criterionforum.org

Finch wrote: Sat Mar 08, 2025 9:23 pm Gotta give Criterion credit where its due. I'll keep the BFI in the red tier still but Criterion additionally gets a mention in the superior import column when I get back on a PC.

I’m still somewhat in disbelief when reading news like this as they just didn’t care about things like that in the past. So glad they recognized that their 4K upgrades are opportunities to improve other release aspects too. Here’s hoping that they can improve their upcoming MGM titles as well.

Night Moves (Criterion) - caps by BR user Donald McDonald. The encode looks absolutely spotless even in the highlights and without Dolby Vision filling anything in. They also mentioned that Criterion’s audio mix sounds significantly better than the Warner BD without discernible tinkering.

Thirst (Indicator) - caps

Not entirely fond of the grading (seen on the BD), reminding me of other Oz movies' presentations that are, to me, graded with a certain contrast that, first, feels a bit repetitive from movie to movie, and second, simply feels too hot.

tenia wrote: Mon Mar 10, 2025 4:33 pm Not entirely fond of the grading (seen on the BD), reminding me of other Oz movies' presentations that are, to me, graded with a certain contrast that, first, feels a bit repetitive from movie to movie, and second, simply feels too hot.

The first cap is the one I agree with, the others look very good to me. Can’t say much more though - I’ve never even heard of the film before Indicator announced their 4K and only saw the terrible BD caps before I linked to the new caps.

I never saw any of these before, so I can't say I have any idea what their previous release looks like !

tenia wrote: Mon Mar 10, 2025 4:47 pm I never saw any of these before, so I can't say I have any idea what their previous release looks like !

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=9180&d2=9179&c=3706. Indicator made the right call to do a brand new restoration from the ground up.

Oh I totally believe they did, I'm just not fond of how the daylight shots are graded.

Are there any significant differences between the image quality of the 25th anniversary UHD of Bram Stoker's Dracula and the newer 30th anniversary steelbook? It sounds like DV was applied to the newer version but it doesn't do much (going by a BR.com review...)

I think its just the Dolby Vision added on the latest steelbook. The very first 4K had garish colours but they addressed that in the subsequent releases.

Finch wrote: Mon Mar 10, 2025 8:59 pm I think its just the Dolby Vision added on the latest steelbook. The very first 4K had garish colours but they addressed that in the subsequent releases.

I only see two 4Ks, so are you referring to the 25th anniversary one? Seems to be well-received

For some reason I thought Sony released Dracula three times on 4K. I could have sworn the first 4K shared the wrong colours with the Bluray but in any case, the most recent 4K looks correct.

therewillbeblus wrote: Mon Mar 10, 2025 8:57 pm Are there any significant differences between the image quality of the 25th anniversary UHD of Bram Stoker's Dracula and the newer 30th anniversary steelbook? It sounds like DV was applied to the newer version but it doesn't do much (going by a BR.com review...)

Yes. Besides the addition of DV, Sony added 5.1 and 2.0 mixes in addition to restoring the original subtitles and their font. For the SB, Sony scanned the original textless elements from the negative and replaced the optical shots in these segments. The base layer encode is also a bit better. It’s a great upgrade and well worth the double dip if you like the film and want to have its original appearance on disc.

Also, new bonus features according to the BR review: NEW! Music Video (1080p upscaled, 4x3, 4:24): "Love Song for a Vampire" by Annie Lennox.
NEW! Blood Lines: Dracula -- The Man, The Myth, The Movies (1080p upscaled, 4x3, 28:22): A terrific piece exploring the history of Dracula, the purpose behind the film, influences, cast and characters, making key scenes, story themes and dramatic arcs, production design, Coppola's work on the film, and much more.

Enjoy your Coppola marathon

nicolas wrote: Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:24 am Night Moves (Criterion) - caps by BR user Donald McDonald. The encode looks absolutely spotless even in the highlights and without Dolby Vision filling anything in. They also mentioned that Criterion’s audio mix sounds significantly better than the Warner BD without discernible tinkering.

And of course the idiots on Blu Ray.com are saying the Warner Archive looks better.

jt938 wrote: Tue Mar 11, 2025 12:14 am

nicolas wrote: Mon Mar 10, 2025 12:24 am Night Moves (Criterion) - caps by BR user Donald McDonald. The encode looks absolutely spotless even in the highlights and without Dolby Vision filling anything in. They also mentioned that Criterion’s audio mix sounds significantly better than the Warner BD without discernible tinkering.

And of course the idiots on Blu Ray.com are saying the Warner Archive looks better.

