Press Release Paramount Presents! Press Release: To Catch a Thief (1955) (4k UHD) (1 Viewer)

[Nelson Au]

I hope not too but it is paramount.

That Star Trek 2 DE Blu-ray recall was one of my favorites. How did that get missed?

Exactly!

 

[Osato]

Exactly!

To be fair the star trek and I’m sure many other 4k title releases were without issue.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I mean the honest answer is that these things are made by humans and humans make mistake. That initial Star Trek disc with the error, it wasn’t the kind of error that ripped a viewer out of the film - it repeated one shot inside the bridge instead of using a different one, and so it didn’t immediately scream out “this is wrong!!!!” in the way it would have if it had gone from a shot within the bridge to a shot from a different set from a different scene. And to Paramount’s credit, once it was brought to their attention they immediately arranged for a recall and exchange, which is a significant financial burden for something 99.9% of people wouldn’t notice. The transfer was director supervised and approved, and the director didn’t notice!

 

[Nick*Z]

Was the scan flawed? How so? I know the digital restoration and mastering was panned by most who saw it (I didn’t buy it based on the almost universal condemnation), but I assumed all the problems were introduced post-scanning.

Color timing - off. Contrast, way too boosted. Night scenes missing the emerald green tint - replaced with azure. Enough said.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

That’s all mastering, not scanning.

 

[OliverK]

I went ahead and preordered as it’s a favorite film and the fact that it’s limited I didn’t want to miss out on it.
Also @Robert Crawford positive posts were enough for me too.

I have recently watched the first Blu-ray so the timing is not great and I will pass on the first batch but it looks like it will be on the level of the Chinatown release that just about everybody seems to have been pleased with.

 

[OliverK]

Yeah, I'm actually tempted to take the plunge on this premium priced preorder partly as an affirmation reward to Paramount. I can't recall the last time I preordered anything now (nor spent that much on 1 single movie release... well, ok, I did spend that much on the LoA 4K in that ugly steelbook when I finally managed to get a copy, LOL) -- musta been over a decade, maybe even decade-and-half going back to the earlier days of Blu-ray... unless one counts something like the non-steelbook Almost Famous 4K I preordered when that was finally announced for release (as I really wanted to avoid steelbooks, heh)...

I'm not too concerned the new 4K disc will actually go OOP like some fret here and there and am usually in no rush to watch most of what I buy, so don't usually mind waiting a few months or even a year or so for the 2nd or 3rd wave/batch -- there is just too much good stuff anyway. But maybe I should make an exception in this particular case more to help us all nudge Paramount in the right direction w/ what remains of disc mastering and releases than anything else... and hopefully, as someone else hoped out loud earlier, they'll even go back and rightly fix/restore the Godfather trilogy for another 4K rerelease (as unlikely as they may be)...

_Man_

I am not quite sure that buying blindly will show Paramount that we care about quality so I would also let them know that it was bought after a favorable reception even by people who were critical of other releases (provided that will be the case). I think that especially when people also mention other movies where they were disappointed it would carry some more weight. In this case one could mention the previous release on Blu-ray that was skipped as it just wasn't good enough and inferior to the first Blu-ray.

This of course only makes sense if you see a chance that studios actually care for feedback that goes beyond pure sales numbers.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I am not quite sure that buying blindly will show Paramount that we care about quality so I would also let them know that it was bought after a favorable reception even by people who were critical of other releases (provided that will be the case). I think that especially when people also mention other movies where they were disappointed it would carry some more weight. In this case one could mention the previous release on Blu-ray that was skipped as it just wasn't good enough and inferior to the first Blu-ray.

Good point. There will probably be at least some reviews before release date, perhaps including RAH's... although might possibly be too late for preordering, if they already sell out of initial wave/batch and the various online shops stop taking more (pre)orders until a 2nd wave/batch is confirmed later.

Still, one could try to order/buy asap after that to help Paramount see appreciation that's meaningful to their bottomline. And as I indicated before, I rarely ever preorder, especially in the last decade-plus, and usually just waited for a good sale, but am certainly willing to make certain exceptions and splurge once in a while... and this may be a very good case/opp for that...

This of course only makes sense if you see a chance that studios actually care for feedback that goes beyond pure sales numbers.

I would think the fact they're actually, albeit (more or less) quietly, backtracking and remastering the 4K in this manner (and already pushed that to digital sales/rental outlets) suggest they do care enough afterall... at least to perceive it may matter enough to their bottomline... even if they won't openly, explicitly acknowledge that.

It's certainly substantially/meaningfully more than we were expecting or realistically hoping over these last few years methinks...

