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

[dpippel]

Nothing counters obsessiveness like obsessively obsessing over someone else's obsessiveness.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

What purpose could making changes like this possibly serve, even in David Fincher's mind? This is beyond OCD and is straight into mental illness.

David Fincher goes full Fincher on Panic Room 4K. Check out his odd fixes

David Fincher has updated Panic Room for 4K in some pretty unique ways, including ironing out curtains and showing off Coke cans.

www.joblo.com

Only comment thus far on the above-mentioned article, but it's hilarious:

 

[TravisR]

Nothing counters obsessiveness like obsessively obsessing over someone else's obsessiveness.

Good thing that I'm not even remotely obsessing over it then.

 

[FincherFan]

with these changes, why would anyone ever want to see this film again? now the film makes no sense at all.

 

[WillG]

You can rationalize Alien 3 all you want but all I remember is leaving the theater with a knot in my stomach, angry that Newt and Ripley were killed. Hopeless, nihilistic and dark as night, and ultimately a complete betrayal to the franchise fans that no amount of DNA cloning could fix.

One of the problems with the story they went with in Alien 3 is that what could they do with Newt and Hicks. First of all Newt would have had to have been recast which in all likelihood would have been distracting, also what could they have done with her on a prison planet full of rapists. Hicks, he’s a good marine but he wouldn’t have been of much use on a prison colony with no firearms. Also he was pretty badly injured at the end of Aliens

 

[Matt Hough]

I just checked, and yes, it did. 4K DV Atmos.

Mine did, too. It hadn't upgraded when I watched it a couple of days ago, but I watched about fifteen minutes of it again tonight, and the DV and Atmos made a VERY big difference.

 

[Nelson Au]

My copy arrived today.

Here is the new Steelbook next to the Edison disc. Before I knew this release was going to be really released, I did re-watch the Edison disc last year or about a year ago. It was very watchable on my 83” 4K OLED.

I’m looking forward to see how the new 4K looks.

 

[tenia]

I don't know if I am in awe of or terrified of someone that notices straightened curtains or a changed ceiling texture. He (and it's definitely a guy) is a much more hardcore fan than I could ever be.

You can't imagine how many times I stumbled onto something weird without realising it was, and only because I thought it was an interesting frame to screencapture for completely different reasons.
In this case, I can imagine the first curtain cap having been taken simply because it allowed to show overall refinements in textures, delineation and color grading, but it turned out to also show this once turned into a A/B comparison.

Same goes for the ceiling and walls textures, especially because it seems at least a dozen of changes have been performed : you think it's just a good example of the differences, and oh wait, it also shows this.

As for the Coca-Cola change, it could very well be that since it happened on Se7en, the person thought it might have happened here again (and it did).

 

[Robert Harris]

My copy arrived today.

Here is the new Steelbook next to the Edison disc. Before I knew this release was going to be really released, I did re-watch the Edison disc last year or about a year ago. It was very watchable on my 83” 4K OLED.

I’m looking forward to see how the new 4K looks.
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There was never a problem with any of the final production Edison video gear. Those who have the 40” cylinder variant are still quite happy, as long as the playback bits are changed every 10-12 cylinders.

The so-called “Superbit” variant, which used a small flat disc, was known for Great Sound, Great Picture with a higher quality via double-walled tracking.

Neither compares to 4k UHD, however, as 4k has 3,200 times the resolution, and multiple factor bearing attributes.

 

[Nelson Au]

There was never a problem with any of the final production Edison video gear. Those who have the 40” cylinder variant are still quite happy, as long as the playback bits are changed every 10-12 cylinders.

The so-called “Superbit” variant, which used a small flat disc, was known for Great Sound, Great Picture with a higher quality via double-walled tracking.

Neither compares to 4k UHD, however, as 4k has 3,200 times the resolution, and multiple factor bearing attributes.

I’m glad that the 4K UHD has finally been released! I checked for reviews of the Superbit disc, hard to believe this was released in 2002 without any updates since, except the streaming option.

