A Few Words About A few words about...™ Ghost in the Shell (2017) -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Although there's much more going on here, I was aware that Rupert Sanders' Ghost in the Shell, now released on 4k by Paramount, was based, at least in part, upon comics or graphic novels, and the 1995 animated feature by Mamoru Oshii.

But until I checked I was unaware of the varied productions, inclusive of a TV series that also existed, along with yet another animated feature, released in 2015.

I had never seen the animated film, which means that I entered the futuristic world clean.

While the tale takes a few minutes to get going, and most of it before one understands what's occurring and why, there's an almost constant undercurrent of visuals, so incredibly dense and detailed, that some viewers may find their brains going into overload.

What we see of the dense world in which Scarlet Johansson's cyborg with a human brain exists, makes that in the original Blade Runner almost bucolic in comparison.

Once the viewer has an understanding of what's occurring, the film takes off, leading to a rich and rewarding 106 minutes.

Paramount's 4k with HDR works beautifully in projection, with zero problems, the original Arri 5k files, taken to a 2k DI, with a great deal of information still accessible.

Dolby Atmos rounds out the package, presently a huge soundstage, with precisely places audio.

A beautifully produced, and thought-provoking production.

Image - 5

Audio - 5 (Dolby Atmos)

Pass / Fail - Pass

Recommended

RAH

 

[moovtune]

Skull Island and now this - two more 4K releases from 2K masters. When are the studios going to start creating 4K masters from 4K or higher filmings. It's been over a year now we've had UHD discs and the majority are not real 4K's. I realize HDR is a big selling point but come on now - 4K should be 4K. I have a 4K player and quite a few discs but not as many as I would have if they were actual 4k's. My projector does a great job of upconverting my 2K blu-rays so I don't need to pay extra to have someone else do it for me.

 

[dpippel]

I agree with you, but 4K UHD is about much more than resolution. You mentioned HDR but didn't touch on the wider BT.2020 color gamut vs. the Rec.709 for 1080p Blu-ray. For me that's a huge positive factor for 4K UHD releases, whether they're sourced from 4K masters or not.

 

[Robert Harris]

Skull Island and now this - two more 4K releases from 2K masters. When are the studios going to start creating 4K masters from 4K or higher filmings. It's been over a year now we've had UHD discs and the majority are not real 4K's. I realize HDR is a big selling point but come on now - 4K should be 4K. I have a 4K player and quite a few discs but not as many as I would have if they were actual 4k's. My projector does a great job of upconverting my 2K blu-rays so I don't need to pay extra to have someone else do it for me.

Shooting and mastering to final in 4k is quite expensive, as it affects numerous budget lines.

It's more than data wrangling.

 

[DavidMiller]

Skull Island and now this - two more 4K releases from 2K masters. When are the studios going to start creating 4K masters from 4K or higher filmings. It's been over a year now we've had UHD discs and the majority are not real 4K's. I realize HDR is a big selling point but come on now - 4K should be 4K. I have a 4K player and quite a few discs but not as many as I would have if they were actual 4k's. My projector does a great job of upconverting my 2K blu-rays so I don't need to pay extra to have someone else do it for me.

My best guess 3D is holding us back... Both of those movies had converted 3D presentations. I read this is why all the Disney movies except one have 2K DI. They would have to store two if they wanted a 4K DI. So sooner 3D dies sooner we can have all 4K DI. This is all guessing but if you look at all the movies that have 4K DIs they did not have a 3D theater presentation.

 

[Lord Dalek]

My best guess 3D is holding us back... Both of those movies had converted 3D presentations. I read this is why all the Disney movies except one have 2K DI. They would have to store two if they wanted a 4K DI. So sooner 3D dies sooner we can have all 4K DI. This is all guessing but if you look at all the movies that have 4K DIs they did not have a 3D theater presentation.

Exactly. 4K and 3D are inherently incompatible with each other. This is why the latter needs to die if UHD is ever expected to be used to its fullest.

 

[Edwin-S]

I'm trying to figure out why these 4K HDR discs are playing so dark. On one hand, the UHD discs look more natural in colour. On the other, it feels like there is a lot of shadow detail that is being lost because the image is always so dark. The standard blu-rays are brighter and it looks like you can see more apparent detail in shadowed parts of the picture.

On the UHD disc, the spider tank scene plays so dark that details, such as the mottling on the tank, almost completely disappears compared the standard blu.

 

[Edwin-S]

Exactly. 4K and 3D are inherently incompatible with each other. This is why the latter needs to die if UHD is ever expected to be used to its fullest.

Exactly how is 3D incompatible with 4K? 4K DI's would have actually benefited 3D presentations if it had been put in the spec. 2K DIs are not being made because of 3D. They are being made because studios are inherently cheap, and making a 2K DI is most likely considerably cheaper than one in 4K.

To me. studios don't want to fork out money for a 4K DI when most theatres are only equipped to project 2K. It has nothing to do with 3D.