UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
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- Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:12 pm
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
My copy of Saving Private Ryan has both scratches and what I can only describe as a thick oil film on the underside of the disc.
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- Joined: Fri Jan 27, 2023 3:56 pm
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
I think the boutiques clearly have no clue on audio either. Leaving aside wrong-pitch that crops up from time to time (e.g. Chungking Express in WKW box set, Arrow’s Dekalog), the bigger problem is what appears to be an industry-wide trend to apply “noise-reduction” to audio. Criterion even habitually does additional audio “restoration” that muffles everything on top of the masters they are supplied with. Countless documentations of inferior audio transfer on (4K) Blu-ray vs DVD/LaserDisc/VHS here: https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/
Sadly, I think we’ll only find disappointment here. Even some of the reference titles have pretty bad audio. For example, blah-ray on Dawn of the Dead (1978):
Several pages back someone mentioned Full Metal Jacket’s bad 5.1 mix and the 4K disc’s mono track was offered as a remedy. Well, that track is likely not the original mono and sounds so much worse than the old DVD. Here’s a sample.The mono suspiciously resembles a downmix of the faux stereo track made in ~2010. It's been EQed rather strongly - it's extremely bass-heavy.
Almost all North American studios and boutiques press their discs at that same Mexican plant. Paramount is an odd exception who started pressing in Germany in recent years. Of course, the hilarious result is having the most inconsistent transfers paired with the best plastic discs.therewillbeblus wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 1:41 pmI've noticed 4K discs from certain companies like VS are almost always clean and play perfectly, whereas others don't (at least for me) or are damaged.
The one time I ordered from VS, all discs arrived in perfect condition. So I’d assume they press elsewhere too.
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Dragonheart (Shout Factory)
Kubo and the two Strings (Shout/Laika) (for the ATMOS track)
Marathon Man (Kino)
Kubo and the two Strings (Shout/Laika) (for the ATMOS track)
Marathon Man (Kino)
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
88's UHD of Hell of the Living Dead is a flop: the color grading is off, the Italian audio is a mess, and there are issues with the subtitles too.
- ryannichols7
- Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:26 pm
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- Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
No, they left the source alone and it looks very good. Some people screamed teal all over but the UHD actually has a bit more of a cyan push. This is a fine release and the BR "review" can be ignored.
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- Joined: Fri Nov 15, 2013 10:46 pm
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Has anyone seen Mildred Pierce?
Also, I cringe everytime I see the claim about Pan's Labyrinth. I have both the CC blu and the studio 4KUHD. With a Panasonic UHD player and an Oppo Bluray player I can flip back and forth... the 4K is indeed flawed, but the CC blu is laughably bad on my 65" Reference Sony A90J. It's one of the handful of blurays I've watched that gives me that striking memory of when I switched to HD from SD and the HD panel was basically a magnifying glass of SDs shortcomings. Yet the occasional well authored DVD could still look incredible. Certainly I think many blurays do still look incredible, but not all and Pans Labyrinth from CC is one of the ones that looks terrible. The blacks are so raised and everything feels washed out. These are just my observations... Ive read through the entire br.com thread, so I'm aware others disagree. I just wonder what those eyes would think if they were seeing it on a calibrated A90J.
Also, I cringe everytime I see the claim about Pan's Labyrinth. I have both the CC blu and the studio 4KUHD. With a Panasonic UHD player and an Oppo Bluray player I can flip back and forth... the 4K is indeed flawed, but the CC blu is laughably bad on my 65" Reference Sony A90J. It's one of the handful of blurays I've watched that gives me that striking memory of when I switched to HD from SD and the HD panel was basically a magnifying glass of SDs shortcomings. Yet the occasional well authored DVD could still look incredible. Certainly I think many blurays do still look incredible, but not all and Pans Labyrinth from CC is one of the ones that looks terrible. The blacks are so raised and everything feels washed out. These are just my observations... Ive read through the entire br.com thread, so I'm aware others disagree. I just wonder what those eyes would think if they were seeing it on a calibrated A90J.
- RitrovataBlue
- Joined: Tue Apr 30, 2019 4:02 pm
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
I also found the Pan's Labyrinth UHD superior to both the Criterion and studio blu-rays. It may not be perfect, but it certainly looked better textured and much more robust in color and contrast. The negative comments in this thread surprised me.
- therewillbeblus
- Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
What's the source of the placement? Geoff's one man band or a consensus of other eyes?
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
MA strongly felt it should be moved to the Avoid section. His post was a few pages back, I think.
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- Joined: Tue Apr 14, 2009 4:29 am
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Hopefully 88 will fix this, despite the best efforts of forum trolls who post nonsense like "LOL best it's ever looked, it's an old crap movie, what do you expect? LOL".. (I'm paraphrasing, by the way).
