UHD New Releases, Reissues and Upgrades

[rrenault]

I think it's just a bit too early for the Truffaut, I think people are barely receiving their test discs or sets.

Army of Shadows (Studio Canal) - blue tier (fine encode, but some color grading question marks)

Not just the grading, but the new restoration also intrusively uses digital filtering, leading to frozen or eliminated grain. It's too often not natural looking, especially since several shots also show sharpening.

Ok. Then I guess just call it a good encode of a problematic underlying master. Surprisingly, the Criterion Blu-ray (I have the 2011 disc but not the post-OOP reissue) manages to hold its own alongside the 4K.

[nicolas]

- Kino's Brick 4K, surprisingly, is a solid upgrade to the BD with the reason likely being that the film is (essentially) SDR in a HDR container per Rian Johnson and Steve Yedlin's preferences.

- To Catch a Thief is also a solid upgrade to the 2012 Paramount BD and most definitely the 2020 disaster but still has the usual compression-related shortcomings from Paramount. According to BR.com, the film's framing and certain color timing issues were also improved for the UHD.

- Election is a solid upgrade to the Criterion BD and again has occasional compression issues but nothing dramatic. I have the UHD and I'm happy with it.

- The Stepfather (Shout) is a red tier upgrade with fantastic encoding and grading.

- Red Sun (Studiocanal Europe import) is a red tier disc with an incredible upgrade across the board. Minor chroma noise anomalies in HDR10 but these should be "fixed" in DV but even in HDR10, the disc looks very good. I assume sound also got an upgrade.

- Cowboys & Aliens (Kino) is worse than the Paramount Extended Cut BD. The KL master is also SDR.

Huge thank you to cinemaniac / Kobe for these screenshots

People at BR are also very happy with Shout's Death Becomes Her. Only 1080p caps are available for now but these show strong improvements in colors and the blending of VFX was greatly improved. Likely an incoming red tier disc.

Severin's Opera UHD replacements have also arrived with buyers and colors look great now, so the only issue is the misaligned framing. I'd suggest putting it in the blue tier if everyone's happy with that?

[rberrios15]

Also propose adding Soul (Disney) to the Solid Tier of the contemporary list.

The Incredibles (Disney) is also probably a Solid Tier at best but, if folks agree, should it be on the contemporary list or Finch's list given its age?

[tenia]

I think it's just a bit too early for the Truffaut, I think people are barely receiving their test discs or sets.

Army of Shadows (Studio Canal) - blue tier (fine encode, but some color grading question marks)

Not just the grading, but the new restoration also intrusively uses digital filtering, leading to frozen or eliminated grain. It's too often not natural looking, especially since several shots also show sharpening.

Ok. Then I guess just call it a good encode of a problematic underlying master. Surprisingly, the Criterion Blu-ray (I have the 2011 disc but not the post-OOP reissue) manages to hold its own alongside the 4K.

Yes, it can be summed this way; I too think the previous BDs, either the Studio Canal or the Criterion, which mostly differ visually by a slightly different grading, ends up holding up quite well against this much more recent work (including on UHD).

[yoloswegmaster]

For anyone looking to buy the Caligula Ultimate Cut release from Unobstructed View, just be aware that the second disc that contains the "Restored Original 1980 Theatrical Version" is actually sourced from a censored UK print that runs 6 minutes shorter than the original theatrical version.

[Finch]

nicholas, quite a few of your links go to the To Catch A Thief screenshots instead of the intended films. Added all suggestions to the OP including The Incredibles.

PS.: Following Chris's review of the Criterion, it's a tie between that and the Arrow for The Long Good Friday.

[Finch]

Came up against the 6K character limit again in the OP so moving some rankings here. Maybe another mod can move this post below my OP.

