UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading [Archive]

[therewillbeblus]

Any impressions yet on the Criterion 4K of Breathless compared to the awful SC? The only thoughts I can find online are an early review from Dr. youknowwho, but he seems to love both transfers, so that review is nullified (outside of obvious other reasons)

[hearthesilence]

Completely missed the UHD release of Jerry Lewis's The Nutty Professor. Seems to be a likely solid upgrade, but haven't confirmed myself.

[ryannichols7]

Re the above: I'm actually hoping that Indicator upgrade their BD set and so I'm not going to pull the trigger on those for quite a while (not least because I'd prefer a single format release) but it's reassuring me that if I do have to get the Criterion set, that Pixelogic don't appear to have botched the 4k encodes.

I'm hoping they do too. I bought the Criterion but would gladly go for an Indicator release. if nothing else (and I know this is silly) because I know they'd do individual digipacks for each film instead of doing the three scanovos like they did last time. but I also think they'd record their own commentaries this time and amp up the features since they used a lot of the same ones

not holding my breath as they haven't upgraded anything from their back catalog to UHD yet, and have yet to release a UHD that isn't a genre film. and their comments seem to indicate this is going to continue to be the case...so I don't think we'll see it for awhile

Any impressions yet on the Criterion 4K of Breathless compared to the awful SC? The only thoughts I can find online are an early review from Dr. youknowwho, but he seems to love both transfers, so that review is nullified (outside of obvious other reasons)

literally picked up and put down the CC at B&N today. I talked myself big time out of getting the Rules of the Game UHD, settling for the BFI BD with the same transfer. Breathless could obviously use a new transfer, but I'm curious to see if Criterion did a good job with it. hoping we see some reviews soon...

[rrenault]

I passed on the CC UHD of Rules of the Game, since I already have both Criterion’s 2011 Blu-ray and the French UHD(enforced HDR but no serious compression issues), but I’ll still be double dipping on Breathless, due to the serious compression issues on the Canal UHD. I still can’t find word anywhere on how the Italian Eagle UHD of Breathless compares to the UK/France UHD.

Also, why is Canal’s Breathless UHD getting a rawer deal in this thread than their Contempt release given both have inconsistent compression?

[ryannichols7]

I passed on the CC UHD of Rules of the Game, since I already have both Criterion’s 2011 Blu-ray and the French UHD(enforced HDR but no serious compression issues), but I’ll still be double dipping on Breathless, due to the serious compression issues on the Canal UHD. I still can’t find word anywhere on how the Italian Eagle UHD of Breathless compares to the UK/France UHD.

Also, why is Canal’s Breathless UHD getting a rawer deal in this thread than their Contempt release given both have inconsistent compression?

yeah, I'm really happy with the 2011 BD. better cover and all the same extras. one can pick up the French UHD or BFI BD (with new extras!) and be satisfied I think. Breathless has an older master on BD so as long as CC don't royally screw it up, I'm on it

I think Finch is rating it that way given the Canal/LGF BD of Contempt was just that bad. easily one of the worst discs I've seen, it's legitimately easier to watch the CC DVD. but I am gonna hold out on picking it up, I have the faintest glimmer of hope Criterion is gonna release it instead of Lionsgate in the US, as previously announced

[nicolas]

I passed on the CC UHD of Rules of the Game, since I already have both Criterion’s 2011 Blu-ray and the French UHD(enforced HDR but no serious compression issues), but I’ll still be double dipping on Breathless, due to the serious compression issues on the Canal UHD. I still can’t find word anywhere on how the Italian Eagle UHD of Breathless compares to the UK/France UHD.

Also, why is Canal’s Breathless UHD getting a rawer deal in this thread than their Contempt release given both have inconsistent compression?

yeah, I'm really happy with the 2011 BD. better cover and all the same extras. one can pick up the French UHD or BFI BD (with new extras!) and be satisfied I think. Breathless has an older master on BD so as long as CC don't royally screw it up, I'm on it

I think Finch is rating it that way given the Canal/LGF BD of Contempt was just that bad. easily one of the worst discs I've seen, it's legitimately easier to watch the CC DVD. but I am gonna hold out on picking it up, I have the faintest glimmer of hope Criterion is gonna release it instead of Lionsgate in the US, as previously announced

Yesterday, he still had Contempt in the solid upgrade section, now it’s in the top-tier category with a caveat. The caps on caps-a-holic make the UHD look better than it is because the matching caps with the BD are generally from the sections which happened to be well-encoded. Shots 1, 3, 15, 20, 21 (the old BD shows more “grain” here) and 24 seem to be from the interpositive footage and those who look most problematic to me. There are no caps from the iconic apartment scene which is essentially one horribly encoded section with bitrates around and below 10 Mbps. As mentioned when I got the disc, the problematic portions aren’t just individual frames, it’s the entire shot until the next edit in the film.