 

[JoshZ]

You can't imagine how many times I stumbled onto something weird without realising it was, and only because I thought it was an interesting frame to screencapture for completely different reasons.
In this case, I can imagine the first curtain cap having been taken simply because it allowed to show overall refinements in textures, delineation and color grading, but it turned out to also show this once turned into a A/B comparison.

Same goes for the ceiling and walls textures, especially because it seems at least a dozen of changes have been performed : you think it's just a good example of the differences, and oh wait, it also shows this.

What this suggests to me is that the changes are probably way more extensive than anyone yet realizes, and that pretty much any random scene you might stop to screencap for a DVD-to-4K picture quality comparison will wind up revealing a host of bizarre anomalies.

with these changes, why would anyone ever want to see this film again? now the film makes no sense at all.

You can scoff, but at this rate, Fincher will eventually replace all the original footage from one of his movies to completely redo it frame-for-frame with A.I. animation so that he can get every single pixel exactly as he wants it. At that point, are you even watching Panic Room or Fight Club or Se7en at all, or are you watching a remake?

Gus van Sant's 1998 version of Psycho is the same story and plot as Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 version, with a nearly line-for-line copy of the same script and shot-for-shot duplications of the same scenes. Yet somehow I don't see anyone saying they're the same movie and it doesn't matter which one you watch.

Fincher is driving us at breakneck pace to hit a similar point.

 

[JoshZ]

You can scoff, but at this rate, Fincher will eventually replace all the original footage from one of his movies to completely redo it frame-for-frame with A.I. animation so that he can get every single pixel exactly as he wants it. At that point, are you even watching Panic Room or Fight Club or Se7en at all, or are you watching a remake?

In fact, looking at this list of examples from the other Panic Room thread, I think he may have already gone and done exactly that!

Other little "fixes" by Mr. Fincher (comparisons from blu-ray.com).

Panic Room (2002) | Slowpoke Pics

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Sorry, I don't post more. You get the idea. Literally every shot is "fixed".
Now, I guess these are viewed without anyone realizing it, but this is not the point!

 

[FincherFan]

What this suggests to me is that the changes are probably way more extensive than anyone yet realizes, and that pretty much any random scene you might stop to screencap for a DVD-to-4K picture quality comparison will wind up revealing a host of bizarre anomalies.



You can scoff, but at this rate, Fincher will eventually replace all the original footage from one of his movies to completely redo it frame-for-frame with A.I. animation so that he can get every single pixel exactly as he wants it. At that point, are you even watching Panic Room or Fight Club or Se7en at all, or are you watching a remake?

Gus van Sant's 1998 version of Psycho is the same story and plot as Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 version, with a nearly line-for-line copy of the same script and shot-for-shot duplications of the same scenes. Yet somehow I don't see anyone saying they're the same movie and it doesn't matter which one you watch.

Fincher is driving us at breakneck pace to hit a similar point.

iinteresting… is this something he’s told you or are you just guessing? I’m only scoffing because it’s not the end of the world. It’s just a filmmaker who decided that they wanted to make some changes to a film THEY made that people may or may not like.

also, however “severe” these changes are, is it truly changing the film into something with a different story now? I suppose if he put Nicole back in, then it’s totally different.

otherwise, relax. If you hate it so much, just stick with the special edition DVD.

David Fincher is thankfully not like Gus Van Sant.

 

[Malcolm R]

I can't imagine any studio willing to pay for him to fix all these minor details. He must offer to do the work for free.

 

[JoshZ]

iinteresting… is this something he’s told you or are you just guessing?

I mean, look at what he's done here. When he's digitally painting a screw in the wood or an extra crack in the plaster for no discernible reason at all, what could possibly be driving him to do this? It looks like he's done that to almost every shot in the entire movie.

I’m only scoffing because it’s not the end of the world. It’s just a filmmaker who decided that they wanted to make some changes to a film THEY made that people may or may not like.

He's erasing the original film and replacing it with a simulacrum. I want to watch the original film, as Fincher made it and released it to theaters.

otherwise, relax. If you hate it so much, just stick with the special edition DVD.

Is that really supposed to be a satisfying option?

David Fincher is thankfully not like Gus Van Sant.

