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They did not even retain any 4k files. So indeed they would have to start from scratch. To put things in perspective these were the very early days of 8k scans and this was the first title that was advertised as being derived from an 8k scan and back then the cost for retaining the data would...

It is good to again see proof that the 2020 version has taken care of most of the excessive detail and textures that plagued the 2012 release.

Actually Gary Grant liked to have a deep tan so what we see is just an amplification of what was already there and adjusting gamma takes care of that quite nicely.

Maybe Disney will allow some of the Fox titles to be released with other labels but I agree that it doesn't look good right now.

That also has the added probability of a new improved master becoming available if there ever is one. Currently waiting for a sale for The King and I after I read somewhere else that itunes now has the regraded version available that Disney may never give us on disc.

The old Blu-ray wasn't perfect but it looked like film and in most setups with a gamma adjustment the slight overall darkness can be dealt with quite easily. The sharpening was not ideal but it came with a lot of detail and made this a very watchable disc especially with all sharpness in the...

Actually I wanted to know both :)

Hard to have a boost in real world resolution when the new Blu-ray already is much less detailed than the old Blu-ray - obviously it is not even maxing out the resolution potential of the Blu-ray format. That leaves HDR which may tip the scales if one is a big fan which I am not when it comes...

Thanks, that's too bad. I would probably feel similar so I will not get that version before Paramount revisits To Catch a Thief.

No misrepresentation intended - enjoy your 4k version!

OK, understood. It did not occur to me that you might like it so much that you do not even need to look at the old Blu-ray. Maybe somebody else who has seen several versions will chime in.

How was your impression compared to the two Blu-ray versions or if you only have one to that one? I see that you preferred it but does it look closer to the old or to the new Blu-ray and how is detail and film grain handled?

Those sunny exteriors could look fantastic. I would think it could look a bit crisper than Vertigo simply because of the way it was shot. I have no idea if that would be visible with the new 4k master as the current Blu-ray certainly doesn't give us any clues.

Hitchcock wanted it NOT blue but neutral. Then it turned out greenish but this is how it has always been - at most it should have been neutral as he explicitly did not want blue.

Yes, thankfully they did. I own it now and while it is a dated transfer that I believe came from MGM I still find it a lot more watchable. It needs a contrast boost though and all sharpening / edge enhancement circuits turned off as it already brings its own edge enhancement.

Zulu and The Italian Job are the two botched releases from new scans that I still remember very well, that was more than 10 years ago. Better not to go there again as I still feel that the scan that they used would have been good for a much better release of Zulu but instead they gave us this...

On the other Blu-ray nothing is missing in any of thoses frames. So it is not like the detail was always missing it is just that this time it was graded differently. I always thought that the old Blu-ray was a bit on the dark side so I will not claim it is perfection but it is certainly easier...

You're being kind as overall the DVD has more detail.

I'd like to think that there is not that much aversion against film grain. At least those who don't like it can look forward to a mostly grainless future and the digital filtering options on TV's are also getting better all the time which I consider perfect for people who want their movies to...

Yes there are people who do not like grain. But would they even consider to buy such an old movie on a Blu-ray disc? And even if they bought it would they even notice the very fine grain structure of To Catch a Thief if the grain was left alone? I would think that we are talking about very few...

Indeed I find it less likely that this is the reason for what we are seeing, just look at this cap from Grease: https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x=305&y=153&d1=11813&d2=7682&s1=116406&s2=73141&l=0&i=0&go=1 Doesn't look much different to me from what we see with To Catch a Thief. It is just...

If that is indeed true then they probably spent more time producing that little promotional / defense write-up than doing QC. It would also explain their claim that they did not have to use DNR - of course not if your scan is that much out of focus.

Yes they are, also to be seen here for example: https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x=174&y=383&d1=14150&d2=878&s1=144318&s2=8595&l=0&i=1&go=1 However this isn't unheard of with other releases like for example Hello, Dolly...

Caps-a-holic finally posted the new version, the work that Paramount stands by. Whatever caused the delay now everybody can see the amount of detail from that 6k scan that ended up on the disc: https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x=492&y=350&d1=14150&d2=878&s1=144323&s2=8602&l=0&i=6&go=1...

I'd say we are far from that. Issues could already be seen with the UHD releases of Grease and Forrest Gump and King Creole on Blu-ray does not seem to have fared very well either so this is a studio wide policy of "managing" grain that would have to be adressed. And then please fix all the...

Possibly but I leave it to others to get their hopes up.

"We stand by this restoration" says it all. Thanks for the update and the clarification with regard to what Paramount stands for as a studio.

One would think that with storage prices being as low as they are that the raw scans would always be kept and put away safely just in case something happens to the negative. Oh well, I hope that your contact is wrong about the raw scans being lost or at least I would hope they were only lost...

I can understand if a reviewer sees it and downplays it to a degree but basically not mentioning it makes a reviewer unfit for his job as there are actually people who care about a film-like presentation.

Especially considering this remark: [Editor’s Note: It appears that this new 4K transfer offers an altered color palette than the previous release, as well as a blatant use of noise removal. As such, our score has been adjusted to reflect this.] If the adjusted score is still B- then what has...