If the entire disc looked the way like most of these caps, we’d have a reference release without a doubt.

Finch, really no offense but after having seen the disc I could not honestly say that this a top-tier release. It’s way too inconsistent for that to make sense. Yes, it’s a big upgrade to the old BD despite the flaws but I believe it doesn’t deserve to be that high in your ranking.

[rrenault]

I passed on the CC UHD of Rules of the Game, since I already have both Criterion’s 2011 Blu-ray and the French UHD(enforced HDR but no serious compression issues), but I’ll still be double dipping on Breathless, due to the serious compression issues on the Canal UHD. I still can’t find word anywhere on how the Italian Eagle UHD of Breathless compares to the UK/France UHD.

Also, why is Canal’s Breathless UHD getting a rawer deal in this thread than their Contempt release given both have inconsistent compression?

yeah, I'm really happy with the 2011 BD. better cover and all the same extras. one can pick up the French UHD or BFI BD (with new extras!) and be satisfied I think. Breathless has an older master on BD so as long as CC don't royally screw it up, I'm on it

I think Finch is rating it that way given the Canal/LGF BD of Contempt was just that bad. easily one of the worst discs I've seen, it's legitimately easier to watch the CC DVD. but I am gonna hold out on picking it up, I have the faintest glimmer of hope Criterion is gonna release it instead of Lionsgate in the US, as previously announced

Also, the badly encoded sections of Canal’s Breathless UHD don’t even appear to be DVD quality whereas the badly encoded parts of Contempt drop to 1080p streaming or VC-1 quality.

For what it’s worth, I think That Obscure Object of Desire is the only one of the recovered Studio Canal titles, at least so far, that did in fact get a North American LG Blu-ray. Scratch that. Discreet Charm was released on Blu-ray in Canada. None of the other recovered Canal titles have ever been released on Blu-ray in North America by a non-Criterion party to my knowledge.

[MichaelB]

not holding my breath as they haven't upgraded anything from their back catalog to UHD yet, and have yet to release a UHD that isn't a genre film. and their comments seem to indicate this is going to continue to be the case...so I don't think we'll see it for awhile

I'm not aware of any plans to upgrade existing releases, and there's nothing of that nature in the current schedule, which now stretches until the end of 2024.

Although surely Budd Boetticher Westerns qualify far more as "genre films" than Jean Rollin's considerably more idiosyncratic and personal catalogue?

[Graham]

Le Mepris UHD vs. BD

Updated OP too which I should have done weeks ago, sorry for the delay.

Really?! This is very much worth upgrading. Although I remain hopeful a better encoded version appears in the US at which point I may have to buy it again.

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x=38 ... 0&i=7&go=1

[Finch]

The rating for Contempt/Le Mepris was based on the comparison between the 2011 BD and the 4k but I'll remove the duplicate entry. I had not realised it had already been in the second tier. Sorry for the confusion! Final rating: Le Mepris

Didn't someone on here say Breathless was consistently poorly encoded by Studio Canal? Le Mepris is better in that regard if not perfect.

[Finch]

I'm not aware of any plans to upgrade existing releases, and there's nothing of that nature in the current schedule, which now stretches until the end of 2024.

Appreciate the candid response, Michael. The CC 4k of the Boetticher westerns goes back on my list for the next CC 50% sale then but I'll hold on to the Indicator set for the design and extras.

[kekid]

I'm not aware of any plans to upgrade existing releases, and there's nothing of that nature in the current schedule, which now stretches until the end of 2024.

Appreciate the candid response, Michael. The CC 4k of the Boetticher westerns goes back on my list for the next CC 50% sale then but I'll hold on to the Indicator set for the design and extras.

Ranown Westerns set is offered at 50% discount on Amazon.com now.

[nicolas]

The rating for Contempt/Le Mepris was based on the comparison between the 2011 BD and the 4k but I'll remove the duplicate entry. I had not realised it had already been in the second tier. Sorry for the confusion! Final rating: Le Mepris

Didn't someone on here say Breathless was consistently poorly encoded by Studio Canal? Le Mepris is better in that regard if not perfect.

