UHD New Releases, Reissues and Upgrades

[tenia]

I'm more worried by the discussions about whether this might not be a film reconstruction but an upscaled 2k DI.
And the neutered Atmos track of one of the most renowned home video soundtracks would be a shame too.

[nicolas]

@Finch

I picked up Criterion’s Carnal Knowledge 4K in the 50% sale and you can add it to the red category with the fade caveat. Criterion’s encode is very good and not that far off from FiM’s. I’d also suggest You Can Count on Me for the red tier. While they only scanned an IP, the encode and master are both great and the HDR grade in particular makes it appear more naturally filmic which the BD in SDR can’t achieve.

I also got A New Leaf from VS and would put it in the blue tier. The master is good but it’s not that big an upgrade from the Olive disc and VS’ encode has some blocky highlights. A shame that they didn’t hire David Mackenzie here.

[Finch]

Added all those and American Pie 2 UHD; Geoff wrote a short rave about the first two films' 4Ks on BR.

[nicolas]

I'm more worried by the discussions about whether this might not be a film reconstruction but an upscaled 2k DI.
And the neutered Atmos track of one of the most renowned home video soundtracks would be a shame too.

Now sadly confirmed: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=500

[Finch]

Is the original track still intact?

[nicolas]

Is the original track still intact?

No, only Atmos is on the 4K.

[Finch]

That makes me doubly glad I kept the digibook Blu-Ray (with the bonus DVD). The OG track was one of the most immersive tracks I've ever heard. I'm going to pass on this 4K after all.

[nicolas]

That makes me doubly glad I kept the digibook Blu-Ray (with the bonus DVD). The OG track was one of the most immersive tracks I've ever heard. I'm going to pass on this 4K after all.

Is this your copy? They don’t list a bonus DVD but I think it’s the same BD Fox released in 2008. After seeing the post about the audio, I bought a copy of the collectors DVD set for the extras and the 5.1 on there has the full LFE range. I did some research on the other forum and found a post by Brett Cameron, who’s very knowledgeable in that area. He said that next to the DVDs, the only BD release with the untouched OG mix is the Australian release but it’s very hard to come by, so I settled with the DVD and will sync that mix to the BD.

[Finch]

That looks like the copy I have but there is a DVD underneath the BD. I don't remember if I bought the SE DVD and kept the bonus disc.

[ShempTCat]

Is there any word on the quality of Kino's Danger: Diabolik disc?

[nicolas]

Is there any word on the quality of Kino's Danger: Diabolik disc?

A BR member said that the encode mostly holds together but apart from that and the site review, I haven’t seen anything. Here’s a comparison I found but it’s only the BDs: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... stcount=42

[Orlac]

Is there any word on the quality of Kino's Danger: Diabolik disc?

https://trailersfromhell.com/danger-diabolik-4k/

The producers of this new 4K edition have taken it upon themselves to make some minor ‘improvements’ of their own. We noticed three. None are shocking deal-breakers or even big disappointments. We’re not sure any were really necessary.

[Fus1on]

Hearts of Darkness (Studio Canal) - Might be one of the biggest surprises of the year for me so far. Having seen these caps, I'm even more happy that I decided to pull the trigger on this (although $60 USD for it is kinda ridiculous). Studio Canal apparently even went to the effort of replacing the footage from Apocalypse Now with material from the new 4K restoration with the correct aspect ratio.

[tenia]

I can confirm the AN material is sourced from the 4k restoration, though at a 2.29 aspect ratio. They were letterboxed before.

[rrenault]

So Carlotta in France have just announced a 4K UHD release of Polanski's The Tenant for October. I'm guessing it'll be a tie between VinSyn and Carlotta...

I'm also wondering if Carlotta are high profile enough that a Polanski release would provoke a scandal, considering what happened when the Cinematheque tried to screen Last Tango in Paris.

P.S. I'm getting slightly off-topic, but what I found odd about the whole 'Last Tango' controversy is I'm fairly certain it's already screened at some point at one of the smaller Paris rep houses like Grand Action, Filmotheque du Quartier Latin, etc. since becoming 'problematic'.

[eerik]

Hearts of Darkness (Studio Canal) - Might be one of the biggest surprises of the year for me so far. Having seen these caps, I'm even more happy that I decided to pull the trigger on this (although $60 USD for it is kinda ridiculous). Studio Canal apparently even went to the effort of replacing the footage from Apocalypse Now with material from the new 4K restoration with the correct aspect ratio.

Cheaper standard edition is coming just next week, but unfortunately it also drops the bonus disc with short films and other behind-the-scenes documentaries.

[nicolas]

Hearts of Darkness (Studio Canal) - Might be one of the biggest surprises of the year for me so far. Having seen these caps, I'm even more happy that I decided to pull the trigger on this (although $60 USD for it is kinda ridiculous). Studio Canal apparently even went to the effort of replacing the footage from Apocalypse Now with material from the new 4K restoration with the correct aspect ratio.

How nice to hear and the caps look stunning! What’s also surprising is that there are two new interviews on the 4K & BD, one with Francis Ford Coppola and the other with his late wife. Francis’ interview runs 38 minutes, Eleanor’s 24 if the durations in the BR.com review are correct. I was on the fence about picking this up, even the standard edition but the new interviews are tempting and I’m about to reconsider. Have you already had a chance to look at the short films and documentaries on the bonus disc?

