UHD New Releases, Reissues and Upgrades

[Finch]

Worth mentioning that the audio is stereo on Murder, not mono as advertised. It is the correct mono on the other Christie titles. I only went for Death on the Nile which is still in transit from rarewaves.

[nicolas]

City on Fire (Arrow) vs City on Fire (Shout) - Finch’s review

[Finch]

I don't think I mentioned it before but I tied Criterion and BFI for their 4Ks of Eyes Without A Face in the OP.

[nicolas]

Jarhead (Universal) - caps. This may come as a surprise but the film was finished as a 4K DI in 2005. The same master was now used for the 4K disc with a new HDR grade supervised by Roger Deakins. The old BD was badly encoded, the 4K looks much better. Caveat: no original audio on the 4K.

Red Planet (Arrow) - caps

[midnitedave]

I don't think I mentioned it before but I tied Criterion and BFI for their 4Ks of Eyes Without A Face in the OP.

Is the Umbrella release still red tier since these releases? Or, are Criterion/BFI superior?

[nicolas]

Is the Umbrella release still red tier since these releases? Or, are Criterion/BFI superior?

Definitely not. One member mentioned that the Umbrella is a red tier release compared to the older BDs but it’s significantly worse than Criterion and BFI’s 4K - not just image-wise but the subtitles are inferior as well. Caps: https://slow.pics/c/YLVgurlI

[Finch]

I removed the Umbrella once it became clear that the BFI and Criterion were superior. So it's just the BFI + Criterion in the OP's red tier category.

[midnitedave]

Thanks duders! Just picked up the BFI edition 🫡

[nicolas]

Catch Me If You Can (Paramount) - caps. Beautiful new master badly encoded.

[nicolas]

Carol (Bubbel Pop) - my review. Added to the import list for titles with English audio and no English subs.

[rrenault]

I didn't realize the Carol UHD would be an upscale, so, especially at the current price point, I think I'll skip it, as much as I love the film.

[hearthesilence]

tbh, I wasn't sure if a 4K could be much of an upgrade given how it was shot on Super 16mm and (as mentioned) it was finished in 2K.

[nicolas]

The Grey (Shout) - caps

[nicolas]

Double Impact (Capelight) - my impressions

[dessie]

The new Disk Kino 4K release of Departures (2008) is a massive upgrade over the Arrow Blu-ray, not that surprising, since this is the first release to use the 4K restoration that was done in 2021 but im leaving comparisons here for those that are interested.
Disk Kino CHN UHD Blu-ray vs Arrow GBR Blu-ray:
https://slow.pics/c/9NrEB7bM

[Finch]

Death on the Nile looked quite lovely on Studio Canal's new 4K. Has anyone seen Evil Under The Sun and The Mirror Crack'd? Are all four Christies good to go in the red tier?

[nicolas]

Death on the Nile looked quite lovely on Studio Canal's new 4K. Has anyone seen Evil Under The Sun and The Mirror Crack'd? Are all four Christies good to go in the red tier?

This is the only review I’ve found with screenshots. I think they look great and are deserving of the red tier. The encodes are all by VDMS. Except for a BDInfo scan that confirms HDR, no one shared thoughts on Endless Night though.

[nicolas]

Boogie Nights (Warner) - caps by dessie. IP scan, filmic grading and seemingly no encode issues.

[Lowry_Sam]

I see many people stating that Criterion's The Long Good Friday is probably the same as Arrow's (currently under blue list), but I can't find any actual comparison's or confirmation that their's would also be blue. The only deciding factor seems to be to get the Arrow if you want Dolby Atmos or the Criterion if you want the documentary, or is there something else I'm missing?

[nicolas]

I see many people stating that Criterion's The Long Good Friday is probably the same as Arrow's (currently under blue list), but I can't find any actual comparison's or confirmation that their's would also be blue. The only deciding factor seems to be to get the Arrow if you want Dolby Atmos or the Criterion if you want the documentary, or is there something else I'm missing?

Criterion licensed Arrow’s 4K master, so they’re identical in that regard except for the encode and sound options as you pointed out. The 4K master itself is more refinement than revelation as Arrow already restored the film for their previous BD.

[mfunk9786]

Boogie Nights (Warner) - caps by dessie. IP scan, filmic grading and seemingly no encode issues.

Watched this and thought it was pretty doggone enjoyable, but yeah, this is going to be the most controversial UHD of the year. Unlike Punch-Drunk Love which was also an IP scan (but looks immaculately great), this film has a very blown out and intensely celluloid look, complete with tons of grain, and I could see someone (incorrectly, mind!) arguing that it's a step down from the heavily sharpened blu-ray. I didn't have much of a problem with it, although seeing it look like a crispy OCN remaster might have also been just as nice.

[rrenault]

I know I’m just reiterating the obvious, but the Criterion 4K of Eyes Wide Shut and the Arrow 4K of The Apartment are both .

[Finch]

Got Angel's Egg and Lake Mungo tonight and watched both and really liked both presentations. The grain in Angel's Egg looked fine to me and given some other anime restorations, I'm grateful it's there in the first place. Almost certainly a reference disc but better have others chime in too.

EDIT: Forgot to mention for Angel's Egg, the Dolby Vision pass resulted in fuller colors, unsurprisingly, against the YouTube upload I saw last year. I don't recall if the film had any DVD releases even, Japan possibly. Was nice to get more story context via the English subs which were missing on the YouTube upload.

I think when people said why bother with a 4K of Lake Mungo because of the video footage, they forgot that a substantial part of the film is the contemporaneous interview footage and timelapse shots. I don't have the Second Sight BD anymore to compare so have to go by my memory from maybe a year ago but I think the upgrade is evident in the interview and transition shots of the Australian landscape and nighttime traffic shots. Better resolved, sharper grain and more vibrant colors thanks to Dolby Vision. I imagine that highlights would also resolve better as they typically do in 4K but hopefully screen caps will bear that out. Is it worth it against the Second Sight BD? For me, it was but definitely more of a refinement. I think David also encoded the SS Blu-ray?

Between those two and their earlier Wake in Fright 4K, I would nominate Umbrella as one of the most improved labels and one of the more resonant lineups in 2025.

[Finch]

Angel's Egg: Caps Umbrella 4K vs Japanese 2013 Blu-ray

Dessie says the 2.0 track is a downmix of the 5.1 mix.

[Michael Kerpan]

Any US source for the Angel's Egg UHD?