"Diva," the Meridian Collection, and color correction

So Lionsgate (why is it just one word?) has begun a new DVD line called the Meridian Collection. Going by the name, the only conclusion I can come up with is that they're hoping to take a slice of the Criterion Collection's market. All I can say is, you need a lot more than that.

So far, they've released two movies: "The Red Violin" and "Diva." I've yet to see "The Red Violin," but would like to. However, I have the "Diva" DVD out from the library, and... dear heavens.

I'll give them one thing: They certainly have a thing for making impressive DVD covers. Both are striking, and catch your eye in a way that's not totally Criterion-like, but not the usual DVD way, either.

Putting the "Diva" DVD in and turning the player on, I remember one of the little details I love about Criterion: They don't waste time. When you put a Criterion in your DVD player and press play, it takes you straight to the menu. No FBI warning, no overblown company animation, just the menu. Here, we get an FBI warning, the Lionsgate company logo animation (with an additional bit of animating for the Meridian logo), and a disclaimer about the commentary not reflecting Lionsgate's opinions. I have to ask, how often do commentaries contain opinions that somebody says, "Is that really what the company thinks? I'll sue!" (I also find it even funnier when they go so far as to say that all the content, even the movie itself, doesn't reflect their opinions. That's just amazing.)

Furthermore, the menus on Criterions aren't overly elaborate. There's usually not much animation, and what little there is is done subtly. When you choose to go to the movie, or another menu, it also takes you straight there, with no animation to transition. Here, we get silly transitions and an animated menu (of a chase scene from the movie). This may seem like I'm being nitpicky, but let's face it, if they are trying to be a high-end DVD collection, they need to be different from other overblown DVD packages. Criterion has the right idea: Less is more.

I choose "play movie." Thankfully, there aren't more disclaimers; it takes me straight to the movie. And that's where my jaw drops.

The movie looks awful. There's a green tint to the opening scene; the flesh tones don't look right. Again, I sound nitpicky, but I get the feeling that with a copy of Final Cut Pro, I could've done a better job color-correcting than they did. Compare it to a Criterion: Their early days apparently had some iffy image quality (notably on the first edition of "Salo," which also had a green tint, much more pronounced than here), but nowadays, their DVDs look pretty much flawless. Looking at "Before the Rain" earlier, I was struck by how clear it looked. With "Diva," it looks like the DVD of "My Dinner with Andre," which is a seriously damaging flaw. It looks like they used a poorly-managed print for the transfer, which would already be bad enough. The fact that Rialto Pictures had a restored print struck makes the picture quality even more absurd and sad.

I went to DVD Beaver today to investigate. They pointed out other flaws that I would never have noticed (horizontal stretching, for example). In their comparison between three different DVDs, they recommended an earlier edition from Anchor Bay over the Meridian; judging from the images, it looks tons better. I notice that NetFlix has the Anchor Bay edition's cover for the movie image. Perhaps I should check that one out.

Making the DVD even more depressing is the Meridian's edition of "The Red Violin." Looking at DVD Beaver's page for that, the image is fantastic. Well, maybe not necessarily Criterion quality (can you tell I'm obsessed with the Criterion Collection?), but compared to earlier editions, it looks brighter, clearer, and much better overall. In fact, they recommended the Meridian over previous editions except in the audio department, where they chose an earlier edition for its DTS mix. Considering that I'm not a DTS guy, I can live without it; I certainly know what I'm going to look for next time I'm at the library. In the meantime, I'm returning "Diva." It's a shameful DVD.