UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading [Archive]

[bugsy_pal]

I picked up the Australian version recently when it was 30% off, for AUD $21!
https://www.jbhifi.com.au/products/wick ... k-ultra-hd
It's 4 discs and has all of the versions and extras, I believe

[nicolas]

Adding those to the OP. Where did you hear/read about the replacements? Did WellGoUSA make an official statement?

I wrote Well Go and heard back three days later with instructions on how to obtain the replacements (submitting address and order confirmation screenshot -that’s it). After few hours later I already got a tracking number, so they even ship internationally. Exemplary service by Well Go and a very fast turnaround.

[nicolas]

A few new UHD additions:

1. Carrie (Arrow) is a surprisingly substantial upgrade to the Shout UHD of 2022. Comparison caps by Kyle on the other forum(https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=265) show much better grain exposure on the Arrow, courtesy of David M / FiM. The Shout UHD looks filtered by comparison. I've checked the Shout again and it's noticeable in DV when you're aware of how the Arrow looks. Archival and the Shout-created extras carry over on the Arrow, so this should be a no-brainer for fans.

2. Lone Star by Criterion is a very good UHD and when considering how unpredictable NexSpec's encodes are it's a best-case scenario for the film. Some people reported that the DV layer has brightness issues but this is not true. Everything looks good and the encode is solid. I'm certain that NexSpec employed some mild filtering (aka typical former Pixelogic behavior) on the grain but this isn't a big thing honestly. It could have been much worse but not much better. 2.0 audio sounds excellent from a brief listen. As Criterion's Mean Streets is rated a top-tier disc in the master list, I'd rate Lone Star the same unless FiM gets a chance to encode the restoration in the future.

3. Supermarket by Subkultur Germany is a solid UHD with a good restoration and grade but for their standards the encode is just okay as it struggles with the highlights. Audio sounds fantastic with no apparent problematic processing. Solid upgrade. The UHD has English audio and subtitles.

4. The Raid: Redemption gets high marks on the other forum for its Sony 4K Steelbook upgrade with substantially improved color grading and great Dolby Atmos audio. Framing is still 1.78:1, which at this point is surely the director's intention. Can't vouch for any of this but the caps look convincing. This is surely all in all at least a solid upgrade, if not more.

[nicolas]

Potential warning for those Region A-compatible: It appears that Eagle Italy's forthcoming Killers of the Flower Moon UHD, which is fully English friendly by the way, is region B locked.
As of now, there's only one BR.com poster claiming this but we shouldn't rule it out. Unless someone is quicker, I'll test this (and the Panasonic workaround) as soon as I get my copy next week.

[Finch]

Carrie, Lone Star, The Raid and Supermarket added to OP.

Carrie UK additionally gets a nod in the Superior Import column.

[cdnchris]

Trainspotting is okay, but has the issue in the highlights/bright areas that Blood Simple apparently has (I haven't seen it yet as Criterion sent the Blu-ray instead of the 4K) with macroblocking. I didn't really notice it while watching; it wasn't like Walkabout, where everything looks smeared, but it could be because the film moves quicker and doesn't give you enough time to notice. But the switch to London, where everything becomes brighter, looks slightly off in some of the montage shots. What is frustrating is everything else looks great (a closer inspection could suggest otherwise, but on the first viewing it looks pretty good). At the very least, it's not a big problem and will more than likely go unnoticed by most. It proved not to be a big concern to me in the end. But it is the one area in the presentation that could be remedied.

And the colours are fine. It's darker but not an oppressive green and suits most of the settings. Reds can still be pretty intense. It just has a duller look compared to the VHS colors of previous releases, and I have no trouble believing this is how it was meant to look.

[nicolas]

Trainspotting is okay, but has the issue in the highlights/bright areas that Blood Simple apparently has (I haven't seen it yet as Criterion sent the Blu-ray instead of the 4K) with macroblocking. I didn't really notice it while watching; it wasn't like Walkabout, where everything looks smeared, but it could be because the film moves quicker and doesn't give you enough time to notice. But the switch to London, where everything becomes brighter, looks slightly off in some of the montage shots. What is frustrating is everything else looks great (a closer inspection could suggest otherwise, but on the first viewing it looks pretty good). At the very least, it's not a big problem and will more than likely go unnoticed by most. It proved not to be a big concern to me in the end. But it is the one area in the presentation that could be remedied.

