UHD Review Pan’s Labyrinth UHD Review (1 Viewer)

[Sam Posten]

Thank you Todd. Sorry but I always come to these reviews to see if what I currently have is worth upgrading to what is newly being reviewed and in this case I wasn’t provided that information after reading. Time is very valuable to me- My bad?

So, that's not quite an apology but you are headed in the right direction.

In general I don't think any of our HTF reviewers are going to be canonical experts in all past releases. If I have seen something I will note the differences but I'm not going to go out and watch 4 other versions in case someone is hanging on our word if it's a big upgrade or not =)

I think your expectations are way off, personally and a true apology is warranted.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Yup. Comparisons are great...when they can happen.

But they can't always happen.

Agree. Like I said, I don't espouse the notion that a critic should need to buy a disc just for comparison.

I maintain a Netflix mail membership partly so I can do comparisons with discs I never reviewed in the first place, but that's the end of my monetary investment!

Though in the category of pushy, no one in this thread competes with a reader on mine who occasionally requests reviews. If I can get the titles through Netflix, I do so.

One title wasn't on Netflix so I said I couldn't do it. This reader demanded that I buy a copy of the movie - some POS direct-to-video thing - and got upset when I said I wasn't gonna drop $15 just for that review!

 

[Derrick King]

I don't have it, but I don't remember hearing any complaints about DNR on the Criterion disc.

No, you are thinking of the New Line Blu-ray, which was slathered in DNR.

 

[Noel Aguirre]

So, that's not quite an apology but you are headed in the right direction.
........
I think your expectations are way off, personally and a true apology is warranted.

Not gonna happen- just like review of the new Last Year at Marienbad review had me upgrade over the Criterion which is 10 years or older I expect any review to be relevant and compare to the current state of the art pressing of any film. Otherwise- Why bother?

 

[Sam Posten]

Got it. You want to be catered to. As you say, 'Not gonna happen'. Carry on.

 

[KMR]

... I expect any review to be relevant and compare to the current state of the art pressing of any film. Otherwise- Why bother?

Where do such unrealistic expectations come from?

 

[Stephen_J_H]

I wonder if the DNR Todd noticed is burned into the master.

What DNR? I saw no evidence of DNR on this 4K release.

The only reference to DNR is in discussing The New Line BD, which is included with the 4K UHD release. Since I am not 4K UHD equipped yet, I cannot comment on any differences between the Criterion and the 4K UHD disc. I can simply say that the Criterion looks so good in comparison to the New Line disc that I am glad I made that upgrade.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

I expect any review to be relevant and compare to the current state of the art pressing of any film. Otherwise- Why bother?

1. Most people understand that this is a site that offers a few small perks for a $12 annual donation, but doesn't charge any subscription fee. And they tailor their expectations accordingly.
   
   
2. Most people understand that the reviewers on this site are volunteers who spend hours upon hours of their own time reviewing new releases without any compensation aside from getting to keep the review copy. And most people, appreciating all of that hard work and effort, accordingly practice the principle, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."
   
   
3. Most people want to know about the merits and shortcomings of the release being reviewed, irrespective of how it compares to previous releases. Chances are, if a UHD release is not a worthwhile update from the Blu-Ray, there are some pretty glaring shortcomings that will be addressed in the review, even without an explicit comparison to the prior release. Todd's review makes it clear that the HDR was a little too heavily used. Whether that's a dealbreaker, and whether that makes it worse than a 1080p transfer without HDR at all, is a subjective determination that will likely vary from person to person. There's no "right" answer.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Add me as another voice in support of Todd.

I write reviews here on a volunteer basis because I am passionate about this hobby and because I enjoy getting to talk about movies and discs with people here. A review can take me ten hours or more to complete, between watching the film, examining all bonus features, comparing different included audio tracks, researching the context in which the film was made to better appreciate its intentions, writing, proofreading, rewriting, posting, etc. Its often a choice between “I can spend all of the free time I get after work for a week or two on one review, or I could watch a movie for relaxation every night instead.” It’s a trade-off I’m glad to make. But the reward for doing it is a) the pleasure of doing a job well and b) conversing with some truly interesting people with unique and worthy viewpoints. Take that away, and it becomes a lot harder to justify the time investment.

It’s especially tricky reviewing titles with previous releases and I feel in many cases, you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t. Here Todd got pushback for viewing this disc on its own merits and presenting a well written and well reasoned assessment of what a potential buyer could expect in this package. That, to me, has plenty of value. On a review I did of another title, I did end up comparing it to a previous release, and I was criticized for not grading it solely on its own merits. Can’t please everyone. I’m always happy to engage with people who want more detail about what I was thinking and why, and I’m happy to have that discussion. But those are the key words: “engage” and “discussion”.

 

[titch]

It never ceases to amaze me how self-entitled many people appear when posting on the internet. For the last ten years, there have been loads of free internet sites reviewing blu-rays. This has led to the demise of many print magazines, which used to review physical media for home cinema. Now that streaming is ending the era of physical media, internet sites which review discs and depend on cuts from Amazon for funds will run out of resources to run their sites. I was sad to see the message posted on DVD Beaver today. Whether one agrees or disagrees with Gary's reviews, he is a movie lover and spent a lot of time creating his reviews, just like the other reviewers on Home Theatre Forum.

http://www.dvdbeaver.com

 

[Robert Crawford]

This review thread has been sidetracked. Lets get back on topic, please.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I have and will continue to delete any further posts that doesn't adhere to my posted warning.

 

[Tino]

Anyway thanks Todd for the great review. I will be upgrading over the Criterion version which is great.

*Sorry Robert. My previous comment was posted at the same time as your warning.*

 

[PMF]

Due to Todd Erwin's review, I plan to purchase the 4K/UHD of "Pan's Labyrinth".
I've been on the fence between my purchasing of the Criterion stand-alone or blind-buying the 2 remaining films from the boxed trilogy;
but being a supporter of 4K/UHD and a collector of Oscar wins for cinematography, Todd's assessments had reported nothing jarring that would detour me away from going further in this direction.
As for comparisons, the 4K review of "Pan's Labyrinth" from highdefdigest did conduct one as such;
but it was specifically based on the 2007 disc, with no references to the 2016 Criterion.
My first awareness of this 4K/UHD edition of "Pan's Labyrinth" began with Todd Erwin's review;
so thanks to him, I now have one more upgrade that can be added to my list of cinematography captures.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Todd's review does make picking up the UHD version tempting, but for now I think I will stick with my Criterion BD. If the UHD hits a low price over the holidays, I may reconsider. I just cannot justify upgrading every UHD that comes out where I already own the BD.

 

[Malcolm R]

Same here. I just picked up the Criterion del Toro Trilogy on blu-ray at the last BN sale, so that will have to do for a while.

 

[Mike2001]

I have a few UHD discs where the tone mapping makes things too dark on my OLED screen (Unforgiven, Serenity, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). In all these cases I prefer the blu over the UHD. Is this one bad enough that it’s difficult to tell what is happening on screen?

I also wonder if the newer Panasonic 4K players would help the situation.