Michael Corvin

Yep. Now I wish I got in on the steelbook when it was $55.

Rypro 525

a 2.5 score on Forrest Gump's 4K HDR presentation http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Forres...202137/#Review

melasnus

That's too bad.
I have a soft place in my heart for this nostalgic fantasy...
Maybe someday we will get a release that the movie deserves.

mattysemo247

Back down to $55

melasnus

I found the time tonite to give a once over of the Justice League UHD.

First, I took a good look at the JL BD for comparison...
The BD is good, not great.
Strangely, the 1080p detail is below par for a movie such as this.
Grain is often so heavy it ruins detail to a large degree.
Close-ups of faces are not as detailed as one might expect for a movie as recently shot as this one.
The Director made a mistake in choosing the film stock IMO.
It adds nothing to the "atmosphere" or whatever the hell he was aiming for.

The Good News is the UHD does a much, MUCH better job with grain...big difference.
HDR also makes a big impact; nicely applied, adding a more compelling visual experience.
Although the image still doesn't measure up with the best UHDs out there, it's definitely worth the extra $ for the disk.

BTW, another thing I noticed is the audio is more dynamic, more involving, with more use of the surrounds.

Apparently, I am a bigger fan of this movie than most.
After looking at the UHD, I know I won't ever watch the BD again.

PhantomStranger

Remember, most of Justice League was shot by Snyder. When WB brought in Whedon as director, he changed much of the intended digital grading. The VFX were likely rushed, that is what it looked like to me.

Josh Z

The Justice League Blu-ray and the UHD have the exact same Dolby Atmos soundtrack. Zero difference.

melasnus

Perhaps that's it.

melasnus

Please re-read my post closely...I didn't claim the 2 Atmos tracks were different.

You may be unaware of this quirk with WB UHDs:
"Unlike the standard Blu-ray, however, the UHD defaults to lossless DTS, and the Dolby Atmos track must be selected manually. Why Warner's UHD division continues to master their discs in this fashion remains a mystery, especially since the team overseeing 1080p releases seems to be able to get it right."
http://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Justic...lu-ray/169932/

Josh Z

You didn't say anything about that in your post.

melasnus

Looked at the new Braveheart UHD.

FULL DISCLOSURE: this release has Dolby Vision HDR; my review is based on the standard HDR output.*

Compared to the Sapphire Series BD, this is somewhat of a disappointment.
The BD had 3 major/minor deficiencies: source (annoying film flecks) and a tad too much white level and some black crush at times.
Two of the problems are not present in this new release...the Master is excellent.

The resolution upgrade from 2K to 4K is not as dramatic as I hoped it would be.
The movie is much darker than the BD and takes some getting used to.
Other than the quality of the Master, the HDR is the most impressive quality of this new image.
But, like the 4K detail, it is not a night and day improvement over the BD.
There is still some black crush (check out Longshank's black robe).
However, because the Master is so damn near perfect, it is easy to forget to nitpick some of these issues.

The audio is definitely an upgrade over the Sapphire release.

* Somehow Hollywood just HAD to have another format war.
Right now we have 2 3 HDR formats: standard HDR, Dolby Vision, HDR+.
While HDR is required for all releases, Dolby Vision and HDR+ are two incompatible HDR formats looking to battle it out in the super-duper HDR arena.
And no, you cannot buy a display that can handle all formats.
Big THANKS to movie studios for muddying up the waters for us consumers.

melasnus

The Incredible Hulk (Edward Norton's version):

I compared the new UHD 4k with the original BD release and the new BD included with this UHD release.
The first BD release is a walking advertisement of Black Crush and Warm Tones carried too far.
Other than fairly sharp detail, a lousy video release from Universal.

Visually, the UHD is a disappointment.
Detail is a little better than the 1080p, and in spite of slight improvements, both Black Crush and orangish skin tones are still there.
The good news is, amazingly, the new BD looks terrific...far better than the UHD IMO.

Both BDs have nice audio tracks, but the UHD wins hands-down in that dept.

If Universal released this new BD separately, go for it and forget the UHD.

JimRochester

Independence Day every fourth of July I watch this movie. It started with the Five Star DVD, then the BR, now the 4K. I did not do an A/B comparison.

In a nutshell, the UHD looked very good but not stunning compared to what I remember. The audio like all of my UHD's are a significant improvement.

