Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
#1
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Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
While we’re talking 4K UHD today, we’ve also now begun to hear from international retail sources that Warner Bros. will be releasing Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner on 4K Ultra HD later this year, as we’ve been saying for several month now, probably at the same time Blade Runner: 2049 arrives on BD and 4K. As you know, 2017 marks the film’s 35th anniversary. In addition to these reports, Amazon France has now listed the title as coming soon on the format with no street date given. Sources suggest that the release is expected to include at least Blade Runner: The Final Cut (see our review here) in 4K UHD format, with all 3 legacy audio commentary tracks (one with director Ridley Scott, one with Hampton Fancher, David Peoples, Michael Deeley, and Katherine Haber, and one with Syd Mead, Lawrence G. Paul, David L. Snyder, and Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich, and David Dryer) as well as Charles de Lauzirika’s outstanding Dangerous Days: The Making of Blade Runner 214-minute documentary, presented for the first time in full HD on regular Blu-ray. (We would certainly expect a regular Blu-ray “refresh” of the title for the anniversary as well, for those aren’t 4K consumers.)
International retail sources are also confirming the planned 4K UHD release of Warner’s Wonder Woman this year, along with Blade Runner: 2049, Dunkirk, and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Universal’s The Mummy (2017), Van Helsing (2004), and Dracula Untold (2014), Fox’s Alien: Covenant and Prometheus, and Sony’s The Bridge on the River Kwai and Bram Stoker’s Dracula are also expected on the format this year, among other titles.
Do keep in mind that all of the above comes from retail and industry sources, all well-placed but some speaking off the record. None of it is official and none of it is to be considered official until the studios in question actually make their respective title announcements. It’s important to note that, for those of you who many not be familiar with the way the home video industry works.
International retail sources are also confirming the planned 4K UHD release of Warner’s Wonder Woman this year, along with Blade Runner: 2049, Dunkirk, and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Universal’s The Mummy (2017), Van Helsing (2004), and Dracula Untold (2014), Fox’s Alien: Covenant and Prometheus, and Sony’s The Bridge on the River Kwai and Bram Stoker’s Dracula are also expected on the format this year, among other titles.
Do keep in mind that all of the above comes from retail and industry sources, all well-placed but some speaking off the record. None of it is official and none of it is to be considered official until the studios in question actually make their respective title announcements. It’s important to note that, for those of you who many not be familiar with the way the home video industry works.
http://www.thedigitalbits.com/column...ts/060717-1230
I was looking for a Blu-ray copy to buy, but if this is happening, then never mind.
#2
Banned by request
re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
Keep in mind the UHD will probably be the Final Cut only. All of the other cuts won't get upgraded. So hold onto your 5 disc sets of you still have them. I'll upgrade to finally get Dangerous Days in 1080p.
Last edited by E Unit; 06-07-17 at 10:10 PM.
#4
re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
Blade Runner is the benchmark Blu Ray for how great a movie can look in HD. I have zero interest in a 4K UHD release. The Blu Ray is perfect in my eyes.
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#6
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re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
Bladerunner was the first 'classic' to really showcase Blu-ray so this seems fitting. The one thing missing from UBD right now is older films so I'm looking forward to this.
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re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
They need you to join the flock in order to satisfy their insatiable desire for a benefit that is negligible to most.
Last edited by AaronSch; 06-08-17 at 10:03 AM.
#8
re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
It gets to a point with some old movies that any subsequent improvement beyond 1080p is really just splitting hairs in my opinion. Blade Runner looks magnificient on blu ray. I don't know how it could look any better. The whole Blade Runner Set is perfect actually. I don't see how I could be enticed to upgrade.
#9
re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
Yeah, I'll have to pop in my Blu-ray copy and revisit it soon. I am one of the fortunate few who saw "Blade Runner" a number of times way back in 1982. It played exclusively at one of the country's last surviving grand theatres, the Cine Capri, an old style movie house in Phoenix Arizona. I spent many a weekend standing in line at the Cine Capri waiting to experience the great films of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Alas, that landmark theatre was shamelessly torn down and is but a memory. I've since watched "Blade Runner" so many times over the years that I've lost count. And I really can't imagine it looking much better on home video. Many 4K enthusiasts will say "when you do a side by side comparison..." But who does that other than the most anal retentive among us? Could we ever reach a flawless presentation that would satisfy all the video and audiophiles' technological peccadillos? I seriously doubt it. Hell, many of them aren't even old enough to have experienced the film in an actual theatre. And that is something so intangible that not even the best set-up will ever be able to duplicate. At a certain point something is lost in the translation and something "cold" results. It's the reason so many prefer listening to analog music on an ancient technology like a turntable rather than digitally. It's the reason many of the best filmmakers shun video in preference to film. Right now, I happen to share your belief that "Blade Runner" looks about as good as it gets for home viewing. But that won't stop some folks from proselytizing otherwise.
They need you to join the flock in order to satisfy their insatiable desire for a benefit that is negligible to most.
They need you to join the flock in order to satisfy their insatiable desire for a benefit that is negligible to most.
It would have been cool to see Blade Runner's original theatrical run in 1982, but alas I spent most of that year in my Mother's belly. However I've seen it 3 times in a theater since then, and will probably see it again.
Unless UHD 4K offers a major improvement over any blu ray disc I have, I won't upgrade. I'll still buy 4K UHD for new films though. I'm just done doing the upgrade thing for a large portion of my collection.
#10
Banned by request
re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
Keep in mind this is WB and Goodfellas had a shitty transfer, so there's that.
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#12
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re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
What's funny is that there are plenty of people who also say that an old movie won't look all that good on Blu-ray!
I'm sure I'll upgrade this one at some point. While I know the final cut would be the one I revisit the most, I do wish there was a mega set that included all the cuts. I'll just have to hang on to the Blu-ray.
I'm sure I'll upgrade this one at some point. While I know the final cut would be the one I revisit the most, I do wish there was a mega set that included all the cuts. I'll just have to hang on to the Blu-ray.
#13
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#14
Banned by request
re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
It has a shitty transfer. Check out one of many reviews.
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/GoodFe...161258/#Review
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/GoodFe...161258/#Review
#17
DVD Talk Hero
re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
the Blu-ray.com forum is going nuts because they think this will be a glorified scanned at 2k upconvert. Wasn't the Final cut in 2007 scanned at 4K?
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re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
It was scanned at 4K and some of the 65mm visual effects were scanned at 8K. The documentary Dangerous Days was shot in HD, but released only on DVD. I hope this gets upgraded.
#22
DVD Talk Legend
re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
Later reissues consolidated the bonus features onto the Blu-ray discs, still encoded at standard definition.
#23
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#24
DVD Talk Hero
re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
The original Blade Runner 5-disc Ultimate Collector's Edition (the one in the plastic briefcase) contained 3 Blu-rays for the multiple cuts of the film and 2 DVDs for the bonus features.
Later reissues consolidated the bonus features onto the Blu-ray discs, still encoded at standard definition.
Later reissues consolidated the bonus features onto the Blu-ray discs, still encoded at standard definition.
Ah, gotcha.
#25
re: Blade Runner in 4K UHD - 9/5/17
The 4K Blu-ray disc of Blade Runner: The Final Cut will feature a Dolby Atmos soundtrack remixed specifically for the home theater environment to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead.