UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading [Archive]

[nicolas]

Any word on the Eureka/MOC U.S. release of The Valiant Ones?

That’s the first thing I’ve read so far: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... stcount=14

[tenia]

The DNR on OUATItW is baked-in the source. It's something Ritrovata was against using but were forced to, against their tech advice, like what happened on Borsalino (also from Paramount) or the Bruce Lee movies (also because the right holder twisted their arm).
This is in part why the restoration took some time to get finalised, and theny why it hasn't made so much the rounds as some other restorations.

I have no idea who at Paramount prefers DigiSmear or plain DNRing freaking OUATItW, butI guess if I see Andrea Kalas next October at Lyon, I might try and ask her.

[andyli]

That's devastating to hear on so many levels.

[nicolas]

The DNR on OUATItW is baked-in the source. It's something Ritrovata was against using but were forced to, against their tech advice, like what happened on Borsalino (also from Paramount) or the Bruce Lee movies (also because the right holder twisted their arm).
This is in part why the restoration took some time to get finalised, and theny why it hasn't made so much the rounds as some other restorations.

I have no idea who at Paramount prefers DigiSmear or plain DNRing freaking OUATItW, butI guess if I see Andrea Kalas next October at Lyon, I might try and ask her.

It’s most likely Kalas herself. The way she defended their ruining of To Catch a Thief says it all. She also prefers remixing audio instead of restoring the original, particularly in the case of Roman Holiday when she mentioned that they “unfortunately” couldn’t do a remix IIRC because the original track no longer existed or was in bad shape. It’s insane to me what this woman considers correct and respectful to the films. A similar thing happened with the one guy at Fox doing the color grading for most their catalogue based on his personal taste that favored these cold, metallic blues.

[hearthesilence]

Even if Eagles does a better encode

"Eagles." Yeah, too bad Glenn Frey is no longer with us, he'd give FiM a run for their money!

Anyway, this is indeed terrible news and makes me wary of the upcoming Chinatown UHD.

[ryannichols7]

it's infuriating to hear about OUATITW - a movie that could so easily be a reference title on the format. at least with the Dollars films, we do have a shot still at one of the UK labels (likely Arrow at this point?) bringing out a definitive version. Paramount seem hell bent on doing the wrong job with the titles they insist on keeping for themselves. do they not see how better received their editions are when they allow the labels to do their own restorations? all they have to do is look at Days of Heaven! I trust Arrow, Criterion, or Kino would've done a knockout job with this title, or Chinatown for that matter, which I also have very little hope for

[Peacock]

Isn’t OUATITW not even a 100GB disc? A fail all round.

[cdnchris]

Yep! It's a 66GB disc. Quality stuff.

[ryannichols7]

talk about a coaster. I've never gotten an Eagle disc so maybe this will be the first? or maybe the Kino BD will just have to do for now

[hearthesilence]

Caps-a-holic now has samples.

Is the film supposed to have a dusty yellowish hue or a natural palette? It looks like the new restoration graded it to look natural, unlike the older Blu-ray which tilts toward yellow. I don't know which is correct, but the long shot on Monument Valley (blue sky and reddish dirt) is spot-on to real life and breathtakingly gorgeous, which makes the thorough degraining all the more unfortunate. (If you're ever in the American Southwest, absolutely visit Monument Valley. One of my favorite trips in recent years.)

[therewillbeblus]

It still looks better than any home video version I've ever seen. I'm happy with my copy.

[dwk]

Yep! It's a 66GB disc. Quality stuff.

I expected it to be DNR'd to death, but I never even entertained the thought that they would jam it onto a 66GB disc.

[cdnchris]

It still looks better than any home video version I've ever seen. I'm happy with my copy.

It's better than the DVD copy I hadn't upgraded yet, so yeah, I'll take that. But it's wild how badly they "screwed the pooch" (an idiom a mechanic I worked with loved to use constantly that just felt appropriate in this case).

[tenia]

As I wrote elsewhere, it's a 7/10 presentation that should have been a 9-9.5/10.
It's a shame, though it's not The Worst Restoration Ever either, and I'd argue it's looking better than the old BD that did have plenty of issues, but it now has new avoidable issues instead, yay.

