UHD Review The Maltese Falcon UHD Review (2 Viewers)

[Todd Erwin]

To help celebrate the studio’s 100th anniversary, Warner Bros Discovery has released their classic The Maltese Falcon on 4K UHD Blu-ray.



The Maltese Falcon (1941)



Released: 18 Oct 1941
Rated: Passed
Runtime: 100 min




Director: John Huston
Genre: Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery



Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George
Writer(s): John Huston, Dashiell Hammett



Plot: San Francisco private detective Sam Spade takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar and their quest for a priceless statuette, with the stakes rising after his partner is murdered.



IMDB rating: 8.0
MetaScore: 97





Disc Information



Studio: Warner Brothers
Distributed By: N/A
Video Resolution:...

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[Robert Crawford]

Thank you for your review. One of my favorite all-time movies. I received the 4K/UHD today, but haven't watched it yet. I did sampled the 4K digital last night when my iTunes HD digital upgraded to 4K/DV.

 

[HereIam]

Were there two different edits of this film?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Were there two different edits of this film?

Not that I know of. You might be thinking of The Big Sleep.

 

[plektret]

Not happy about this -> "further reducing any noticeable hiss"

 

[Robert Crawford]

Not happy about this -> "further reducing any noticeable hiss"

What is your issue with reducing the hiss?

 

[plektret]

What is your issue with reducing the hiss?

Probably the exact same issue people here have with DNR. Why do people like film grain but not tape hiss? I've disliked digital hiss reduction since I was like 6-7 years old.
DNR/digital hiss reduction - it's the same thing.

 

[Robert Harris]

Optical hiss (in moderation, and as heard theatrically within the parameters of the Academy curve, established in 1938) is a part of film sound, especially early optical. An over-zealous digital cleaning can remove high frequencies, and is to be avoided.

I’ve not yet heard Maltese Falcon, but WB has a superb sound dept., and I’d bet it sounds correct.

 

[HereIam]

Not that I know of. You might be thinking of The Big Sleep.

That’s it! Hey they both have kind of confusing plots. I still don’t know what happened in TBS.

 

[cda1143]

Optical hiss (in moderation, and as heard theatrically within the parameters of the Academy curve, established in 1938) is a part of film sound, especially early optical. An over-zealous digital cleaning can remove high frequencies, and is to be avoided.

I’ve not yet heard Maltese Falcon, but WB has a superb sound dept., and I’d bet it sounds correct.

WB has been handling this quite well especially recently. More on the subject here

 

[battlebeast]

When I watch a film, I don’t want to hear hiss… it’s very distracting.

 

[Robert Harris]

When I watch a film, I don’t want to hear hiss… it’s very distracting.

To be clear, hiss is something that should not be heard, but it's part of the sound image. Just a bit of air within high frequency.

If you're literally hearing obvious hiss, then there's a problem.

 

[plektret]

If you're literally hearing obvious hiss, then there's a problem.

I disagree. These are old films. Analog productions. There should be plenty of hiss, just like when you're listening to an old Beatles record. If there's no audible hiss then something is very wrong and digital tools have been misused. The music industry stopped using noise reduction after the 90's but the movie industry is still using it dialed up to eleven. This is a very frustrating issue for me. I'd take a raw completely unrestored soundtrack over a filtered one. The UK Bluray (from Second Run) of Chytilová's Daisies has an unrestored soundtrack and it sounds lovely without any weird digital anamolies you'd get with digital filtering. Film grain and tape hiss is the same thing to me. Both should be there and clearly seen/audible, not removed.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I disagree. These are old films. Analog productions. There should be plenty of hiss, just like when you're listening to an old Beatles record. If there's no audible hiss then something is very wrong and digital tools have been misused. The music industry stopped using noise reduction after the 90's but the movie industry is still using it dialed up to eleven. This is a very frustrating issue for me. I'd take a raw completely unrestored soundtrack over a filtered one. The UK Bluray (from Second Run) of Chytilová's Daisies has an unrestored soundtrack and it sounds lovely without any weird digital anamolies you'd get with digital filtering. Film grain and tape hiss is the same thing to me. Both should be there and clearly seen/audible, not removed.

Interesting information, but I think you're in the minority on this issue of wanting to hear hiss.

 

[plektret]

Interesting information, but I think you're in the minority on this issue of wanting to hear hiss.

Yes, I know I'm in the minority. That's cool. I come from the world of audiophiles. I'd be in the majority on forums.stevehoffman.tv though, but not here. It's not a matter of wanting to hear hiss but rather a wish to not hear signs of digital filtering. Hearing digital anomalies is much more distracting to me than hiss and no one wants to be distracted by technical matters when watching a movie.

 

[battlebeast]

I disagree. These are old films. Analog productions. There should be plenty of hiss, just like when you're listening to an old Beatles record. If there's no audible hiss then something is very wrong and digital tools have been misused. The music industry stopped using noise reduction after the 90's but the movie industry is still using it dialed up to eleven. This is a very frustrating issue for me. I'd take a raw completely unrestored soundtrack over a filtered one. The UK Bluray (from Second Run) of Chytilová's Daisies has an unrestored soundtrack and it sounds lovely without any weird digital anamolies you'd get with digital filtering. Film grain and tape hiss is the same thing to me. Both should be there and clearly seen/audible, not removed.

I think you’re the only one I’ve ever read that WANTS hiss.

No thank you.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yes, I know I'm in the minority. That's cool. I come from the world of audiophiles. I'd be in the majority on forums.stevehoffman.tv though, but not here. It's not a matter of wanting to hear hiss but rather a wish to not hear signs of digital filtering. Hearing digital anomalies is much more distracting to me than hiss and no one wants to be distracted by technical matters when watching a movie.

Most of us here are videophiles, though, there are some audiophiles among us.

 

[Robert Harris]

Yes, I know I'm in the minority. That's cool. I come from the world of audiophiles. I'd be in the majority on forums.stevehoffman.tv though, but not here. It's not a matter of wanting to hear hiss but rather a wish to not hear signs of digital filtering. Hearing digital anomalies is much more distracting to me than hiss and no one wants to be distracted by technical matters when watching a movie.

I’m also from the world of audiophiles. Grew up with it. Had one of my major early lessons from Avery Fisher.

But film and music are quite different in the way that they’re played back. I love hearing fingers sliding on strings and the purity of music recordings.

As you know most music performances are mixed, but film goes far beyond that. Components are recorded as separate music (mx), dialogue (dx) and effects (fx), are then pre-mixed and then finally taken out to an optical composite negative. Mag works slightly differently, but no matter.

At each stage, hiss grows. In 1938 the Academy created a filter curve that generally solved the problem. As I recall, M-G-M had their own.

Point being, with motion picture audio, by design, an audience should not be hearing the original pure recording, any more than we should suffer through unfiltered 3-strip Technicolor from a 4k scan of OCNs.

A properly mastered video release should show no “signs” of filtering.

But let me ask the big question. Have you ever heard a totally unfiltered optical track from the 1930s or ’40s?

 

[Robin9]

That’s it! Hey they both have kind of confusing plots. I still don’t know what happened in TBS.

Try the domino principle. One person commits a murder and is then murdered by someone else who in turn is murdered by someone else who in their turn is also murdered by someone else, and so on.

 

[Kyle_D]

I watched this disc last night and thought it looked and sounded fantastic. No notes.