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review of Rollerball (Shout Factory)

Malcolm X (Criterion) (if compared to WB's Blu-Ray)
Malcolm X (Criterion) (if compared to their own 2022 Blu-Ray)

Chris's UHD review
Chris's BD review

Animal House (Universal) Geoff's comment

Is there any word on the quality of the Star Wars Episodes 7-9 set? It's ridiculously cheap on JB Hi-Fi right now

therewillbeblus wrote: Tue Nov 22, 2022 6:29 pm Is there any word on the quality of the Star Wars Episodes 7-9 set? It's ridiculously cheap on JB Hi-Fi right now

The sequel trilogy are the only part of the "Skywalker Saga" whose UHD discs I've consistently seen recommended without qualification, as they've had a much more straightforward path from theater to disc, natively 4k without revisions or DNR introduced in some earlier era, and I think I remember Geoff D commenting on the other forum that Disney seems to have less trouble with compression than the other big studios. The only caveat I know of might be that they usually don't include Dolby Vision on disc (just regular HDR10) even though most of their recent output does have it on Disney+. Of these, The Last Jedi actually had it on its initial home release but not in the later collections, but the reviews I've seen have all said that they can't tell that the loss actually made much of a difference. (It seems possible that Johnson pushed for a more conservative HDR application from the start.)

Thanks, bad future!

Re the Sony Pictures set:

City of The Lost Children

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon thanks to the added Dolby Vision and original Mandarin track

Run Lola Run

I want to see more feedback on Devil's Backbone and I haven't seen any comments on the other titles in the set yet.

Mystery Men (Kino)

Wayne's World (Paramount) short review

Finch wrote: Tue Nov 22, 2022 4:19 am Animal House (Universal) Geoff's comment

Told you so – a year ago...

jegharfangetmigenmyg wrote: Mon Nov 08, 2021 5:20 pm Animal House -- I would probably place this among the reference titles. Extremely steady and one of the most "filmlike"/35mm experiences I've had on UHD.

Still a big fan of Universal's tackling the UHD format, and it still baffles me a bit as so many of their blu-rays and dvd's have been horrendous.

On top of the other issues the UHD has, Paramount also switched the left/right channels on the 5.1 track of Planes Trains and Automobiles. This company really takes sloppiness to a new level.

The Power of the Dog (Criterion) (if compared to Netflix's streaming version)
The Power of the Dog (Criterion) (if compared to their own 2022 Blu-Ray)

Chris's UHD review
Chris's BD review

Finch wrote: Thu Nov 24, 2022 2:56 am The Power of the Dog (Criterion) (if compared to Netflix's streaming version)
The Power of the Dog (Criterion) (if compared to their own 2022 Blu-Ray)

Chris's UHD review
Chris's BD review

Does this put to bed the assumption the 4K streaming versions on Netflix of Roma and The Irishman are superior to the Criterion blu-rays? The only streaming service I can think of where 4K streaming actually surpasses a 1080p blu-ray is Apple TV. The 4K digital rentals on Apple are crystal clear to my eyes.

It might be internet connection dependent, but I've always thought that the Netflix 4K stream w/ HDR to be preferable to a 1080p Blu-Ray

I don't know about the streaming version of Roma but the streaming of The Irishman unfortunately does look better than Criterion's BD which is poorly compressed.

I've always been under the impression Roma fares better on both the Criterion BD and the Netflix 4k stream (but I couldn't say about the HDR though).

Criterion's UHD of Night of the Living Dead may only be a marginal upgrade but it is the 4k disc to get since Studio Canal botched the encoding as per andreas's post (no 64). Adding the Criterion to the superior import column for our European based members.

Early reactions to Turbine's The Frighteners UHD are very good; allegedly approved by Peter Jackson but with the grain intact. The restoration of the film itself was done by LSP Medien who did Lynch's Dune.

Comparison: Universal BD (2011) vs 4K remastered Turbine BD (2022)

Comparison: 4K remastered Turbine BD (2022) Scope vs OpenMatte

Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari (if compared to all BDs except MoCs)
Das Cabinet des Dr Caligari (if compared to the MoC BD)

David M says SDR is the best way to represent the film and the uptick in resolution is pretty noticeable. Also adding the MoC to the Superior Import tab as David's encoding is better than the German disc.

Any word at all on the quality of studiocanal's Casque d'or or The Trial? Any early word on The Driver?

black&huge wrote: Sun Nov 27, 2022 6:47 pm Any word at all on the quality of studiocanal's Casque d'or or The Trial? Any early word on The Driver?

Amazing timing. Those were exactly the three I just came to check on.

I've been checking the threads on those and still aren't finding anything. Finch is obviously way more in tune with the sources though, to a really impressive degree Orbit has been getting in copies and selling through them quick...telling me I should wait for Criterion on The Trial but Casque d'Or is a really doubtful 4K for them so I'm sure it's a safer buy, just gotta make sure of the quality

I think Andreas posted screenshots of the Casque D'Or UHD weeks ago but didn't say anything about the disc. I imagine he'd have mentioned encoding issues if he had come across them, but it's been radio silence on all three titles, really. I want the Becker and the Hill myself, so if I see anything about those titles plus the Trial, I'll post it here. Some people hated the look of the parking garage scenes in the restored version of The Driver but Geoff and someone else suggested that the grading is accurate due to the light sources used in those sequences.

PS.: I actually think Casque D'Or isn't inherently less likely as a CC UHD than the Welles since several Becker titles (including this one if IIRC) are part of their canon. Commercially, it might be more risky than The Trial, admittedly.

Early word on Arrow's Robin Hood and Scream's Black Christmas is very good, especially the latter's cleaned up and painstakingly restored audio.

FWIW, AVForums gives high marks to the The Driver UHD.

More users on BR have watched their copies of Arrow's Robin Hood and are thrilled with the results.

Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (if compared to all BDs except Arrow's 2022 BD)
Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (if compared to Arrow's 2022 BD)

I’m not convinced CC will release The Trial as a UHD.
Why would SC even allow Criterion to release a UHD version with their own on the market.