Disappointing UHDs:
3:10 to Yuma (Lionsgate) (DNR applied to filmout of the 2k DI, better depth and blacks than the US BD; European Sony BD seems to be consensus best choice)
48 Hours (Paramount) (atrocious HDR10 encode, Dolby Vision is altogether better but still mediore)
A Bridge Too Far (Kino)
Aliens (Disney) (artificial smoothening of facial textures making actors look unnatural, grain reduction and other changes to make the film look less like a product of its time)
Barb Wire (Turbine) review
Basic Instinct (Studio Canal) (considerable improvement over the old awful BD but marred by teal grading and DNR)
Belladonna of Sadness (Anime Ltd) (great source poorly encoded)
Blood Simple (Criterion) review
Blown Away (Kino)
Breathless (Studio Canal) (very inconsistent encode)
Breakdown (Paramount) review
But I'm A Cheerleader (Lionsgate)
Cat's Eye: (Studio Canal) (solid encode, controversial colors by Hiventy)
Cat People (1982) (Scream Factory) (great source poorly encoded but it does look significantly better than the Blu-Rays)
Cowboys and Aliens (Kino) review
Cry Baby (Kino) (poor encoding)
Cujo (Kino)
Cutthroat Island (Studio Canal) (poor compression, grading looks very off)
Cloak and Dagger (Vinegar Syndrome) (poor encoding and questionable HDR application in some scenes)
Dead Again (Kino)
Death Wish II (Vinegar Syndrome) (poor encoding)
DeepStar Six (Kino)
Diva (Studio Canal)
Drowning By Numbers (Severin) (macroblocking noticeable especially in outdoor shots)
Duel (Universal)
Eleven Days, Eleven Nights 2 (88 Films)
Escape from Alcatraz (Kino) (source provided by Paramount has had DNR applied which affects the inherently soft looking film pretty strongly for at least a third of the running time)
Fatal Attraction (Paramount) (heavy DNR)
Ghost (Paramount) review
Grease (Paramount)
Gunfight at the OK Corral (Kino) (review)
Halloween 1-5 (Shout) (bad compression, issues with the mono track on the original film)
Harry and the Henderson (Kino)
High Noon (Kino) (poor encoding)
In The Mood For Love (Criterion) (controversial revisionist colors retained (or imposed by WKW?), no HDR, minimal resolution uptick)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1956 (Kino) (bad compression & misframing)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978 (Kino) (bad compression & missing audio stem for Don Siegel cameo)
Kindergarten Cop (Kino) (HDR10 encode and audio tracks are poor, film looks fine in Dolby Vision)
King Kong (1976) (Studio Canal) (solid encode, controversial colors)
Le Magnifique (Studio Canal) (mediocre encode)
Leviathan (Kino) (HDR10 encode and audio tracks are poor, film looks fine in Dolby Vision)
Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (Discothek) (stacked with extras and great mono, issues with the video)
Murder on the Orient Express (Kino) review
New York Ripper (Blue Underground) (in wrong color space, poor compression on the HDR layer)
Once Upon A Time In The West (poor encode)
Out of the Blue (Severin) (encode and grain look better on the BFI BD, soundtrack has noise reduction applied; however it has very good extras more relevant to the film)
Pan's Labyrinth (WB) (best BD is the 2011 Optimum)
Perfect Days (Criterion)
Picnic at Hanging Rock (Second Sight) (DNR and artificial grain added by restoration team at director's request)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles (Paramount) (DNR applied but it is still much better than the bad BD)
Primal Fear (Paramount) (review)
Prophecy (Kino)
Red Dragon (Kino) (mediocre encode)
Red Heat (Studio Canal/Lionsgate) (poor encode)
Red Sonja (Studio Canal) (solid encode, controversial colors by Hiventy)
Rider on the Rain (Kino)
Roadhouse (Vinegar Syndrome) (mediocre encode, over-saturated skin tones)
Road Trip (Kino)
Rosemary's Baby (Paramount) (inconsistent encode)
Runaway Train (Kino)
Scream 4 (Lionsgate)
Scum (88 Films)
Sudden Death (Kino)
Tesis (Umbrella) (Australian import) review
The Abyss (Disney) (artificial smoothening of facial textures making actors look unnatural, grain reduction and other changes to make the film look less like a product of its time)
The Boogens (Kino) (dated master & poor encode)
The Changeling (Severin) (poor encode)
The Craft (Scream Factory) (poor encode)
The Firm (Paramount) (poor encode)
The Fog (Studio Canal) (audio in wrong pitch)
The Last Detail (Shout Factory)
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (Paramount) (very good HDR, poor encode on the UHD, remastered BD is fine; stereo is a 5.1 downmix with heavy noise reduction)
The Peacemaker (Kino)
The Phantom (Kino)
The Pianist (Studio Canal) (poor encode and heavy DNR)
The Ring (Paramount) capsule review
The Silence of the Lambs (Kino) (colors off in the first reel, no genuine 2.0 audio)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Turbine)
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (Vinegar Syndrome) (mediocre encode, over-saturated skin tones)
The Three Days of The Condor (Kino) (poor encode)
The Trial (Studio Canal) (poor encode)
The Truman Show (Paramount) (compression poor in HDR10, okay in DV: only applies to US release; Sp/IT release is good)
The Wolf of Wall St (Paramount)
They Live (Shout Factory) (better encode than SC disc but wrong colors)
Titanic (Paramount)
To Catch a Thief (Paramount)
Trading Places (Paramount)
Trainspotting (Criterion) (encode struggles with brighter areas of the image)
Turbulence (Kino)
Santa Sangre (Severin) (bad encode)
Serpico (Studio Canal) (European discs) (elevated blacks and inaccurate colors)
Stalag 17 (Kino)
Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back & The Phantom Menace (Disney)
State of Grace (Imprint)
Uncommon Valor (Kino)
Used Cars (Shout Factory) (good PQ, mediocre compression)
Walkabout (Criterion) (poor compression)
We Were Soldiers (Paramount)

