, many soundtracks are terribly weak in the center dialogue section. One film that comes to mind that I personally own on DVD is the William Malone remake of "House on Haunted Hill"....the Dolby Digital track of this film creepily recreates the noises of a haunted mansion sure enough, but when the actors are speaking, the center channel is WHISPER QUIET....I am not kidding. You can barely hear them speaking. Then, there is a sudden stinger of music, and the surrounds come to life and scare the bejesus out of you. I hate it. But reading online reviews of this Warner Bros DVD, I have noticed that other people have mentioned the horribly low dialogue channel this film has, so it must be the way it was recorded.

[This Guy]

haha quite an entertaining post. I guess I'm not edjucated even though I actually wrote sentences, not 5 sentences in 5 paragraphs, it makes you look like a very intelligent person. Your dialogue issue it pretty obvious as well, your center channel simply isn't loud enough. SINCE you had to turn the volume level up so much, maybe you should check over your settings and get the speaker levels correct using a $35 SPL meter. I guess the spl meter is too complicated for you so you had to get a bunch of employees from American HI FI to do it for you, and they obviously ****ed it up. I had no problem with this movie. Sure on some movies you gotta turn it up a little bit more than normal, but once you turn it up you can hear then dialog fine. And what world am I from? hahaha later DUDE.

[Lexmark3200]

haha quite an entertaining post. I guess I'm not edjucated even though I actually wrote sentences, not 5 sentences in 5 paragraphs, it makes you look like a very intelligent person. Your dialogue issue it pretty obvious as well, your center channel simply isn't loud enough. SINCE you had to turn the volume level up so much, maybe you should check over your settings and get the speaker levels correct using a $35 SPL meter. I guess the spl meter is too complicated for you so you had to get a bunch of employees from American HI FI to do it for you, and they obviously ****ed it up. I had no problem with this movie. Sure on some movies you gotta turn it up a little bit more than normal, but once you turn it up you can hear then dialog fine. And what world am I from? hahaha later DUDE.

That was a Taxi Driver reference, if you didnt catch it (the what world you from, that is)....anyway, do you even understand what I am asking? I UNDERSTAND what you are saying, I really, honestly do, regarding turning up the volume higher than normal on some soundtracks.....of course I understand that. And once I adjusted the receiver volume, the dialogue WAS able to be heard....what I was saying was Sean Penn's rhetoric along with Robbins', was EXTREMELY hushed and muted in delivery....the dialogue was RECORDED almost whisper-quiet at times, and if you didnt hear this, you need to get them there ears checked, bud....other website reviews said the EXACT same thing about the recording level of this DVD. I am not making this up.

The SPL isnt at all complicated for me, and the store didnt **** this up-----of course thats what you would say in order to create any kind of come-back based on what I said, which was that I DID have my system calibrated.....what else would you say? Would you actually agree with me? No, would never happen, so you need to be childish and create another come back by saying these guys ****ed my system up.....pretty logical. They didnt **** the system up; I had a couple of other techs from other shops come by and double check the operation.

Dude, my levels ARE set right----how much more can I turn up my center channel when they are already two decibels higher than the rest?? YOU KEEP SAYING THAT I NEED TO CHECK THOSE LEVELS BLAH BLAH BLAH BUT YOU WONT ANSWER MY QUESTION.....HOW MUCH MORE DO I NEED TO TURN UP MY CENTER CHANNEL'S dBs IF THEY ARE ALREADY TURNED UP ABOVE THE OTHER CHANNELS IN ORDER TO HEAR A BETTER CENTER STAGE? Can you at least answer me that? The levels are higher in the center channel than the rest, so what more can give me better center response?

[This Guy]

OK look, I'm tired of this fighting. When I'm talking about turning your center channel up, I'm saying get a meter so that you know it is the same volume as your other speakers at the listening position. Your center is probably a few dB less in sensitivity than your other speakers. You won't know exactly how much to turn it up without the meter because the meter is much more accurate than anybodys ears are. I'm trying to tell you all these problems could go away if you got the meter. When I said those guys ****ed it up, I'm saying they really may not no what they're doing, because it doesn't sound like they used an SPL meter to set the volume levels correct, they used their ears. For example, on my system (before I added an external amp for it) I had the center channels volume at +2 dB while my other fronts were at 0. I got the SPL meter I had to change the centers volume to +8 while my two other fronts were at +1 and +2 and I found movies to be much more pleasurable and I didn't have to turn it way up like I did before, and I never had to tinker with the settings again. I'm just saying, just buy the meter and it'll do wonders. Hell you could even buy it, see if the way you had it was correct, and return it for a full refund. THAT's what I, and many other members on this website is trying to tell you. We cool?

