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Yakushima wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 7:27 pmHas anyone experienced a similar hiccup with the disc? I am considering exchanging it for a replacement.

My disc played through fine, I'd seek out a replacement

therewillbeblus wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 7:52 pm

Yakushima wrote: Tue Jul 16, 2024 7:27 pmHas anyone experienced a similar hiccup with the disc? I am considering exchanging it for a replacement.

My disc played through fine, I'd seek out a replacement

Thank you! Glad to hear the other copies are fine. I will ask for a replacement.

I received my copy of SC’s Arizona Dream UHD today and generally liked what I saw. The mentioning of Hiventy made me fear the worst re. the color grade and encode as Studiocanal seemingly make their restoration parties deal with the encoding as well.

The UHD is a UHD-100 with the film on it in DV and the interview with N.T. Binh (in French and only subtitled in German if you select German in the menu screen).

The color grade looks fantastic with rich, deep colors, depth and detail and no trace of an obvious lab tint or raised blacks. This is one of the best grades to come out of France and hopefully more to follow like this. No mentioning whether Kusturica supervised it or what they based their grade on.

The encode is surprisingly good but not perfect. I’m 100% sure this would’ve turned into an autopilot disaster encode one or two years ago á la Le cercle rouge. Except for the brightest of highlights, the encode is solid and from what I saw nothing stood out too negatively. Highlights don’t resolve as good, however the gradations from normal grain to a highlight where grain disappears (often when the sun is seen) are less drastic and less visibly attention-grabbing than on other encodes. I have a feeling that this partially is due to the bitrates being optimized a bit better. With Le cercle rouge, bitrates would go from 100+ MBs to single digits within seconds and in here, it’s mostly from 70-80 to 25-30 at the lowest from what I’ve seen. This should make a generally seamless experience, however I need to emphasize that this specifically applies to DV. In HDR10, things aren’t as perfect although the encode holds together surprisingly well and doesn’t look too much different on first glance. The elephant in the room is chroma noise though, which doesn’t look good in HDR if you’re aware of this and notice it in motion. If not, don’t worry, the film should look just fine for you. In DV, it’s better but not 100% perfect either. Nothing that ruins my experience though. It could have been a lot worse, no question.

Can’t report anything about the audio other than that it sounds nice and dynamic. They’ve restored the audio from the original tracks.

If the UHD is unlocked, I’ll try and make some caps later today.
I don’t have the film on BD but I’d say this is a solid upgrade with caveat that DV is recommended.

A huge, positive surprise: Brokeback Mountain looks fantastic in 4K on these screenshots shared on the other forum: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=113

This is the one title this year I’d hoped they wouldn’t mess up. Hopefully the audio is fine as well.

The Conversation also just arrived and it’s a fantastic release. There’s been a reviewer (AVForums I believe) who saw a "teal job" here. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is a beautiful film-like grade. I think it’s everything one could wish for, it’s exactly how I imagine the film was intended to look photochemically. Of course, I haven’t gotten a chance to see the entire film in 4K but after skimming through various sections, I’d be surprised if there’s anything to lament later on. Due to the nature of the film, I don’t think anyone will use this as a home theater demo. The 4K scan likely squeezed out all the detail that’s in the film. Just take that into consideration as soon as Robert Harris thrashes the release for lacking 4K resolution. Of course, this is not a flaw of the release and should be never regarded as such.

The UHD is a UHD-100 and I’d bet that this is a FiM encode. The film looks meticulous across all image areas. After that, I noticed the special features are on the UHD as well, so this may be the confirmation after all.

As always, take my audio check with a grain of salt but I like how the 2.0 dual mono track sounds. It’s clear, precise and not muffled. The 5.1 is equally clear but I’m not sure if the dynamic nature of the track makes a convincing listening experience paired with the grittiness of the film and the period. Walter Murch made the 5.1 if I remember correctly. Hopefully our audio experts can educate me on this and which track is better suited.

One more thing regarding the bonus features, the originally promised new Francis Ford Coppola interview is nowhere to be found on the disc.

But still, another classic just got its definitive UHD and I hope you’re all enjoying your copies.

This is no "teal job" at all, though numerous shots now have a rather green tint that I wonder where it's coming from. It's however the sole real departure as otherwise, the differences could be summed up by "the previous presentation mostly was very drab, while the new one is considerably more colorful, saturated and warm."

