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Jackie Brown (Lionsgate) is a stunning upgrade: All screenshots by cinemaniac.

Kill Bill 1 was upscaled from the 2K DI. Caps are here. While not as dramatic an upgrade as Jackie Brown, color reproduction and especially the reveal of additional highlight information that were completely blown-out on the old master make this a great upgrade regardless. See Uma Thurman’s face in the above cap.

In the same vein, Shout did a great job with John Carpenter’s Vampires via a new master.

The Grifters (Criterion) Chris's review

For fus1on:
- Snowpiercer (Lionsgate) is a red tier upgrade. The encode is great, the film’s original framing has been restored, a windowboxing issue with the credits fixed and seemingly also gamma levels. I got the 4K myself and can confirm that it’s a truly spectacular release.
- The Substance (MUBI). People are happy with the encode despite some early complaints that the film was encoded on a BD-66. Sound is “only” 5.1 but I’ve frankly no idea whether they mixed for Atmos. IMDB doesn’t list it FWIW. I won’t be getting it but maybe someone can let us know if it’s a red or blue disc.
- Smile 2 (Paramount) caps by cinemaniac: https://slow.pics/c/tR2vSxPz. It seems like they accidentally nailed the encode here.

It doesn't look like The Substance was mixed in Atmos, but I don't recall what the end credits were saying about it.

If The Substance had an Atmos mix, I feel like MUBI 100% would've put it on their 4K disc.

nicolas wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2025 9:42 pm Smile 2 (Paramount) caps by cinemaniac: https://slow.pics/c/tR2vSxPz. It seems like they accidentally nailed the encode here.

Damn, that's very surprising to me. I rewatched the Smile 1 4K not that long ago and I remember not loving the encoding all that much. Interesting that Smile 2 seems to be better encoded despite having a BD-66 (versus the first film's BD-100), and being a much longer film than Smile 1.

Edit: Ok, nevermind. I just looked it up on Blu-ray.com and realized that Smile 2 actually does have a BD-100, not a BD-66. I have no idea why I thought otherwise or where I got my previous info from. My bad.

Criterion’s Jo Jo Dancer and The Mother and the Wh*re are great releases and deserving of the red tier. I elaborated a bit more on the latter in its own thread but for the record here I’m convinced that even though the color grade is disappointing, Criterion did an excellent job with the presentation of that master which is all they could do here.

Looking forward to the opinion of others & Chris elaborating in his eventual review.

Alice, Sweet Alice (Arrow) is a Blue category upgrade. Screenshots by asacmurr at the other forum: https://slow.pics/c/IzKKMfFU

nicolas wrote: Tue Dec 24, 2024 12:42 am Red category: The Faculty (Shout)
The Searchers (WB)
Kickboxer (Lionsgate)
The Keep (VS)
Looking for Mr. Goodbar (VS)
Werckmeister Harmonies (Curzon, better PQ and audio)

@fus1on
Red category: The Holdovers (Shout) Love Lies Bleeding (Plaion Germany)
The Zone of Interest (Elevation Pictures Canada)

Blue category:
The Holdovers (Dazzler UK)

disappointing:
Zone of Interest,
Civil War,
The Iron Claw (Leonine GER)

Do you, or does anyone know, if the new Searchers 4k package includes a BD with the new restoration?

Drucker wrote:

nicolas wrote: Tue Dec 24, 2024 12:42 am Red category: The Faculty (Shout)
The Searchers (WB)
Kickboxer (Lionsgate)
The Keep (VS)
Looking for Mr. Goodbar (VS)
Werckmeister Harmonies (Curzon, better PQ and audio)

@fus1on
Red category: The Holdovers (Shout) Love Lies Bleeding (Plaion Germany)
The Zone of Interest (Elevation Pictures Canada)

Blue category:
The Holdovers (Dazzler UK)

disappointing:
Zone of Interest,
Civil War,
The Iron Claw (Leonine GER)

Do you, or does anyone know, if the new Searchers 4k package includes a BD with the new restoration?

Yes, it’s the new restoration. It’s Region-Free, as well.

Drucker wrote: Sat Jan 25, 2025 6:17 pm Do you, or does anyone know, if the new Searchers 4k package includes a BD with the new restoration?

It does and it's the new restoration, not the old 2006 disc.

Amazing. Has Warner gotten back in this habit, then? Initially they included restored blu-rays, but last I checked that was no longer the case (with the Kubricks, for example). What about now, in general?

