UHD New Releases, Reissues and Upgrades

[Fus1on]

If you don't like the Evil Dead films, you probably won't like DMtH either, to be honest.

[therewillbeblus]

I think it’s different enough, but not enough to give a sure fire rec. I like it a lot, and I only really like the first Evil Dead

[nicolas]

I’ll check out the film via rental first, thanks guys!

The German UHD version of The Hitcher by Filmjuwelen is atrociously encoded and they used the rather poor French IP master instead of the advertised Second Sight. This is thankfully irrelevant for most but I thought I’d add it for completeness sake.

[Yakushima]

watched Arrow's The Long Good Friday (I picked up the Criterion too) and it's amazing just how good Arrow have done with the HandMade catalog*, all three UHDs they've done so far from it have been amazing

Yes and yes! It was like watching these films for the first time, a revelation. With a treasure trove of extras to top it off! I cry inside when I imagine that Arrow could make this kind of cinema their core mission - it would be a different and altogether better world for us Cinephiles.

[nicolas]

@fus1on: The Canadian UHD of The Zone of Interest is better than the A24 UHD with superior encoding (over 20GB more!) and no forced subtitles.

Kobe also shared a comparison between the Decal and Second Sight 4Ks of Crimes of the Future and they appear all but identical to me. Both strong, red tier discs.

@Finch: Carrie (Capelight UHD) is slightly inferiorto Arrow’s encode and they used Shout’s worse audio as well. Arrow remains the best edition.

Plaion’s Tammy and the T-Rex is a solid upgrade to the Vinegar Syndrome UHD.

[rrenault]

Just a heads up that the Arrow UHD of The Long Good Friday is available at a quite reasonable price point on Rarewaves at the moment, roughly 24 euros.

[Yakushima]

Addams Family Values 4 K UHD is a revelation. Based on the previous home video iterations, I always suspected that compared to the first Addams Family, the second part must have been shot using inferior film stock. Not so. My eyes popped when I watched this new UHD version - so much texture, colors and details came to life. The grain is there, but I suspect they did apply some DNR. Luckily, it's not too obtrusive. All in all, I would put this disc in a reference category.

[Titch]

After all the conjecture on the 4K UHD To Catch A Thief

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/commun ... 325/page-8

[nicolas]

The Crimson Rivers (Gaumont Import) has English subtitles and is a solid upgrade to the very good old master.

Born on the Fourth of July (Shout) is a red tier disc and as expected a big upgrade to the old master. Turbine in Germany upscaled and added fake grain to the old master to make it look remastered. Shout’s finer grain and new grade is therefore not an issue on that end, although I assume people will debate the color changes Stone made due to the strong red/pink push of the old telecine master which was most likely not intended similar to Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

We Were Soldiers is another poor encode from Paramount but the audio received a massive upgrade from a lossy mix that’s on the old BD to a DTS-HD 5.1 track which, according to HD Movie Source is incredible and dynamic. (I’m not a fan of their takes on video quality but I think they’re quite on point when it comes to audio). I’ve also just learned that the Paramount BD was still MPEG-2, so maybe this should be considered a solid upgrade after all.

[nicolas]

I’ve looked at The Third Man (SC) and to my surprise and slight disappointment, it’s barely an upgrade after the stellar 2015 BD. HDR is subtle and tasteful and FiM’s encode beautiful, but detail-wise, unlike the recent Ealing UHDs and The African Queen, there’s barely any gain from the format upgrade. I’ve collected some more thoughts here. I need to clarify that it’s not a disappointing release due to the HDR and encode, just not as exciting and definitive as it could’ve been due to the master.

[tenia]

After all the conjecture on the 4K UHD To Catch A Thief

https://www.hometheaterforum.com/commun ... 325/page-8

I can still confirm, and provide screencaptures demonstrating that, that what Charlotte is talking about isn't what ended up on the disc, whatever the reason for that is.
I can provide timecodes for 24 shots not sourced from this 2017-2024 work, and there are plent more like these. At this point, I'd argue at least half of the UHD is recycled from the basis of what sourced the 2012 BD, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn it's actually closer to 80%.