_Man_

 

[dpippel]

Why not just preorder it now to reserve your copy, check the reviews when they come out (most of which always precede street date), and then cancel your order if things don't sound right to you? Seems easy.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Why not just preorder it now to reserve your copy, check the reviews when they come out (most of which always precede street date), and then cancel your order if things don't sound right to you? Seems easy.

Yes, I was originally thinking that as well... but momentarily forgot that's likely a good option/approach. It has been a long while since I've gone/tried that route, heh...

_Man_

 

[Nelson Au]

I would think the fact they're actually, albeit (more or less) quietly, backtracking and remastering the 4K in this manner (and already pushed that to digital sales/rental outlets) suggest they do care enough afterall... at least to perceive it may matter enough to their bottomline... even if they won't openly, explicitly acknowledge that.

It's certainly substantially/meaningfully more than we were expecting or realistically hoping over these last few years methinks...

_Man_

I think you are right that this 4K remastering effort is a quietly done correction acknowledging that the earlier disc has some issues they overlooked or were mis-directed, I was thinking the same thing.

I also think based on very little evidence, that this title is still a popular one. So the investment Paramount made to revise the master will pay off.

 

[Osato]

Why not just preorder it now to reserve your copy, check the reviews when they come out (most of which always precede street date), and then cancel your order if things don't sound right to you? Seems easy.

Agreed it’s easy to return too.

 

[OliverK]

Good point. There will probably be at least some reviews before release date, perhaps including RAH's... although might possibly be too late for preordering, if they already sell out of initial wave/batch and the various online shops stop taking more (pre)orders until a 2nd wave/batch is confirmed later.

Still, one could try to order/buy asap after that to help Paramount see appreciation that's meaningful to their bottomline. And as I indicated before, I rarely ever preorder, especially in the last decade-plus, and usually just waited for a good sale, but am certainly willing to make certain exceptions and splurge once in a while... and this may be a very good case/opp for that...

I would think the fact they're actually, albeit (more or less) quietly, backtracking and remastering the 4K in this manner (and already pushed that to digital sales/rental outlets) suggest they do care enough afterall... at least to perceive it may matter enough to their bottomline... even if they won't openly, explicitly acknowledge that.

It's certainly substantially/meaningfully more than we were expecting or realistically hoping over these last few years methinks...

_Man_

Oh I did not mean that you should not preorder just that some written feedback would be nice that you got the disc after hearing good feedback about it. Preorder or not does not make a difference as you could always cancel or return unopened.

Yes it does indeed seem that Paramount cares to a degree for certain kinds of feedback as after all they changed something about To Catch a Thief and once it has been confirmed that the disc is to a certain standard there hopefully will be even more interest from people who have held back because of the previous Blu-ray.

Edit: On a personal level I am very curious if the level of detail on the new UHD will surpass the detail that can be seen in the older Blu-ray:

To Catch a Thief • US Paramount Presents Blu-ray vs. US Blu-ray

caps-a-holic.com

 

[Osato]

Oh I did not mean that you should not preorder just that some written feedback would be nice that you got the disc after hearing good feedback about it. Preorder or not does not make a difference as you could always cancel or return unopened.

Yes it does indeed seem that Paramount cares to a degree for certain kinds of feedback as after all they changed something about To Catch a Thief and once it has been confirmed that the disc is to a certain standard there hopefully be even more interest from people who have held back because of the previous Blu-ray.

Agreed. They also took time to complete a new transfer for the disc and updated the digital version too.

 

[Robert Harris]

Agreed. They also took time to complete a new transfer for the disc and updated the digital version too.

Unless the original transfer was problematic or had gone missing, a re-transfer should not be necessary for any purposes beyond archival.

 

[Osato]

Unless the original transfer was problematic or had gone missing, a re-transfer should not be necessary for any purposes beyond archival.

Understood. The correct language of this new work is new color timing and??

 

[Robert Harris]

Understood. The correct language of this new work is new color timing and??

I don't expect any problems.

 

[Nick*Z]

Personally, I'm looking forward to this 4K release. The original Blu was adequate if not ideal. But the rebooted Blu was disastrous. So, nowhere to go but up...hopefully.

 

[Osato]

Personally, I'm looking forward to this 4K release. The original Blu was adequate if not ideal. But the rebooted Blu was disastrous. So, nowhere to go but up...hopefully.

iTunes 4k version has upgraded and is very impressive. Order away IMO as it’s a limited edition disc!

 

[Nelson Au]

It would be great if the Paramount releases of To Catch a Thief and the Warner release of North by Northwest 4K UHD discs include a regular blu ray disc too. Though I know Paramount has not been including the blu ray with most of their UHD releases.