Drucker wrote:Amazing. Has Warner gotten back in this habit, then? Initially they included restored blu-rays, but last I checked that was no longer the case (with the Kubricks, for example). What about now, in general?

It’s a WAC release so not sure it’s a new Warner thing.

Thank you!

Winchester 73 (Criterion)

Chris's review

I'd like to nominate Hammer Films' latest 4k release of Captain Kronos for the red tier. There's three aspect ratios to choose from (full matte, U.K. Theatrical, and U.S. Theatrical), and I finished watching the U.K. version last night. The grain resolves beautifully and the Dolby Vision coloring grading is naturalistic with reasonable amounts of saturation. Regarding audio, I listened to the mono track as well as sampled the Atmos track—both were clean and not suppressed (you could still hear faint static in certain parts). The Atmos track is fine, has light usage of the height speakers but is predominately LCR heavy. I didn't notice any compression issues, and the booklet credits the transfer facility as Illuminate, Los Angeles.

The Gift (Arrow) is red category. The old master looks problematic and the new scan from the interpositive looks marvelous, just like Existenz from VS. Encoding by Engine House is excellent.

New red category discs: Dressed to Kill and Lifeforce (Arrow). More details on the former in its own thread and the latter was discussed by BR members here. Both are significant upgrades even to their last 4K release - the former encoding- and sound-wise, the latter with the inclusion of the better international cut in 4K.

nicolas wrote: Fri Jan 24, 2025 12:33 am Criterion’s Jo Jo Dancer and The Mother and the Wh*re are great releases and deserving of the red tier.

This isn't Blu-ray com and nobody's going to clutch their pearls and swoon dead away if you spell out a film's actual title (or official English translation) in full.

MichaelB wrote: Mon Feb 03, 2025 2:54 pm

nicolas wrote: Fri Jan 24, 2025 12:33 am Criterion’s Jo Jo Dancer and The Mother and the Wh*re are great releases and deserving of the red tier.

This isn't Blu-ray com and nobody's going to clutch their pearls and swoon dead away if you spell out a film's actual title (or official English translation) in full.

Thanks for the welcome info - I had no idea. Totally agree with your sentiment.

Is the Punch-Drunk Love Criterion any better than the Columbia Classics release? I have the latter and thought the restoration was quite spectacular, don't want to upgrade the Criterion unless absolutely necessary.

mfunk9786 wrote: Mon Feb 03, 2025 4:56 pm Is the Punch-Drunk Love Criterion any better than the Columbia Classics release? I have the latter and thought the restoration was quite spectacular, don't want to upgrade the Criterion unless absolutely necessary.

I haven’t seen any info yet. It’s probably too soon as the release date is only tomorrow. Maybe Chris has the CC set and can compare?

I don't have it, I'm sorry to say; hadn't picked it up yet.

Yakushima wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 6:17 am

Finch wrote: Sun Dec 29, 2024 3:01 am Update on Delicatessen and Antiviral from Severin

SEVERIN FILMS Facebook Post

Thank you, Finch!

Has anyone who received their copy had a chance to watch the film? How does the Severin version compare to Studio Canal's? Are they identical?

I received my copy of Delicatessen LE from Severin and watched it today. Severin has a better encode, without a doubt. To my eye, this is a much better, more pleasing presentation. The grain management is still evident (likely inherent in the master), but Severin's 4K version does not have that overly smooth, plastic look that was prevalent in the Studio Canal version. I really enjoyed the extras created exclusively for Severin's edition. "Take Your Pig" interview with Jean-Claude Dreyfus is such a fun addition. LE BUNKER DE LA DERNIÈRE RAFALE short is restored beautifully and looks spectacular. The subtitles on Severin's version seemed a bit off at times compared to other versions I've seen, but nothing too drastic. All in all, this appears to be the definitive edition of Delicatessen, at least until another restoration is attempted. No regrets about the double-dipping.

Yakushima wrote: Tue Feb 04, 2025 7:34 am ...The subtitles on Severin's version seemed a bit off at times compared to other versions I've seen, but nothing too drastic. All in all, this appears to be a definitive edition of Delicatessen, at least until another restoration is attempted. No regrets about the double-dipping.

They arent dubtitles, are they? Severin, in the past, has had a bad habit of using dubtitles instead of proper subtitles.