UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ Almost Famous & Untitled Bootleg Cut -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Worth]

Yeah, I think most of the brand name 4K players, including the sub-$200 ones, do a decent enough job at it, *but* it does seem a tad tricky to get results equaling (or possibly bettering) a good BD counterpart on a 1080p display.

That's certainly the case w/ the sub-$200 Sony 4K players me thinks -- in general, I'd say I got slightly better results than the BD counterpart (from same transfer, not much older inferior one) in the large majority of cases, but not everyone might agree particularly about the HDR->SDR conversion... and it did require some tweaking as well as manual switching of profiles (that may not be nearly obvious/easy enough for many)...

It's a definite weakness of the format that there's no standardization of HDR handling/usage/implementation (that affects both 4K HDR and 1080p SDR output and whatever in between)...

_Man_

Before going fully 4K, I only bought discs that were a clear improvement over their blu-ray counterparts. But all things being equal, a blu-ray will tend to look better than a UHD disc (assuming they're from the same master) on a 1080p set.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

The UK standard 2 disc release seems to be one 4K disc and one Blu. The only place I've found the two cuts of the film on 4K is on that HMV, 4 disc, special set mentioned in my post 13 above.
I think this 'Outpost' is getting an inferior standard release

I'm not sure that's quite correct. I get the sense we over here are simply given only the one premium priced option (wrapped in a steelbook case I might actually prefer not), no standard edition at all... at least for now...

Granted, the price is not a huge premium, but maybe just $5-6 more than usual...

_Man_

 

[Colin Jacobson]

I don’t want this comment to sound akin to “let them eat cake,” but if someone will be upgrading, why not go for a 4k player in advance of a monitor? Aren’t the latest game consoles also 4k friendly?

Deleting because I misread the post. Oops!

 

[ArnoldLayne]

The argument over should the 1080 disc be included or not is pointless. (Especially on every other 4K release thread- it's been talked to death.) There's no single playbook the studios use to resolve the combinations of UHD vs new/ old 1080p. But in this case, there is a new 1080p disc, that should be a serious upgrade over the old disc, available for purchase for those who haven't chosen to upgrade their hardware. That can be celebrated because it's not always the case, many times there is no upgraded standard Blu-ray.

 

[B-ROLL]

I don’t want this comment to sound akin to “let them eat cake,” but if someone will be upgrading, why not go for a 4k player in advance of a monitor? Aren’t the latest game consoles also 4k friendly?

I understand the X-Box ONE-S doesn't do the 1080p downvert - I understand the X-Box ONE X does -but in either case you need to download the media player.

Sony PS 5 is hard to get and as I understand SONY sells 4K TV sets- and may not find a strategic advantage in providing the 1080p downvert.

The SONY XBP800 & I believe the later 700 do the conversion. The X800 is my primary 4K to 1080p player. I also have a Phillips(AKA Magnavox) 7502 which also does the conversion but not as well as the Sony.

In all cases you will need a 4K rated HDMI cable for them to work. Also you typically will get a screen nag saying that "To enjoy the full 4K experience you will need a 4K monitor."

 

[Dave H]

Aren't there issues with tone mapping when using a 4k player & UHD disc in a 1080p-only setup?

It depends.

The Lumagen and MadVr/Envy are the very best tone mapping standalone processors available. They also have excellent scaling and other features. But they are also very expensive or involve using an HTPC (no thanks!). After that, the Panasonic 420/820 (using SDR 2020 or SDR 709) is maybe the most feasible and cheapest option that works nicely for UHD BDs, but will not work well for streaming.

I currently use the 820 with my four-year-old JVC projector. I have been happy with the results. Prior, I had been using Arve custom curves (third party tool that allows for "curve" creations), the Panasonic UB900, and the Oppo 203. The 820 has been far superior. The 420 is notably cheaper than the 820 with the same tone mapping but it doesn't have Dolby Vision, but as a projector owner that is really of no concern for me.

If anyone is considering going front projection, the very latest 4K JVCs have very good built-in tone mapping which includes dynamic/frame by frame which is more ideal (the Panasonic players only doing static). You can also use it for all sources; disc, streaming, etc.