UHDs worse than the BDs:
American Graffiti (Universal)
Bilitis (Capelight) (German import) (heavy DNR)
Downfall (Constantin) (German import)
Fear and Desire (Kino) review
Friday the 13th (1980) (Paramount) (DNR, strong in places; editing error introduced where the prologue no longer fades to white) (best is the 2021 Paramount BD)
Hot Fuzz (Universal) (black crush, color is off, DNR has been applied whereas on Shaun and World's End it has not) (best BD is the old Universal)
Hustle & Flow (Paramount) (smeary grain/detail, poor contrast) (best BD is the old Paramount disc)
King Kong (2005) (Universal) (excessive DNR) (best BD is the old Universal)
Love Actually (Universal)
No Escape (Turbine) (German Import) (upscale, not a true 4k source) (best BD is the Unearthed Films)
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (Disney) (excessive DNR) (best BD is the old Disney/Buena Vista)
Platoon (Shout Factory) (poor encode and heavy DNR, ditto the enclosed BD) (best BD is the MGM)
Terminator 2 (Studio Canal) (best BD is the 2015 Lionsgate BD)
The Blood on Satan's Claw (NSM Records) (German Import) (best BDs are the Severin or Screenbound)
The Bourne Identity (Universal) (best BD is the old Universal)
Trancers (Full Moon Features) (best BDs are the Full Moon Features or 88 Films)
True Lies (Disney) (best BD is the Spanish Blu-Ray)
Wallace & Gromit The Collection (BBC)

[nicolas]

nicholas, quite a few of your links go to the To Catch A Thief screenshots instead of the intended films. Added all suggestions to the OP including The Incredibles.

PS.: Following Chris's review of the Criterion, it's a tie between that and the Arrow for The Long Good Friday.

Thanks for the info, Finch. Just corrected the links in my post. I was copying the links from the other forum and thought that it’d be enough to change the post numbers at the end.

Also just saw Geoff D’s review of Nightmare on Elm Street, which may be interesting for some.

[abracax]

Great list Finch. I'm quite surprised to see Lawrence Of Arabia isn't in the reference titles. I've been reading from various sources that it is the reference 4K disc.

I've also heard that Donnie Darko is one title that looks better with Dolby Vision, and very dark on HDR10+.