[tenia]

I'm also wondering if Carlotta are high profile enough that a Polanski release would provoke a scandal, considering what happened when the Cinematheque tried to screen Last Tango in Paris.

Chinatown's UHD, arguably a release of a much bigger seller, has been released and sold without anyone batting an eye.
Video releases and theatrical ones clearly don't draw the same attention.

[nicolas]

I'm more worried by the discussions about whether this might not be a film reconstruction but an upscaled 2k DI.
And the neutered Atmos track of one of the most renowned home video soundtracks would be a shame too.

It’s partially a new scan. They’ve taken the non-effects shots from the negative and added the effects shots in from the 2K DI. Here are new screenshots

[MichaelB]

I'm also wondering if Carlotta are high profile enough that a Polanski release would provoke a scandal, considering what happened when the Cinematheque tried to screen Last Tango in Paris.

Chinatown's UHD, arguably a release of a much bigger seller, has been released and sold without anyone batting an eye.
Video releases and theatrical ones clearly don't draw the same attention.

And Last Tango in Paris is contentious because of its onscreen content, not what a single person involved in its creation did several years later.

[Fus1on]

Have you already had a chance to look at the short films and documentaries on the bonus disc?

Not yet, unfortunately. Once my copy arrives tomorrow, I'll be sure to check them out.

[tenia]

The shorts are restored, the documentaries mostly aren't.
The Making of Hearts of Darkness is a new 37 min piece, and Art is All Around Us a new 23 min one.
On disc 2, the 4 Eleanor Coppola shorts all look restored to some extent (they look nice, I'm just unsure if they've been restored in 4K), Coda looks early digital HD, Marie Antoinette's, The Rainmaker's, CQ's and The Virgin Suicides making ofs are uspcaled, A Visit to China's Miao Country is very much upscaled, and Circle of Memory also is. There also are Apocalypse Now 1979 theatrical trailer (which was in 1.78 on the 2019 release and is Scope now), and a 2025 trailer for the restoration of Hearts of Darkness.

[nicolas]

The shorts are restored, the documentaries mostly aren't.
The Making of Hearts of Darkness is a new 37 min piece, and Art is All Around Us a new 23 min one.
On disc 2, the 4 Eleanor Coppola shorts all look restored to some extent (they look nice, I'm just unsure if they've been restored in 4K), Coda looks early digital HD, Marie Antoinette's, The Rainmaker's, CQ's and The Virgin Suicides making ofs are uspcaled, A Visit to China's Miao Country is very much upscaled, and Circle of Memory also is. There also are Apocalypse Now 1979 theatrical trailer (which was in 1.78 on the 2019 release and is Scope now), and a 2025 trailer for the restoration of Hearts of Darkness.

Thanks for the breakdown. Much appreciated!

[Finch]

nic's review of Criterion's Fire on the Plains 4K

Fires on the Plain looks wonderful in motion. No issues with the grade and the grayscale in SDR looks fantastic with detailed highlights and shadow detail. Grain is very fine but looks organic and the opticals were left alone. Encoding is excellent although I imagine a BDInfo graph reveals that it ebbs and flows more than usual with NexSpec as they throttled the bitrates quite a bit when it gets darker and the shots become more static. But fear not, everything is in order.

The only thing I noticed that struck me as slightly odd is very subtle hints of something that looks like aliasing around characters when they’re illuminated against a darker background. If it’s aliasing or another phenomenon, I can’t tell as it’s that subtle but I do see some faint, usually vertical lines that do look a bit pixel-y if you look very closely. I have to emphasize that this is very minor and most viewers won’t notice a thing as you’d almost have to see it through a magnifying glass. I just thought I’d share this, particularly for professorwho and our Japanese / Asian cinema experts who have more info by any chance. Sadly, Criterion don’t list scanners any more but the booklet states Kadokawa did the restoration (mastering would probably be the better term) from the original negative and Cineric did the image restoration.

I’ll try to spot this in the above caps, otherwise I’ll do a few of my own.

[nicolas]

Thanks for sharing. I’ve been trying to post earlier today but am having repeated connection errors that makes even entering this thread difficult.

The Burmese Harp is a blue tier disc. The restoration and grading isn’t as good as Fires on the Plain. I haven’t seen the films yet and had no idea that they were from different studios (Kadokawa and Nikkatsu). Burmese Harp was scanned from two master positives, which isn’t the end of the world but the grading is rather murky, predominantly grey-ish and there are some blown-out highlights too. Not sure if Criterion attempted adjustments here as well but it doesn’t seem like it. Nothing to complain about the encode. Like with Toho, it seems Criterion were at the mercy of what they’d been supplied with from Nikkatsu. Of course, it’s nothing horrendous but b&w in 4K can and should look better. Fires on the Plain is a perfect example.

I’ve also gotten Plaion / Studiocanal Germany’s Eraserhead 4K in a sale and it’s a great disc but with the same master in SDR, it’s a blue category upgrade. My thoughts are here.