- M-A
- Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2022 4:34 pm
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
I've just looked over Pan's Labyrinth on the forums and it seems most people are agreeing that the 2011 Optimum blu is better than the 4K, but some people think the 4K is better. Maybe it should be disappointing if compared to any of the US blus, but avoid if compared to the Optimum blu?
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Mildred Pierce (Criterion) Chris's review
I was briefly mulling a Divided Opinion category but came to the conclusion we have enough categories as it is and I'm not in the mood for this kind of hair splitting. I'll move Pan's back into the Disappointing column.
I was briefly mulling a Divided Opinion category but came to the conclusion we have enough categories as it is and I'm not in the mood for this kind of hair splitting. I'll move Pan's back into the Disappointing column.
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
The Prince of Egypt (Universal) review
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Air Force One (Sony 2023 steelbook) Matt89's quick take
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- Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 3:43 am
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Any feedback, good or bad, for the German 4k of Walter Hill's latest film, Dead for a Dollar? I believe it was a digital production, and am hoping that the UHD doesn't have any problems.
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
So, quick public service announcement: updates after today may not be happening until Monday or Tuesday next week as I'm moving from MD to PA and internet access is going to be limited.
Dead for a Dollar: unfortunately no feedback either way that I can find yet.
Nissling on BR reached out to the colorist of Triangle of Sadness and was told that the production team approved two SDR-only masters, one in DCI-P3 for theatrical distribution and one in BT.709 for home video. So the German UHD of Triangle has an HDR grade not approved by Ostlund or his DoP and colorist.
I'm reading that Warners' new Superman set is not going to have a new restoration for the original movie, no fix for the film's title cards and that the 5.1 track which is regarded as a faithful remix of the original audio has been dropped. All that after the various flaws of the Rocky set. Between the carelessness of some of the majors on their catalogue reissues and the scratched discs coming from the Mexican plant, it's no wonder that people think UHD is physical media's last hurrah.
I forgot to mention in the last post that Sony fixed the subtitles on Air Force One with the new release. Sony are charging premiums for these steelbooks but at least you get a product put together with care. They also got rid of the menu pop up that appeared during the end credits of Mask of Zorro on the first release.
Dead for a Dollar: unfortunately no feedback either way that I can find yet.
Nissling on BR reached out to the colorist of Triangle of Sadness and was told that the production team approved two SDR-only masters, one in DCI-P3 for theatrical distribution and one in BT.709 for home video. So the German UHD of Triangle has an HDR grade not approved by Ostlund or his DoP and colorist.
I'm reading that Warners' new Superman set is not going to have a new restoration for the original movie, no fix for the film's title cards and that the 5.1 track which is regarded as a faithful remix of the original audio has been dropped. All that after the various flaws of the Rocky set. Between the carelessness of some of the majors on their catalogue reissues and the scratched discs coming from the Mexican plant, it's no wonder that people think UHD is physical media's last hurrah.
I forgot to mention in the last post that Sony fixed the subtitles on Air Force One with the new release. Sony are charging premiums for these steelbooks but at least you get a product put together with care. They also got rid of the menu pop up that appeared during the end credits of Mask of Zorro on the first release.
- therewillbeblus
- Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Good luck on the move, Finch!
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Thanks twwb!
- EddieLarkin
- Joined: Sat Sep 08, 2012 10:25 am
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Worse than that, the 5.1 is not a remix of any kind. Whilst Apocalypse Now was the first film released with a true 5 channel stereo surround track (that is, with stereo surrounds rather than just a mono surround), Superman was actually the first film it was ever used on, but its stereo surround track never made it to any theatrical engagements due to the decoding equipment not yet being available.
The 5.1 track found on the old UHD is by all reports this same 5 channel stereo surround track, never before available on home video. It has vastly superior fidelity to the 2.0 Dolby Stereo track that had previously featured as the "original audio" option on disc releases until now, and it is entirely different to the other 5.1 track featured on earlier Superman video releases, which instead was a modern remix designed for the 2001 special edition with new modern foley and such (the Atmos track is based on this same crappy remix).
The UHD in the box set will no longer feature this 5.1, but instead the Atmos and the old 2.0 (and WB has already released this altered disc in the single film package, meaning if you buy the old standalone version you'll still end up with the new disc sans 5.1. To get the original UHD one would need to find a used copy).
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Thank you for clarifying this, Eddie! Much appreciated!
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- Joined: Wed Nov 17, 2010 3:49 pm
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Finch: You're moving from MD to PA, as in from Maryland to Pennsylvania? I thought you lived in the UK.
Also, are you waiting for Curzon's release of the The Three Colors Trilogy before deciding which column to place it in?
Also, are you waiting for Curzon's release of the The Three Colors Trilogy before deciding which column to place it in?
- Finch
- Joined: Mon Jul 07, 2008 5:09 pm
- Location: Edinburgh, UK
Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading
Hi rrenault, I've been living in the US since 2018. I would have to ask Chris to change the location in my profile. And yes I want to see what the encoding of the UK release is like. Okay, back to packing!