[Lexmark3200]

OK look, I'm tired of this fighting. When I'm talking about turning your center channel up, I'm saying get a meter so that you know it is the same volume as your other speakers at the listening position. Your center is probably a few dB less in sensitivity than your other speakers. You won't know exactly how much to turn it up without the meter because the meter is much more accurate than anybodys ears are. I'm trying to tell you all these problems could go away if you got the meter. When I said those guys ****ed it up, I'm saying they really may not no what they're doing, because it doesn't sound like they used an SPL meter to set the volume levels correct, they used their ears. For example, on my system (before I added an external amp for it) I had the center channels volume at +2 dB while my other fronts were at 0. I got the SPL meter I had to change the centers volume to +8 while my two other fronts were at +1 and +2 and I found movies to be much more pleasurable and I didn't have to turn it way up like I did before, and I never had to tinker with the settings again. I'm just saying, just buy the meter and it'll do wonders. Hell you could even buy it, see if the way you had it was correct, and return it for a full refund. THAT's what I, and many other members on this website is trying to tell you. We cool?

I guess so.

I still think this DVD had a weakly recorded dialogue section.

[kelsci]

Hi Lex; I have been under the weather with Mr. Depression again which required a medication change along with a bum, painful left knee. I got to watch this disc since my brother rented it. I cannot really comment on the dialogue in 5.1 ch. mode since I used a headphone with the sound mixed down into stereo. I did not necessarily find the dialogue all that clear in that mode but I have never tried listening to other discs that way before to determine whether it is a disc or receiver anamoly.

As far as Eastwoods films go, I too have not been any fan of those he produced and directed and that goes for MYSTIC RIVER as well. I did find the film's plot slightly diverting. Robbin's acting was quite good in this film IMO. Penn's acting was OK. They both got the Oscar probably due to an accumulation of their previous works rather than this one movie.

[IsmaVA]

Anyway . . . . .. .:-\

I found Mystic River to be highly overestimated. It is a so-so movie with lots of iirelevan dramatic artifacts which seemed to dilute the original intent of the film (or at least what I think was), the relationship of three friends after a traumatic experience . . .

I do not want to give any spoilers, bu this movie, IMHO, did not deserve any of the Oscars it got.

[Lexmark3200]

Hi Lex; I have been under the weather with Mr. Depression again which required a medication change along with a bum, painful left knee. I got to watch this disc since my brother rented it. I cannot really comment on the dialogue in 5.1 ch. mode since I used a headphone with the sound mixed down into stereo. I did not necessarily find the dialogue all that clear in that mode but I have never tried listening to other discs that way before to determine whether it is a disc or receiver anamoly.

As far as Eastwoods films go, I too have not been any fan of those he produced and directed and that goes for MYSTIC RIVER as well. I did find the film's plot slightly diverting. Robbin's acting was quite good in this film IMO. Penn's acting was OK. They both got the Oscar probably due to an accumulation of their previous works rather than this one movie.

Hello Kel....

Good to hear from a good friend; I am so sorry to hear about the return of the depression; would you be comfortable sharing with me just what medication you were referred onto as a change? I have had some good experience with Lexapro, which is one of these new designer anti depressants that are coming out now....can you perhaps suggest to your doctor changing to Lexapro?

As far as Mystic River goes, yeah, since you were listening through headphones downconverted for 2.0 stereo, it would have probably been harder for you to analyze the dialogue difficulties....but they were there when playing this back through my receiver. As I stated to This Guy, I went on NUMEROUS sites where this DVD was reviewed, and most other folks agreed or made some kind of comment to the effect that they needed to crank their amplifier way beyond normal levels just to hear the dialogue between Penn and Robbins at times.

Best to you and your family.

[Lexmark3200]

Anyway . . . . .. .:-\

I found Mystic River to be highly overestimated. It is a so-so movie with lots of iirelevan dramatic artifacts which seemed to dilute the original intent of the film (or at least what I think was), the relationship of three friends after a traumatic experience . . .

