The Abyss 4K UHD (1989)

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by Cinema84

He claims to own a bunch of calibrated equipment where he does all his "testing", which is fine, and he does suggest people watch his videos on a 4K TV as opposed to a laptop or cell phone, which makes sense but I sorta agree these people aren't 100% reliable. This guy will say if something doesn't look good so he's not a total shill. It's the 'tubers who never find fault with anything that I have issues with.

So I watched the Video assessment part and the 4K disc looks a bit brighter than the digital stream in his comparison so that alone is a good sign. Also sounds like audiophiles are in for a treat. So far, based on his comments, I'm happy.

I'm admittedly a FAH apologist. My first encounter with him was ironically his review of T2, which saved me $25 when I was broker than I am now. He sometimes gets it wrong, but what reviewer doesn't.

This one, he was about 90% on. The Abyss and Aliens are better than any predecessors, but they introduce their own problematic revisions that tank the grade.

True Lies, on the other hand, looks like ass. It's in line with Predator, T2, and LOTR. The first thing that came to my mind though wasn't even one of those movies though, it was Max Headroom, a character literally portrayed by a guy wearing a mask and makeup designed to mimic rubber and plastic.

Another thing that came to mind was a post someone shared on one of the threads of "the updated True Lies poster", which was just the old poster waxed to hell. Without exaggeration, the new transfer of True Lies looks exactly like that picture, which was originally just shared as a joke.

These could have and should have been done without Cameron's involvement decades ago. With Aliens and The Abyss, I wouldn't go so far as to say "the tape looks more filmic than the 4K" like I did with T2. With True Lies, the jury's still out though.

I still vote for buying all three, at reasonable prices though.

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Damn. My Amazon order got delayed till March 18 (my birthday). Poetic I guess.

[rubystone356]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

(This was posted in multiple threads at the same time.)

I just got back from Target. When I asked the girl working the movie section if she could help me find "some movies I was looking for", her immediate answer was "Are you here for James Cameron too?" Here's the rest of the conversation:

Me: "I know they can't be sold tonight, but can you see if they're here at all?"
Her: "I'm sorry, but Target is sold out of those movies."
Me: "Okay, can you tell me what other stores have them?"
Her: "No, you don't understand. Target as a whole is sold out of them. Preorders sold out, and the copies that were meant for stores and the website were then put up for preorders, and they're sold out too. There's literally no copies to send to the stores. The company as a whole is several hundred thousand copies in the negative." (She didn't give specific counts of each title.)
Me: "Is there any way of knowing when they'll be back in stock?"
Her: "If they were restocked, there's so many people in line that they are literally already sold out before they show up."

This is entirely unprecedented.

If one of the biggest stores for physical media is several hundred thousand copies behind, we may truly have the record for the biggest 4Ks ever. Be prepared for some crazy weeks ahead.

The worst 4K rollout I've seen so far was A Clockwork Orange back in 2021. Studio anticipated low demand, so less copies were made. Stores anticipated low demand, so less copies were ordered. The scalpers bought most copies that were out there, leaving us to either hunt through multiple stores or pay outrageous prices on the secondhand market. Given the demand for the JC discs is at least 10:1 to the demand for ACO, we may have not only the biggest 4K discs ever on our hands, but also a complete shitstorm surrounding the release.

I knew it would be popular.. but not this popular.. holding it up for 24 years must have helped. I am glad to see a lot of love for them.

Jacob

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by zeonstar

What I want to know is how does one “calibrate” a disc player? I don’t think he really knows what he is talking about, equipment-wise.

Not being facetious, you literally call in a professional equipment calibrator.

I calibrated my own equipment for free and I don't have any problems with it. I can't say either way whether a pro is worth it.

My personal tips, free of charge, are:

1. Turn the DNR and edge enhancement off. No exceptions.
2. Use at least five movies that you know by heart and have great copies of to properly set your equipment.
3. Write your settings down and keep that paper/document. Not only does it help when your equipment resets (power outage, etc), but when you have to mess with your settings for one disc, it makes it easier to set them back right.

[New-Blu-Blood]

For those going the Wal-Mart route for The Abyss/Aliens/True Lies, does anyone know if Wal-Mart will have copies in the actual stores or is it online only?? Wal-Mart's 4K selection has been getting smaller and smaller it seems but I did come across Titanic 4K in several stores back in December so who knows.

[Shane Rollins]

Originally Posted by New-Blu-Blood

For those going the Wal-Mart route for The Abyss/Aliens/True Lies, does anyone know if Wal-Mart will have copies in the actual stores or is it online only?? Wal-Mart's 4K selection has been getting smaller and smaller it seems but I did come across Titanic 4K in several stores back in December so who knows.

Honestly, go for it. My stores open at 6 AM EST, so I'd say get there early before the assh*les show up. If it's you trying to buy one copy, versus a big fat 400-pound motherf*cker with some Totinos Pizza Rolls in his pocket trying to buy a hundred copies, you know as well as I do which one is going to win.

