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Assessing the sound quality was a difficult task. I don't have the most expensive set of 5.1 speakers, so hearing any difference would be hard. I can say that my DVD player confirmed that the bootleg did in fact, have a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. The proper sounds were coming from the correct speakers, so in this regard everything was fine. Comparing the Dolby Digital soundtracks didn't yield that much difference, with the legit release perhaps eeking out an almost imperceptible advantage in clarity. Some of the gunshots from the M-16 sounded just a bit better with the legit copy. I'd have to test it out again on a higher quality set of 5.1 speakers. This isn't related to sound, but I have to mention that the bootleg contained several subtitle options: English, Chinese, Malay, and French. They all work, though my friend informs me that several times the English subtitles did not match the dialogue. Apparently, the pirates do the subtitles themselves, and English is not their native language. So, what can we conclude about bootleg DVDs? Well, I have to say that it's a mixed bag. The quality can vary widely depending what movie is being pirated and what source materials are being used. From what I saw and heard from Black Hawk Down, bootlegs are not going to replace legitimate releases, at least for a genuine DVD enthusiast. The crystal clear quality of the images, which is why most people turned to DVD, is lost with a bootleg. The colours from a bootleg don't jump out from the screen, everthing seems to have been washed out. It just doesn't seem like a real DVD. Then there are the little things, missing menu transitiions, the loss of some content, etc. The only reasons I could see value in buying a bootleg are: you're poor and can't afford the real versions, or, the real release is months away and the bootleg is the only way to see the movie on DVD. In general, my advice is to wait for the real thing. You still can't beat a properly authored DVD with all the proper content. Do yourself a favour and spend the extra cash. |
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