Blu-ray Review To Catch a Thief Blu-ray Review (2020) (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

I just saw that 1.5 review review. Wow. Looks like Andrea Kalas is still defending it. Glad people here recommended the original bluray which I got new cheap on ebay.

I don't believe there has been any further studio discussion since the release

 

[roxy1927]

So he was quoting an old response to the criticism and that was the last. I assume then it will be the definitive 4k of the film. What does Brigitte Auber have to say?

 

[Keith Cobby]

So he was quoting an old response to the criticism and that was the last. I assume then it will be the definitive 4k of the film. What does Brigitte Auber have to say?

Brigitte Auber will be 100 years old in 2025 when TCAT has it's 70th anniversary. She must be the only living person connected to the film.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

And if there was a deliberate decision to degrain everything because of the extent materials, then why is this a unique situation with To Catch A Thief?

But it's definitely *not* the only/unique case w/ Paramount. Paramount has long been doing such degraining hackjobs since at least the early BD days, if not much earlier. They've had at least as many such bad releases as good ones AFAIK... when they even bothered to release discs at all. Sure, their bad (usually heavily degrained/manipulated) stuff don't always look quite like this, but still often (very) bad nonetheless. They seem to be the one studio that simply hasn't learned much at all about this issue and keep wrongheadedly trying to do this (sometimes w/ new approaches, but still w/ bad results although arguably less bad or passable enough in some cases)... while most of the others had/have learned better for the most part in general...

_Man_

 

[titch]

What 4K disc are you talking about? I don’t have this Blu-ray so I can’t speak to it. However, I do have the 4K/Dolby Vision digital and I like what I’m seeing on my panels.

To Catch A Thief.

 

[Robert Crawford]

To Catch A Thief.

Where has To Catch a Thief been released on 4K/UHD?

 

[titch]

Where has To Catch a Thief been released on 4K/UHD?

I beg your pardon - my misunderstanding! 4K remaster - not 4K/UHD.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I beg your pardon - my misunderstanding! 4K remaster - not 4K/UHD.

Like I stated, I can't comment on that Blu-ray release because I never bought it.

 

[Will Krupp]

Like I stated, I can't comment on that Blu-ray release because I never bought it.

The blu-ray is a smeary mess but (and there are others who will vehemently disagree with me) I (too) find the 4K stream to have corrected many of the issues I had with the blu-ray.

 

[cda1143]

The blu-ray is a smeary mess but (and there are others who will vehemently disagree with me) I (too) find the 4K stream to have corrected many of the issues I had with the blu-ray.

Really? I compared them when they both came out, I found them to be indistinguishable.

Has the iTunes 4K been changed?

 

[Trancas]

You can get a free week-trial of Paramount+ through Apple TV or Amazon Prime. I just signed up to see the 4K stream of To Catch a Thief.
I've watched half of it. Not very nice. The scene with Cary on the bus with the old lady and birdcage (and Hitchcock) shows an obvious crop. Every scene where mens' heads are near the top of the frame seem dangerously close to getting scalped. Bleary color that seems to drift to overly cool at times, really ugly blanched highlights.
In the restaurant scene with his former colleagues, Cary's skin is brown gold but with intermittent violet tones around his mouth and hands. I don't like the weird color-shimmering of his striped sweater. Grain is gone, long shots are 420p resolution or worse. The helicopter-filmed car chase through town looks terrible. The VistaVision crisp definition isn't there. It's been homogenized to a smooth, lifeless, flavorless paste. Sign up for a free trial and see what I mean.
.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Grant's striped sweater shimmers less than any previous home video presentation.

 

[Will Krupp]

Has the iTunes 4K been changed?

I don't know, I bought it on Prime.

 

[AlexNH]

Paramount should recall all the 2020 blu ray discs put them in a pile and burn them.

 

[Robert Harris]

Grant's striped sweater shimmers less than any previous home video presentation.

Because it has lower resolution.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Because it has lower resolution.

So the lower resolution produces more shimmer?

 

[Will Krupp]

You can get a free week-trial of Paramount+ through Apple TV or Amazon Prime. I just signed up to see the 4K stream of To Catch a Thief.
I've watched half of it. Not very nice. The scene with Cary on the bus with the old lady and birdcage (and Hitchcock) shows an obvious crop. Every scene where mens' heads are near the top of the frame seem dangerously close to getting scalped. Bleary color that seems to drift to overly cool at times, really ugly blanched highlights.
In the restaurant scene with his former colleagues, Cary's skin is brown gold but with intermittent violet tones around his mouth and hands. I don't like the weird color-shimmering of his striped sweater. Grain is gone, long shots are 420p resolution or worse. The helicopter-filmed car chase through town looks terrible. The VistaVision crisp definition isn't there. It's been homogenized to a smooth, lifeless, flavorless paste. Sign up for a free trial and see what I mean.
.

I'm sorry but where are you getting that Paramount+ is showing a 4k stream? I just put it on and it's a 1080p stream of the same exact transfer as the blu-ray. The Amazon 4k that I purchased is in HDR (as I would assume the iTunes is) and looks quite a bit different. It's far from perfect but it IS better than the blu-ray (I can't even watch the blu-ray) and better than the Paramount+ stream.

The helicopter car chase has never looked good on home video as it's made up of dupes due to the optical dissolves running through it. It doesn't snap back to being 'crisp' until the clean edit that comes right before the two cars stopping for the sheep.

I'm not saying that anyone else has to like it but you can't tell what the 4k stream even looks like from the Paramount+ version.

 

[Trancas]

I'm sorry but where are you getting that Paramount+ is showing a 4k stream? I just put it on and it's a 1080p stream of the same exact transfer as the blu-ray. The Amazon 4k that I purchased is in HDR (as I would assume the iTunes is) and looks quite a bit different. It's far from perfect but it IS better than the blu-ray (I can't even watch the blu-ray) and better than the Paramount+ stream.

The helicopter car chase has never looked good on home video as it's made up of dupes due to the optical dissolves running through it. It doesn't snap back to being 'crisp' until the clean edit that comes right before the two cars stopping for the sheep.

I'm not saying that anyone else has to like it but you can't tell what the 4k stream even looks like from the Paramount+ version.

I don't know. I'm watching via AppleTV. Should I not believe this menu?

 

[Will Krupp]

I don't know. I'm watching via AppleTV. Should I not believe this menu?

View attachment 199047

I'm sorry, I'm watching it through the Paramount+ app on my OLED and it's not giving me the option of watching it in 4k. All I'm getting through P+ is 1080p and it looks like garbage. AppleTV must have other options available only through them.

If you don't like it you don't like it, what else can I say?

For me, the colors on this release alone are worth putting up with any imperfections until a 4k disc comes along.

 

[Trancas]

I "bought/free trialed" Paramount+/Showtime via Apple and I'm watching this via a 4k AppleTV. What does your menu screen say when you stop the movie?