A Few Words About A few words about...™ Born on the Fourth of July -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

I continue to feel more positive about Universal's new approach to the creation of Blu-rays.

While things could have stayed the same, ie. a digital look as in Erin Brockovich, they've not.

Case in point - Oliver Stone's 1989 Born on the Fourth of July.

Both films were mastered in 2k, both from an IP, and both via a 2k workflow.

And yet, Born on the Fourth is an extremely film-like and pleasing Blu-ray.

It's not perfect. A couple of very minor problems with smoke and digital early on. But nothing that will take you out of the film.

Grain, which is designed to be more coarse in the opening sequences, becomes far more modern and velvety looking once we get into the body of the film.

Resolution is beautiful, supporting Robert Richardson's wonderful cinematography.

Color. Check.

Shadow detail. Check.

Sharpening. Didn't see any.

Digital look. Nope.

Things are definitely picking up in Universal City.

For those unaware, a great (and important) film. Superb acting by all involved.

A beautifully rendered Blu-ray.

Image - 4

Audio - 5

Highly Recommended.

RAH

 

[Jonathan Perregaux]

The old DVD from the Oliver Stone boxed set always hurt my eyes. It looked horrible. Years later I still remember the way the grille on the car went bonkers during a slow camera move, plus all the halos and other problems. Good to hear we're getting a quality Blu-ray, this movie deserves it.

 

[Ruz-El]

Glad to hear this too. I'm holding my breath that Warners will do a Bluray version of the Stone boxsets they did on DVD. The first collection at least had this title in it.

 

[lukejosephchung]

Hallelujah, Bob!!! I've been waiting 20 years for Universal to do proper cinematic justice on disc for this Stone classic...thanks for the affirmation of quality!!!

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by lukejosephchung /t/321848/a-few-words-about-born-on-the-fourth-of-july-in-blu-ray#post_3943124
Hallelujah, Bob!!! I've been waiting 20 years for Universal to do proper cinematic justice on disc for this Stone classic...thanks for the affirmation of quality!!!

Actually, I'm a Robert.

Or if you, prefer, Your Grace.

RAH

 

[lukejosephchung]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris /t/321848/a-few-words-about-born-on-the-fourth-of-july-in-blu-ray#post_3943158
Actually, I'm a Robert.

Or if you, prefer, Your Grace.

RAH

A thousand pardons, Your Grace...and thank you for your favorable review of one of my favorite cinematic masterpieces!!!

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by lukejosephchung /t/321848/a-few-words-about-born-on-the-fourth-of-july-in-blu-ray#post_3943177
A thousand pardons, Your Grace...and thank you for your favorable review of one of my favorite cinematic masterpieces!!!

My pleasure, Sir Luke.

RAH

 

[lukejosephchung]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris /t/321848/a-few-words-about-born-on-the-fourth-of-july-in-blu-ray#post_3943180
My pleasure, Sir Luke.

RAH

The tone of this correspondence is making me feel somewhat like a Jedi Knight, Your Grace...not that that's a BAD thing...

 

[JoshZ]

This movie had a miserable history on DVD, but the HD DVD released in 2007 looked surprisingly good. I expect that this Blu-ray is a port of that transfer.

 

[Bryan^H]

Thank you Robert.
You just made my day!
One of my favorite war movies. Oliver Stone's masterpiece.

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by JoshZ /t/321848/a-few-words-about-born-on-the-fourth-of-july-in-blu-ray#post_3943377
This movie had a miserable history on DVD, but the HD DVD released in 2007 looked surprisingly good. I expect that this Blu-ray is a port of that transfer.

I'm told that the Blu is derived from a new 2k harvest, from an IP.

RAH

 

[JoshZ]

I'm told that the Blu is derived from a new 2k harvest, from an IP.

New as of when, though? It's very unlike Universal to pay for a new scan unless they absolutely need to. The HD DVD was clearly a new scan at the time of its release. It was vastly better than any DVD edition of the movie, and (unlike most Universal catalog titles) really didn't leave much room for improvement.

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by JoshZ /t/321848/a-few-words-about-born-on-the-fourth-of-july-in-blu-ray#post_3943520
New as of when, though? It's very unlike Universal to pay for a new scan unless they absolutely need to. The HD DVD was clearly a new scan at the time of its release. It was vastly better than any DVD edition of the movie, and (unlike most Universal catalog titles) really didn't leave much room for improvement.

"New," at least to me, in the world of HD mastering, would mean in the last year.

This title falls under the category of "Centennial Mastering," a different category from titles such as Smokey, American Pie, Lebowski, Animal House, AmGraf, Breakfast Club, etc.

RAH

 

I might be concerned, only because Universal released this on Blu-ray in the UK in 2011, specifically, last July 4th (an inside joke, perhaps?). It would be interesting to know if the transfers are identical, and if that's the case, it would be even more interesting to know what facilities did the mastering and subsequent post-production.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by JoshZ /t/321848/a-few-words-about-born-on-the-fourth-of-july-in-blu-ray#post_3943377
This movie had a miserable history on DVD, but the HD DVD released in 2007 looked surprisingly good. I expect that this Blu-ray is a port of that transfer.

If it's the same as this German release. ( and see above for UK release )

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/index.php?art=full&image=12&vergleich=born_on_the_fourth_of_july&action=1&lossless=0#vergleich

Then no way could it be an HD-DVD port, it has to be new.

 

[vincent89]

I'm told that the Blu is derived from a new 2k harvest, from an IP.

Sorry Robert, but if the US BD is the same as the UK BD, then the master isn't new, but is the same than the HD-DVD master and DVD master.
Comparison

 

[vincent89]

I'm told that the Blu is derived from a new 2k harvest, from an IP.

Sorry Robert, but if the US BD is the same as the UK BD, then the master isn't new, but is the same than the HD-DVD master and DVD master.
Comparison

 

[Robert Harris]

Originally Posted by vincent89 /t/321848/a-few-words-about-born-on-the-fourth-of-july-in-blu-ray#post_3943721
Sorry Robert, but if the US BD is the same as the UK BD, then the master isn't new, but is the same than the HD-DVD master and DVD master.
Comparison

Totally different geometry.

RAH

 

[FoxyMulder]

Originally Posted by Robert Harris /t/321848/a-few-words-about-born-on-the-fourth-of-july-in-blu-ray#post_3943736

Totally different geometry.

RAH

So is the USA release different to the European release. ?

That would be unusual for Universal.

 

[KilloWertz]

"New," at least to me, in the world of HD mastering, would mean in the last year.
This title falls under the category of "Centennial Mastering."  Same as Born on the Fourth.
It falls into a different category from titles such as Smokey, American Pie, Lebowski, Animal House, AmGraf, Breakfast Club, etc.
RAH

Wait, this is Born on the Fourth. What is the other title?