UHD Titles Worth/Not Worth Upgrading [Archive]

[videozor]

Understand, thank you!

[Finch]

FFC review says the Wolf of Wall St UHD is a dud

The 2.40:1, 2160p transfer includes Dolby Vision and HDR10, but, at least where the latter's concerned, I can't point to one instance where the highlights have gained intensity or the shadows have gained depth. Indeed, the abundant whites look not just lifeless, but clipped, and while it's a plus that the wider colour gamut seems to have taken some of the reddishness out of the image, Jordan's blue suits are also a bit garish to me now. There is a sharpness bump that will mean more to those with large displays, with textiles gaining detail and grain--what little there is--coming into clearer focus. Yet overall, this is a surprisingly drab presentation that has a way of making the film look like it was shot in perpetual overcast, even indoors. Although the studio has indicated that Martin Scorsese oversaw The Wolf of Wall Street's 4K mastering, I have to think they're referring to the Digital Intermediate from 2013, which predates the introduction of HDR into the 4K pipeline. Long story short: Shutter Island's gratifying 4K bump had me expecting so much more from this air-quotes upgrade.

I think Bill Chambers doesn't have a Dolby Vision capable player so it might be an instance of DV fixing this, but to what extent we don't know. Might move this to the "Only buy if you have a Dolby Vision player" section if I or anyone else hears about how this film fares in Dolby Vision.

UPDATE: Geoff says they clipped the blacks so this edition of the film isn't worth getting. Arrow might still release this..?

[therewillbeblus]

The commentary for the Arrow has already been recorded so I can't imagine why we wouldn't get it, and since they are doing UHDs I'd expect it to be an easy contender for an upgrade

[Finch]

German distributor Capelight are planning to release Taiwanese horror film The Sadness on UHD next April. Whether that particular release will remain uncut (they had to present it three or four times to German censors to get an 18 certificate for theatrical) is an open question. If you've watched any of the trailers and read some of the reviews, you'll know this rivals Peter Jackson's early splatter movies and Takashi Miike's Ichi The Killer for depravity but mostly without the black comedy softening the impact. I wouldn't be surprised if Arrow buy the film for the UK at least.

There is also a German UHD of Howard's End which seems to be a decent release with English subs but a German user on BR.com said that some of the original title cards/inserts have been replaced with German translations.

[andyli]

Germany has really become the country that leads the way in terms of generous, left-field UHD releases. When the Koreans passed on releasing the Wong Kar-wai on UHDs arguing that they would have provided little to no perceptible improvement, the Germans seemed to have no problem at all giving them the royal treatment. Then there's the recent L'amant and La Reine Margot UHDs.

[MichaelB]

The commentary for the Arrow has already been recorded so I can't imagine why we wouldn't get it, and since they are doing UHDs I'd expect it to be an easy contender for an upgrade

It’s not at all unknown for projects to be scrapped after money has been spent and extras created. Obviously, it’s not something that labels like doing, but it sometimes unavoidably happens.

(Indicator’s Ishtar was already at the QC stage when the plug was pulled.)

[rrenault]

I just have a question. I noticed Studio Canal's UHD release of Breathless was never added to the list here, and I was wondering where it would place.

[andyli]

I just have a question. I noticed Studio Canal's UHD release of Breathless was never added to the list here, and I was wondering where it would place.

I saw it. I wouldn't say that I detected any major issues but it wasn't that breathtaking either. Probably has something to do with how the film is made.

[MichaelB]

Yes, it was an odd choice for a comparatively early UHD back-catalogue title; it’s supposed to look scuzzy and caught on the wing.

[rrenault]

So would it qualify as a tier 2(solid upgrade) release then? By most accounts, it's not nearly as problematic as Canal's Le Cercle Rouge and Carpenter releases but not to the standard of their Mulholland Dr. and Don't Look Now editions either.

On a different note, it would appear Criterion's Red Shoes 4K UHD release is headed for tier 1...

[MichaelB]

One would hope so, given the sky-high cost of the 4K restoration!

This actually looks better than 35mm, because the restorers were able to fix a tiny misalignment in one of the colour separation masters - it didn’t significantly screw up the original picture, but there was occasional fringing that was wholly unintended. Normally, restoration ethics dictate that you shouldn’t try to “improve” on what the film originally looked like, but in this case it was a total no-brainer.