I do not want to give any spoilers, bu this movie, IMHO, did not deserve any of the Oscars it got.

Agreed totally. I dont know what all the hype was about. In fact, in the realm of friends growing up to share a deadly secret of some kind in films, I liked "Sleepers" with Robert De Niro, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Minnie Driver, and Dustin Hoffman a whole lot better.

[IsmaVA]

I agree . . ."Sleepers" was way better than Mystic River . . . :-)

[kelsci]

Hi Lex; I have already tried Lexapro without any success. I was taking it in combination with the anti-depressant effexor. I am being slowly taken off the effexor since it is doing nothing as an anti-depressant anyway. I do not have the name of the new drug by my desk but I can tell you it is an ELI LILLY COMBINATION PLATE., that being part PROZAC and part ZYPREXA(OLANZIPENE) so it is a combo anti-depressant and anti-psychotic.

I remembered one film I did like Eastwood in. It was HEARTBRAKE RIDGE. The battle scene on the island of Grenada had especially good Dolby Surround sound. Mario Van Peebles was an absolute scene stealer in that battle scene and his repoire with Eastwood was IMHO a riot. Kelsci.

[Lexmark3200]

I agree . . ."Sleepers" was way better than Mystic River . . . :-)

Agreed. Sleepers was a fanatastic film; never hesitate to watch it when it comes on cable. Still havent purchased the DVD though for fear of perhaps the inevitable Special Edition which everything seems to be released as these days...

[Lexmark3200]

Hi Lex; I have already tried Lexapro without any success. I was taking it in combination with the anti-depressant effexor. I am being slowly taken off the effexor since it is doing nothing as an anti-depressant anyway. I do not have the name of the new drug by my desk but I can tell you it is an ELI LILLY COMBINATION PLATE., that being part PROZAC and part ZYPREXA(OLANZIPENE) so it is a combo anti-depressant and anti-psychotic.

I remembered one film I did like Eastwood in. It was HEARTBRAKE RIDGE. The battle scene on the island of Grenada had especially good Dolby Surround sound. Mario Van Peebles was an absolute scene stealer in that battle scene and his repoire with Eastwood was IMHO a riot. Kelsci.

Hey Kel,

I see.....I had some experience with Prozac too, but very minimal. I am sure everything will work out with the medication and the knee. My prayers are with you.

As for Eastwood, I really liked him IN THE LINE OF FIRE, which happens to be a very underrated Wolfgang Petersen film and is one of my favorites....I just picked up Columbia's Special Edition DVD of this title, and it was way worth the $15 price at Target. I thought Eastwood and John Malkovitch were great in this suspense thriller about Eastwood being JFK's main secret service guard who couldnt save his life in time and now Malkovitch gives him a second chance by threatening the current president....I dont know if Columbia is going to revisit this title as a Superbit with DTS, but this new Special Edition is great. The picture is ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS at a widescreen digital anamorphic 2:35:1 and the Dolby 5.1 track is one of the best examples I have ever heard on DVD of seamless sidewall imaging....the sounds of the president's motorcade, the sounds of crowds at rallies, the echoing of bullets from guns....all sound wonderfully REAL on this disc. However, like most older thrillers/dramas, the dialogue is soft and gets lost under the whole track....you gotta kick this one up on the volume, just like Mystic River.

[datarush]

I didn't care for Mystic River that much. I thought the climax was telegraphed by oddly deep suspicions right at the beginning. Some dialog at the end was total BS. It did have some good acting. It had good mood music. The last Eastwood film I saw that I really liked was Unforgiven, but in Mystic River's case the screenwriting is suspect, whomever is to blame for that.

It was remarked on how good it looked on my Hitachi 57" HDTV. In that respect it shows off the advantage of tried and true CRT. They still have the best blacks, and Mystic River is a dark movie.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

It is pretty amusing how two people can see the same movie, and walk away with completely different opinions of it. I really like this movie, and thought it deserved all of the awards it earned.

Now to the printers(or original poster if you will) technical assesment of this movie. Bullcrap! The audio was NOT recorded low, and needed no adjustment from my system. It is NOT terribly mixed(right on par for its genre) as the printer(original poster) asserts. Since it is a dialog driven movie, it would have been stupid to use the surrounds to any great degree. The soundtrack had quite of low level ambient sounds coming from the surrounds as it should have to keep from being distracting to the action on screen.

