Macroblocking vs pixelation

[Andrew Forbes]

I've been trying to find the right term for something I'm seeing on the Dragon Dynasty DVD of The Killer. Macroblocking seems like the one that fits the best, but most explanations of it suggest that it is a data-transfer problem rather than an inherent problem with a transfer. Is this correct? The effect I'm seeing is brief. As one character (extreme foreground, out of focus) passes in front of Chow Yun Fat, Chow's face and the blurred edge of the foreground figure go blocky for a few frames. It's almost as if the "blur" is leaving a wake of pixelation/macroblocking/whatever it's called. Any ideas?

[Andrew Forbes]

Well, having not been able to find many reviews of the SD Dragon Dynasty release of The Killer, I decided to exchange my copy in the hope that it was a bad disc. No such luck. I finished watching it tonight, and the transfer is horrific. I've never seen so much pixelation on DVD. In addition to the shot previously mentioned, numerous shots during action sequences briefly scramble into blocky artifacts. The final shoot out is the worst part of the transfer. Shot after shot crumbles into a blocky mess. The cynic in me would say that the SD release was deliberately botched to get people to pick up the Blu Ray, but reports indicate that it's awful too (interlaced, DNR'd to hell). This from a label that was supposed to treat these movies with respect. Interestingly, Bey Logan is conspicuously absent from the extras on this release. Could there have been an in-house split over recent releases? Here are a few samples from my SD:

[Steve T Power]

The Killer was never a particularly good looking movie (like Hard Boiled, it was made super cheap), so i don't know how much help blu-ray could be to either flick - but man, those caps are just plain awful. Ridiculous even - i'm sure my old Fox Lorber disc was probably vastly superior.