UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - Rocky: Ultimate Knockout Collection -- in 4k UHD (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Six motion pictures, released beginning in 1976 with the award-winning Rocky, and ending in 2006 with Rocky Balboa - together again for the first time in 4k UHD, supplanting the old Blu-ray collection.

To the point.

Is it worth the upgrade?

I believe so. The six films and their variants have been newly harvested, and the resultant 4k set is never less than superlative, replicating the appearance of an original OCN print. All with varying audio tracks which seem fine. As I recall, there may have been some problems with the older collection. I'm presuming that all is well here, but I don't have the hours necessary to do QC. Labs get paid to do that.

The first three films and the fifth, are in their original release formats, with Rocky IV inclusive of both the theatrical as well as the Director's Cut, and the sixth film is also inclusive of two cuts.

We won't discuss Creed (2015), Creed II (2018), and Creed III (2023), which neatly link up with the Marvel Universe, and have been covered in other threads.

Image - (Dolby Vision)

Forensic - 10
NSD - 10

Audio – 10 (DTS HD- MA 5.1)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 6 - 8

Worth your attention - 4.5 - 10

Slipcover rating - 1

RAH

 

[Bryan^H]

Sounds great. Thanks for the review.
I'll pick it up even though I hate 5, and Rocky Balboa is just extremely depressing.

 

[Osato]

Six motion pictures, released beginning in 1976 with the award-winning Rocky, and ending in 2006 with Rocky Balboa - together again for the first time in 4k UHD, supplanting the old Blu-ray collection.

To the point.

Is it worth the upgrade?

I believe so. The six films and their variants have been newly harvested, and the resultant 4k set is never less than superlative, replicating the appearance of an original OCN print. All with varying audio tracks which seem fine. As I recall, there may have been some problems with the older collection. I'm presuming that all is well here, but I don't have the hours necessary to do QC. Labs get paid to do that.

The first three films and the fifth, are in their original release formats, with Rocky IV inclusive of both the theatrical as well as the Director's Cut, and the sixth film is also inclusive of two cuts.

We won't discuss Creed (2015), Creed II (2018), and Creed III (2023), which neatly link up wit the Marvel Universe, and have been covered in other threads.

Image - (Dolby Vision)

Forensic - 10
NSD - 10

Audio – 10 (DTS HD- MA 5.1)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 6 - 8

Worth your attention - 4.5 - 10

Slipcover rating - 1

RAH

Thanks Robert!

I love the slipcover ratings too! Funny!

 

[Konstantinos]

So, I got this release and while in Rocky I could experience the mono audio from just the center speaker using DTS-HD + Neural:X in my DENON AVR, it seems in Rocky II I can't.
I see at imdb, and read that it had a Dolby stereo audio mix. Maybe that's why.
So, when I use either the Neural or the regular DTS-HD option, the audio (including the dialogue) bleeds in all the speakers. Is this supposed to be like this? Does anyone know?

 

[Into The Archives]

Rocky II was released initially with Dolby Stereo-A track in 35mm in 1979

 

[sbjork]

If you wanted the most "authentic" presentation of the original 4-channel Dolby mix, you would need an older decoder, Pro Logic I or earlier. Modern decoders/upmixers will redirect to all the available channels. Personally, I believe that the Dolby Surround upmixer is a little less aggressive and more natural than DTS. It certainly shouldn't spread the dialogue (unless you have Center Spread turned on). It's rarely distractingly unlike the original mix. But if you really, really want to be as authentic as you can with a modern processor, go into the settings and temporarily turn off the ceiling speakers and the rear surrounds so that you're just running L/C/R/LS/RS/Sub -- basically, go 5.1. (You'll have to leave the sub on if you don't have full range mains). The modern upmixer will still simulate split surrounds, so you can't go true mono on those, but it's otherwise the closest that you can get to the original sound.

 

[Robert Harris]

Rocky II was released initially with Dolby Stereo-A track in 35mm in 1979

Which decodes in a 5.1 bucket for home theater purposes. There’s no need for your processor to search its archives for ancient decoders.

Dolby SVA would have been mixed from stereo mags of varying formats.

 

[sbjork]

Which decodes in a 5.1 bucket for home theater purposes. There’s no need for your processor to search its archives for ancient decoders.

Dolby SVA would have been mixed from stereo mags of varying formats.

It doesn't actually decode to 5.1 with the current generation of Dolby Surround and DTS. Both of those will process to include whatever speakers that you have in your system. If you have a 7.1.4 or similar system, they'll decode the basic Dolby matrix, but then upmix those four channels to however many speakers that you have in the settings on the processor. You can't get 5.1 without turning off the extra channels or using a different decoder.

Which, for the record, isn't a problem by my reckoning. But it seems to bother some people who want a "purist" experience. But you can't get there from here anymore. Fortunately, the upmixing algorithms are really, really good these days (although I do still maintain that Dolby offers a subtler, more natural-sounding experience than DTS).

What really drives me batty is the people who claim that they are being purists because by insisting on listening to Dolby Stereo/Ultra Stereo in two-channel "like it was originally meant to be heard." But that's another story...

 

[Into The Archives]

Which decodes in a 5.1 bucket for home theater purposes. There’s no need for your processor to search its archives for ancient decoders.

Dolby SVA would have been mixed from stereo mags of varying formats.

Very true.

This was also a duel inventory release, with both Dolby and Mono prints stuck (we could say triple, as this also had a drive-in strike as well)- --I would assume the mono was a fold.