A Few Words About A few words about…™ Spartacus - in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[sbjork]

I expect that every home theater projector manufacturer will eventually implement similar features using their own proprietary algorithms, but JVC got there way ahead of anyone else and basically blindsided all of their competition.

I loved my RS-2000 prior to JVC's firmware update, but I was absolutely gobsmacked after installing it. A complete game changer for the projection world that yes, all other manufacturers should follow. It still is not the set-and-forget ideal that RAH has wished for, but I rarely do much tweaking with it. I watched the UHD for Spartacus last weekend and it looked spectacular set to Auto, as most UHDs do. The only recent exceptions for me have been all of the new Star Wars UHDs, which needed the level set to High or else they simply looked too dark and flat, but any recent UHDs from Universal, Sony, or WB has looked their best at default settings.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Tell you what, atcolomb, I will purchase a 4K/UHD of Spartacus and donate it to your library; if you can send me a PC with their exact address.

THIS Spartacus must be seen and shared with as many people as possible. It’s a true beauty.

Hmmm... maybe we should consider promoting such donations to libraries in general. Wonder if there could be enough to help meaningfully promote/bolster the 4K disc format/market... Ok, most likely not, but it'd be a nice wishful thought if it helps at all...

Wonder if the studios have ever considered something like that themselves...

_Man_

 

[PMF]

Hmmm... maybe we should consider promoting such donations to libraries in general. [...]
_Man_

Don’t know where I would’ve been were it not for my hometown library, during the heydays of VHS.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Looks like a good week to add to my movie collection. Today i will get the 4k discs of Spartacus and Flash Gordon and later this week the Blu-ray edition of Wake Island.

 

[john a hunter]

You lucky bugger as we say Down Under!!!!
I'm still waiting for Spartacus which as not been released here and goodness knows when it will get here.
Mask of Zoro and Last Valley are still missing in action now for nearly 3 months.
Flash Gordon is due for release here shortly so that may help me keep my sanity.
This pandemic has much to answer for!!!

 

[tns49]

You lucky bugger as we say Down Under!!!!
I'm still waiting for Spartacus which as not been released here and goodness knows when it will get here.
Mask of Zoro and Last Valley are still missing in action now for nearly 3 months.
Flash Gordon is due for release here shortly so that may help me keep my sanity.
This pandemic has much to answer for!!!

Remember UHD's are Region Free so you can order from elsewhere if it hasn't been released where you are.

 

[john a hunter]

Have tried that :Spartacus from UK and Zoro from US.
Still waiting for both!!!

 

[john a hunter]

Well Spart arrived yesterday and it was certainly worth the waiting pain!
Stunning transfer and if you are on the fence about a purchase,JUMP!!
You won't regret it.

 

[Robert Harris]

Typical crops for TLA:

Cropped image:

Uncropped image:

Note ladder at top of frame left.

 

[Paul Rossen]

Well Spart arrived yesterday and it was certainly worth the waiting pain!
Stunning transfer and if you are on the fence about a purchase,JUMP!!
You won't regret it.

I also took the plunge just to hear the Alex North score in the best rendering it will ever get on home theater. Since I am not 4k uhd ready I tested the first few minutes of the film on my trusted Pioneer Elite Kuro 60 inch set through my Panasonic UHD 9000. As expected the image was too
dark.

 

[willyTass]

I too use a kuro. The Panasonic 9000 has a multitude of settings to make Spartacus look perfect on a plasma

 

[Paul Rossen]

I too use a kuro. The Panasonic 9000 has a multitude of settings to make Spartacus look perfect on a plasma

Thanks... I wouldn’t know where to start but I’ll investigate.

 

[willyTass]

Thanks... I wouldn’t know where to start but I’ll investigate.

when i get home tonight ill post which ones



EDIT : in remote press “picture settings “ then select Optimum HDR Adjustment

then select DR (dynamic range ) Conversion Adjustment

default is zero

if Spartacus UHD appears to dark , as it may with a low NITS tech like plasma , go to +2 to +4

then Spartacus will be “less dark” on a plasma

 

[OliverK]

Typical crops for TLA:

Cropped image:
View attachment 78385

Uncropped image:

Note ladder at top of frame left.
View attachment 78386

Thanks, this is very interesting - practically no cropping at the bottom, very little on the left, more on the right and the most at the top.
Would this usually be adjusted for different shots or kept fairly constant?

 

[Paul Rossen]

Thanks, this is very interesting - practically no cropping at the bottom, very little on the left, more on the right and the most at the top.
Would this usually be adjusted for different shots or kept fairly constant?

Wouldn't the cropping decisions be shot dependant?

 

[Robert Harris]

Wouldn't the cropping decisions be shot dependant?

No. They would have been optical printer settings. Keep in mind that if 8-perf prints were ever to be made, the track is at the top. Unaware of any TLA 35mm/8 prints.

