UHD New Releases, Reissues and Upgrades

[Fus1on]

@cinemaniac

Haven't seen the Nosferatu 4K yet so I can't really comment on it, but would you say the banding issues are significant enough to downgrade it to Solid Tier? I already added it to Reference before I even read your comments, but I can change it if you feel like it.

[cinemaniac]

@cinemaniac

Haven't seen the Nosferatu 4K yet so I can't really comment on it, but would you say the banding issues are significant enough to downgrade it to Solid Tier? I already added it to Reference before I even read your comments, but I can change it if you feel like it.

I’m not sure it should be changed based on just my experience. It could be my display exacerbating it, but I’d say we wait until more people get a chance to look at it in DV. The spot it was most noticeable to me was when Thomas enters the inn at 20mins.

[nicolas]

I’ve ordered Nosferatu today and will likely have it in around two weeks but I’d also love to hear more from others who’re getting the disc sooner. I ordered as I don’t expect any boutique getting the film any time soon, same as with The Northman.

Crossing Delancey (Criterion) - Chris’ review.

[nicolas]

New Eagle Italy 4Ks of Drive, It Follows, Conclave, Maria (Pablo Larraín) and Paolo Sorrentino’s Parthenope upcoming in April. No info yet about subtitles but don’t expect any English ones. I wish we got more news about Once Upon a Time in America by now after that premature announcement last year.

Update: Robert Zemeckis’ Here and The Substance are also forthcoming in April according to the insider at the other forum.

[nicolas]

Felidae (Deaf Crocodile) - caps by cinemaniac.

[kekid]

I found the 4K UHD of Tarkovsky's "The Sacrifice", released by Kino, to be outstanding, to be considered for the Red category. Of course, I am not trained to detect technical flaws, not do I know how the original looked, but to my untrained eyes this version exceeded all expectations. It also has interesting supplements, for those who might be considering a purchase.

[nicolas]

I found the 4K UHD of Tarkovsky's "The Sacrifice", released by Kino, to be outstanding, to be considered for the Red category. Of course, I am not trained to detect technical flaws, not do I know how the original looked, but to my untrained eyes this version exceeded all expectations. It also has interesting supplements, for those who might be considering a purchase.

I wouldn’t be surprised of the red category as the new restoration appears to be incredible when looking at the trailer online and since it’s SDR the encode should be alright. There’s little discussion about the release as it seemed to have disappeared in Kino’s quantity-over-quality output. I’ve been eagerly anticipating my disc but I’m still awaiting shipment and will likely not have it before the end of the month. I’ll gladly share a few more thoughts then if no reviews or trusted opinions turn up in the meantime.

[nicolas]

Drugstore Cowboy (Criterion) - Chris’ review.

[Finch]

samlop10 on the Panic Room 4K

[nicolas]

StudioCanal UK’s 4K of The Lion in Winter is excellent. They did a new HDR restoration from the negative and from the way it looks it was done in the UK by Silver Salt as colors and grain are top-notch. I have the KL BD of the film, which also has a 4K Master, yet that one has periodic grain management which the new transfer hasn’t. The UHD is a BD-100 and has 2.0 PCM mono audio, which also sounds great. The terrible 5.1 remix that’s on the KL was not carried over. (KL have an exclusive interview with the sound recordist and he mentioned the film “probably” was six-track but they always recorded mono at the time unless the studios requested stereo. They also recorded the sound live.)

Encoding is by VDMS (Visual Data Media Services) and it’s largely excellent except for minor chroma noise, which isn’t a distraction in motion, and some visible pixel glitches (see my phone picture below) that occasionally creep into the image in bright static shots and where fast motion is involved, such as the opening sword duel with Peter O’Toole. In motion, I did see them but for most viewers surely no issue at all. These should’ve been avoided but I can live with that as the rest of the encode & master is excellent and much better than anything before. I’d still say that this is a red category disc.

SpoilerShow

The included BD is also from the new restoration and looks great. The pixel glitches I saw on the 4K are not present here.

