Press Release Criterion Press Release: Criterion's first 4k UHD releases (1 Viewer)

[Josh Steinberg]

I'm curious whether 4K titles will bump DVD editions out of the collection, or whether there will simply be 3 formats available.

I’m going to guess 3 formats - DVD outsells the other two combined so I’m guessing that’s not something they’d want to give up.

 

[Bryan^H]

A 4K version of 'The Princess Bride' would tempt me to buy a Criterion 4K disc. Except, Criterion should have released a 4K version when it released the standard Blu-ray version. I ended up buying the iTunes version in 4K and it is gorgeous. There would have to be some very good supplements on a Criterion version to tempt me to pony up additional $$.

Mark

I got the 4K disc and was also very impressed. I've bought that title enough over the years that I don't need to know anymore about it. I'm good with what I have.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Curious if this is partly why Amazon seems to now (still) carry a fairly sizable bunch of Criterion BDs at ~1/2 price despite no B&N sale to pricematch anymore... That plus we also just had a $5 sale for some Criterion titles on iTunes a short bit ago...

But yeah, I definitely second the request for a proper OAR 4K release of The Last Emperor...

_Man_

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Piano and Menace II Society will probably be the weakest links in terms of sales. I can't wait to get Menace but I'd guess that's the title with the least appeal to the average Criterion buyer.

Ya think....

 

[titch]

I'm NOT buying them for that very reason. And then there'll be some other format and everyone can buy them all over again.

I have five of these six titles on laserdisc. If I was still watching laserdiscs on a 28 inch CRT TV, I'm quite sure I'd still be very happy with them. But I've ended up with a large screen at home and older blu-rays can look pretty horrible projected these days. I was watching Monty Python's Life Of Brian yesterday. This was a heavily praised (at the time), Sony remastered blu-ray from 2008. The picture now looks terrible - a smeary, DNR mess.

I think it's a good direction that UHD titles are now focussed on masters with native 4K scans from film elements - a lot of the early UHD titles - especially from Lionsgate - were just recycled HD masters with some HDR slathered over them. A nicely 4K remastered blu-ray looks wonderful uprezzed in 4K projection - a UHD provides only incremental improvements in picture quality at home. Mulholland Dr., A Hard Day's Night and the recent region B StudioCanal releases of Citizen Kane and The Piano on blu-ray all look really nice already. So in this bunch, the only ones I'd expect to have a major upgrade would be The Red Shoes and Menace II Society (great film, by the way!).

 

[titch]

And as I have said a million times by now, Janus' catalog ain't the most 4k friendly.

Ah - you might be surprised at how a battered old Janus classic might look with a fresh 4K scan - the 4K remastered The Seventh Seal in the Bergman box looked noticeably better than the 2009 version. Wait and see.

 

[Jeffrey D]

I don’t know if it’s appropriate, but a title I would love to see them do in a fresh upgrade would be Great Expectations. Why not? If Kane is getting a modern video release, maybe this will happen.

 

[Derrick King]

But yeah, I definitely second the request for a proper OAR 4K release of The Last Emperor...

_Man_

Arrow is working on a new 4K transfer of The Last Emperor.

 

[Lord Dalek]

Arrow is working on a new 4K transfer of The Last Emperor.

Arrow doesn't have the US rights so we'll see how that goes.

 

[ShellOilJunior]

I’m going to guess 3 formats - DVD outsells the other two combined so I’m guessing that’s not something they’d want to give up.

DVD is the top selling format in the industry but not within the Criterion niche.

Why Dual-Format?

We answer some questions about our decision to begin releasing dual-format editions, including both DVD and Blu-ray discs in one package.

www.criterion.com

 

[Derrick King]

Arrow doesn't have the US rights so we'll see how that goes.

No they don't. But UHDs are region free and Arrow sticks the extras on the UHD disc.

 

[Lord Dalek]

DVD is the top selling format in the industry but not within the Criterion niche.

Why Dual-Format?

We answer some questions about our decision to begin releasing dual-format editions, including both DVD and Blu-ray discs in one package.

www.criterion.com

The dual format thing was bound to fail. They made releases cost $10-15 more than normal.

 

[Panavision70]

I recently bought a 55" 4K television and I find my blu rays look excellent. My standard DVDs look soft. On what size screen does standard blu ray look soft? I don't have any 4K discs. But do have 3 4K movies on Itunes and they are impressive.

 

[Lord Dalek]

^There is no answer to that question. "Softness" is a factor inherent in film stock processing and production choices.

However blowing up standard def dvds (which are more like .89k) to 2160p is asking for trouble.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

^There is no answer to that question. "Softness" is a factor inherent in film stock processing and production choices.

However blowing up standard def dvds (which are more like .89k) to 2160p is asking for trouble.

Imagine the complaints about Geoffrey Unsworth lensed titles in 4K. Superman (1978) comes to mind.

"There's no detail here! It's so soft!"

Ummmmm..... that was the intent?

 

[Lord Dalek]

Imagine the complaints about Geoffrey Unsworth lensed titles in 4K. Superman (1978) comes to mind.

"There's no detail here! It's so soft!"

Ummmmm..... that was the intent?

I see your Unsworth and raise you Vilmos.

 

[Worth]

I recently bought a 55" 4K television and I find my blu rays look excellent. My standard DVDs look soft. On what size screen does standard blu ray look soft? I don't have any 4K discs. But do have 3 4K movies on Itunes and they are impressive.

We've been watching 2K films (only a hair sharper than 1080p) on IMAX screens for the past decade, and I haven't heard a lot of complaints.

 

[Worth]

Imagine the complaints about Geoffrey Unsworth lensed titles in 4K. Superman (1978) comes to mind.

"There's no detail here! It's so soft!"

Ummmmm..... that was the intent?

But Superman actually looks great in 4K.

 

[Lord Dalek]

But Superman actually looks great in 4K.

Doesn't matter, those were actual complaints from actual people who probably returned their 4k players to Best Buy or whatever.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I recently bought a 55" 4K television and I find my blu rays look excellent. My standard DVDs look soft. On what size screen does standard blu ray look soft? I don't have any 4K discs. But do have 3 4K movies on Itunes and they are impressive.

Don't worry about it. An excellent BD will still look excellent at 120" -- that's my current FP setup... although it's *only* w/ an Epson 5050 faux-K unit. Yeah, excellent 4K will look modestly sharper and more detailed from 10-11ft away, but I don't generally feel anything wanting w/ excellent BDs, except maybe the occasional blown highlights or crushed shadows. Sure, I'd rather have 4K (w/ appropriate usage of HDR) in at least some cases, but an excellent encoded transfer on BD is plenty good enough in most cases -- even a good 1080p transfer on one of the better digital streaming services can be good enough in many cases (and I've decided to go that route over the last year for at least some titles)... and I plan to remain subscribed to the Criterion Channel though it does sometimes seem like they could use higher bitrates and/or better encodes...

Usually, it really just comes down to the specifics of the available releases...

_Man_