Memories of Murder 4K UHD (2003) - CJ ENM

[nicwood]

CJ ENM released two limited 4K UHD editions of Bong Joon-ho’s Memories of Murder recently, one just in a Steelbook and the other one is the Steel housed in a Slip Case together with a booklet.

Audio
4K: Korean DTS-HD MA 7.1
BD: Korean DTS-HD MA 7.1, Korean DTS-HD MA 2.0
Subtitles (main feature only)
4K: Korean, English
BD: Korean, English
Special Features (no subtitles)
4K: -
BD: Making Films, Deleted Scenes, Interviews, Trailer

I bought my copy from this seller with free shipping and IOSS for EU: https://www.ebay.com/itm/166612814453. Packaging was very secure!

(For those interested, the packaging is very bland and the Steelbook looks awful and cheap in hand. I fortunately couldn’t care less about this due to the disc content but packaging collectors probably won’t recommend these editions as much).

The purchase was a bit of a gamble due to the imperfections with the 4K restoration, as seen on the Criterion BD with traces of DNR and the greenish hue which some considered revisionist compared to older versions. Whether these were more true to the original vision is unclear.

I have great news though: The UHD is fantastic and improves much more noticeably than I thought as the CJ master effectively dials down the "tint" to something much less strong and aggressive when compared to the Criterion BD. And all of this in SDR as well, so they definitely did a new grade over at CJ. (For the HDR or nothing crowd: Consider this a flop but I didn’t miss HDR. The film is low-contrast and bleach-bypassed by design. It looks exceptional in SDR).

UHD is a UHD-100 as noted above with English subtitles and 7.1 and 2.0 audio tracks. The latter doesn’t sound like a downmix after a brief listen but other people are better at judging this. The 7.1 feels equally good and natural without excessive alterations that scream "remix" in your face every few seconds.

The 4K master itself is good (not excellent) after the first couple of exterior scenes. These are DNR affected and were sourced from a higher-generation element, too and not the OCN as we’re seeing some black specks and dirt. Later, things look better but the grain doesn’t feel 100% natural to my eyes (I believe this has been discussed already). Still, I’m satisfied with what I got. It’s not the most beautiful master ever (most of Bong’s shot-on-film films fall under that category) but presented in a way that’s appropriate and certainly watchable. I wouldn’t go back to any older edition. The encoding is very good, too - much, much better than another terrible Criterion BD effort.
Even for that alone, I consider this a strong upgrade but the better balanced colors really make the difference!

As this is a limited edition, I’d say get this sooner than later. Who knows if / when the restoration returns to the US in 4K, and if it does, it’ll absolutely look just like the Criterion BD.

[Simon_LDT]

Are the subtitles decent? It's been over 10 years since I watched the CJ blu-ray and can't remember now if there were errors or bad translations.

[NeilZ]

For what it's worth I saw this in theaters back in the day, and the first blu ray looked way too bright in contrast to the experience I remember having.

Here were my thoughts some years ago along with the oldest trailer I could find which was over a decade old and looked much closer to the recent restorations.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.p...&postcount=602

I'm excited to see the 4k.

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by Simon_LDT

Are the subtitles decent? It's been over 10 years since I watched the CJ blu-ray and can't remember now if there were errors or bad translations.

I can’t give you an answer yet as I haven’t seen the new UHD in full and also never owned one of the earlier releases of the film except for the Criterion BD. The few scenes I checked didn’t strike me negatively, so maybe / hopefully everything’s fine.

[roguejp]

People who have seen the movie prior to the Criterion beware: as discussed in this original thread.

It's a little strange that the OP of this thread (who also posted there), opens a new thread. Could that be because you were about the only one that liked this UHD?

Read the other thread and see the screenshots. I would certainly not recommend it like the OP here does.

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by roguejp

People who have seen the movie prior to the Criterion beware: as discussed in this original thread.

It's a little strange that the OP of this thread (who also posted there), opens a new thread. Could that be because you were about the only one that liked this UHD?

Read the other thread and see the screenshots. I would certainly not recommend it like the OP here does.

I made a new thread in the international 4K forum as this a UHD release and we only had one for the French The Jokers release so far. I figured this was appropriate and haven’t heard any negative feedback since. Is this against the rules? I’m just genuinely curious as I’m usually not starting threads.
Also, I only posted in the thread you linked after another user pointed me towards it and the discussion that’s been going on over there and the user thinking my point of view would be valuable there.

And me being the only one that likes the new UHD feels a little far-fetched, does it?

Why start now with this really strange criticism when we’ve had a French UHD with the same master for over a year?

[CelestialAgent]

Not everyone who reads international BDs - Asia will read international UHDs so don’t see the issue.

[Resettito]

The French release looks excellent.

[Simon_LDT]

Well, I for one really appreciate quality info on encoding and I generally trust nicwood's word on these matters. I wasn't initially going to bother with this release but now I hear the green tint has gone and the encoding is solid I've ordered it. Hopefully the subs are decent, worst case I can remux with subs from my Criterion Blu.

