UHD Review Dune (Limited Edition) – UHD Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[OliverK]

Lynch threw a fit a couple years ago when Universal licensed the Blu-ray rights for Lost Highway to Kino Lorber rather than Criterion, and I think the studio brass acquiesced on the Dune TV cut to throw him a bone and calm him down.

Indeed I would have preferred for Criterion to have a go at Lost Highway, there isn't really a satisfactory version out there right now.

 

[Vincent_P]

The difference between the Arrow 4K and the older Universal Blu-ray is pretty massive:

Dune • US Ultra HD Blu-ray vs. US Blu-ray

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Vincent

 

[JoshZ]

The difference between the Arrow 4K and the older Universal Blu-ray is pretty massive:

Dune • US Ultra HD Blu-ray vs. US Blu-ray

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I'm not seeing a massive difference. Even in those screengrabs, it's a pretty modest improvement in detail in most shots, with more prominent grain.

 

[Vincent_P]

Are you serious? Look at the Emperor's robe and armband. On the Universal, it looks like he has single-colored band patterns on them, on the UHD you can see three distinct bands making up each of those. The Universal looks like it's out of focus in comparison (not to mention the very clear edge-enhancement on the Uni). Look at the details on his throne. There's a very clear, obvious uptick in detail on the Arrow 4K- not just "the grain"- and minus the video artifacts of the Universal.

Dune • US Ultra HD Blu-ray vs. US Blu-ray

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Vincent

 

[Lord Dalek]

There's only so much you can do with Todd-AO 35. Bad lenses and all that.

But yeah less DNR on the Arrow, obviously. Fine Detail isn't that much better but then again it never was.

 

[JoshZ]

Are you serious? Look at the Emperor's robe and armband. On the Universal, it looks like he has single-colored band patterns on them, on the UHD you can see three distinct bands making up each of those. The Universal looks like it's out of focus in comparison (not to mention the very clear edge-enhancement on the Uni). Look at the details on his throne. There's a very clear, obvious uptick in detail on the Arrow 4K- not just "the grain"- and minus the video artifacts of the Universal.

Dune • US Ultra HD Blu-ray vs. US Blu-ray

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Vincent

I didn't say it wasn't better, just that I don't think it's as massive an improvement as you do. Especially not during real playback. Sorry.

As to the details on the robe and the throne, the same difference is evident comparing Arrow's own Blu-ray from the same master to the UHD disc it's packaged with. Does that mean that Arrow's Blu-ray is garbage?

Again, yeah, the 4K is better, especially in still-frame comparisons like this. Massively better, though... ? Eh, to each their own.

There's only so much you can do with Todd-AO 35. Bad lenses and all that.

But yeah less DNR on the Arrow, obviously. Fine Detail isn't that much better but then again it never was.

I don't think it's an issue with DNR, so much as that the new scan has a tighter focus on the grain molecules. I find this a lot with 4K upgrades of 35mm titles. The grain would not have looked that coarse in the original theatrical prints. The generation loss inherent in the duping process would have softened it (along with some of the other details).