UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

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mhofmann
Joined: Sun Dec 06, 2015 7:01 pm

Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1101 Post by mhofmann » Mon Mar 27, 2023 3:36 pm

mhofmann wrote:
Sun Mar 26, 2023 5:51 pm
Finch wrote:
Sat Mar 25, 2023 2:23 pm
kmhoffman said on the other forum he spot-checked the UK Virgin Suicides 4k and felt it was better encoded than the Criterion but turns to mush when the end credits begin.
The Studiocanal looked better to my eyes when comparing a few sequences side-by-side.

Similar to what we see on the two The Piano or Mulholland Drive versions: Studiocanal has more finely resolved grain, while Criterion's grain rendering looks decidedly more chunky, to the point where it could even be a bit low-pass filtered (either on purpose or due to different encoder settings).

The end credits look certainly messed up on the Studiocanal release and are fine on the Criterion.
Encoding difference depicted here:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... stcount=24

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jsteffe
Joined: Sat Mar 31, 2007 9:00 am
Location: Atlanta, GA

Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1102 Post by jsteffe » Mon Mar 27, 2023 10:21 pm

Finch wrote:
Mon Mar 27, 2023 9:37 am
Cauldron are off to a flying start with their 4k entry, Fulci's City of the Living Dead, with a David M encode and here is one of some early very positive reactions.

EDIT: 3/27/12: second review
Finch, thanks for flagging this release! The reviews look promising. I just ordered a copy of the 3-disc edition on Diabolik.

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1103 Post by Finch » Tue Mar 28, 2023 8:47 am

No problem, jsteffe!

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1104 Post by Finch » Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:23 am

Geoff confirmed that the Rocky set is a mess in terms of how the films have been encoded.
For compression it goes a little something like this:

Rocky: not amazing, but decent enough

Rocky II: breaks down badly in various spots

Rocky III: wunderbar

Rocky IV theatrical: disaster zone

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1105 Post by Finch » Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:28 am

Boyhood (Arrow) (FiM encode)

screengrabs for The Man Who Fell To Earth

EDIT: German language review of 4k & BD

The reviewer thinks the 4k is much better encoded than the BD.

M Sanderson
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 3:43 am

Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1106 Post by M Sanderson » Wed Mar 29, 2023 5:00 am

Finch wrote:
Tue Mar 28, 2023 9:23 am
Geoff confirmed that the Rocky set is a mess in terms of how the films have been encoded.
For compression it goes a little something like this:

Rocky: not amazing, but decent enough

Rocky II: breaks down badly in various spots

Rocky III: wunderbar

Rocky IV theatrical: disaster zone
thanks for the update. I'm going to stick with just the first film. It does look good enough (it's never even had a good Blu-ray) and with me not being a sound expert, and not using speakers (don't want to bother the neighbours) the audio issues might never affect me.

although I was curious to revisit the second one, for me a genuine Rocky film.

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1107 Post by Finch » Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:09 am

88 are looking into the issues with the Hell of the Living Dead 4k as well as House on the Edge of the Park.

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1108 Post by Finch » Wed Mar 29, 2023 9:33 am

First reaction to the 4k presentation of Exorcist III theatrical is promising, with a big thumbs up for the cleaned up audio.

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1109 Post by Finch » Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:50 pm

No surprise there: Martin (Second Sight) with FiM encode and Geoff D QC'ing.

first feedback

M Sanderson
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 3:43 am

Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1110 Post by M Sanderson » Fri Mar 31, 2023 7:19 am

Any reliable confirmation whether Blue Underground's 4ks of Jess Franco's EUGENIE and JUSTINE are good upgrades or reference discs? (apologies if I missed any earlier posts).

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Aspect
Joined: Thu Jun 09, 2011 3:36 pm

Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1111 Post by Aspect » Fri Mar 31, 2023 8:45 am

I bought Eugenie (one of my absolute fav Francos) and, while I’m admittedly not a video expert, thought it looked incredible. I watched the extras on the blu ray and then sampled the movie on that disc, which looks better than ever. Then, out of curiosity, I put in the 4K and was so gobsmacked by the color and clarity (barring the baked-in out-of-focus shots) that I ended up watched the whole movie despite the late hour. Fortunately it’s short!

I’d buy it without hesitation if it’s your bag. I’d bet good money Justine looks great too, but I don’t love that one like I love Eugenie, which simply oozes cool IMO.

M Sanderson
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2016 3:43 am

Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1112 Post by M Sanderson » Fri Mar 31, 2023 9:08 am

Thanks for confirming. I love EUGENIE, an absolute first rate Franco. Perverse, dark and also a lovely production. Those out of focus shots will become of interest, as some commentators have remarked that his Dracula uses this potentially as a distancing device. And his last complete film, AL PEREIRA VS ALLIGATOR LADIES, blurs the line between rehearsal, preparation & actual scene - you kind of don't know where one ends, and the other begins, including such things as wavering focus. He playfully obliterates the difference in his film-as-essay. But you wonder if at the time of EUGENIE, whether it was likely done due to rushing.