[EddieLarkin]

I haven't seen Breathless on UHD yet but it would be a bad sign if anything for everything on the format to look mind blowingly amazing. As Michael says, this film (and many others) just aren't designed to show off advanced 2021 technology. But that said, it doesn't mean such a film cannot benefit from the format, even the caps reveal big improvements over the Criterion Blu-ray: superior grain structure, better detail and very nice improvements in the highlights. It looks far more filmic and natural now.

[tenia]

Germany has really become the country that leads the way in terms of generous, left-field UHD releases. When the Koreans passed on releasing the Wong Kar-wai on UHDs arguing that they would have provided little to no perceptible improvement, the Germans seemed to have no problem at all giving them the royal treatment. Then there's the recent L'amant and La Reine Margot UHDs.

Like it was for BD3D, it does seems that Germany is rather the country of silly UHD releases with either little technical rationale (Crying Freeman and An American Werewolf in London) or screwed up post-production (by all reports, the HDR on La reine Margot is Earth-scorching and totally wrong).

I'm thus not sure if it's something to be that jealous off.

From the feedbacks I've read so far, it also seems like In The Mood For Love's UHD isn't something to remember either : the DNR on the restoration limits the spatial uptick in texture and it seems the HDR pass is very light.

[therewillbeblus]

The commentary for the Arrow has already been recorded so I can't imagine why we wouldn't get it, and since they are doing UHDs I'd expect it to be an easy contender for an upgrade

It’s not at all unknown for projects to be scrapped after money has been spent and extras created. Obviously, it’s not something that labels like doing, but it sometimes unavoidably happens.

(Indicator’s Ishtar was already at the QC stage when the plug was pulled.)

I was actually thinking of that when I posted, but can’t for the life of me see why this title in particular would have complicated obstacles barring release. I’m not exactly ‘in the know’ tho

[Finch]

Breathless added as a Reference title given the gap between the 4k and the Criterion BD.

[Finch]

Red Shoes Criterion 4k added as a reference disc

[Finch]

I'm intrigued by capsaholic's comparison between the 4k and BD of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy because the 4k disc appears slightly zoomed in on all four sides. I was under the impression that 4k scans tend to reveal more information in the image.

[M Sanderson]

Any information on the German release of Ketchum’s Woman Trilogy (Offspring, The Woman & Darlin’)? And the calibre of it’s A-V quality?

As there’s a 4k set out there.

All I know is Arrow did a great job with the Blu rays which collected the first two films. Would Arrow even upgrade?

[Finch]

Warner UHD of Citizen Kane added as a reference title due to superior compression (not hugely superior but better just the same) and finer grain resolution than the Criterion. I only really care about the film itself and the reports about the scratched discs have put me off the Criterion, so I'll wait for the standard edition of the UK disc as I also don't care about all the nonsense postcards and book included with the current release.

[Finch]

The DePalma and Bird Mission Impossibles added as reference discs (the DePalma UHD is such a signficant upgrade that it merits a top tier entry), the Woo, Abrams & McQuarries are in the solid/appreciable upgrade tier (in terms of visual upgrades from 1080p, the second film gains the most; surprisingly Rogue Nation is not in native 4k but a very good 2k upscale just the same).

[onedimension]

There's a 4k disc of Ran? Couple people mentioned it in dvdbeaver's year end poll..

[senseabove]

It has, so far, only been a Best Buy exclusive steelbook in the US, and that is sold out. Otherwise, it's a StudioCanal release in the typical SC French/German/UK markets. But it's using the same divisively color-timed restoration as the previous BD release.

[Finch]

Standard Edition of Studio Canal's Mulholland Drive 4k release dated for the UK January 31, according to Amazon UK. New Zealand standard edition came out last December but the UK version may be cheaper to import for US buyers.

[Finch]

Columbia Classics Volumes 1 & 2 and Warner's Clockwork Orange added as reference discs, Sony's Dr Strangelove to the Solid column only (as Sony dialed up the highlights too much in their early UHD titles one of which this is)

I debated sticking Clockwork Orange in the second tier because they mucked up the remix track but the visual upgrade is so strong and the original mono is fine that I added a caveat only for those that like remixes.

EDIT: added Kino's The Great Escape UHD as a solid/appreciable upgrade with improved detail and grain over the CC.

[hearthesilence]

I generally go with the original mix rather than remixes - Kubrick was actually THERE for the mono mix - so yeah, definitely keep it in the reference column!