UHD New Releases, Reissues and Upgrades

[tenia]

Regarding the AQ, Criterion has dozens of titles arbitrarily additionnally filtered solely for their releases, and then a few where they sourced stuff from outside what the rightholders offered as the latest digital element. I don't recall what happened for every Kurosawa rereleases, but unlike PQ where you can't just go back to the LD because the latest 4k resto is rubbish, it happens more and more nowadays with AQ (and I don't believe all licensing deals are equal when it comes to including other stuff like this). If you look at Seven Samurai or Throne of Blood soundtracks comparisons on Slow Pics, it's almost as if every track is different from each other, some of them significantly.

Coming back to Sanjuro : the BFI used what Toho supplied, while Criterion included their older LD track.

[Fus1on]

Orbit DVD has some thoughts on the Nosferatu the Vampyre BFI controversy...

[tenia]

That's rubbish, and those comments on Reddit are too.
If you buy something and realise quite quickly it's not what you expected, plenty of countries (and I think the US) allow you to retract your purchase and send it back.
If it hasn't been shipped yet, you're absolutely entitled (except of T&C say otherwise) to cancel it and get refunded.
I'm reading people will "try to unload it elsewhere instead" : that doesn't really look like anything except "selling it to someone unaware of the issue".

[swo17]

Except that Orbit has a very clear "no cancellations on pre-orders" policy

[tenia]

Which is why I wrote "except if T&C say otherwise" . In which case Orbit can simply remind customers that and that's the end of it and there shouldn't be a post about it ?

Side question : you don't have any general right to cancellation and/or return-refund within a short time period in the US ? In Europe, I'm fairly certain most countries don't allow the possibility to have a "all preorders are final" policy, and there is a European right to retractation within 15 days after receiving your product (which allows you to say "actually, I don't want it, I'm returning it and you'll refund me).

[swo17]

I think Orbit accepts returns for the first month, you just have to pay return shipping

[nicolas]

Shout have now confirmed that they commissioned their own Nosferatu restoration.

[tenia]

I think Orbit accepts returns for the first month, you just have to pay return shipping

From their FAQ page :

We have a 30-day return policy, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item to request a return. To be eligible for a return, your item must be in the same condition that you received it, unworn or unused, with tags, and in its original packaging. You’ll also need the receipt or proof of purchase. To prevent damage item MUST be sent back in a cardboard box with bubble wrap, preferably in the box it arrived in. Damaged return items will not be accepted.
If you want to return an item that you do not want, you must provide your own shipping and the original shipping cost to you will not be refunded. We will not refund opened merchandise for items with exterior cosmetic issues that are visible when sealed. We will not refund or exchange merchandise with a portion of the plastic coming off. We do not issue return labels on international orders.
To start a return, you can contact us at this email adress. If your return is accepted, we’ll send you a return shipping label, as well as instructions on how and where to send your package. Items sent back to us without first requesting a return will not be accepted.

Reading this, it's within Orbit's T&C for people to receive their preorders, not open the package (or repackage the Nosferatu copy in a dedicated box following Orbit's FAQ guidelines), request a return and provide the receipts from Orbit etc.

I'm not saying it's not a hassle for Orbit to handle extra returns/refunds for reasons out of their reach, but it does look like it's just part of the business they're in. It's also the game of preorders, both for sellers AND buyers. I'm fairly certain it works properly in average for both, but there will always be outliers leading to situations like this. I'm pretty sure it's not the first time an upcoming release has early negative feedbacks which leads to cancellations and returns.

[domino harvey]

Orbit DVD has some thoughts on the Nosferatu the Vampyre BFI controversy...

Some of these Reddit responses are insane. People want to boycott Orbit because the guy running it doesn’t hate the transfer they hate? One responder was even upset that he was selling a release he hasn’t seen!

[tenia]

That's, however, is indeed insane. He has nothing to do with this, and being tech savvy regarding transfers and such isn't any requirement for being a retailer (hell, some labels aren't !).

[nicolas]

End of Days (Shout) - caps. Shout’s audio is also better than most previous releases as their 5.1 lacks clipping.

[Fus1on]

If Reddit and Facebook users are criticizing this one, things are really, really bad.

Reddit users are really funny to me, because, in the 4K Blu-ray subreddit, I saw a post about how incredible the UHD for The Terminator was right below a post complaining about BFI’s Nosferatu the Vampyre. Even though I haven’t seen the latter yet, there’s a non-zero chance it looks better than The Terminator.

[vanshady]

I’m being downvoted to oblivion in reddit as one expected, but I made a list for AI restorations https://www.bestblurays.com/lists/ai-re ... -and-shame It already has your James Cameron, Wallace & Gromit and more. Let me know what else I should add

[domino harvey]

I think I missed discussion of the Flaherty-- any links?

EDIT: Nm I didn't scroll over far enough!

