UPDATE The Abyss and True Lies --4K Now Possibly In 2019 (See Post #69) (1 Viewer)

[RolandL]

What was?? We are discussing multiple films here.

Sorry, True Lies.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

"Stranger Things" colorist Skip Kimball posted a photo on Instagram of an editing suite with The Abyss title card up on the screen. The caption is:

• This is happening on stage one this weekend!
  The Abyss, directed by @jamescameronofficial. .
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  #theabyss #4k #hdr #remaster #efilmstageone #efilmhollywood #blackmagicdesign #davinciresolve15 #theabyssbluray#colorgrading#jamescameron#bluray

So it looks like he's doing a HDR color grade on the 4K wetgate scan of the film.

 

[The Drifter]

I've also been waiting for decent prints of The Abyss & True Lies for many years. The Abyss especially is one of my favorite '80's films, and very underrated these days. Great sci-fi film with a good story & excellent effects.

True Lies is also excellent; great action/espionage film.

I would settle for decent DVD prints of each at this point (neither of the current prints is Anamorphic Widescreen) but obviously Blu would be far preferable.

It's hard to believe that these two great Cameron-directed movies are still only available via sub-par print(s).

 

[TonyD]

I just finished watching the theatrical version I recorded from Cinemax a few months ago.
It looks great.
Really no issues at all.

This is actually the first time I have watched the theatrical.
Probably have seen the long version a dozen times at least.

I was actually surprised at how good this version is.
Went in expecting to be disappointed because all the extra footage wasn’t goimg to be there but even at that this might be a contender for Cameron’s best movie.

Without the extra footage it doesn’t really get the point across that I think it was meant to so the longer cut is really the complete version.

So I’d still say this is a 4 star out of of 5 movie.
Can’t forget the great score by Alan Silvestri.

 

[OliverK]

I've also been waiting for decent prints of The Abyss & True Lies for many years. The Abyss especially is one of my favorite '80's films, and very underrated these days. Great sci-fi film with a good story & excellent effects.

True Lies is also excellent; great action/espionage film.

I would settle for decent DVD prints of each at this point (neither of the current prints is Anamorphic Widescreen) but obviously Blu would be far preferable.

It's hard to believe that these two great Cameron-directed movies are still only available via sub-par print(s).

Can you please not say prints when you mean something completely different it is rather misleading.
When something new comes out you will be very happy as it certainly will not only be DVD's but certainly Blu-ray's.
The only question is when - I hope we do not have to wait until James Cameron finishes his Avatar "project" some decades down the road.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Can you please not say prints when you mean something completely different is rather misleading.
When something new comes out you will be very happy as it certainly will not only be DVD's but certainly Blu-ray's.
The only question is when - I hope we do not have to wait until James Cameron finishes his Avatar "project" some decades down the road.

I understood what he was saying.

 

[Worth]

True Lies was released in HD, but only on the short-lived D-VHS.

 

[Brian Kidd]

True Lies was released in HD, but only on the short-lived D-VHS.

I remember when I read about the release of D-VHS here on the HTF. I was baffled as to its existence, since we all kind of knew at that point that there would be an optical HD format coming in the near future. Needless to say, I (as well as most everyone else here at the time) was right about its immediate obsolescence. A tape-based format coming out after everyone had gotten used to DVD's was a terrible idea.

 

[Worth]

I remember when I read about the release of D-VHS here on the HTF. I was baffled as to its existence, since we all kind of knew at that point that there would be an optical HD format coming in the near future. Needless to say, I (as well as most everyone else here at the time) was right about its immediate obsolescence. A tape-based format coming out after everyone had gotten used to DVD's was a terrible idea.

True in theory, but in practice, I think I've had more issues with discs than tapes over the years.

 

[OliverK]

I remember when I read about the release of D-VHS here on the HTF. I was baffled as to its existence, since we all kind of knew at that point that there would be an optical HD format coming in the near future. Needless to say, I (as well as most everyone else here at the time) was right about its immediate obsolescence. A tape-based format coming out after everyone had gotten used to DVD's was a terrible idea.

I still got about 80 tapes - including True Lies.

It was a great way to watch movies, a nice and clean linear format is really good if you "only" want to watch a movie.
You can even continue where you left off, such high end technology is not even available with most Blu-rays

It was cancelled too early as for a long time after it was effectively discontinued except for one lone Fox release there was no option to get prerecorded movies in better than DVD quality anymore.

 

[Brian Kidd]

I still got about 80 tapes - including True Lies.