Also, there is nothing wrong with having a thread here in the dedicated 4K section. The Asia section is for general releases so nothing wrong with the thread there either in my opinion.

[NeilZ]

Yes but even putting the green tint also I could swear back in theaters around 2003 this had this dark and drab look to it the whole time. The recent restorations are so much closer to what I remember than the previous blu rays. I'm thinking it's the early blu rays that were messed up and made the movie more colorful and brighter than intended. Maybe they used a non finished release before Bong Joon Ho applied the filters he wanted. Looking forward to seeing this in 4k.

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by NeilZ

Yes but even putting the green tint also I could swear back in theaters around 2003 this had this dark and drab look to it the whole time. The recent restorations are so much closer to what I remember than the previous blu rays. I'm thinking it's the early blu rays that were messed up and made the movie more colorful and brighter than intended. Maybe they used a non finished release before Bong Joon Ho applied the filters he wanted. Looking forward to seeing this in 4k.

Swear most of the time someone claims a transfer is revisionist, it’s actually more accurate to the original release and DVDs and the passing of the time has created a false impression of the accurate look.

[roguejp]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Swear most of the time someone claims a transfer is revisionist, it’s actually more accurate to the original release and DVDs and the passing of the time has created a false impression of the accurate look.

Funny, my experience is the exact opposite. Although I am cautious if people claim to know how a movie looked like in the theater over 20 years ago tbh.

Well, I guess some will be happy with the new 4k and some will be happy with the old CJ blu-ray.

[Mosin-Nagant]

Originally Posted by nicwood

I made a new thread in the international 4K forum as this a UHD release and we only had one for the French Potemkine release so far.

In France, it's a The Jokers release.

[Lord_lucann]

Originally Posted by Simon_LDT

Are the subtitles decent? It's been over 10 years since I watched the CJ blu-ray and can't remember now if there were errors or bad translations.

Watched this tonight and I’d say the subs are the same as the old CJ Entertainment blu-ray release, didn’t note any spelling / grammatical errors and some of the lines are familiar (watched that release a few times over the years and the Criterion only once, so not sure how the translation compares).

The original CJ blu-ray release is in the set and looks overly bright and boosted coming off the 4K. It’s not reference stuff but I was more than happy with the 4K, looks nice and filmic and the picture quality improves as the film goes on. Quick check on the Criterion afterwards and that looked darker, but it’s always tricky trying to gauge an opinion after time taken to switch discs.

The 4K is less warm in the opening and closing scenes than the original CJ and the main body of the film is darker and more desaturated than that release. I have vague recollections of the Criterion being overly dark which I didn’t get with the 4K. It’s a dark and almost monochromatic grade but doesn’t push this as far as the Criterion. I love the film and the grade is in keeping with the tone, stopped thinking about the transfer after the opening police station scenes and focused on the film, which is what you want…

[Beckstreaker]

UK Release coming from Curzon Films on May 27th, 2024

Purchase Link(s): Amazon UK, HMV, Zavvi

EXTRAS:

Includes White Man, Bong Joon-ho’s short film from 1994, as well as behind-the-scenes featurettes, interviews, deleted scenes and trailers. PLUS 3 collectible posters and a booklet with new essays from Michael Leader and Jake Cunningham.

[DAT_JB]

Originally Posted by Beckstreaker

UK Release coming from Curzon Films on May 27th, 2024

Purchase Link(s): Amazon UK

Awesome! Let's see how this one turns out. Already have the Criterion Blu-ray.

[nicwood]

This appears to be the first time that Curzon didn’t recycle an old BD to pair with a (barebones) new UHD as their old BD from 2020 has no extras at all. Will be interesting to see whether they encode everything on the UHD or add a bonus Blu-ray. Hopefully the encoding is strong - otherwise the Korean UHD is an excellent alternative just in case.

[Ben_C]

Glad I waited. Will probably go for broke and preorder.

Much like Oldboy, this is a Korean film I’ve got sooo many different copies of.

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by nicwood

This appears to be the first time that Curzon didn’t recycle an old BD to pair with a (barebones) new UHD as their old BD from 2020 has no extras at all. Will be interesting to see whether they encode everything on the UHD or add a bonus Blu-ray. Hopefully the encoding is strong - otherwise the Korean UHD is an excellent alternative just in case.

Also curious what crossover the BTS/interviews have with CJ Entertainment (Criterion and La Rabbia have different extras), different short film to Criterion too.

The industry shifts from releasing Parasite to UHD but Memories BD in 2020 only to revisit it on UHD in 2024 is interesting, although perhaps inevitable after the French and Korean releases (they weren’t the first label to release Kieślowski on UHD either - many other BDs produced during the 4K era have been revisited in 4K also.)

[Nitroes]

HMV: https://hmv.com/store/film-tv/4k-ult...ries-of-murder

Rarewaves: https://www.rarewaves.com/products/5...imited-edition

£26.16 from Rarewaves is excellent for people who can't use the HMV 20% off.


Great film and it was the door into Bong Joon-ho for me. I mind importing the R3 fancy CJ Entertainment DVD edition maybe 20 years ago. Feels like 20 years ago