[Fus1on]

Dead Reckoning is one I wouldn’t put into reference as Paramount encoded the film for a BD-66 (while putting it on a BD-100 disc) and compressed it more than they should’ve, which is a factor here and there as the highlights don’t always resolve smoothly. I acknowledge that the filmmakers didn’t make it easy on the encoder though as they put on a heavy film grain-like texture to obfuscate the digital nature of the film. In my opinion, they did this very poorly and the added “grain” looks noisy and swarmy throughout, similar to May December. Also resolution-wise, due to the heavy digital “grain”, Dead Reckoning looks worse than M:I Fallout, which was largely shot on film. Again, feel free to disagree but I thought I’d point this out just in case.

M:I 1-5 are all format upgrades and perfect for Finch’s list whereas you can take over with the two newest installments.

Good to know! I'll definitely rewatch this in order to verify it. Until then, I'll keep it in reference tier.

[Fus1on]

Great list Finch. I'm quite surprised to see Lawrence Of Arabia isn't in the reference titles. I've been reading from various sources that it is the reference 4K disc.

Yeah, I'm genuinely shocked LoA isn't listed as reference. It's easily one of the best looking 4Ks I've personally seen. The only reason I can think of as to why it's listed as solid is because it's a fairly marginal upgrade compared to the old BD, which already looked fantastic.

[rberrios15]

Great list Finch. I'm quite surprised to see Lawrence Of Arabia isn't in the reference titles. I've been reading from various sources that it is the reference 4K disc.

Yeah, I'm genuinely shocked LoA isn't listed as reference. It's easily one of the best looking 4Ks I've personally seen. The only reason I can think of as to why it's listed as solid is because it's a fairly marginal upgrade compared to the old BD, which already looked fantastic.

This makes me realize--Columbia Classics Vol 1 is listed in the reference tier, which includes Lawrence of Arabia, but as you noted it is also listed in the solid tier.

[Finch]

Geoff D felt the LoA 4K could have been better. And yes the BD was strong already.

[nicolas]

Great list Finch. I'm quite surprised to see Lawrence Of Arabia isn't in the reference titles. I've been reading from various sources that it is the reference 4K disc.

I've also heard that Donnie Darko is one title that looks better with Dolby Vision, and very dark on HDR10+.

Lawrence unfortunately isn’t a reference disc for the main reason that Sony‘s compression is disappointing. Considering this is 65mm the image should be more defined than it ultimately is in 4K due to the use of low-pass filtering.

Another tricky thing is that Lawrence and other 65mm films from the era are not as fine-grained as we‘re often led to believe but I still believe it‘s unlikely that Sony employed the filtering to make the image look a touch smoother to satisfy those who think 65mm means little grain.

They split the master on two discs but that’s due to the plethora of dubs (and menus, regulatory stuff…) that are on these discs and then left significant disc space unused. Someone at BR once calculated that the film would fit on a single BD-100 if Sony used the same bitrates and only kept the English audio. That means, had they given the video more disc real estate across both of these discs, this might’ve very well been reference. It‘s been a while since I checked but the average bitrates on the UHDs are around 50 MB/s and they could‘ve absolutely pushed them significantly higher had they filled the discs to the brim and removed the dubs.

[Stefan Andersson]

To Catch a Thief, 2955, UHD discussed:
https://www.hometheaterforum.com/commun ... 10/page-12 - tenia´s post, Oct. 13, seems a good place to start.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.ph ... 08&page=16

There is a video comparison in the above thread, showing the fireworks scene. The Bluray has pronounced greens. Is this supposed to be one of the no royal blue skies/green filter scenes, as Hitchcock intended?

[Fus1on]

I've also heard that Donnie Darko is one title that looks better with Dolby Vision, and very dark on HDR10+.

Yep, this is true. In HDR10, it's probably a disappointing tier disc because there is such a pervasive amount of black crush throughout the transfer. In DV, I would say it's solid tier as there is still some black crush left over, but the image is MUCH better looking.