[vanshady]

Speaking of which Wallace & Gromit Shout (both older and newer collection) used the same source as BBC, and their audio is in the wrong pitch (as BBC) so might want to add Shout to the disappoint list too. I summarized my findings from going through BR posts in https://www.bestblurays.com/film/1557-a ... y-out-1990

[hearthesilence]

Speaking of which Wallace & Gromit Shout (both older and newer collection) used the same source as BBC, and their audio is in the wrong pitch (as BBC) so might want to add Shout to the disappoint list too. I summarized my findings from going through BR posts in https://www.bestblurays.com/film/1557-a ... y-out-1990

JFC, what a disaster. I still have my unopened copy of Lionsgate's BD which someone gifted me - I guess it's the "best" one by default, but hopefully it still plays.

[vanshady]

Speaking of which Wallace & Gromit Shout (both older and newer collection) used the same source as BBC, and their audio is in the wrong pitch (as BBC) so might want to add Shout to the disappoint list too. I summarized my findings from going through BR posts in https://www.bestblurays.com/film/1557-a ... y-out-1990

JFC, what a disaster. I still have my unopened copy of Lionsgate's BD which someone gifted me - I guess it's the "best" one by default, but hopefully it still plays.

You should open asap, apparently both Lionsgate blurays from that era and the 2023 Shout 4K discs are really prone to disc rot.

[A Tempted Christ]

I’m being downvoted to oblivion in reddit as one expected, but I made a list for AI restorations https://www.bestblurays.com/lists/ai-re ... -and-shame It already has your James Cameron, Wallace & Gromit and more. Let me know what else I should add

Inland Empire (all discs sourced from the new restoration)
In The Dust of the Stars from Eureka's Strange New Worlds: Science Fiction at DEFA set
Bim, the Little Donkey from Criterion's Albert Lamorisse set
Filmjuwelen's The Lost Patrol

[vanshady]

I’m being downvoted to oblivion in reddit as one expected, but I made a list for AI restorations https://www.bestblurays.com/lists/ai-re ... -and-shame It already has your James Cameron, Wallace & Gromit and more. Let me know what else I should add

Inland Empire (all discs sourced from the new restoration)
In The Dust of the Stars from Eureka's Strange New Worlds: Science Fiction at DEFA set
Bim, the Little Donkey from Criterion's Albert Lamorisse set
Filmjuwelen's The Lost Patrol

Thank you I added all of them. To avoid going off-topic of UHD releases, I created a separate thread specifically for AI restorations

[hearthesilence]

You should open asap, apparently both Lionsgate blurays from that era and the 2023 Shout 4K discs are really prone to disc rot.

Good to know. I went ahead and opened it and at minimum, it plays on spot check, but I'll have to give it a more thorough play later. It looks pretty good though, especially on a standard HD screen. I'm guessing there's some grain management, but it's not egregious.

(Not important, but the Blu-ray logo on the case actually stuck to the sticker they use to "seal" the case closed and came off when I removed the sticker.)

[Finch]

The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun (Criterion) Chris's review

Flow (Criterion) Chris's review

Read My Lips (Criterion) Chris's review

[ryannichols7]

Criterion seem to be on a real roll since Chris also indicates High and Low is quite an upgrade from the BFI 4K from the same source master. this was a really good month for them overall

[dwk]

BFI only release High and Low on Blu-ray.

[nicolas]

Criterion seem to be on a real roll since Chris also indicates High and Low is quite an upgrade from the BFI 4K from the same source master. this was a really good month for them overall

It definitely is. Criterion also upgraded the audio compared to the old BD. The new 4.0 sounds like the one on the Toho 4K, which is a huge upgrade. That may have gone unnoticed in Chris’ review as he carried over his score from the BD.

[nicolas]

I’ve now received my copy of Indicator’s Saraband for Dead Lovers 4K and I’m quite literally speechless at how astonishing this one looks. The colors, the detail, the fine grain and how well the separation masters were aligned and restored defies belief. This film is from 1948 and it shouldn’t look this good but it does. In its best moments where opticals aren’t involved, it genuinely looks as if the film was shot recently. HDR is tasteful, never aggressive, only complementary. Of course, the FiM encode handles everything beautifully.

Sound is just as outstanding. Diegetic sounds in particular have excellent fidelity and music is clear. Dialogues and the voice-over are slightly boxy but I’ve no reason to suspect that egregious filtering was applied in the process. I’ve heard much worse and it’s very likely that the film can’t sound any better.

While I have seen some stunning 4K releases this year, including from Indicator themselves, there’s been nothing in recent memory that’s as jaw-droppingly gorgeous as Saraband for Dead Lovers. While Studiocanal did the heavy lifting with the restoration, Indicatior nonetheless deserve huge credit for bringing this film to 4K (which SC didn’t) and delivering this amazing edition. Please support this if you can.