And the colours are fine. It's darker but not an oppressive green and suits most of the settings. Reds can still be pretty intense. It just has a duller look compared to the VHS colors of previous releases, and I have no trouble believing this is how it was meant to look.

Thanks Chris for the early look. I meant to ask, so this comes in handy. I take it as good news that Trainspotting isn’t a Walkabout disaster but the encoding inconsistency remains perplexing and disappointing nonetheless.

[ryannichols7]

given that Shallow Grave has that duller look too I trust that was always the intention for Trainspotting. I suspect this will get a lot of the-original-home-releases-were-correct criers but I'm gonna side with that being consistent with Brian Tufano's earlier work with Boyle. it's an energetic movie but isn't necessarily supposed to be the most colorful..and I think it's a reflection of its surroundings

[tenia]

Saw nicwood's feedback about The Host's UHD on blu-ray.com. While I can't speak about the UHD itself, it echoes my sentiment about the remaster itself, which I saw on BD and that left me the same impression : if it's a new 4K master, it's disappointedly electronic-and-artificial looking. It's quite obviously smooth (grain is here, but attenuated and often frozen-looking) but it also has an agressive sharpened look. While I guess part of it could be down to the original look aimed for the movie, it definitely doesn't look like a 4K master of a shot-on-35mm movie.

I hadn't perceived in motion what nic writes could be from AI, but his example definitely looks like it might very well be.

I haven't seen a previous BD / UHD (or new BD) comparison yet but have seen screenshots of the previous BD, and it looks like the new master might not be that different texture-wise (or that in any case, it'd disclose this isn't as new a master as it should have been).

[nicolas]

Saw nicwood's feedback about The Host's UHD on blu-ray.com. While I can't speak about the UHD itself, it echoes my sentiment about the remaster itself, which I saw on BD and that left me the same impressing : if it's a new 4K master, it's disappointedly electronic-and-artificial looking. It's quite obviously smooth (grain is here, but attenuated and often frozen-looking) but also has an agressive sharpened look. While I guess it could be down to the original look of the movie, it definitely doesn't look like a 4K master of a shot-on-35mm movie.

I hadn't perceived in motion what nic writes could be from AI, but his example definitely looks like it might very well be.

I haven't seen a previous BD / UHD (or new BD) comparison yet, but haven't seen screenshots of the previous BD, it looks like texture-wise, the new master might not be that different (or that in any case, it'd disclose this isn't as new a master as it should have been).

It’s definitely the old 2K DI upscaled for 4K unfortunately. I have the old Curzon BD of the film in a Bong Joon-ho box set and put it in after seeing the UHD and wondering about its very digital look. Turns out that it’s indeed the same master with the exact same grain-management and resolution of the VFX. The Jokers’ BS claim about the OCN sections being 4K-scanned and the VFX IP-scanned is really disappointing, particularly as people like Le Labo de Jay, who did the BTS documentary for the Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra restoration, took over the misinformation in their reviews and videos.
Bong should have insisted on a rebuild, which a director of his statue definitely could but it seems he’s fine with the work they did back then.
The UHD now presents all the bells and whistles of the DI at their most visible.

I believe AI was used sporadically (maybe only in the one static early shot of Song Kang-ho sleeping in the store early on) to improve definition on the product labels that isn’t there in the master in order to sell the 4K illusion to more casual viewers. The 2K DI clearly lacks resolution (the grain-management needs to be blamed) which AI could “restore” when needed. I immediately thought something was off with that particular shot early in the film while looking at the UHD, which is the same effect we can observe on The Wailing. Here is my screenshot but it’s more noticeable on the 4K with HDR. (The HDR enhances the upscale effect even more): https://i.slow.pics/LeeTBB2n.png

[nicolas]

WARNING: The Italian Eagle BD and UHD of Killers of the Flower Moon are Region B LOCKED and the Panasonic top menu trick does NOT WORK. I could only play the discs with my Region B 4K Player.

Major bummer for so many potential buyers!

Another thing that’s very unfortunate is the localization of the English intertitles during the early silent film montage. They are thank God subtitled, as are the Indigenous words. (The subtitles activate automatically once you select English in the main menu). Otherwise, the UHD is English friendly with a Italian / English menu coming up in the beginning.