An interesting note. This edition has an extended version which seemed just a touch different than the extended version I remember from the Five Star version. If you prefer the extra few minutes, the old BR release didn't have them.

melasnus

ID4 is a fun popcorn flick and makes it into my Oppo once every year.

melasnus

Diving into the new Jurassic Park/World 4K collection...

First up, Jurassic World.
An interesting comparison IMO.

Filmed in Super 35, the BD is a relatively good representation of the grainy source material.
A very nice release, with good detail and excellent contrast.

The UHD has a slight, but noticeable uptick in detail.
HDR gives a nice solidness to the colors.
Unfortunately, there are some problems.
Skin tones can be orangish and grain is not as resolved as it should be for a film this new.
Also, video can appear a little too dark in certain scenes.
For example, try the scene where Owen is feeding/training the raptors from high up on a catwalk...notice how his face is muddy and unclear (unlike the BD).

OTOH, the DTS X track is totally reference in every way.

melasnus

Took a look at JP1 and JP2 last night.
Both are an improvement over the BDs.

The UHD video resolves the inherent film grain beautifully.
From time to time and in spite of other qualities, the grain in the BDs can be pull me out of the viewing experience a bit (particularly with JP1).
Not so with these 4K releases.

The black levels on JP2, in particular, are excellent and add a lot to the enjoyment of this release.
It adds a deepness/solidity to the colors.
Contrast is generally good.
Detail is also good.
HDR is surprisingly (?) subdued, but tasteful.

Spielberg typically favors a warm palette...a little too warm for my tastes (FWIW, generally I prefer a more neutral look in my HT).
JP2 is especially noticeable in this regard (faces can be unnaturally reddish).
For the sake of the comparison, I didn't adjust my display's controls to lessen the effect.

The soundtracks are also a noticeable upgrade.
They really rock my sound system.

All in all, this package is worth the cost and, although imperfect, it deserves a Thumbs-Up.

melasnus

BTW, I noticed a freezing problem on Ch. 10 of every 4k disk.
There wasn't anything visually-speaking on the disks.
Most likely Oppo needs a SW update to deal with this.

melasnus

Watched the SPR UHD last night as a Memorial Day movie.
Still a powerful, gut-wrencher of a film.

Sunday, I went with Black Hawk Down UHD.
Another tour-de-force from a master filmmaker.
Although a fantastic movie, it's also a teeth-grinder (when considering the wisdom of the real-life mission).

The AV of both is terrific and well worth a purchase for fans.

Now I am waiting for the third leg of the tripod of great war films this century to make it to 4k UHD: Malick's The Thin Red Line.

dex14

Unlikely.

E Unit

Yep. Only way we'll see a UHD of Red Line is if another part of the world releases it, or by some miracle, 4K UHD discs start to take off.

Adam Tyner

AFAIK, it's Fox worldwide, so unless they hand it off to a UHD-friendly licensor... Too bad Criterion has no interest.

E Unit

I really was hoping Criterion would do a limited label for films optimized or filmed in 4K, but since UHD hasn't taken off, I doubt that would happen.

Adam Tyner

I could see Criterion issuing a title or two if the right director clamors for it. (I mean, they do have one, lone 3D title under their belt. There's precedent!) But beyond that already unlikely handful, I'm deeply skeptical. The only other significant factor I can see in pushing Criterion towards 4K in any meaningful sense would be if their equivalents overseas embrace the format (BFI, Eureka, Second Sight, etc.), and Criterion follows suit to some extent to keep up with the Joneses. But that's a hypothetical predicated on something that hasn't actually happened, so...

They don't even have to do that much work in some cases. The Princess Bride and Silence of the Lambs both have 4K masters, complete with Dolby Vision, rip-roarin' and ready to go. It's just authoring and replication there, which isn't nothing, but their load would be lessened.

I'm not holding my breath for any physical 4K releases from Criterion. Maybe just some stuff on the Criterion Channel down the line.

Dan

Criterion offering 4K & HDR streaming on Criterion Channel would make much more sense at this point, and still something that I think is highly unlikely.

stvn1974

Joss Whedon's Serenity is the worst UHD that I have seen in the short time that I have been 4k enables. The blacks all look like giant globs. Chiwetel Ejiofor's black hair lacks any detail and it looks like he is wearing a helmet most of the time. And Mal's brown coat looks almost black at times.