Walmart's selection is bad. They rarely have catalog 4Ks, even if they're recent releases. They do however have the same hundreds of DVDs of The Neverending Story they've had for several years now (even I can't explain that one), so if you fail to get the JC movies at least you have a consolation prize already on lock.

[Comicfan]

I got got two emails tonight from Target via UPS that both The Abyss & True Lies have shipped now(I got the label creation emails this morning) and will both be arriving Thursday by 10pm.

[ImBlu_DaBaDee]

My Wal-Mart copy arrived to my city today but then never moved after that. Hopefully it gets here tomorrow

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by Comicfan

I got got two emails tonight from Target via UPS that both The Abyss & True Lies have shipped now(I got the label creation emails this morning) and will both be arriving Thursday by 10pm.

I got the email from Target early this moring that True Lies had shipped today, it looks like Friday is the estimated delivery date. I also had ordered The Abyss and Aliens in a different order but only got confirmation that The Abyss shipped today as well and that shows the same delivery date. Aliens though still shows "Preparing to Ship".

[starmike]

Originally Posted by Bolty

Yes, Aliens is lagging behind the other two as far as Target goes anyway.

My Target Aliens is getting here before the other two.

[pitchman]

Originally Posted by Bolty

Yes, Aliens is lagging behind the other two as far as Target goes anyway.

I can speak for my Walmart order and I'm in the same boat. The Abyss and True Lies arrived by FedEx this morning, but according to an email, Aliens won't arrive until Thursday. So, there does appear to be a two-day lag or so. Perhaps due to manufacturing plant proximity to specific Walmart distribution center? Just a guess.

[0tter]

Any word as to whether The Abyss Blu Ray disc (as opposed to the UHD disc) is region free?

Enquiring from Australia where Disney doesn't distribute home media anymore.

[suspiciouscoffee]

My Walmart copy arrived today. This is the only one I pre-ordered and don't plan to buy the others.

[suspiciouscoffee]

Originally Posted by 0tter

Any word as to whether The Abyss Blu Ray disc (as opposed to the UHD disc) is region free?

Enquiring from Australia where Disney doesn't distribute home media anymore.

The back cover says it is at least, but I haven't tested it or anything.

[HomerJay]

Originally Posted by 0tter

Any word as to whether The Abyss Blu Ray disc (as opposed to the UHD disc) is region free?

Enquiring from Australia where Disney doesn't distribute home media anymore.

I paid for a region free mod to my Oppo BD player but eventually realised it was easier to rip my disks to files removing any region restriction. No need for expensive player upgrades either. When 4K arrived I just bought a 4K disc drive for my PC. No need to spend $800 on a new 4K Oppo.

[Creeper3455]

For...completely unknown reasons, my Credit Card has been Declined by Amazon for this order, and I legit don't know why - I've been using it for all my Italian/International Buyouts, I've charged enough Cash in it for a while, and it's both strange and pissy that it had to occur this time around.

Eh well...I'm at least glad I have an ordered Copy (despite the Card hooplah, and the late Release Estimate between April 18th-May 8th), as it looks like we might witness one of the most Kaiju-sized Releases yet, regardless of the way this, "ALIENS", and "TRUE LIES" look/sound on Disc...but goddammit, this wasn't a fun way to wake up in the Morning

Also, Out Of Stock on all the Major AND Boutique Retailers...like, it might make me mad for my Order, but if it means getting to see a sight like that, idk what will <x-)

[bebbsie23]

Originally Posted by Creeper3455

For...completely unknown reasons, my Credit Card has been Declined by Amazon for this order, and I legit don't know why - I've been using it for all my Italian/International Buyouts, I've charged enough Cash in it for a while, and it's both strange and pissy that it had to occur this time around.

Eh well...I'm at least glad I have an ordered Copy (despite the Card hooplah, and the late Release Estimate between April 18th-May 8th), as it looks like we might witness one of the most Kaiju-sized Releases yet, regardless of the way this, "ALIENS", and "TRUE LIES" look/sound on Disc...but goddammit, this wasn't a fun way to wake up in the Morning

Also, Out Of Stock on all the Major AND Boutique Retailers...like, it might make me mad for my Order, but if it means getting to see a sight like that, idk what will <x-)

Same thing happened to me this morning with my Abyss order at WOWHD. My card was pre-approved when I placed my order, so no way is the issue at my end. There are sufficient funds in my account and I've been buying from WOW for years. If I had to guess, I'd say they are deliberately entering a wrong CVV code to invalidate the orders.

[Cecil B. DeMille]

I suppose that was it if you wanted to have one with slip? All the three Cameron 12/03 releases are sold out and so are their slips (unless you are willing to pay scalpers' prices on eBay)? Not even Orbit, Grindhouse or Diabolik have stock left...

[drush9999]

Well mine shipped from Amazon at last, but not True Lies or Aliens.

[Tony5523]

My target order said True Lies was preparing for shipment and Aliens and The Abyss were on back order. Now aliens is preparing for shipment. True Lies is on back order and just got an email that said March 26th for the Abyss.