The Abyss 4K UHD (1989)

[supersonic395]

Originally Posted by Steel76

I got a custom Blu-Ray of T1, with the blu-ray transfer, color-corrected, back to it's original look, so no more teal. Including the original Mono mix, from the laserdisc.

It's insane, that we have to turn to custom fan versions, instead of the official releases, if we want something closer to the original versions.

Director's approved, doesn't mean anything anymore...

T1 prints had quite a bit of green/blue in them so curious if your "original" look is pink shifted dvd garbage? Because that's not original.

[Robojaws]

Judging by the caps provided a couple of pages earlier this new transfer still looks pretty shady and not film-like to me.
It seems that instead of maxing out on the Sharpening level like on True Lies and then adding an overdose of DNR, they dialed down the Sharpening, but still applied too much DNR to faces and skin in general.
Yes, in the end it looks like as if The Abyss is the "best" and most film-like looking of them three new releases, but still it looks pretty dodgy and ugly to me.

[Spooked]

Originally Posted by Steel76

I got a custom Blu-Ray of T1, with the blu-ray transfer, color-corrected, back to it's original look, so no more teal. Including the original Mono mix, from the laserdisc.

It's insane, that we have to turn to custom fan versions, instead of the official releases, if we want something closer to the original versions.

Director's approved, doesn't mean anything anymore...

That sounds wonderful. You don't happen to have a link to the source, do you?

[Robojaws]

Is the Lowry restoration of The Abyss available on disc somewhere?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by By_His_Strypes

This would be an example of not a legit complaint.

Thanks so much!

[Telemachus]

Originally Posted by DAT_JB

I seriously don't understand why Cameron didn't let the AI create a whole new movie.

He could call it Avatar

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by Robojaws

Judging by the caps provided a couple of pages earlier this new transfer still looks pretty shady and not film-like to me.
It seems that instead of maxing out on the Sharpening level like on True Lies and then adding an overdose of DNR, they dialed down the Sharpening, but still applied too much DNR to faces and skin in general.
Yes, in the end it looks like as if The Abyss is the "best" and most film-like looking of them three new releases, but still it looks pretty dodgy and ugly to me.

You've always got the DVD to watch.

The irony is that these releases have now taken SO incredibly long that this exact disc would have made us giddy a decade ago, but now we're SO discerning that we don't like it. It's pretty funny TBH.

I'm personally very happy with this one. Can't wait to pick it up in March. I'm out of this thread, though, I think. I'm not saying you're one of them, but some members here will stop at nothing to ensure that everyone else is as dissatisfied with this as they are. But True Lies this is not, and I am FAR too happy to finally have this movie looking great (great enough IMHO) that I'm just not going to have that enthusiasm tamped down this time.

[starmike]

God forbid we want our favorite films to look good.

I distinctly remember people complaining about the audio on the Superman 4K, so why does the video on the Cam films get different treatment?

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by starmike

God forbid we want our favorite films to look good.

Yep. That’s exactly what I said. lol Bye, guys. Enjoy the thread, and the disc, should you choose to buy it.

[Fang Zei]

=Robojaws;21722889]Is the Lowry restoration of The Abyss available on disc somewhere?

No.

The theatrical cut finally made its way to HD in the form of a cable broadcast on cinemax back in the summer of 2014. That’s the Lowry (Reliance MediaWorks by that point) transfer in the comparisons unless I’m mistaken. I’ll never forget watching it that summer when I was housesitting at my grandfather’s place and being blown away by just how bd-like it looked.

Reliance/Lowry also did a remaster of True Lies around that point (again this is unless I’m mistaken, there’s also obviously the way older D-Theater from 2003).

I should point out though that these were only mastered in 2k, not unlike the bd’s of Alien and Aliens in 2010 (those were also Lowry).

Judging by the screencaps … yeah, this AI thing is clearly Cameron’s newest obsession. The 4k remaster doesn’t look terrible but it feels like the 2023 equivalent of what we all hoped we’d left behind after 2009 or so. There’s something resembling grain, but I say “2009” because it just reminds me of the 4k equivalent of all those filtered/sharpened blu-ray transfers we were ending up with right around that time.

