A few words about...™ Poltergeist -- in 4k UHD Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Noel Aguirre]

I haven’t opened my Best Buy steelbook, was intending to wait until closer to Halloween. Am rethinking it at least to the extent of checking for the potential glitch. So if multitudes of buyers experience the same frozen picture at the same spot with different brands of players, but not everyone has it happen, or if it happens with the same disc but not every time, what’s the remedy? Obviously it likely wouldn’t help to return it to the physical or online store for replacement. How widespread would the problem discs have to be for a factory exchange or repressing? I went through the 4K Psycho replacement procedure, and it was smooth and easy (unlike the Criterion Citizen Kane Blu-ray fiasco - since it didn’t impact the 4K disc I didn’t bother). Guess time will tell how Warner Bros. addresses this.

If you take it back to BB you won’t get an exchange as they are sold out of steels. Just a refund. Btw what was the Psycho issue? I have the release and interested. Hopefully you’ll get an exchange from WB for Poltergeist.

 

[uncledougie]

If you take it back to BB you won’t get an exchange as they are sold out of steels. Just a refund. Btw what was the Psycho issue? I have the release and interested. Hopefully you’ll get an exchange from WB for Poltergeist.

Yes, am aware it’s sold out at BB. I was lucky to find my one lone copy left. With Psycho it was a matter of the mono track not being from the original stems but apparently (as I understood it) was a fold down mono track taken from the surround mix that had been created decades later. So details on the music and effects track didn’t match the 1960 monaural soundtrack. Universal fairly promptly acknowledged the problem and with emailed proof of purchase sent replacement discs in the mail. I actually ended up getting two replacement sets, possibly because the first replacement sent still wasn’t correct. Anyway I replaced the discs in my box set with the final set received. That’s how releasing companies should handle this kind of issue, not ask for the customer to physically destroy the disc (risking injury) as Criterion did (when this time it was a video error instead of audio).

 

[Lee Sandersen]

This film just screams upper middle class America of the early 80s. Makes me homesick for something I didn't even have at the time. Remember seeing it the first time on The Movie Channel, not even in a theater. It was on my 19 inch Wards Airline TV. Despite that, it scared the Dickens out of me. A great movie, Spielberg was in great form. To this day, it still does. I have a home theater system in my basement with all the goodies, 120 inch screen, great seating, two subs. A wonderful place to watch movies, but this one is so scary, it is hard to turn down the lights!

 

[Robert Harris]

I'm not keeping track because I don't have a player but I frequently see people in UHD threads say that "My disc didn't work" or "My disc skips at X:XX" or "I had to return my copy two times to get one that worked." It never seems widespread but that it happens enough that I notice it is waaaaaay too much.

I’ve only found problems with discs. Not the players. Except the original toy Samsung.

 

[Mark Booth]

My 4K disc arrived today. When I entered the digital code in Vudu the 4K version also popped up in my iTunes account (thanks to Movies Anywhere). Frankly, I'd rather watch the 4K Dolby Vision version via iTunes but I'll give the disc a spin to make sure it plays okay on my overpriced Panasonic UB9000 player. You know, the player that powers down after 20 minutes on pause whether the user wants it to or not. Piece of crap. I'll NEVER buy another Pansonic product.

Mark

 

[Mark Booth]

Watched the whole 4K disc, no issues. Good looking disc, but it is a film from the 80's, after all, so don't expect miracles.

I compared the disc to the iTunes 4K. It is hard to A/B them quickly because the Panasonic won't hold pause when I switch HDMI inputs on my AVR (the player stops the disc), but the 4K Dolby Vision digital seems a tad brighter.

Edit: I fired up the Blu-ray from the 25th Anniversary Digibook release. Frankly, it looks pretty darn good on its own. The 4K is an improvement but not a huge one. I'd have been fine just spending $9.99 for the iTunes version.