 

[Paul Rossen]

when i get home tonight ill post which ones



EDIT : in remote press “picture settings “ then select Optimum HDR Adjustment

then select DR (dynamic range ) Conversion Adjustment

default is zero

if Spartacus UHD appears to dark , as it may with a low NITS tech like plasma , go to +2 to +4

then Spartacus will be “less dark” on a plasma

Made the adjustments and wow is all I can say. I don/t recall Spartacus ever looking like this(more like the blu ray) but the colors popped as never before and the image vastly improved over the blu ray.

Many thanks for your help!!!

 

[benbess]

I was quite happy with the 2015 blu-ray release of Spartacus, and so it's taken me a while to upgrade to this 4k release. But this is an upgrade for this masterpiece, because in close-ups there is more fine detail, and overall it just looks more like film. There's a fine grain structure that makes it seem like you are seeing a pristine 70mm print.

My opinion of this movie goes up every time I experience it so far. In fact, it's now my favorite film directed by Kubrick. I still greatly admire Dr. Strangelove, 2001, The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, etc., and there are individual scenes in those movies that are amazing, but overall as a complete movie this tops those movies for me. I realize it's only half of a Kubrick movie, because of the collaboration with Douglas, Trumbo, and the often difficult and talented actors, but probably that's what makes it my favorite.

And what a tragic story. I can think few movies this tragic have been such big hits. Each time I watch I weep slightly during those crucial scenes at the end. It's rather uncompromising, which is a hallmark of Kubrick. And each time I watch it I'm more impressed by the towering performances from Lawrence Olivier, Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, Jean Simmons, Kirk Douglas, and Tony Curtis.

Lawrence Oliver's line deliveries have a reality that can be chilling. Such as....

Spoiler

Marcus Licinius Crassus ]: In every city and province, lists of the disloyal have been compiled. Tomorrow they will learn the cost of their terrible folly... their treason.
Gracchus : And where does my name appear on the list of disloyal enemies of the state?
Marcus Licinius Crassus : First. Yet, I have no desire of vengeance upon you. Your property shall not be touched. You will retain the rank and title of a Roman Senator. A house... a farmhouse in Picenum has been provided for your exile. You may take your women with you.
Gracchus : Why am I to be left so conspicuously alive?
Marcus Licinius Crassus : Your followers are deluded enough to trust you. I intend that you shall speak to them tomorrow for their own good, their peaceful and profitable future. From time to time thereafter, I may find it useful to bring you back to Rome to continue your duty to her, to calm the envious spirit and the troubled mind. You will persuade them to accept destiny and order....

Julius Caesar : [about Spartacus] Did you fear him, Crassus?
Marcus Licinius Crassus : Not when I fought him, I knew he could be beaten. But now I fear him, even more than I fear you.
Julius Caesar : Me?
Marcus Licinius Crassus : Yes, my dear Caesar, you.

Julius Caesar : Rome is the mob.
Marcus Licinius Crassus : No! Rome is an eternal thought in the mind of God.
Julius Caesar : I'd no idea you'd grown religious.
Marcus Licinius Crassus : [laughs] It doesn't matter. If there were no gods at all I'd still revere them. If there were no Rome, I'd dream of her.

Marcus Licinius Crassus : The enemies of the state are known, arrests are being made; the prisons begin to fill.

This performance is equalled by the cynical humanity of Charles Laughton's Gracchus....

Julius Caesar : I thought you had reservations about the gods.
Gracchus : Privately I believe in none of them - neither do you. Publicly, I believe in them all.

Gracchus : This republic of ours is something like a rich widow. Most Romans love her as their mother, but Crassus dreams of marrying the old girl, to put it politely.

Gracchus : Don't you be so stiff-necked about it. Politics is a practical profession. If a criminal has what you want, you do business with him.

Batiatus : Anyone who believes I'll turn informer for nothing is a fool. I bore the whip without complaint.
Gracchus : Indeed, that sounds like a bad attack of dignity.
Gracchus : Dignity and honesty in one afternoon. I hardly recognize you.

Gracchus : Will you please leave, before the soldiers get here? [an overcome Varinia embraces Gracchus]
Gracchus : Oh....this would make Crassus really jealous. Go now, and make my joy complete. Save your tears now. Save them for the journey.

Gracchus : [Looking at two daggers, picks one] Prettier...

Gracchus : [deleted scene] [last words to his maid Julia] The new master of Rome will be calling on me tomorrow, he wants me to make a speech. Take him to wherever I am and show me to him. And Julia, when I meet you in paradise, describe to me the expression on his face when he saw me dead. Now go away.

 

[Bartman]

I've been watching the Starz TV series, Spartacus: Blood & Sand on Blu-ray and it pales in comparison with the original. Of course, if you'd never seen the original S:B&S might seem OK. The Blu-ray set video & audio is extremely good. I made it thru disc 1&2 but it stretches out the original story far too far and I gave up at that point.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I've been watching the Starz TV series, Spartacus: Blood & Sand on Blu-ray and it pales in comparison with the original. Of course, if you'd never seen the original S:B&S might seem OK. The Blu-ray set video & audio is extremely good. I made it thru disc 1&2 but it stretches out the original story far too far and I gave up at that point.

Sandals, shorts, and togas are worn in both. Beyond that I wouldn’t compare them.