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Aspect
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1113 Post by Aspect » Fri Mar 31, 2023 9:34 am

For sure. Regardless, the blurry shots add to the dreamlike atmosphere and somehow become a feature rather than a bug, especially near the beginning when Maria Rohm is reading De Sade and imagining herself participating in the story, foreshadowing her part in the climax but not able to see the twist!

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FrauBlucher
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1114 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Mar 31, 2023 11:35 am


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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1115 Post by Finch » Fri Mar 31, 2023 4:13 pm

User feedback trickling in for The Maltese Falcon and concurring with Randy Miller's site review that FB linked to above, added to OP.

Cholly also likes the UHD of Cool Hand Luke a lot. Be forewarned that WB did not upgrade the BD that comes with the 4k.

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ryannichols7
Joined: Mon Jul 16, 2012 2:26 pm

Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1116 Post by ryannichols7 » Fri Mar 31, 2023 4:44 pm

Finch wrote:
Fri Mar 31, 2023 4:13 pm
Be forewarned that WB did not upgrade the BD that comes with the 4k.
has there been a title yet where they have? the Kubricks?

excited to see the Rebel Without a Cause and Rio Bravo reviews too

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1117 Post by Finch » Fri Mar 31, 2023 4:55 pm

Going by the comments on BR it seems arbitrary as to which WB titles get an upgraded BD too or not. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a knockout presentation of Rio Bravo and Rebel myself.

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FrauBlucher
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1118 Post by FrauBlucher » Fri Mar 31, 2023 4:56 pm

Ryan, Unforgivin was one that they also upgraded the bluray. But that was a while ago. I think they stopped doing that

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1119 Post by Finch » Sat Apr 01, 2023 7:06 pm

Eugenie is a reference disc if compared to the 2015 BD, solid upgrade if compared to the new 2023 BD (which is enclosed anyway).

Same applies to Justine.

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captveg
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1120 Post by captveg » Sun Apr 02, 2023 11:33 am

FrauBlucher wrote:
Fri Mar 31, 2023 4:56 pm
Ryan, Unforgivin was one that they also upgraded the bluray. But that was a while ago. I think they stopped doing that
They recently did it for A Christmas Story, so it still happens.

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1121 Post by Finch » Sun Apr 02, 2023 8:14 pm


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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1122 Post by Finch » Wed Apr 05, 2023 11:42 pm

Kyle15 on Second Sight's Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4k

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1123 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Apr 06, 2023 12:02 am

Finch wrote:
Wed Apr 05, 2023 11:42 pm
Kyle15 on Second Sight's Texas Chainsaw Massacre 4k
Was there any word about the quality of the MPI 4K recently released in the U.S.? I know many of us have been holding out assuming SS' would be superior, but curious if there's much of a difference for the import

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1124 Post by Finch » Thu Apr 06, 2023 12:29 am

I think Randy Miller said in his review of the US 4k that it was better encoded than their older Blu-ray. Most of the talk in the US 4k thread is about the Second Sight 4k instead and the Dark Sky has already seen price drops. I have no idea if the Friedkin/Hooper conversation is any good.

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Finch
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Re: UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading

#1125 Post by Finch » Thu Apr 06, 2023 5:33 pm

FFC's Bill Chambers reviews the Dark Sky 4k.
I know that some collectors will be holding out for the upcoming Limited Edition from UK label Second Sight, but if you can live without its hardbound book of critical essays, this is a comparatively affordable alternative that doesn't feel like a compromise.
As suspected, the Friedkin-led piece isn't sounding good.
Also new to this edition is "The Cinefamily Presents FRIEDKIN/HOOPER: A Conversation About The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (onscreen title: "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre: 40th anniversary Q&A"), a 54-minute dialogue between Hooper and The Exorcist director Friedkin conducted after a screening and handprint ceremony at the Vista Theater in Los Feliz on July 21, 2014. Calling The Texas Chain Saw Massacre the scariest movie he's ever seen, Friedkin spends the hour drifting off into Trump-esque interzones of passive-aggressive hyperbole while a visibly fatigued Hooper, reaching the end of a publicity tour for the film's 2014 restoration, gives sprawling, discursive answers vaguely in sync with Friedkin's train of thought. It seems important to Hooper to get across the movie's European-ness, specifically with regards to how it drops you in the middle of a story already in progress ("It's a bad day for everybody," he says, "it's a bad day for Leatherface, believe me"), but the conversation truly is all over the place with chaos demon Friedkin in charge of it. Interestingly, Hooper confesses to seeing Frankenstein's Monster in person at a revival of James Whale's Frankenstein when he was a kid and running in terror from it. An interviewer more intimately familiar with Hooper's work would have drawn a line from this incident to his 1981 film The Funhouse, but Friedkin immediately switches gears and asks Hooper if he could still make The Texas Chain Saw Massacre "now." Which isn't a bad question in and of itself, though it backs Hooper into a corner.

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