Picture quality is GREAT when considering the length of the film and its mostly analogue nature. Grain resolves exceptionally well under these circumstances. Colors are great. Average HDR brightness is 163 nits, maximum 1000 nits. Nothing too dim, this is very likely exactly what’s been approved by Scorsese.

The 5.1 sound is equally great and a powerhouse track. Robbie Robertson’s Osage Oil Boom track in particular sounds absolutely phenomenal. The 5.1 on disc is a clear improvement over the Atmos on streaming! I have compared this with the Apple stream. Rich dynamics, powerful LFE, a wide soundscape. Everything we want to hear!

It’s such a shame that this exceptional encode was not made available to more people. Hopefully Paramount has a surprise up for us sooner than later. This masterpiece has to be properly preserved on physical media. Eagle did half of the job, now it’s up to another party to do grant everybody access.

[Peacock]

It’s a new Scorsese, it’ll get a bucket load of 4Ks outside of Italy don’t fret!

[nicolas]

It’s a new Scorsese, it’ll get a bucket load of 4Ks outside of Italy don’t fret!

I’d agree with you in a heartbeat if Apple wasn’t part of the equation.

[Peacock]

Ah - good point…

[Finch]

Throughout this year, I'm going to try clean up the OP comments and add links to posts covering titles at least from 2024 onwards, like nicholas's above for Killers, but it'll take a while obviously.

If not Paramount, then Killers might end up with Criterion but as nicholas, samlop10 and others have described at length, their 4ks are so hit-and-miss that pre-ordering sight unseen is always a gamble, and they completely botched the encode on their Irishman BD.

[nicolas]

Throughout this year, I'm going to try clean up the OP comments and add links to posts covering titles at least from 2024 onwards, like nicholas's above for Killers, but it'll take a while obviously.

If not Paramount, then Killers might end up with Criterion but as nicholas, samlop10 and others have described at length, their 4ks are so hit-and-miss that pre-ordering sight unseen is always a gamble, and they completely botched the encode on their Irishman BD.

Thanks for the great work with the OP! If you need any help, I can try and collect links to what I wrote on the other forum to the titles I didn’t discuss here.

Regarding Killers, I do hope it’s Paramount directly. We thankfully haven’t yet encountered a poorly encoded new release, such as the 3-hour Babylon which looks superb in 4K. Their A team probably gets these all the time. With Criterion, its sadly guess work. It would be a real shame if Eagle’s brilliant encode remains Region B-locked in any case.

[Finch]

The Straight Story 4k restoration trailer

German import coming in early April from Arthaus, who I think are a sub-label of Studio Canal.

EDIT: Carlotta are releasing in France.

[nicolas]

The Straight Story 4k restoration trailer

German import coming in early April from Arthaus, who I think are a sub-label of Studio Canal.

EDIT: Carlotta are releasing in France.

Arthaus is SC, yes. Hoping for a FiM encode for such a beautiful restoration.
Are you sure that Carlotta releases it in France? I saw a listing for the French UHD at Potemkine’s store and its credited to SC. I think Carlotta only handle the theatrical re-release.

[Finch]

That's a good point. I saw the theatrical trailer was released by Carlotta and assumed they'd be handing home video too.

[rrenault]

If StudioCanal have any remote connection to The Straight Story within France then it’ll likely be them releasing it on disc with Carlotta handling theatrical distribution. Le Cercle Rouge was the same scenario.

[eerik]

Studiocanal produced and own the film. They are releasing it on disc in April. Carlotta are just their partner for theatrical rereleases in France.

Some guy on Blu-ray.com (guess who...) just likes to post Carlotta's trailers as news while ignoring Studiocanal. This isn't the first time.

[Finch]

Chris's review of Trainspotting is up; film and review link added to OP.

[nicolas]

Decal / Neon’s Oldboy UHD looks like a reference release: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=226 Compression is very good and only minimally below the Arrow. Other differences are small too, such as variances in the subtitling and additional extras (Park Chan-wook and Nicolas Winding Refn interview). If only their BDs looked like this…

Early thoughts on UK Studiocanal’s Peeping Tom are equally positive, which I can confirm. The film looks absolutely spectacular and was probably encoded by FiM. I never owned the earlier BD but this comparison from M A https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=132 shows that it’s grueling, so a massive upgrade here. Audio sounds very good. A phenomenal release all around and demo worthy.

[Finch]

House on the Edge of the Park has been fixed.

[Finch]

Chris's review of Lone Star 4k