I was tempted to reply that Breathless has its great moments mixed with bad ones like Contempt but I haven’t watched the UHD on my new system. To be very sure, I gave it a new try after two years and wow, this disc look horrifyingly bad even in DV. Contempt is a treat in comparison. Yes, it’s consistently bad in a way I haven’t seen before. To be honest, I haven’t noticed the glaring issues with that disc when I saw it on my previous TV. It’s one of the worst encodes on the format. I’m not sure if there’s still need for details but it’s quite something to have walls and architecture look mostly fine (sometimes even perfect) and Belmondo’s shirt or other moderately bright white objects appearing totally pixelated.

I have already had Criterion’s UHD pre-ordered but that can’t come soon enough now. There’s no way I’ll ever watch that SC disc again.

[nicolas]

Another addition for the master list. Cold Eyes of Fear is a home-run of a release. I can’t imagine this film looking any better. A dream presentation in all areas. The English mono tracks sounds really great. I haven’t gone through the bonus features yet but they look great on first glance.

I sincerely hope that these UHDs sell well for Indicator and inspires them to make more and tackle the occasional higher-profile title when it makes sense and is possible. Body Double would be a personal holy grail release.

[Finch]

The Ranown Westerns (Criterion) Chris's review

After Hours (Criterion) Walter Chaw's review of film and disc

His review of the film is particularly good.

[AxeYou]

After Hours (Criterion) Walter Chaw's review of film and disc

Do we usually consider Film Freak Central a reputable outlet for technical reviews? I haven’t been around long enough to tell, but this line doesn’t inspire much confidence for me:

I've started to tell slow adaptors that for all the visual benefits of 4K, what really makes the format shine is its uncompressed audio.

Notwithstanding the excessive filtering on modern releases, uncompressed PCM has of course been available since the 2K Blu-ray days.

[Finch]

Considering that every other feedback has been similarly glowing about the video of After Hours, I felt comfortable putting it in the top tier.

[AxeYou]

Oh I wasn’t questioning how good After Hours looks, given the other reviews. I was mainly curious whether I can trust FFC’s other past or future reviews when there’s no consensus yet.

[Finch]

Personally, I've agreed with their technical reviews more often than not.

[Finch]

One False Move (Criterion) Chris's review

To Live And Die In L.A. (TBLITW)

No one's sampled the DV presentation yet but the consensus seems to be that the film is mostly fairly well encoded in HDR10, apart from some blockiness in the highlights. And everyone noticed the overly red skintones. Makes you wonder if TBLITW hired the same person that was (still is?) handling the Vinegar Syndrome 4ks. I haven't seen feedback about the audio yet.

[kekid]

How does the Blu Ray included with the Kino 4K of Ronin compare with the Blu Ray released by Arrow a few years back (in 2017, I think?)?

[beamish14]

One False Move (Criterion) Chris's review

To Live And Die In L.A. (TBLITW)

And everyone noticed the overly red skintones.

I’ve held onto my DVD for over 15 years, I think, and I guess I won’t be parting with it anytime soon

[ryannichols7]

not holding my breath as they haven't upgraded anything from their back catalog to UHD yet, and have yet to release a UHD that isn't a genre film. and their comments seem to indicate this is going to continue to be the case...so I don't think we'll see it for awhile

I'm not aware of any plans to upgrade existing releases, and there's nothing of that nature in the current schedule, which now stretches until the end of 2024.

Although surely Budd Boetticher Westerns qualify far more as "genre films" than Jean Rollin's considerably more idiosyncratic and personal catalogue?

I appreciate your response sir, thank you very much. I know the Indicator schedule is always full of exciting things and new avenues, so it makes sense that upgrades aren't exactly a priority, especially when an existent version is on the marketplace too.

as for "genre" that's fair, I honestly (and with complete personal bias) will own up to excluding noir, western, and even sci-fi from that. I need a better term for films like Rollin, as "schlock" would be a little too demeaning for the work. either way, every UHD title so far has had some sort of bloodshed, and I don't personally see that changing, but am open to being surprised (Carnal Knowledge being UHD, anyone?) down the line

still nothing whatsoever on Breathless, think I'm just gonna pull the trigger on it

[cdnchris]

I haven't seen the SC version of Breathless and cant speak as to how it compares, but I think Criterion's looks very good.

[swo17]

Well the SC is reportedly not very good