Mark

 

[Robert Crawford]

I played the 4K disc on my Panny 820 player without any issues. Tomorrow, I'll try my other Oppo 203 player in my main HT setup.

No issues with my second Oppo 203 player.

 

[Tino]

So apparently isolated incidents and nothing much to worry about. Good news.

 

[Powell&Pressburger]

So apparently isolated incidents and nothing much to worry about. Good news.

Except if you are an owner of a disc that freezes.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Except if you are an owner of a disc that freezes.

Correct which is why I took the time to watch it on all of my 4K players. I wanted to be sure that I didn’t have a defective disc.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Watched the whole 4K disc, no issues. Good looking disc, but it is a film from the 80's, after all, so don't expect miracles.

That's J-D-C Scope for ya. Awful awful process.

 

[Tino]

Except if you are an owner of a disc that freezes.

Of course.

 

[Felix Martinez]

Yep, Oppo 203 here and it is freezing at 13:52, after several seconds it skips to 13:55 and keeps playing. Not the steelbook.

My second copy worked flawlessly on both my Oppo 203s.

 

[RetroGuy]

Just checked my copy and it freezes on my Oppo 203 then jumps ahead. On my Panasonic UB820 it plays fine. I have the non-steelbook version.

 

[WillG]

I also attest to the 13:52 issue (non steelbook) on my Oppo. Only a couple of seconds for me, but it’s there

 

[Christian D66]

I didn't see POLTERGEIST in the theater despite reading much about it Fangoria, etc. I saw THE ROAD WARRIOR opening weekend and POLTERGEIST was playing next door and I did smile at the constant screams so it clearly scared them...POLTERGEIST is fun and worked great for me on HBO when I did see it. There's a Tobe Hooper intensity with Spielberg's suburban aura that works well.

And anybody notice that they mention Carol Ann's "lifeforce" -- the title of Hooper's next film?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Please, there is no need to get into arguments. This thread is about Poltergeist 4K/UHD. Any in-depth discussion about other 4K title issues and specific 4K players regarding those other titles should take place in other more appropriate threads.

 

[Kaskade1309]

That's why I had said in retrospect, I shouldn't have mentioned those other titles or issues with the specific player; it was my mistake in my original post. I was only bringing it up because it was becoming frustrating to constantly experience these issues, but with specific regard to Poltergeist, I see now that others are having issues with freezing discs.

I didn't realize I was getting into an argument by asking the gentleman what he was "shaking his head" over exactly.

In getting back to the Hooper/Spielberg classic, I also happened to read reports of certain owners experiencing the issues once they play the disc more than once -- which is PRECISELY what happened in my case. The disc didn't exhibit any freezing the first time we played it, but upon SECOND viewing last night, it began to act up.

Can anyone else here confirm that? Why would a disc behave in such a way, taking more than one play to begin making a player wig out?

 

[uncledougie]

Still have not checked my steelbook copy but I’ve read other postings that say it freezes intermittently at the trouble spot in question, or does so more on one machine than another. No idea why that kind of anomaly would be the case.

 

[Kaskade1309]

That would/should be very concerning if it's not just isolated to your case... Did you touch/handle the disc between the 2 viewings? IF yes, maybe the disc got dirty (enough) or something from your handling in between? I'd doublecheck and make sure it's clean(ed) and try again a couple times, particularly at the same specific spots, especially the one others are reporting (as noted in earlier posts)...

_Man_

I noticed that on Blu-ray.com, owners are discussing the fact that these issues are indeed occurring after the first viewing -- which is really weird, if you ask me (so it's not only happening to my disc; you can check this out in the thread for the title if you dare visit that cancerous outhouse of a forum...I only went on when it picked up information during a Google search).

I never touch the playing surface of any of my media, and didn't do it in the case of Poltergeist (between viewings). I would have no problem with cleaning the disc, it's just that when I tried this last time with a title that was pixelating and breaking up (Bad Boys for Life), the cleaning didn't help.