Some longtime fans probably just need time adjusting to the restored colors after having only had access to more neutral-looking old masters. Criterion thankfully released info about the colors early, which should ease anyone’s mind:

We used a Technicolor IB print (from the time of release) for color reference that was held at Warner Bros. We scanned the original negative, and color timed the movie to closely match the print. We feel that this master most closely resembles the original timing of the movie than anything else done to date.

Starman is the next Sony 4K title from the Columbia sets getting a standalone release, as a steelbook.

Godzilla vs Biollante, to my surprise, features HDR, though at SDR levels; max of 110 and avg of 85.

Breakdown (Paramount) will be released by Turbine in Germany on March 27th. I think this is the first Paramount title to be licensed to an European boutique for a 4K release, however I still wouldn't say that the floodgates have become open as Universal control their titles in Germany and Turbine have been in business with them for a long time. Still great news though and here's hoping for more.

https://turbine-shop.de/en/search?search=Breakdown. These Mediabooks are limited and two of the variants have already sold out.

Finch wrote: Wed Mar 12, 2025 2:25 am Starman is the next Sony 4K title from the Columbia sets getting a standalone release, as a steelbook.

Highly, highly recommend this disc (and film generally) - it is fantastic

Finch wrote: Sat Mar 08, 2025 9:23 pm Gotta give Criterion credit where its due. I'll keep the BFI in the red tier still but Criterion additionally gets a mention in the superior import column when I get back on a PC.

I’ve now received my Criterion 4K set of Wages of Fear and am now also convinced that the Criterion is the one to go - not because it appears slightly finer-grained than the BFI, which it does, but the vastly different grayscale the SDR and HDR versions have.

I imagine Fidelity did the HDR grade but can’t say for certain as there’s no info about that in the BFI booklet. Still, as much as I love and respect David’s work, I don’t think it’s an entirely convincing grade now that I’ve seen the (likely) original SDR grade. The HDR grade is flatter, leans more monochrome grey without real highlights rather than the contrasty black and white we see in SDR on the Criterion.

When the BFI came out, I highly praised their 4K disc and would do exactly the same again because we didn’t have any other 4K disc to compare against. Isolated from the Criterion, it’s still a beautiful encode and I would’ve been glad to ride into sunset with that release had we not received Criterion’s alternative.

Everything else’s been said re. the two versions and I believe the only thing that wasn’t mentioned is that the Criterion has minor blocking in the brightest of highlights here and there. Nothing I’d call substantial enough to pick another option solely because of that.

I also watched the restoration BTS video on the BD and it’s relatively insubstantial. They scanned the negative on a Scanity via wetgate and made sure to preserve and restore the original look of the film as much as possible without filtering or NR. According to the person speaking, they used a 35mm print from the time to base their grading on, which Guillaume Schiffman supervised as he’s an admirer / student of the film’s DP’s work. Sound was also restored from the original soundtrack negative (I believe) without altering the original mix. The sound neg scan was done to avoid the result sounding muffled or "metallic" depending on the settings. Afterwards they removed all the imperfections as usual.

Yojimbo & Sanjuro comparison (BFI, Criterion, Toho): I’d suggest the BFI edition for the blue category compared to red for Criterion.

@fus1on: Red category:

- Gladiator 2 (Paramount)
- Nosferatu (Universal)
- Wicked (Universal)
- The First Slam Dunk (Shout) - Atmos upgrade, HDR caps look good
- Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner MOD) - replacement disc only. The first pressing had a botched 5.1 mix, the second one has Atmos, which is an upgrade to the BD. Encoding is good.

Blue category:
- Paddington 1-3 (StudioCanal UK) - first one is a minimal picture upgrade (2K upscale) but good new Atmos mix, second one (2K upscale) is poor in HDR10 and better in DV due to extremely bright grade with the 2018 Atmos mix carried over, no complaints about the third part
- Paddington 2 (Warner MOD) - same master as SC, Atmos mix at a lower volume
- Forbidden Kingdom (Lionsgate) - great new Atmos mix but the 2008 DI shows its age

If I missed any recent titles, please add. I browsed these through the BR.com release calendar and briefly checked the forums.

re: Nosferatu banding, were you able to confirm it wasn’t just my display?

cinemaniac wrote: Wed Mar 19, 2025 10:35 pm re: Nosferatu banding, were you able to confirm it wasn’t just my display?

I based this on your comment as I haven’t yet watched the film. If you have a time stamp by any chance I can take a look.

nicolas wrote:

cinemaniac wrote: Wed Mar 19, 2025 10:35 pm re: Nosferatu banding, were you able to confirm it wasn’t just my display?

I based this on your comment as I haven’t yet watched the film. If you have a time stamp by any chance I can take a look.

It’s about 20mins in when he walks inside the inn. Completely lit by candles and hearth.