[rrenault]

I found the 4K UHD of Tarkovsky's "The Sacrifice", released by Kino, to be outstanding, to be considered for the Red category. Of course, I am not trained to detect technical flaws, not do I know how the original looked, but to my untrained eyes this version exceeded all expectations. It also has interesting supplements, for those who might be considering a purchase.

I wouldn't mind getting The Sacrifice on UHD, but I also wouldn't mind waiting for a Mubi edition to avoid importing the Kino for almost 50 USD.

[Finch]

Thank you for the heads up on Lion in the Winter, nicholas. I have it on my wishlist and am glad to hear it's turned out well. It is in Dolby Vision, right? I'm holding off on HDR10 only titles until I get a better TV.

[nicolas]

Thank you for the heads up on Lion in the Winter, nicholas. I have it on my wishlist and am glad to hear it's turned out well. It is in Dolby Vision, right? I'm holding off on HDR10 only titles until I get a better TV.

Yes, it’s in Dolby Vision. Forgot to mention it earlier. As so often they’re not putting the DV logo on their back covers.

[Finch]

Thanks!

[nicolas]

Amadeus (Warner) - caps by cinemaniac. Huge improvement in colors and detail. The restoration was done by the Academy instead of Warner MPI which explains that there’s no grain management or issues with colors. They also accessed the original credit optical and scanned that one instead of recreating them digitally. According to Kobe, sound is most likely a fold-down of the original Dolby Surround track into a 5.0 container and there’s no clipping. The encode is only in HDR10.

[tenia]

The Lion in Winter is from Filmfinity.

[Jean-Luc Garbo]

RE: Amadeus - Is the original Dolby Surround track still included? Was it even restored for this release?

[nicolas]

RE: Amadeus - Is the original Dolby Surround track still included? Was it even restored for this release?

The Dolby Surround track should be what’s on the release but unfolded into a 5.1 configuration.

[nicolas]

Pretty in Pink (Paramount) - caps show a very disappointing encode / upgrade

[MichaelB]

I found the 4K UHD of Tarkovsky's "The Sacrifice", released by Kino, to be outstanding, to be considered for the Red category. Of course, I am not trained to detect technical flaws, not do I know how the original looked, but to my untrained eyes this version exceeded all expectations. It also has interesting supplements, for those who might be considering a purchase.

I wouldn’t be surprised of the red category as the new restoration appears to be incredible when looking at the trailer online and since it’s SDR the encode should be alright. There’s little discussion about the release as it seemed to have disappeared in Kino’s quantity-over-quality output. I’ve been eagerly anticipating my disc but I’m still awaiting shipment and will likely not have it before the end of the month. I’ll gladly share a few more thoughts then if no reviews or trusted opinions turn up in the meantime.

It looked superb on MUBI, and presumably this is the same restoration but with a much higher bitrate.

My copy should turn up any day now.

[nicolas]

It looked superb on MUBI, and presumably this is the same restoration but with a much higher bitrate.

My copy should turn up any day now.

Great to hear! Mine has also finally shipped. Fingers crossed Kino got the encode right.

[Finch]

nic's Cronos (BFI 4K) review

My copy arrived and it’s a lovely release. Sturdy slip case like Seven Samurai with a keep case inside plus booklet and poster. Discs are a BD-66 for the film and a BD-50 with all the bonus stuff. Yes, DV is there and also three sound options (2x PCM 2.0 with the different narrations and 1x 5.1).

I also have the Criterion BD as part of their del Toro trilogy set but of course Cronos is the one I’ve never watched from that set. I’ve taken a look at the old HD master, which was supervised and approved by del Toro and DP Guillermo Navarro for comparison. I think this is a really good master for 2010 standards, not dull and digital-looking at all and the colors come through nicely. Detail is also not bad and particularly clipping in the highlights isn’t that big of a deal. So if anyone really despises the new grade, the Criterion BD is definitely watchable. (Audio however sounds worse to me on the Criterion. They "only" have 2.0 mixes and I believe they were mastered by Criterion.)

