UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading [Archive]

[dwk]

Ran is the only other one, the others I was thinking of appear to just be re-releases of earlier UHDs in steelbook packaging.

[swo17]

Sony has slowly and quietly been doing new discs with Dolby Vision for older discs, which they’ve done for Ghostbusters and Karate Kid in their recent box sets and Labyrinth in its anniversary special edition last year. This continues that trend and adds Dolby Vision where there wasn’t one in the past. I don’t have a DV capable TV so I’m not even sure if there is any possibility it would constitute any comprehensible difference when viewed in HDR10.

They've been re-encoding them too, with a higher bit rate and thus better grain compression. So you'd get that from the HDR10 base (since Sony do not use DV FEL the two "layers" are identical, except for the DV tone mapping metadata obviously). But the difference is going to be very difficult to see or appreciate unless you're a major pixel peeper.

Those who can use DV though should definitely opt for these new discs over the old ones, as essentially no TVs are capable of tone mapping early Sony HDR10 discs properly.

Is there a list somewhere of discs that have received these kinds of upgrades, other than what Ribs has mentioned? That would be a good thing to keep track of in this thread

[tenia]

Forced subtitles? Really? Honestly, I thought that was a ghost of the past. I understand the will to protect traditions and the mother tongue, but if I was French with perfect ability to understand English, I would definitely be annoyed to have subtitles forced on me. Subtitles in cinemas are of course understandable.

This pretty much never comes from the label whose release has forced subs but from other people (other labels, the rightholders) who don't want a given release to possibly be imported elsewhere in the world and be an indirect concurrent. In this case, it means the subs are forced possibly either because Sony or Criterion contractually asked for this.

[EddieLarkin]

Is there a list somewhere of discs that have received these kinds of upgrades, other than what Ribs has mentioned? That would be a good thing to keep track of in this thread

As far as I know it is just those 5:

Labyrinth
Karate Kid
Ghostbusters I&II
Bridge on the River Kwai

The original soundtracks for Karate Kid and Bridge (on the repress) were included before, but for Labyrinth and Ghostbusters I&II these discs are the first 4K releases to include them, so that's another bonus. GeoffD has written detailed comparisons on those two here and here.

[swo17]

Thanks. Is there an Amazon listing specifically for the improved Ghostbusters edition?

[EddieLarkin]

Thanks. Is there an Amazon listing specifically for the improved Ghostbusters edition?

As with Karate Kid, these new discs are exclusive to an LE box set of all 3 films, and in Ghostbusters' case it's already sold out:

https://www.amazon.com/Ghostbusters-Ult ... B09LGK58M5

Individual editions will presumably follow eventually.

[swo17]

Got it. And apparently it only came out a month ago? I can't tell if that packaging is stupid or cool

[EddieLarkin]

Yeah, it actually sold out before release day. Sony clearly underestimated the print run they needed (though considering how expensive it was, it's still quite surprising it was such a big seller).

[swo17]

Haha, the Feig remake is included but only as a digital code?

[EddieLarkin]

Much to everyone's consternation!

[Finch]

It's a draw between the Kino and SC UHDs of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy as far as the PQ goes. The European discs have more extras though.

Early word on the Phenomena release from Arrow (and Synapse) is very good (no surprise given the former's track record).

[denti alligator]

Thanks. Is there an Amazon listing specifically for the improved Ghostbusters edition?

As with Karate Kid, these new discs are exclusive to an LE box set of all 3 films, and in Ghostbusters' case it's already sold out:

https://www.amazon.com/Ghostbusters-Ult ... B09LGK58M5

Individual editions will presumably follow eventually.

I thought Ghostbusters was in the good column. What happened?

[dwk]

Early word on the Phenomena release from Arrow (and Synapse) is very good (no surprise given the former's track record).

The early world also has it that this returns the strong blues that were missing on Arrow's Blu-ray.

[swo17]

Thanks. Is there an Amazon listing specifically for the improved Ghostbusters edition?

As with Karate Kid, these new discs are exclusive to an LE box set of all 3 films, and in Ghostbusters' case it's already sold out:

https://www.amazon.com/Ghostbusters-Ult ... B09LGK58M5

Individual editions will presumably follow eventually.

I thought Ghostbusters was in the good column. What happened?

I don't know that the original release was ever added to the first post. But reportedly the new version (exclusive to the currently sold out boxset) adds:

Dolby Vision (which better manages the HDR for this presentation)
improved encoding (though the original was already very good)
original soundtrack

Geoff D's review

[Yakushima]

Just finished watching Phenomena UHD (Arrow Video), and it is exceptionally good, a very strong update over the Blu-rays.

[Finch]

Added Ghostbusters and Labyrinth reissues to the OP.

[Finch]

Arrow's disc of Phenomena added as a reference disc

I don't know if Synapse did their own encoding or not.

[Finch]

Paramount's UHD of Escape from L.A. is going to be replaced.

"It has come to our attention that there is an English audio encoding error on the new 4K Ultra HD Disc of John Carpenter’s Escape from L.A. Paramount Home Entertainment has corrected the issue and is immediately creating new discs, however the initial shipment of discs has reached some retail outlets. Fans who purchase a disc with a white UPC barcode on the package and would like a replacement should email [email protected] for instructions. The corrected product will be shipped free of charge. If your disc package has a yellow UPC barcode, then it is the corrected version and you do not need a replacement."

PS.: The UHD itself is a solid upgrade.

[Finch]

QC issues continue. Sony added multi-channel stereo instead of 2.0 stereo to the new Ghostbusters 1984 disc. I don't think they've announced a replacement program yet.

At this rate, I wouldn't blame anyone if pre-orders dry up across the board. It's really getting out of hand.

[Finch]

Since we don't seem to know for certain if the colors are correct, I am reluctant to call the Criterion 4k of Le Cercle Rouge a reference disc (despite the very good encoding).

Early word on Kino's 4k Touch of Evil is that they've not botched the encoding this time.

[Finch]

American Werewolf in London Arrow 4k: depending on which BDs you owned previously, this is either a reference title (any BD other than Arrow's own) or solid upgrade (if compared to Arrow's BD)

Waiting on more info for Pt 2 and Coda but given what Part 1 looks like (correct AR, great colors), the Godfather set is almost certain to be a reference title.

[Finch]

No snafus on Part 2 & Part 3 & Coda, so I've amended OP to qualify the entire Godfather set as a reference title.

[rrenault]

Finch: Have you thought about where to place the French-released Truffaut and Kieslowski UHDs? Or are you not bothering with them since they aren't English-friendly?

[Finch]

I thought about adding them but then figured the lack of English subs makes those particular releases only viable to a very small minority on here, and it's my understanding that they are poorly encoded. If more people would like me to add a column for non-English friendly UHDs, I'm happy to add one. For now, I'll stick a note at the bottom of the original post for those titles you brought up. Thanks!

[Finch]

Adding a caveat for The Godfather set due to Part III's cuts being less well-encoded than Pt 1+2 and CODA but I don't think this warrants the entire set to be downgraded. We've made allowances for A Clockwork Orange (bad 5.1 track) and others to stay up and the rest of the set is so strong that I'm leaving it where it is.