Thankfully? Gus Van Sant never pretended he was "fixing" the original Psycho. His remake was an intellectual experiment to find out if a shot-for-shot copy of a masterpiece would also be a masterpiece. It wasn't, and he acknowledged that failure and moved onto other things. Hitchcock's original Psycho was always available simultaneously with the remake and has outlasted it.

Meanwhile, Fincher is silently making all these "fixes" to Se7en and Panic Room and trying to gaslight the world into believing the movies have always been this way.

 

[FincherFan]

ok, ok.

keep obsessing over this like you feel that Mr. Fincher is over his past works.

 

[mskaye]

I can't imagine any studio willing to pay for him to fix all these minor details. He must offer to do the work for free.

I don't think a dime of this is coming out of his pocket.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Seems unfortunate that Fincher's retro massaging all(?) his films like that... though I have to admit I didn't really notice such from my viewing of Se7en in a 4K IMAX theatrical screening nor my brief sampling of (the opening scenes of) Panic Room in 4K digital via the ATV app on my new MacBook Pro -- haveta say I love how it looks on my new MBP. But I also definitely do not remotely have photographic memory or the like nor rewatched his films a ton to remember and notice.

I can appreciate the comparison to revisionism for other kinds of art works, but we probably should understand them all in well reasoned context methinks.

Most other works of art do actually change over time even w/out proactive revisionism... like celluloid would... and the needed preservation and/or restoration techniques probably do not yield 100% of the original... so change is essentially inevitable (at least in the analog realm) even though not proactive from the artist (or others). IF the artist wants his/her art to come as close as possible to his/her true original intentions in the digital realm, should we really deny him/her that? Of course, we might/can debate about his/her actual, true original intentions.

Ultimately, we really have no say other than the bits of banter here or there and voting w/ our wallets... and we each need to weigh for ourselves what exact compromises we are willing to accept and best enjoy...

In Fincher's cases, I might be inclined to just accept most of his revisionism and benefit from the new/latest 4K on disc while still keeping the old BD (and maybe even SuperBit DVD in this case) around -- yes, definitely own discs to be able to choose which exact compromised version one can/will revisit.

_Man_

 

[mskaye]

I mean, look at what he's done here. When he's digitally painting a screw in the wood or an extra crack in the plaster for no discernible reason at all, what could possibly be driving him to do this? It looks like he's done that to almost every shot in the entire movie.



He's erasing the original film and replacing it with a simulacrum. I want to watch the original film, as Fincher made it and released it to theaters.



Is that really supposed to be a satisfying option?


Thankfully? Gus Van Sant never pretended he was "fixing" the original Psycho. His remake was an intellectual experiment to find out if a shot-for-shot copy of a masterpiece would also be a masterpiece. It wasn't, and he acknowledged that failure and moved onto other things. Hitchcock's original Psycho was always available simultaneously with the remake and has outlasted it.

Meanwhile, Fincher is silently making all these "fixes" to Se7en and Panic Room and trying to gaslight the world into believing the movies have always been this way.

Speaking of gaslighting, you're kinda gaslighting all of us by making us feel that this is some major crime against cinema. He's fixing some things that bother him. He is retiming and regrading. He is not re-editing, reshaping, recasting and shooting new scenes that are inserted. It's not a new version. He is not sucking all the grain out of it and making it look like a video game. Damn, some of the late Billy Friedkin's color grading and timing experiments were way more egregious.

 

[Nelson Au]

I was wondering what all the fuss is about. I looked at the slowpoke link images. Looking at Forest Whitaker in the first screen grab and it looks like a much sharper image. I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. I only noticed the greener color grading. Then after I saw the post about cracks and screws, I looked at another screen grab and used the slider to look at the before and after. I see the screws now on the plate on the floor. That’s a small detail that was added. Not sure why the screws was added in, except maybe to add more visual detailing given the 4K capability. I looked at another image of Kristen Stewart with the dented metal thing next to her. Using the slider, I didn’t see anything added. It seems to me this is a very subtle bit of enhancement being done. Better than adding flying droids that come in front of the actors.