Sony "Mastered in 4K" -- Done?

[Neomic]

I know that Sony has converted to 4K, and that all of their new releases are mastered as such, but are they done with the "Mastered in 4K" reissues?

[ZoetMB]

I don't know, but they should have come up with another way to express it, because all it does is cause confusion among neophyte (and some not-so-neophyte) consumers.

They look at such a title, think they're watching 4K and they think, "well, it's good, but I don't see that much of a difference."

What are they going to call "real" 4K? I suppose those can be labeled UHD, but the confusion will remain.

And for the record, a digitally shot movie that was shot with a 2K camera isn't going to look any better mastered in 4K.

[MifuneFan]

They did just release Ghostbusters II under that line. No one but Sony knows if they're doing any more re-releases though. I'd love to see The Fifth Element, and a few others get that treatment

[Geoff D]

New releases are Mi4K branded (This is the End, ASM2, Captain Philips, Elysium etc) but I think that's it for catalogue re-releases, yeah. I'd get Fifth Element and Starship Troopers for sure, but now I'm wondering if Sony will save them up to be 4K BD launch titles. It just wouldn't be right if Sony weren't using TFE as one of their early titles, it's become something of a tradition.

[The Debts]

Mi4k release of Black Hawk Down, please.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by The Debts

Mi4k release of Black Hawk Down, please.

They're going to lose the rights to that soon.

[master gandhi]

For special-effects-heavy catalogue titles, I would think it would be extremely costly to re-render the effects (if they're CG) in 4k.

If we're lucky, more will continue to trickle out between now and next year's 4k Blu-Ray launch, like the Mi4K version of Ghostbusters II last week.

I still want to pick up the Mi4K version of MiB, but maybe I'll wait for the 4k Blu-Ray, since I already have the older Blu-ray. I'd like to minimize double dips in the same format if possible.

[The Debts]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

They're going to lose the rights to that soon.

How? Is it going to Mill Creek?

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by The Debts

How? Is it going to Mill Creek?

No, it's going back to the company that made the movie, Revolution Studios.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...oses-at-715258

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...-655374?page=1

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

They did just release Ghostbusters II under that line. No one but Sony knows if they're doing any more re-releases though. I'd love to see The Fifth Element, and a few others get that treatment

Well, to be more accurate: Ghostbusters is a Mastered in 4k reissue with new extras for its 30th anniversary.

I'm sure we'll see a few more anniversary Mastered in 4k re-issues for 2015, I doubt Sony really gave up everything to Mill Creek.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by steve_dave

Well, to be more accurate: Ghostbusters is a Mastered in 4k reissue with new extras for its 30th anniversary.

I'm sure we'll see a few more anniversary Mastered in 4k re-issues for 2015, I doubt Sony really gave up everything to Mill Creek.

I said Ghosbusters II . That's a new catalog releae from Sony, and is part of the Mi4K series.

[Show spoiler]

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by master gandhi

For special-effects-heavy catalogue titles, I would think it would be extremely costly to re-render the effects (if they're CG) in 4k.

If we're lucky, more will continue to trickle out between now and next year's 4k Blu-Ray launch, like the Mi4K version of Ghostbusters II last week.

I still want to pick up the Mi4K version of MiB, but maybe I'll wait for the 4k Blu-Ray, since I already have the older Blu-ray. I'd like to minimize double dips in the same format if possible.

If the movie was finished on film like TFE, MiB or Starship Troopers then they'd simply scan the negative. Yeah, the VFX wouldn't have been rendered at anywhere near 4K res but at least you wouldn't have to go to the trouble of upscaling that footage to begin with and the non-CG shots would still resolve more detail.

[StingingVelvet]

Who knows if they will continue the branding but 4k scans are certainly not going away. That's what really matters.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Who knows if they will continue the branding but 4k scans are certainly not going away. That's what really matters.

It's nice that they're getting ready for the future, but movies are remastered all the time.

Long before HD DVD and Blu-ray, movies were "Mastered in High Definition" when they were released on DVD. Most of them had to be rescanned when they hit BD. Everyone complains when Universal uses old HD masters for catalog titles like Bring It On.

So yeah, even the Warner classics getting 6K or 8K remasters will be remastered again...and again...and again.

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I said Ghosbusters II . That's a new catalog releae from Sony, and is part of the Mi4K series.

[Show spoiler]

The OP was asking for catalog reissues Mastered in 4k, not catalogs new to Blu Mastered in 4k.

[MifuneFan]

Originally Posted by steve_dave

The OP was asking for catalog reissues Mastered in 4k, not catalogs new to Blu Mastered in 4k.

Touché

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

No, it's going back to the company that made the movie, Revolution Studios.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...oses-at-715258

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/new...-655374?page=1

That wouldn't keep Sony from trying one more time to make money off Joe Roth in exchange for the Gigli disaster; Revolution's deals won't start expiring till 2016.

[jscoggins]

Originally Posted by RBBrittain

That wouldn't keep Sony from trying one more time to make money off Joe Roth in exchange for the Gigli disaster; Revolution's deals won't start expiring till 2016.

Unless they relicense those movies, Sony isn't going to spend any more money on the Revolution properties. Black Hawk Down is one of the all-time best-selling BDs (despite the MPEG2 encode), so the market is already saturated. The only people who would double dip are BD.com members.

[David M]

Perhaps with actual 4K BD on the horizon, they don't want to cause any more confusion.

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by jscoggins

Unless they relicense those movies, Sony isn't going to spend any more money on the Revolution properties. Black Hawk Down is one of the all-time best-selling BDs (despite the MPEG2 encode), so the market is already saturated. The only people who would double dip are BD.com members.

This isn't the only forum where folks might pay to double-dip. Hollywood mentality could run the lines of "we sold millions of that bad encode, so surely we can sell millions more with a decent encode".