[Finch]

A Simple Plan (Arrow)

Screenshot link in the OP

[nicolas]

I’ve looked at The Third Man (SC) and to my surprise and slight disappointment, it’s barely an upgrade after the stellar 2015 BD. HDR is subtle and tasteful and FiM’s encode beautiful, but detail-wise, unlike the recent Ealing UHDs and The African Queen, there’s barely any gain from the format upgrade. I’ve collected some more thoughts here. I need to clarify that it’s not a disappointing release due to the HDR and encode, just not as exciting and definitive as it could’ve been due to the master.

Huge update re. The Third Man which I failed to notice when checking my copy. Credit to M A for finding out that the new 2024 BD & UHD of the film actually contains much superior audio (likely the old Criterion DVD mix) after the lacking 2015 mix. I did a rudimentary comparison with both discs and can confirm the reports. I didn't bother after people who attended theatrical showings confirmed SC reused the 2015 mix there.

Edit: Kobe posted a more detailed comparison here.

[tenia]

Oh, so it might not be the 2015 track after all !
Might be worth checking the timecodes mentioned on blah-ray.blogspot to listen if this is the same content with a different mastering or if it is a different corrected mix altogether.

[nicolas]

Oh, so it might not be the 2015 track after all !
Might be worth checking the timecodes mentioned on blah-ray.blogspot to listen if this is the same content with a different mastering or if it is a different corrected mix altogether.

I'll check and report back.

[nicolas]

Oh, so it might not be the 2015 track after all !
Might be worth checking the timecodes mentioned on blah-ray.blogspot to listen if this is the same content with a different mastering or if it is a different corrected mix altogether.

The issues are ALL fixed.

[nicolas]

White Christmas (Paramount) is a solid upgrade with improved colors, framing and surprisingly solid, but not perfect encoding.

[tenia]

Oh, so it might not be the 2015 track after all !
Might be worth checking the timecodes mentioned on blah-ray.blogspot to listen if this is the same content with a different mastering or if it is a different corrected mix altogether.

The issues are ALL fixed.

Oh wow, I guess I might be in for an upgrade after all !

[nicolas]

The Terminator 4K screenshots. No miracles here. AI upscale of the previous 2K master, sometimes more prominent, sometimes less. Someone who saw the 4K mentioned that the AI algorithm was improved, which sets the film apart from Cameron's other films but does that make all this a genuinely solid upgrade? We'll see. Audio comparison here. Doesn't the UHD audio look horrifyingly poor compared to the LaserDisc and even the filtered DVD?

Update: People at BR reported that the original US mono is included, not the international one that was on subsequent editions.

[Finch]

Blazing Saddles (WB) review

[Finch]

Trick or Treat (Arrow) review

[rberrios15]

Rewatched several more and propose the following for Solid Tier of contemporary list:

A Star Is Born 2018 (WB)
Creed (WB)
Inside Out (Disney)
The Post (Fox)
Widows (Fox)
Wonder Woman (WB)

Welcome any thoughts!

[nicolas]

Trainspotting (Film4, UK) is disappointing. The Criterion 4K is better.

[nicolas]

Tesis (Umbrella AU) is disappointing due to them using DVD-quality lossy audio and are not doing a replacement program. Severin are apparently releasing this in the US.

Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is reference.

A Better Tomorrow (Disk Kino / WCL Import) is solid. Professorwho’s incredible review and caps are here. In brief: They’re working off a flawed Ritrovata master just like Kino and the Leone films and improved the grading, HDR and added a great-sounding OG mono mix in addition to English subs, which are flawed though with grammatical errors. This is a LE to 800x and unlikely to emerge internationally due to the complicated rights situation Woo’s films are in.

For fus1on: Turbine’s Renfield 4K (UK & Germany) is great with top marks at the other forum. I received Studiocanal’s Train to Busan and Peninsula today and both are definite red category titles with brilliant encoding and exceptional sound. The Well Go UHD of Train to Busan is blue category as it’s not as detailed and well-encoded as the SC. (No idea about their Peninsula disc).
Rberrios suggested some titles and I agree with solid for Creed but can’t comment on the others.

[Fus1on]

Added all of the recent suggestions from Nicolas and Rberrios15.