The BD is probably one of the best restorations I've seen recently.

tenia wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2024 12:17 pm This is no "teal job" at all, though numerous shots now have a rather green tint, while the previous presentation mostly was very drab, while the new one is considerably more colorful, saturated and warm.

The BD is probably one of the best restorations I've seen recently.

I agree, the look also fits the film very well. The new grade is probably closer to the original timing / presentation in general. I’ll trust James Mockoski that the grade turned out faithfully to reference material in the Zoetrope archives. Coppola also approved the grade.

Walter Murch did indeed personally oversee the 5.1 remix, and I seem to recall him saying something to the effect that he'd have done it like that in 1974 if only the technology had been around.

Murch was, of course, the man who essentially invented the 5.1 configuration with Apocalypse Now a few years later.

So while mono purism is usually the way to go with a film of this vintage (so full marks for the inclusion of the original 1974 mono track), this is a significant exception.

I guess I should have pre-ordered it. Will it be released in a regular edition?

It's StudioCanal, so a pretty safe bet based on extensive precedent.

There isn't a standard release announced in the UK so far, but there's one in Germany, and the discs will be identical (since the UK discs offer the option for menus in both languages). It's indeed very likely one will follow in the UK, but possibly depending on how well the LE sells (out).


As for the 5.1 track, it's announced as being based on the 2000 Murch-supervised one, and I watched a good chunk of the movie through it. The mono track is very fine in itself, it's not muffled and is quite clear and dynamic, but there were several times where the 5.1 felt better in terms of clarity, and also at times with a bit of extra texture too. It's also quite conservative in terms of surround usage, so it didn't feel like a trade-off in this aspect.

Finch wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2024 7:56 pm fkid on Kino's 1956 Body Snatchers 4K

Massive disappointment. Oh well, saved myself some money.

Thelma & Louise by Capelight is a superior import if you're DV compatible as the caps show chroma noise in SDR which, as usual with Capelight and MGM masters is fixed in DV:
https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x=24 ... 0&i=4&go=1

Jaws 3 (https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=624) is an AI upscaled "4K transfer".
Jaws 4 was apparently sourced from a genuine new transfer but the new Atmos mix (the only English track on that disc) is revisionist.
The original theatrical ending was apparently remastered in 4K HDR but they only included it as an extra without seamlessly branching it with the feature.

hearthesilence wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2024 8:13 pm

Finch wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2024 7:56 pm fkid on Kino's 1956 Body Snatchers 4K

Massive disappointment. Oh well, saved myself some money.

It begs the question, especially for a label that already has enough technical challenges to fix, why Kino went ahead with releasing a UHD from such an inadequate source. I'm also not sure it sends a good message, since that's how low they're willing to go when assessing if the source is good enough for a UHD release.

nicolas wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2024 1:00 pmJaws 3 (https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=624) is an AI upscaled "4K transfer".

It was bound to happen as soon as the first movies improperly fiddled with though AI weren't met by a pure perfect sanitary cordon. Can't wait to read HTF not caring about this and say "that's good enough, I don't see what the problem is, you're the nitpicky ones".

Good point - how good is the source for UFOria? I've just seen a VHS rip circulating

therewillbeblus wrote: Thu Jul 18, 2024 2:11 pm Good point - how good is the source for UFOria? I've just seen a VHS rip circulating

I think it’s best not to expect anything at this point as they’re comfortable selling this as “4K”: https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-Boog ... creenshots

Kino are still testing how low they can go with what people find acceptable. Invasion of the Body Snatchers is astonishing as even the BFI Blu-ray looks better upscaled (!) from HD to 4K and when given a fake HDR pass than KL’s supposed “brand-new”, “most expensive restoration project”.

Risky Business 4K Screenshots: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=188

This looks like one of Criterion’s best restorations and encodes. Can’t wait!

I haven't been able to take captures of the 4Ks yet, but yes, Risky Business looks very good, as does Farewell My Concubine.

Chris, how are the two cut of Risky Business presented? Are they two separate encodes or does it use seamless branching?

They're branched. Only the last few minutes differ.

Do people think KL’s UHD of Last Year at Marienbad is a safe preorder or should I wait and see whether or not it gets one upped by a Studio Canal release?

cdnchris wrote: Sat Jul 20, 2024 7:15 am They're branched. Only the last few minutes differ.

Thanks. I assumed that would be the case, but I can't recall Criterion using branching to present different cuts of a film.