Back to the 4K: There’s no denying that the 4K master’s color scheme is significantly different compared to the HD one. First and foremost, the greenish hue we’ve seen in the trailer is NOT a blanket tint across the entire film. Yes, a colorist from Ritrovata did the work and their overlord Davide Pozzi was thanked but the grade was definitely fine-tuned to unknown specifications, be it simply del Toro’s wish or a photochemical source. In other words, a wider spectrum of colors is definitely evident and luminous too, such as orange, red and, surprisingly, "normal" blue.

So what about the greenish stuff? While I haven’t seen the entire film yet, I think I’ve seen enough to determine that they graded all the scenes that were originally shot "normally" (and graded that way in the 2010 HD master) to look green-ish as seen in the trailer and Criterion caps. I think the green (I’ll just call it that for easier writing) was introduced to serve as a sort of base color on which the rest of the colors could be built upon. This look feels in line with del Toro’s fairytale films as they’re usually not directly rooted in the "normal-looking" reality. In other words, the grade looks like it has a thought-out agenda behind it and not Ritrovata’s past sloppiness but it’s totally unknown if the green is what del Toro wants the film to look right now in 2025 (revisionist) or whether they actually used a previously approved source as a basis (restoration). Like with Arrow’s Cruising, a more detailed statement by the producers would’ve been wonderful to read here as the director- and DP-approved Criterion master looks that much different.

To an earlier post by John Carpenter and whether the green is actually noticeable in motion with HDR / DV on? Yes, it definitely is but not overwhelmingly so. We’re just meant to notice a different "base look" now. Even though the screenshots looked extremely green, I think Mean Streets isn’t the best example to compare as Scorsese & Schoonmaker didn’t really do something like del Toro here. They kept the colors largely identical but restored a more warm, film-like presentation whereas del Toro / Ritrovata calibrated further and reduced saturation.

The VDMS encode is very good, grain is fine and beautifully resolved. Per usual with them, minor chroma noise will surely creep into upcoming screenshots but in motion this is no problem at all.

The BFI audio mixes sound great to me. The 2.0 is detailed and dynamic and the same can be said about the 5.1, which opens up the soundscape, particularly the music, but in my mind it’s all faithfully done and I couldn’t detect anything egregiously revisionist and it also doesn’t sound echoey. Note that you can’t switch the audio mixes with your player while the film plays, neither with the pop up menu, nor your remote. You need to commit to one mix in the main menu before you play.

Subtitles are available in English and English SDH. Good news is that the non-SDH subs have full stops. Woo-hoo! (Forgot to check the SDH)

Extras are as in-depth as one can imagine, including many of Criterion’s extras they commissioned in 2010 for their BD.

In the end, unless you really like the look of the old master and are of the opinion that this has been the one correct look of the film, I don’t see any reason not to upgrade to the 4K.

I'm sticking this into the Solid Upgrade column for now since we don't know yet what the reasoning for the new grade is.

[nicolas]

nic's Cronos (BFI 4K) review

I'm sticking this into the Solid Upgrade column for now since we don't know yet what the reasoning for the new grade is.

Since the old master isn’t bad either the blue category I feels right. Glad we’re having two solid choices available.

Chris also reviewed Performance and it reads like a red disc. Great that Criterion managed to get ahold of the UK audio track.

[_shadow_]

Chris also reviewed Performance and it reads like a red disc. Great that Criterion managed to get ahold of the UK audio track.

This has me a bit concerned:

The highlight is the musical sequence near the end featuring Memo from Turner, which sounds as though it’s been remastered, delivering the sharpest and most dynamic audio in the film.

It was remastering what done it wrong on all the previous releases... Hopefully they kept all the instrumentation and the dialogue this time around.

[nicolas]

Chris also reviewed Performance and it reads like a red disc. Great that Criterion managed to get ahold of the UK audio track.

This has me a bit concerned:

The highlight is the musical sequence near the end featuring Memo from Turner, which sounds as though it’s been remastered, delivering the sharpest and most dynamic audio in the film.

It was remastering what done it wrong on all the previous releases... Hopefully they kept all the instrumentation and the dialogue this time around.

If you’re concerned you could write an email to Jon Mulvaney and maybe they’ll forward it to the producer for more info. I couldn’t tell as I haven’t seen the film yet.