The crazy part is that, as others have pointed out, this actually appears the least manipulated of the four shot-on-film Cameron 4k remasters.

What I find highly ironic is that True Lies, The Abyss and Aliens all would’ve had to be freshly transferred from their film-based sources more recently and yet for Titanic, hands down the most successful film of the four, they simply reused the scan data from, what, early 2011 at the most recent? I swear it’s the most popular films that get the most “economic” treatment on home video.

[Just_Delightful]

na, I just can't handle the regrade, it makes the characters look sick.

I'm working on my own regrade of the 4K. It really misses the HDR which is really atmospheric but overall, I can watch it at least.

Originally Posted by Croweyes1121

You've always got the DVD to watch.

The irony is that these releases have now taken SO incredibly long that this exact disc would have made us giddy a decade ago, but now we're SO discerning that we don't like it. It's pretty funny TBH.

[By_His_Strypes]

Originally Posted by starmike

God forbid we want our favorite films to look good.

I distinctly remember people complaining about the audio on the Superman 4K, so why does the video on the Cam films get different treatment?

I don't know.. it's a good point. I just feel this doesn't feel as authentic with some of the complaints. Maybe I'm wrong. I still haven't picked up the Superman 4k's. So, that perhaps makes me look like a hypocrite.

[starmike]

Originally Posted by By_His_Strypes

I don't know.. it's a good point. I just feel this doesn't feel as authentic with some of the complaints. Maybe I'm wrong. I still haven't picked up the Superman 4k's. So, that perhaps makes me look like a hypocrite.

I know the answer - it's because audio usually takes a back seat to video. Both are equal IMO, but you can't dismiss one and criticize the other.

EDIT: when was the last time someone posted a group of audio clips? Never. Oh, sure, people have posted single ones before, but there are whole websites dedicated to screenshot comparisons, but nothing about audio.

[Trekkie313]

Superman UHDs have PQ issues too.

[starmike]

Originally Posted by Trekkie313

Superman UHDs have PQ issues too.

Yeah, absolutely. Whatever happened to that new scan we were promised? Whoops!

[Mikezilla3k]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

[Show spoiler]

[Trekkie313]

I can see a small positive, maybe feedback from the reception of these releases and further improvements will mean T2 turns out like Titanic or Abyss.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by Croweyes1121

You've always got the DVD to watch.

The irony is that these releases have now taken SO incredibly long that this exact disc would have made us giddy a decade ago, but now we're SO discerning that we don't like it. It's pretty funny TBH.

I'm personally very happy with this one. Can't wait to pick it up in March. I'm out of this thread, though, I think. I'm not saying you're one of them, but some members here will stop at nothing to ensure that everyone else is as dissatisfied with this as they are. But True Lies this is not, and I am FAR too happy to finally have this movie looking great (great enough IMHO) that I'm just not going to have that enthusiasm tamped down this time.

10 years ago we wouldn't have gotten these godawful AI-enhanced things.

[jeff BD]

I think the blu-ray version of these will be the most pleasing visually as the picture wont look as sharp and faces will appear less processed in 1080p

[Crysist]

Originally Posted by Trekkie313

I can see a small positive, maybe feedback from the reception of these releases and further improvements will mean T2 turns out like Titanic or Abyss.

The only time I read that this happened was when they fixed the "mastering error" (DNR) in the Gladiator release in 2010 while, iirc gaslighting about nothing having been wrong with it in the first place. The fixed version turned out to be stellar.

I actually see a bit of traction gaining on twitter about how bad True Lies is, of course it's now overshadowed by his Variety discussion.

Curious whether making a stink would help.

This whole thing is quite annoying because Cameron and his cinematographer were quite deliberate to get really pristine images out of their stock at the time, not to mention this movie looking as great as is does, and yet when we have the chance to get it on 4k all that detail has been taken away for no reason.

By the way, Cameron had mentioned that he did a wet gate scan on either True Lies or The Abyss, so it doesn't seem unlikely that one would be from a new source. Which one uses an old source tho?