[abracax]

Wasn't there some debate about the colour grading on the 4K Godfather? Some people think that they also used DNR, recoloured it and added fake grain back in. Also that the 2008 BD "Copolla Restoration" is more like the original colour. Not sure which is fact or fiction. I'm only going on what I've read.

[nicolas]

More findings re. To Catch a Thief. A member at BR found out that several shots in the new UHD were directly taken over from the 2012 BD master. These shots share the same framing, definition and textured whereas Paramount altered the framing whenever they used the newer scan. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=366.

[Fus1on]

3. The Exorcist 3 (Arrow). I’m also new to this title but can’t imagine it having looked as good as it does now. Arrow have gotten access to Shout’s restoration and it looks spectacular. If the Legion cut was indicative of the old master, the TC UHD is an appreciable difference and the newly restored 2.0 sounds genuinely spectacular and outclasses both the old 2.0 and 5.1 tracks in my opinion. If the booklet is correct, encoding is by Engine House but there are no issues from what I can tell right now.

As someone who owns the Shout release, I'm actually really interested in getting the Arrow release just to see how they handled it in comparison. The Shout release on its own is reference material and is easily one of their better looking discs in recent years. In regards to audio, the Shout release used the old stereo track but created their own 5.1 mix that is absolutely incredible. Since Arrow didn't use that track and just defaulted to the old 5.1, I assume that means Arrow has the better stereo mix, while Shout has the better surround mix. So unless there are any noticeable improvements Arrow's release has with encoding, it looks like the difference between the two really comes down to whether you prefer stereo or 5.1 audio.

[Fus1on]

More findings re. To Catch a Thief. A member at BR found out that several shots in the new UHD were directly taken over from the 2012 BD master. These shots share the same framing, definition and textured whereas Paramount altered the framing whenever they used the newer scan. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=366.

Yikes...

[tenia]

I'm seeing Cassandra Moore tomorrow, and I'd never guessed I'd have more tech issues questions to ask Paramount rather than to Universal.

[Stefan Andersson]

Podcast and video re: restoration of To Catch a Thief --
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usFuythnoIk

[Stefan Andersson]

Round Midnight 4K UHD:
https://www.tamasa-cinema.com/boutique/ ... ay-uhd-4k/

[nicolas]

Paramount's standalone The Ring UHD is disappointing compared to a fantastic Shout encode in their box set with the sequels.

Trick or Treat (Arrow) is a solid upgrade with better colors and slightly better definition. Kobe / cinemaniac confirmed at BR that the black levels were not crushed.

Unless there's something wrong with the audio, Shout's Death Becomes Her is a red category disc. Screenshots by lucid_dreamer at BR.com.

I Walked with a Zombie & The Seventh Victim (Criterion) appear to be red category transfers & encodes.

We also haven't listed their Gregg Araki set yet. The Doom Generation should be a minor upgrade to the Strand BD whereas Nowhere is bigger. Should we settle on the blue category?

For fus1on: Kobe also uploaded a comparison between the color and black & chrome version of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and it turns out that compression on the color version is worse than the BW and to be honest, neither of these are beautiful. The digital grain looks noisy and image detail isn't amazing either. I think this one should go to solid.

On the other hand, the new 2024 Twisters has great detail due to exemplary resolving film grain but mild to moderate chroma blocking across these caps. Dolby Vision is MEL, which means there's no enhancement layer (FEL) to fix that. Since this will be an A+ experience for the vast majority of people, should we put it in the reference category with a caveat?

[nicolas]

Carlotta France's Shoot the Piano Player UHD is reference and added to the non-English friendly list. A truly brilliant release. No grain management (á la Alphaville), no raised blacks and mushy colors (The Mother and the Whore) and a beautiful, tasteful HDR/DV grade. Encoding is by LSP, disc a BD-66. Here are some screenshots: https://slow.pics/c/ZbKs3vFx. After this, I expect the other Truffaut 4Ks that are in Carlotta's new set to be just as good but I haven't received it yet.