On a positive note for Warner Bros, I recently finally purchased the T3 DVD so I can enjoy that absolutely BREATHTAKING Dolby 5.1 track any time I want....the T3 Dolby Digital track is surely the best Dolby 5.1 track I have ever heard....besting many DTS mixes, in fact.

Once again for the five hundredth time. You cannot make comparison about formats going accross movies. Different movies require different mixes, so you cannot say one mix in Dolby Digital will sound better than all mixes done is Dts. That is stupid and shows you have not one single clue about how soundtracks are mixed and encoded.

It seems rather interesting to me that you are complain about the same things pre(and supposed) calibration that you are complaining about post calibration. This leads me to believe that either they botched your calibration, or it never happened in the first place. Whatever it is, you need to go back to the drawing board!!

[Lexmark3200]

It is pretty amusing how two people can see the same movie, and walk away with completely different opinions of it. I really like this movie, and thought it deserved all of the awards it earned.

Now to the printers(or original poster if you will) technical assesment of this movie. Bullcrap! The audio was NOT recorded low, and needed no adjustment from my system. It is NOT terribly mixed(right on par for its genre) as the printer(original poster) asserts. Since it is a dialog driven movie, it would have been stupid to use the surrounds to any great degree. The soundtrack had quite of low level ambient sounds coming from the surrounds as it should have to keep from being distracting to the action on screen.



Once again for the five hundredth time. You cannot make comparison about formats going accross movies. Different movies require different mixes, so you cannot say one mix in Dolby Digital will sound better than all mixes done is Dts. That is stupid and shows you have not one single clue about how soundtracks are mixed and encoded.

It seems rather interesting to me that you are complain about the same things pre(and supposed) calibration that you are complaining about post calibration. This leads me to believe that either they botched your calibration, or it never happened in the first place. Whatever it is, you need to go back to the drawing board!!

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaw n...........

Was wondering when I was gonna hear from ya, my old board-controlling chap! Guess all that ice cream I recommended went right to a different part of ye old anatomy!!!

Lets begin with the fact that the sound was recorded in a "low" method compared to other films of the same genre.....I HAVE READ OTHER REVIEWS OF MYSTIC RIVER THAT HAVE STATED THAT THE REVIEWER NEEDED TO "TURN UP THE AMPLIFIER VOLUME MORE THAN IS USUALLY NECESSARY IN ORDER TO HEAR THIS FILMS QUIET DIALOGUE AS COMPARED TO OTHER DRAMAS OF THE CLASS...." I believe this was on DVD review.com....if this is not correct, I will have to do another search and see where I read this.....but other folks have agreed with my assesment that this was a terribly recorded soundtrack.....I have read other online reviews that have suggested that Tim Robbins and Sean Penn's rhetoric in the film gets so quiet at times that its almost a whisper....

Now, as far as your other comments, ye old "controller of the board" and "bully of the self-titled 'lesser folk in these here parts'," I NEVER said that COMPARED TO TERMINATOR 3 Mystic River sounded horrible.....I SAID ON ITS OWN, I RECENTLY AND AS A SIDE NOTE, PURCHASED TERMINATOR 3 (ON THE WARNER LABEL, LIKE MYSTIC RIVER) and am now able to enjoy THAT film's soundtrack in glorious, aggressive five point one sound.....and no matter what you tell me....no matter what, I will STILL contend that DTS soundtracks are louder and simply more aggressive in nature to my ears than Dolby's system.....other people around the world involved in this hobby feel the same about DTS versus DD, so why am I the only one --- according to you --- WRONG about these observations?

Whoooooops------gotta get some more ice cream, Terr.....be right back!

[lynn2c]

Glad to have found this thread. I watched Mystic River a couple evenings ago. About a half hour into the movie, I got out the SPL meter.....settings were ok. After a few more "what did they say" from the wife, I thought "what's wrong with the center speaker.
Put in another DVD and "hey, back to being able to hear what they are saying.
Glad it wasn't just me thinking this movie had it's dialog too low.

Oh, and I do notice a difference between DTS and Dolby. I prefer DTS