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

[Josh Steinberg]

If you could also report here whether the 3D disc has a variable aspect ratio or is constant 2.35:1, that would be a big help too. Thanks.

Happy to. Will most likely be variable - all MCU 3D discs of films with variable IMAX in theaters have retained it on disc. Only time it’s not retained is when IMAX version has non-variable IMAX ratio unchanging throughout film, in those cases standard 2.40:1 is what’s on disc.

 

[DanH1972]

I don't see how a Disney Atmouse mix would ever warrant a score of 5. But that's just me.

 

[Santee7]

Chloe Zhao set out to make the Ben-Hur of comic book movies and ended up producing Heaven's Gate instead.

however I actually love Heaven's Gate.

 

[sbjork]

I don't see how a Disney Atmouse mix would ever warrant a score of 5. But that's just me.

It's above average for Disney. Still mastered at too low of a level, but it has some dynamic impact with the volume tuned up, and deeper bass than any other Disney/Marvel title in recent memory.

 

[sbjork]

I think the criticism of "too dark" is particular to the HDR color grading on the 4K release (both D+ and physical). There's a good chance that SDR blu-ray editions (3D or 2D) will look better.

I just put the Blu-ray in to compare on my projector, and it's definitely less dark than the HDR grade on the UHD, even with my tone mapping level set to high.

 

[Kevin Fox]

...I presume that Marvel completists will need a copy...

Indeed. The only reason I picked this up, as I've been collecting all the Marvel films in steelbooks. I still am not sure I should have bothered.

 

[Jeff Cooper]

Before reading any of the discussion here about the darkness, I too, also thought while watching it 'I don't remember this looking this dark in the theater'.

 

[dpippel]

I wonder how the disc compares to the stream on Disney+?

 

[sbjork]

I wonder how the disc compares to the stream on Disney+?

If no one else answers that, I'll check when I get home this afternoon. Since I always watch movies via disc instead of streaming, sometimes I forget that I have Disney+ because it came with my Verizon deal. I'll take a three-way gander between that, the UHD, and the Blu-ray.

 

[Lord Dalek]

I wonder how the disc compares to the stream on Disney+?

Well the ratio isn't constantly shifting.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I wonder how the disc compares to the stream on Disney+?

If no one else answers that, I'll check when I get home this afternoon. Since I always watch movies via disc instead of streaming, sometimes I forget that I have Disney+ because it came with my Verizon deal. I'll take a three-way gander between that, the UHD, and the Blu-ray.

Please do take a look, but I suspect the 4K disc is superior to the 4K stream due to less compression.

 

[sbjork]

Please do take a look, but I suspect the 4K disc is superior to the 4K stream due to less compression.

Agreed. I was focusing on the question regarding the darkness of the HDR grade on the UHD.

 

[dpippel]

Well the ratio isn't constantly shifting.

Yes, but I was really talking about its overall look since the HDR grading on the disc is generating so many complaints of being too dark. The D+ stream is Dolby Vision and can be viewed with or without the shifting IMAX ARs.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The HD version on D+ was very dark - but more than just being dark, it was indistinct. However, that’s Ben Davis for you. Age of Ultron, which he also shot, had a very similar visual palette. It is always an overcast day in a Ben Davis picture.

 

[JoshZ]

Happy to. Will most likely be variable - all MCU 3D discs of films with variable IMAX in theaters have retained it on disc. Only time it’s not retained is when IMAX version has non-variable IMAX ratio unchanging throughout film, in those cases standard 2.40:1 is what’s on disc.

The 3D Blu-ray of Spider-Man: Far from Home is 2.35:1 with no variable ratio. The VAR version is only available in the "IMAX Enhanced" streaming version.

 

[jayembee]

I doubt I would buy a copy on 4K, but that pretty well goes for any Disney product now. No point buying a physical copy when a person can watchost of their more well known and new fare on Disney+.

I might be inclined to agree. Except that I still have concerns about whether some time down the road, Disney/Marvel might have an inclination to make changes, and keep the original version out of circulation. I don't mean just specifically this movie, but any movie of theirs. Some folks are still feeling burned about the original versions of the original Star Wars trilogy, for example (although it wasn't Disney in this case), or the "censored" versions of Fantasia and Make Mine Music (definitely Disney in this case).

That said, count me in the group that liked Eternals. I didn't think it was in the top tier of MCU films, but I don't think it deserves the drubbing it gets.

 

[sbjork]

The Disney+ version is still dark, but it does seem just a tad brighter than the HDR grade on the UHD -- with the caveat that the shifting aspect ratios makes that a little difficult to judge, as more image area naturally seems brighter. It still seems like there might be a little more dynamic range to the streaming version, with slightly better perceived contrast, though it's still relatively flat with elevated black levels. That's comparing HDR10 to HDR10, of course, since I can't do Dolby Vision on a projector. But I did set JVC's tone mapping to high to match what I had to do with the UHD.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The 3D Blu-ray of Spider-Man: Far from Home is 2.35:1 with no variable ratio. The VAR version is only available in the "IMAX Enhanced" streaming version.

That’s not a Disney release.

 

[jayembee]

I wouldn't exactly call myself a fanboy, but I've enjoyed all of them to varying degrees, and loved quite a few of them. On my last run through the series, I even had to admit that Iron Man 2, Thor: The Dark World, and The Incredible Hulk were hardly as bad as I had previously thought. They're still the weakest in the franchise to me, with plenty of issues, but they all have some redeeming qualities.

I feel exactly the same way about these same three films. They are still the three films at the bottom of the MCU list in my opinion, but I've learned to appreciate what I like about them more than get annoyed by what I don't like about them.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

The D+ stream is Dolby Vision and can be viewed with or without the shifting IMAX ARs.

I don’t understand why this isn’t more widely known - lots of complaints from people in this thread about shifting aspect ratios and yet it seems no one bothers to choose the version that doesn’t feature them.