Leave it to Shout Factory and their Select brand to create a gorgeous boxed set of Oliver Stone's 1991 JFK, and go the entire Criterion route with extras and discs, all encased in a high-end heavy paper case - more on that later.
There are four discs in the set, housed in three different cases.
Case 1 holds 4k and HD discs of the Director's Cut.
Case 2 holds a Blu-ray of the Theatrical Version.
Case 3 holds the extras, both new and old, and there enough to keep a fan
busy for an entire evening.
The scan is gorgeous, and the resultant image beautifully mimics a premier print. Grain seems proper, while detail holds up nicely in 4k, especially in long shots.
Color, densities, black levels et al give us an exceptionally clean and stable product.
The outer box is unlike most, as it's very sold - not your standard heavy paper affair and tightly holds the three plastic shells, which aren't going anywhere.
Everything on the reverse of the box, as well as the individual shells are perfectly legible, a problem I've encountered numerous times in the past few months, where one simply cannot read much of anything due to choice of colors. This is perfect.
As I'm a bit space deprived, I'll remove the Blu-ray from the DC case, replace it with the extras disc, and store (or gift) the others.
A wonderful package (think holiday gifts) of a terrific film. Need a review?
Go here: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-jfk-1991
For those who may not know films of the early 1990s, it stars the guy from Yellowstone, along with a terrific supporting cast that you also not recognize inclusive of:
Sally Kirkland, Edward Asner, Jack Lemmon, Vincent D'Onofrio, Gary Oldman, Sissy Spacek, Laurie Metcalf, Joe Pesci, Walther Matthau, Tommy Lee Jones, John Candy, Kevin Bacon, Donald Sutherland, John Larroquette, and (in archival footage) Richard and Pat Nixon.
Hopefully, those who think that color films came around in the '80s will recognize a few of them.
Image – 10 (Dolby Vision)
Audio – 10 (DTS-HS MA 5.1)
Pass / Fail – Pass
Plays nicely with projectors - Yes
Makes use of and works well in 4k - 8
Worth your attention - 10
Slipcover rating - 8
Very Highly Recommended
RAH
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See this post above with Oliver Stone's statement about the lack of 4K theatrical cut.Where is the theatrical cut in 4K?
Will do. Thanks, Brian.See this post above with Oliver Stone's statement about the lack of 4K theatrical cut.
You know what as soon as he said, he just didn’t have the money to do itSee this post above with Oliver Stone's statement about the lack of 4K theatrical cut.
Or you could read mine, which was the first one here to post Oliver's Facebook thoughts.See this post above with Oliver Stone's statement about the lack of 4K theatrical cut.
It's not a contest, but if it were you'd be winning!Or you could read mine, which was the first one here to post Oliver's Facebook thoughts.
I believe all previously available disc-based bonus features were carried over onto the new release.Haven’t had a chance to watch this yet but is there any reason to hold onto any of the older releases?
I believe all previously available disc-based bonus features were carried over onto the new release.
AgreedThis would have been a perfect candidate for Dolby Atmos
Absolutely.I assume Stone and co. used the new film stocks available in the early-90's after Spielberg, Coppola, Scorsese, et al complained throughout the 80s about how poor the film stocks were. I recall films of '91-'93 looking remarkably better than films I saw in '88-'89.
I confess ignorance to the cost of packaging, licensing, and replication costs, but the packaging here was overly elaborate IMO. It left me to wonder whether the Theatrical Cut could have been included in UHD if Shout had elected to save money on the packaging and used a standard 5-disc plastic case.I read Stone's comments about how the money wasn't there for a UHD BD of the theatrical cut, but given they did a 4K scan of it, I still wonder how much more it would have been to be included especially given the price of the set. It still puzzles me slightly. The bulk of the cost was already completed.
I read Stone's comments about how the money wasn't there for a UHD BD of the theatrical cut, but given they did a 4K scan of it, I still wonder how much more it would have been to be included especially given the price of the set. It still puzzles me slightly. The bulk of the cost was already completed.
I confess ignorance to the cost of packaging, licensing, and replication costs, but the packaging here was overly elaborate IMO. It left me to wonder whether the Theatrical Cut could have been included in UHD if Shout had elected to save money on the packaging and used a standard 5-disc plastic case.
I think many of us would have paid a few dollars more to include the theatrical cut in 4K/UHD. They already scan it in 4K.It would most likely have cost thousands of dollars more to master and author an additional disc for the set, and the replication costs per added disc would have added a few dollars to total unit costs. Which doesn’t seem like much in the abstract but each release has a budget based on what the label feels it can recoup in sales and for better or worse they felt that would have crossed that threshold.
In theory perhaps but elaborate packaging is a big draw for a certain segment of the collector’s market that Shout was counting on, and it could very well be that losing those packaging elements would have depressed the number of copies being sold.
It’s a really fine line that companies like Shout have to navigate because the disc audience today isn’t a monolithic group with a single set of preferences; there’s a good number of people that prioritize video/audio quality above all else, but also a good number of people who prioritize the “collectability” factor and are looking for packaging (the same way people collected beanie babies and Funko Pops where it’s the object more than the content that’s prized).
I think many of us would have paid a few dollars more to include the theatrical cut in 4K/UHD. They already scan it in 4K.