It was a great way to watch movies, a nice and clean linear format is really good if you "only" want to watch a movie.
You can even continue where you left off, such high end technology is not even available with most Blu-rays

It was cancelled too early as for a long time after it was effectively discontinued except for one lone Fox release there was no option to get prerecorded movies in better than DVD quality anymore.

Oh, Blu-ray is very capable of allowing you to start where you left off. For some reason, some studios either block that capability or simply leave out the programming that makes it possible on discs that use BD-Java. It's baffling to me.

You are correct that it was the only game in town for years when it came to HD home video, but when it came out very few people outside of Japan had HDTV's. By the time that they became more common, we had disc-based formats.

My problem with the D-VHS format was simply that it was tape-based and so had all of the shortcomings inherent in the medium. Videotape is simply far less durable than optical media. Also, DVD offered fast access and the ability to have special features, like Laserdisc, but with (usually) better picture and sound. A format that was movie-only and had to be rewound or fast-forwarded manually felt like a step back. The only real benefit to the format was that you could use it to record HD off of TV, but even that required a Firewire connection, which very few people had on their TV sets. D-VHS was purely a stop-gap measure, without any real chance of becoming a popular format. It's an interesting footnote in the history of home video, but it never really had a chance.

 

[Cranston37+]

True Lies was released in HD, but only on the short-lived D-VHS.

...and on Vudu. I paid $1 to do a D2D of it back in the day.



As an aside, for those worried that a studio can take a digital copy away from you, I would like to point out that True Lies hasn't been available for years and it is still in my collection

 

[The Drifter]

Can you please not say prints when you mean something completely different it is rather misleading. When something new comes out you will be very happy as it certainly will not only be DVD's but certainly Blu-ray's. The only question is when - I hope we do not have to wait until James Cameron finishes his Avatar "project" some decades down the road.

Sorry! I didn't meant to offend anyone!!!! I hope everyone out there can forgive me if they misunderstood what I meant!!! I hope no one loses any sleep over this!!! LOL

In any case, there is absolutely no guarantee that either The Abyss or True Lies will ever get a mass physical media release on Blu (or even upgraded DVD's). Fans of these films have been clamoring for them for years, and these still haven't been upgraded.

 

[OliverK]

Sorry! I didn't meant to offend anyone!!!! I hope everyone out there can forgive me if they misunderstood what I meant!!! I hope no one loses any sleep over this!!! LOL

In any case, there is absolutely no guarantee that either The Abyss or True Lies will ever get a mass physical media release on Blu (or even upgraded DVD's). Fans of these films have been clamoring for them for years, and these still haven't been upgraded.

I wasn't offended, it is just misleading and yes, I could have added one of these

I only said that I was very certain that IF something new is released on physical disc then it will be a Blu-ray release. Of course if Cameron waits long enough it may instead become a digital only affair, so let's hope it will not take too long.

 

[Tino]

...and on Vudu. I paid $1 to do a D2D of it back in the day.

View attachment 58338

As an aside, for those worried that a studio can take a digital copy away from you, I would like to point out that True Lies hasn't been available for years and it is still in my collection

As it is in mine and looks and sounds great in HDX.

 

[Carlo_M]

Watching True Lies in HD on HBO Go. Come on, Mr. Cameron. I know you're busy with the 28 Avatar sequels, but with the pandemic shutdown, maybe you have a little time to wrap up True Lies and The Abyss for 4K UHD release?

 

[David Wilkins]

Watching True Lies in HD on HBO Go. Come on, Mr. Cameron. I know you're busy with the 28 Avatar sequels, but with the pandemic shutdown, maybe you have a little time to wrap up True Lies and The Abyss for 4K UHD release?

I've given up. Somebody wake me if ever they arrive.

 

[DVBRD]

Disney+ allegedly has a True Lies TV series in the works. Let's hope it will convince Cameron to do something when people start saying "Why isn't it in 4K?"

 

[dpippel]

I've given up. Somebody wake me if ever they arrive.

I fear you'll be sleeping for a loooong time.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Watching True Lies in HD on HBO Go. Come on, Mr. Cameron. I know you're busy with the 28 Avatar sequels, but with the pandemic shutdown, maybe you have a little time to wrap up True Lies and The Abyss for 4K UHD release?

Guess I'll need to get my fill of True Lies (and probably a handful other flicks) on HBO Now/Max whenever I (re)activate my subscription...

Thanks for the reminder.

_Man_