Unfortunately, there’s both good and bad news for fans of the Predator series, as Fox releases its new 4k home theater variant.
Let’s get the bad out of the way first.
At just under $50 for the three films at street price, this is a fair deal, but it guarantees an expensive August for said fans, as everyone is going to need a copy.
The good news is that all three films have been meticulously scanned and cleaned for an absolutely perfect 4k experience.
While the second and third offerings have never been problematic, the first seemed to never be quite right. Even with it’s re-issue in 2008, perfection was never met. As I recall, there was a slight problem with grain management.
In the new 4k, however, color, black levels, shadow detail (when it’s there), and film grain, all appear natural, and pleasing.
HDR is very nicely handled.
Nary a problem in sight.
Audio, in DTS-HD MA 5.1 is loud and huge.
Although there are basic extras on the 4k discs, it appears (I’ve not fully checked), that all of the earlier extras are intact on the Blu-ray variants.
Image – 5
Audio – 5 (DTS-HS MA 5.1)
Pass / Fail – Pass
Highly Recommended
RAH
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Woo-hoo!!! Thanks for the report Mr. Harris. I am SO relieved to hear that we're finally getting an outstanding issue of the first film, AND in 4K UHD! Having the other two included is just gravy. 🙂
Yippee! I’m thrilled to read they’ve got it right with this release.
Predator 2 also suffered a lot of DNR on Blu-ray.
Predators (#3) was shot digitally at 2k.
Another bad news is that FOX apparently doesn't care much for the non 4K users, since the new scans haven't been released on 1080p bluray.
That's par for the course with most catalog titles recently. New scans/masters for the 4K discs, but the blu-rays are of the older versions. That's why I haven't bothered with most of them since I already own those older blus.
Thanks for the initial freak-out, Robert. Surely intended, your opening sentence tricked me into believing the first Predator film got gummed up… Thankfully I can replace all of my copies now!! Going to pick this one up tomorrow and make it my Wednesday night view. I just installed a Sony VPL-GTZ270 in my system and calibrated it for true 4K HDR glory and I've been digging into my 4K discs pulled from film elements and wow… Braveheart and Gladiator did not disappoint. Looking forward to the Evil Dead movies in October! LOL.
My triple feature set arrived yesterday and I just couldn't resist sampling a few scenes from the first film. It looks AMAZING. *Finally* we have a great home video release of Predator. Forget all of the crappy DVD and Blu-ray stuff that's come before. Throw 'em into the trash bin. If you're 4K capable do NOT hesitate to pick this up toot sweet. Can't wait to sit down and enjoy the entire movie on Friday!
This, along with Die Hard in 4K, really brought a smile to my face as I watched it. I hadn't realized how long it had been since I'd seen either film, and both are masterworks in action filmmaking that have withstood the test of time surprisingly well!
I just have one question: when Arnold's teammember says "there's something else…it looks like a surveillance bird to me" when they first discover the downed chopper (around 15m in), does that dialogue sound weird to anyone else? Like it was poorly looped in later? I checked both the 5.1 and the 4.0 DTS tracks and it's there in both. Maybe I just never noticed it before because most of my viewings of this film were on DVD many years ago.
I agree with RAH's assessment though, it's an exceptional transfer of a great film.
I just got done watching this and IMO Predator, believe it or not, should at this point be considered the 4K release of the year. THIS is a shining example of what properly done 4K catalog titles should shoot for. It is the real deal.
We watched Predator 2 last night. Another GREAT job by Fox! Say what you will about the merits of the film itself – this 4K release is spectacular.
That’s Mr. Belston & Co.
The Ultimate Hunter Edition Fox released 2010 was awful, here the review. https://www.hometheaterforum.com/co…view-predator-ultimate-hunter-edition.295587/
2008 they made the first Blu-ray with an old scan and bad encoding. It's a shame that Fox doesn't use the opportunity to remaster the 1080p Blu-ray as a compensation for the Ultimate Hunter Edition disaster.
I enjoyed 2 almost as much as the first.
Figures. I finally go HD, and now the only decent release is in UHD :(. Ah, well, I am glad that Fox FINALLY went out of their way too fix the unqualified mess of the previous version, anyway. I’ll hang onto my old first edition BD in the meantime (low bitrate, but doesn’t look TOO bad), and the old DVD for the extras. That’ll have to do for me for the time being.
It’s not a great movie, but unlike most sequels, it’s not just a remake with a bigger budget; it does genuinely do something different. The city setting is really cool.
Thank you for your review Robert very much appreciated! Looks like I will be picking this movie up on 4K blu-ray and can not wait to experience it through the soon to be purchased Marantz SR-8012 receiver. I might be going to see the first movie shown from a 35mm print at the end of this month.
Watched Predators and thought that maybe the HDR would reveal a little more detail in the white light that comes through the leaves in the jungles. There isn't anything new in there, instead it just looks a little too blown out when compared to the rest of the shot. Maybe the detail lies in the original photography before the 2K render sent to the DI and one would need to go back to those files and extract the detail. Or maybe it's green screen and the white is a visual effect added in. There may have never been anything there to begin with. Things to ponder… The more true 4K stuff I watch, the easier it is to spot a 2K DI. There's just not nearly as much information in the frame. I'm sure as time goes on, the real 4K stuff will look even better. Much like putting in a Blu-ray disc from 2006-2011. Watching many of those today, they don't look nearly as impressive.
You realize this was not shot on film.
Yes I do. Resolution aside, when I was reading an article on digital video cameras for movies (it was a Sony one), there was a comment made by the Sony representative. I'm loosely paraphrasing, but he said that movies shot on digital in the past contain more highlight information than what we've been able to see because of restrictions in the HD video system, thus those highlights were blown out. He mentioned it was possible to go back to those original files (I'm assuming if they still exist) and with the new HDR system, we'd be able to see more of the information captured in those bright areas. I don't have a reference for the article (it was in a production or post-production magazine). Maybe I misunderstood what he was saying..?
Were not the original files HD?
I would think, yes. But I'm not familiar with the capture side of things. So if the writer was referring to something I'm unfamiliar with, I can't speak on it.
Just a heads up, target.com has the standalone Predator 4k today for $19.99, but it says not sold in any stores near me.
So I added deep rising ($18.89, a buck cheaper than I could find elsewhere) to get free shipping.