Some of the better looking 4k discs are older movies.

Yeah, at least from some of the clips I've seen or, at least, even in the restoration done on The Shining (finally removing the pink coloring errors from the old DVD release and first blurays), there's a lot to be said for the 4k restorations I am seeing.

Hell, The Good, the Bad and The Ugly has had a horrible run of releases (I guess depending on who you talk to), and the 4k release from Kino has finally released the theatrical cut (without the bad overdubbing on the extended cut scenes) and fixed the green skies. Can't believe how good the flick looks now (and that's based on the restored bluray) so looking forward to the re-released Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.

Generally studios are taking care when restoring older classics for 4K. Some newer movies on UHD are more about quick cash than a real need for the format. I got the new Scream on UHD but it's not a huge leap over BD quality.

If I’m not mistaken The Good The Bad and the Ugly isn’t in HDR. So while it’ll look better than the blu-ray, it probably won’t be a great example of what 4k is capable of.

Correct, TGTBTU, is 4K SDR.

Yes, I had read that. I was talking, mainly, about how 4k is causing studios to return to films and clean them up better for the format and, sometimes, for us folk still without a 4k setup, you get a restored bluray as well.

The Shinning is a perfect example of how the old DVD remaster had some colour issues that just kept getting ported over and ported over in various releases until the recent 4k remaster finally opted to correct them. The Leon flicks have a history of bad transfers (again, depending on who you ask) and I've just held off until now.

So, 4k wows me in getting studios to fix past mastering errors and make catalogue titles shine for sure.

Now, when I eventually get set up, I have to think what will be my first flick to try out. That coming Lawrence of Arabia is sure to look sweet!

Over at that other forum, in the 4k section, there's a thread about best looking UHD Blu-rays that will has some good-looking discs, both newer and older movies.

Old movies are the best thing about 4k. Movies shot on 35mm with real lighting look so much better than these digitally shot/color graded creations today. Apocalypse Now is gorgeous. I wish they still shot movies this way.

Any reason HDR wasn't used?

I read on another forum that it came to cost. It would have cost Kino more $ and they opted to spend what they had on a restoration based on color grading that many have been moaning about regarding this films releases for years.

Kino licensed the piss yellow 4k transfer done in Italy however many years ago which was first released in the US on blu-ray by MGM. That restoration was never given an HDR grade. It would have cost some number of dollars to go back and do that and that's not really Kino's game. They license transfers and release them in mass quantities. In this case Kino did take the time to try to color correct the compromised transfer they had and the results were mostly admirable. This is easily the best release the movies ever had. However, to really do it justice, the raw scan would need to be completely regraded from scratch.

Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars more are in the same boat as GBU, with the exception that For A Few Dollars More didn't get the classic Ritrovata piss color grade, meaning that Kino's color correction should be much easier/less compromised.

Thanks for more deets, Rocket.