UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ Basic Instinct -- in 4k UHD (1 Viewer)

[JoshZ]

I don't know if the copy you reviewed contained the booklet that was in the UK box? There is a comprehensive explanation of the restoration process. It has a commendable amount of technical detail - a rarity from publishers.

The booklet was not included with the SteelBook copy, sadly.

I watched the movie in full last night. I personally did not see any DNR or frozen grain issues. I'm wondering if RAH can point to a scene where he found this problematic?

I thought the movie looked good overall, certainly far better than the smeary Blu-ray from Lionsgate. However, I agree with what Powell&Pressburger said above about the teal-and-orange color makeover. I didn't find it unbearable, but the colors don't look right to me. I'll also say that I didn't find anything "HDR" about the picture in the slightest. The contrast range is rather flat, with shallow blacks and no highlights of any note.

The 5.1 audio sounds very good for the most part, though it's almost completely devoid of bass. This stood out most in the nightclub scene, which should have a thumping bass beat in the music that's totally missing here.

Overall I'm happy with the disc, but I do think more could have been done.

 

[Dave H]

Does anyone know where this can be purchased at a 'decent' enough import price to the U.S.?

 

[JoshZ]

Does anyone know where this can be purchased at a 'decent' enough import price to the U.S.?

Zavvi sells it for £16.99 (about $24 currently), but you need to choose GBP as your currency and let your credit card do the conversion. This disc is not sold on the "U.S." version of the site even though Zavvi will ship to the U.S. if you order from the UK page.

Basic Instinct

Buy Basic Instinct from Zavvi, the home of pop culture. Take advantage of great prices on Blu-ray, 4K, merchandise, games, clothing and more!

www.zavvi.com

 

[GNR092789]

Zavvi sells it for £16.99 (about $24 currently), but you need to choose GBP as your currency and let your credit card do the conversion. This disc is not sold on the "U.S." version of the site even though Zavvi will ship to the U.S. if you order from the UK page.

Basic Instinct

Buy Basic Instinct from Zavvi, the home of pop culture. Take advantage of great prices on Blu-ray, 4K, merchandise, games, clothing and more!

www.zavvi.com

That's a standard Blu-ray based on the same restoration, and it's region B-locked. It's not a region-free 4K UHD disc, just FYI

The 4K disc seems to be sold out everywhere.

 

[Dave H]

Ugh, I just placed the order. Will send them an email to cancel.

 

[JoshZ]

That's a standard Blu-ray based on the same restoration, and it's region B-locked. It's not a region-free 4K UHD disc, just FYI

The 4K disc seems to be sold out everywhere.

Sorry, you're right. I didn't notice that.

IIRC, the only copies of the 4K released so far were a SteelBook or the "Collectors Edition" box set. It's s.o.p. for Studio Canal to start with fancy editions first and then release a copy in standard packaging after those sell out.

 

[Dave H]

So, I placed a cancellation immediately after ordering the (wrong) disc from the link above, Zavvi writes me back saying they do not allow cancellations. What kind of BS is that? On any rate, supposedly it already shipped (which I highly doubt this fast).

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Well you never have to buy from them again, so that's a kind of cancellation.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

That kind of thing is why I haven't tried Zavvi and others like them. But yeah, unless you stick w/ Amazon alone, few other etailers are all that great w/ that... although some at least have enough local presence (or free return shipping) to make returns easy enough...

_Man_

 

[JoshZ]

So, I placed a cancellation immediately after ordering the (wrong) disc from the link above, Zavvi writes me back saying they do not allow cancellations. What kind of BS is that? On any rate, supposedly it already shipped (which I highly doubt this fast).

I've canceled preorders with Zavvi before without issue, but I think once an item hits their shipping department it's too late to cancel. Most e-tailers have this problem, in my experience.

Sorry for posting that link. I should've looked closer at the listing.

If it's any consolation, the 4K disc has next to no sense of "HDR," and I suspect that a Blu-ray transferred from the same master will probably not look much different. If I get a chance, I'll try to take a look at the Blu-ray copy that came with the SteelBook and compare to the 4K.

 

[Dave H]

No worries, it happens. I should have looked closer myself. On any rate, maybe I can figure out how to unlock one of my Oppo BD players or Panasonic 820 to watch the BD. There is a simple trick that works on the 820 with some Region B locked titles from what I've read.

 

[JoshZ]

No worries, it happens. I should have looked closer myself. On any rate, maybe I can figure out how to unlock one of my Oppo BD players or Panasonic 820 to watch the BD. There is a simple trick that works on the 820 with some Region B locked titles from what I've read.

OPPO requires a hardware mod for Blu-ray region free, but it's very easy to install (no soldering required). Check jvbdigital.nl for mods for your model.

 

[sbjork]

OPPO requires a hardware mod for Blu-ray region free, but it's very easy to install (no soldering required). Check jvbdigital.nl for mods for your model.

And it's well worth the money. The external version takes all of two seconds to plug in. It takes longer to pull your player out of your rack than it does to plug it in.

 

[Malcolm R]

I think the Panasonic is just a remote hack. I have the 420, and used it to watch a Region B blu-ray a while back. I don't recall the exact procedure off the top of my head.

 

[Dave H]

I think the Panasonic is just a remote hack. I have the 420, and used it to watch a Region B blu-ray a while back. I don't recall the exact procedure off the top of my head.

Someone posted this on another forum in regards to the latest Panasonics.

The top menu trick (wait for the 'can't play disc screen, press stop, wait for the home screen, then press top menu two or three times) works a lot better - definitely works with discs that have special screens, such as Criterions.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Every time I see a new post in this thread I'm hoping it's about a US release.

 

[Chewbabka]

Every time I see a new post in this thread I'm hoping it's about a US release.

it may not happen. Glad I imported the French steelbook from FNAC before it went OOS. There will probably be a basic Euro release you can import in a few months.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I think the Panasonic is just a remote hack. I have the 420, and used it to watch a Region B blu-ray a while back. I don't recall the exact procedure off the top of my head.

Does it work for all region locked BDs though?

I seem to recall it doesn't work for all cases on older Panny players.

I have 2 diff Oppos and the Panny 420 (and a Sony X700 until recently). I usually just leave my Oppo 103 in region B for region B discs (and music discs, including some hirez discs) and use the (less expensive) 4K player as my main video player for region A BDs (and 4K discs of course). The other Oppo is a 95 I use at my desk (mainly w/ good headphones) for music only -- if the 103 dies at some point, I might move the 95 to the HT and maybe get something better for music at the desk, maybe even go streaming only...

_Man_

 

[Malcolm R]

Does it work for all region locked BDs though?

I seem to recall it doesn't work for all cases on older Panny players.

I have 2 diff Oppos and the Panny 420 (and a Sony X700 until recently). I usually just leave my Oppo 103 in region B for region B discs (and music discs, including some hirez discs) and use the (less expensive) 4K player as my main video player for region A BDs (and 4K discs of course). The other Oppo is a 95 I use at my desk (mainly w/ good headphones) for music only -- if the 103 dies at some point, I might move the 95 to the HT and maybe get something better for music at the desk, maybe even go streaming only...

_Man_

Not sure, as I don't usually buy discs that are region locked, but ended up with one from the UK that I was not aware was locked until the order was already processing. The info quoted above by Dave sounds like what I did, and it seemed to play fine. Don't know if that would work with all regions or locked discs.

 

[Dave H]

From what the other forum members stated, that Panny trick is hit and miss on Region locks.