 

[Sam Favate]

Kind of annoyed that Amazon hasn't even given me an estimated delivery date for a disc that comes out today.

 

[Craig]

Amazon is not taking any further orders for the 4K Steelbook as of now. I'm wondering if reported problems with some of the Theatrical discs may be holding things up? Anyway, I've got the older Bootleg Cut on DVD and also a Blu-Ray version, so it's not critical but was looking forward to the 4K.

 

[Carlo_M]

It's unfortunate that with the decline of physical media sales, apparently companies are routinely now under-ordering new disc releases in anticipation that people don't really want physical media. I've had to "wait" and "hunt for" new disc releases more times in the last six months than I had in the previous 10 years combined. Each Best Buy near me, and I live in L.A. so about 10 show up in my "stores near me" screen, was either sold out or had one in stock but was 20 miles away. For those who know L.A. traffic, that could be an hour or more so I decided to order it online from BB. Just shipped but I was afraid they'd run out of stock and I'd have to wait weeks/months.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Some of that could be replication availability - apparently there are still capacity issues along with pandemic related delay issues that are affecting all titles out of the main plant, which is why some studios have shifted their release calendars for certain titles.

 

[Mark VH]

Got a shipping notification for my Blu-Ray copy today saying it’ll arrive tomorrow. For what that’s worth.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Amazon is not taking any further orders for the 4K Steelbook as of now. I'm wondering if reported problems with some of the Theatrical discs may be holding things up? Anyway, I've got the older Bootleg Cut on DVD and also a Blu-Ray version, so it's not critical but was looking forward to the 4K.

What issues with the theatrical 4K? What RAH mentioned in his initial post or something else?

 

[Robert Harris]

What issues with the theatrical 4K? What RAH mentioned in his initial post or something else?

My second sample did not have pixelation issues, but came up as SDR. Same as first.

 

[Paul Bosquet]

I watched the Bootleg cut with no issues, looked fantastic. I miss having a good sound system with this movie as I have vivid memories of first seeing and hearing it in L.A. at a theater with DTS. I did not watch the theatrical cut all the way through, but sampled multiple scenes and it also looked great with Dolbyvision and no pixelation. I did have to clean that disc as it was covered in some kind of dust, I've never seen a new disc so dirty upon opening the package. This is my first Steelbook case and I'm not really a fan of having to remove the disc on top to get to the bottom disc.

(Panasonic DP-UB820 UHD Player and TCL R635 6 Series 75")

 

[JoshZ]

This is my first Steelbook case and I'm not really a fan of having to remove the disc on top to get to the bottom disc.

Not all SteelBooks are like that, FYI. There are several different styles of plastic tray inside various SteelBook cases.

 

[Carlo_M]

Just got a pleasant surprise that my copy is out for delivery today, whereas the original estimated arrival date was next Tuesday. Fingers crossed, can't wait to hear the family whistle again...

 

[Sam Favate]

Grrr... my estimated arrival date is July 28-Aug 3.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

After a few delays, my copy from Amazon is scheduled for delivery tomorrow.

 

[David Deeb]

Does anyone know if all the bonus features from the 4K disc are also included in iTunes 4K extras?

I thought about getting the digital 4k of this on iTunes, but I can't tell if the bonus features of the 4K disc are included. It's about the same price as the disc anyway. (both the theatrical and the bootleg/directors cut are included)

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Does anyone know if all the bonus features from the 4K disc are also included in iTunes 4K extras?

I thought about getting the digital 4k of this on iTunes, but I can't tell if the bonus features of the 4K disc are included. It's about the same price as the disc anyway. (both the theatrical and the bootleg/directors cut are included)

Near as I can tell, yes, all the extras are included on the 4K theatrical version on iTunes (w/ the bootleg cut as a 1080p extra, including the commentary track, but no chapter stops).

IF you can wait, I'd recommend waiting for the next time there's a price drop. It'll likely drop down to $5 again at some point though you had just missed that a few weeks back, so it could be several months to a year before it drops quite that low again, but certainly, I'd wait at least a bit for it to drop back below $10 unless you really don't wanna wait at all...

_Man_