[nicolas]

Someone contacted Eagle IT re. Once Upon a Time in the West and here’s their answer: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... stcount=44

In short: Paramount master on a BD-100 and with improvements where possible.

[nicolas]

Review of KL’s Bad Lieutenant UHD on the other forum: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=142
Caps by asacmurr: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=148

This seems like a solid upgrade if the 2.0 audio doesn’t turn out to be a downmix. Currently the UHD is $20 at Amazon like a few other KL titles.

[nicolas]

The Paramount UK release of The Italian Job is a winner according to Geoff! Brand-new encode and much better colors compared to the KL. Only disadvantage: no original mono but according to Geoff the 5.1 is a very good and faithful remix.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... stcount=44

My thoughts on the UHD: I’m not 100% as enthusiastic about the compression as Geoff even in DV. Colors are better for my taste and make this a valuable upgrade but compression could’ve been a little better during the shots that had to be sourced from dupey material. The difference between Paramount and KL is that KL (as usual) slammed all the bits even on the dupe shots which make them blend into the OCN footage more seamlessly whereas the Paramount bitrate isn’t afraid to dive lower. It’s just a touch too low and thankfully not all the way down into the dreaded single digits. Someone at Paramount capped it at 45-50 it seems, which ultimately saved the encode particularly during nasty scenes like the one set at a graveyard during fog.

Overall the Paramount encode is a clear notch below those from our newfound Italian friends courtesy of Plaion Pictures. It seems their US A-team did the encode as the generic Paramount menu and language selection screen we’re getting from their US and standard international releases was used. The Plaion encodes have a different menu layout.

The KL encode was likely one of the last from their more expensive authoring house even though it’s not perfect either with some infrequent highlight issues. Paramount nailed the OCN shots just as well and the colors are night-and-day better in crucial moments, which is enough for me to recommend and stick with their UHD.

[Finch]

Glad to hear Bad Lieutenant looks good. If the audio is actually the original (in as much as it can be, given the song licensing issues), I'll move it to the red tier. Hopefully Cry Baby will be fine as well.

I'd need English subs for both the Italian and English versions of Eagle's Once Upon A Time In The West because of my hearing issues. If it doesn't have those at all, I'll probably pass and stick to the BD.

[nicolas]

Glad to hear Bad Lieutenant looks good. If the audio is actually the original (in as much as it can be, given the song licensing issues), I'll move it to the red tier. Hopefully Cry Baby will be fine as well.

I'd need English subs for both the Italian and English versions of Eagle's Once Upon A Time In The West because of my hearing issues. If it doesn't have those at all, I'll probably pass and stick to the BD.

Are you equipped for adding external subtitles to your player / home theater? If yes, I'd happily provide you with a synced file once the UHD is out.

I also added a link to a Bad Lieutenant cap comparison uploaded by asacmurr on the other forum to my original post.

[Finch]

I still need to upgrade player and TV but I'll PM you once I'm set up for 4K.

[nicolas]

We’re (probably) getting a UHD review of the Studiocanal FR UHD of Army of Shadows tonight or tomorrow from McCrutchy on the other forum. His info so far on this page: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.ph ... 914&page=3

McCrutchy confirmed that English subtitles are actually on the UHD!

(I also added my thoughts on The Italian Job 4K to my post from earlier today).

[bfaison]

Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas from Criterion - I didn't spot any issues with the encode and its a fresh color grade approved by Gilliam that looks fantastic. Undoubtedly takes over the red category imo

[nicolas]

Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas from Criterion - I didn't spot any issues with the encode and its a fresh color grade approved by Gilliam that looks fantastic. Undoubtedly takes over the red category imo

Some compression issues in the highlights remain at least in HDR10 if you look at the detailed cap comparison that was just posted on the other forum: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=157. Arrow (and the LSP-encoded Turbine are perfectly encoded throughout).

I’ve already asked the poster whether the DV layer fixes the issues.

[bfaison]

I only watched once in DV, looking at those caps I stand by my post

[therewillbeblus]

Interesting differences! I'll stick with my Arrow, which I think has a preferable color scheme for the film. But for those who have shelf space to spare, there's just one more reason to double dip - for the extras and a different looking movie altogether (i.e. Le Cercle Rouge all over again)