Halloween 4K UHD (1978)

[Colson]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

It's not so confusing when you realise that a different company handled the boxset. Shout went out of their way to source the correct audio (and also sweeten the 7.1 by "fixing" the pitch shift in the walk and talk scene) but Anchor Bay are the ones who put out the incorrect mono on the standalone 35th Blu-ray and they never fixed it. Lionsgate inherited Anchor Bay's elements when they bought them and, probably because there was no in-house fix noted for the 35th, they went and used the exact same audio masters albeit with fresh encodings.

Immensely frustrating then, but given how home video departments pretty much work with skeleton crews at this point - young 'uns at that, who wouldn't recognise the original audio for Halloween even if it stabbed them in the neck with a knitting needle - then I'm not so flabbergasted that this happened.

That explains a lot, actually. Thanks!

[jrcorwin3]

Originally Posted by Colson

In addition, it was previously corrected because, like I said, it was a mistake.

Once again...your opinion...your preference. That does not make it either incorrect or a mistake. Feel free to provide proof that something was done incorrectly, rather than a choice being made.

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

It's not so confusing when you realise that a different company handled the boxset. Shout went out of their way to source the correct audio (and also sweeten the 7.1 by "fixing" the pitch shift in the walk and talk scene) but Anchor Bay are the ones who put out the incorrect mono on the standalone 35th Blu-ray and they never fixed it. Lionsgate inherited Anchor Bay's elements when they bought them and, probably because there was no in-house fix noted for the 35th, they went and used the exact same audio masters albeit with fresh encodings.

Immensely frustrating then, but given how home video departments pretty much work with skeleton crews at this point - young 'uns at that, who wouldn't recognise the original audio for Halloween even if it stabbed them in the neck with a knitting needle - then I'm not so flabbergasted that this happened.

I thought it was Anchor Bay who handled that. The box set was distributed by Shout, but wasn't its production a joint venture? I'm pretty sure AB handled the H4 replacement discs, anyway (and their initial press release about that issue was decidedly condescending, IIRC).

For me, it's not only the added sound effects that are bothersome, it's the overall change in ambience. It just sounds "off," and even more so, when it's folded down to one channel.

Incidentally, that's why I also dislike the remix on H4. In that case, it's because of missing sound effects, and a flatter, duller overall soundscape.

But as some of us have discussed on here, it's a nuanced thing. To reiterate what I said a while back...

Originally Posted by BNex99

I'll be the first to admit that we sometimes go overboard here talking about "original mixes." Sometimes an original LCRS Dolby Stereo track is reformatted to 5.1 with a little EQ-ing and filtering, and it sounds fine. But with Halloween, the remix is legitimately revisionist in spots, so an option for the way it originally sounded should be a given on a format that can hold multiple audio tracks.

Compounding the issue here is that there is a mono track, it's not the original track, this already happened on at least one previous release, AND it was corrected on a subsequent one, and NOW the error has been repeated.

It's not the end of the world; it's just a movie. But it is a careless mistake and a little frustrating.

Hope that makes some sense

[Geoff D]

I'm sure AB had a part to play in it - Shout had to get the materials from somewhere, after all - but that they never corrected the standalone 35th Blu-ray is likely the #1 reason why Lionsgate messed this up as they did. They pulled the audio elements used to create the previous AB Blu-ray and while I'm sure they were freshly QC'ed for quality issues before encoding that's not the same as someone actually knowing that this isn't the correct mono mix.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by PopPunkNerd182

But when a mono debate literally takes up pages and pages in a 4K post, it gets awfully grating very quickly.

Original audio (whether it's mono, stereo, 4.0 ... whatever) and 4K shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

If the Bond movies ever hit UHD I'd like them to have have their original audio, there's no reason to release titles like The Terminator, Halloween et cetera not to have their original audio included.

If studios include the original audio then there would be no debate. Just happier enthusiasts.

[Geoff D]

+1 for the classic Bonds, the mono to 5.1 remixes are horrid.

[PopPunkNerd182]

Originally Posted by chip75

Original audio (whether it's mono, stereo, 4.0 ... whatever) and 4K shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

If the Bond movies ever hit UHD I'd like them to have have their original audio, there's no reason to release titles like The Terminator, Halloween et cetera not to have their original audio included.

If studios include the original audio then there would be no debate. Just happier enthusiasts.

But again, studios do not care what you want or think.

At all.

And people will STILL buy these movies even if they complain about them beforehand.

And I don't even want original audio on my 4K discs because I want every single MB available for the 4K video and Atmos/X (if available) sound.

[Bolty]

I like to see P. J. Soles boobs in 4K.

Is that revisionist?

[chip75]

Originally Posted by PopPunkNerd182

And I don't even want original audio on my 4K discs because I want every single MB available for the 4K video and Atmos/X (if available) sound.

UHD discs rarely go to the full 66GB or 100GB and there's always a handful of audio tracks that will never get used by most people (some of the Japanese tracks will be hidden), including the original audio will have little impact on PQ quality.

And people will still buy the releases, but they'll be adding the original audio tracks when they can. It would be nice if we didn't have to do that, a lot of the newer mixes are relatively poor, but as long as people get ATMOS and DTS:X activated on their receivers ... who cares what it sounds like.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by PopPunkNerd182

But again, studios do not care what you want or think.

At all.

Do you spend your other time informing smokers that their habit is bad for their health?

I'm sure everyone here who has issues with individual features on the discs they buy or boycott has a pretty realistic idea of where they sit on the studios' concern totem pole.

[4kUltraBD]

So, in preparation to go see the new Halloween next week, I decided to watch through all of the old films again.

Yes, I know that only part 1 actually matters, but it's that time of year and it gave me a great excuse to marathon them all as quickly as I can.

I decided to watch the 4k release again today to get it all started. Dayum!!! I think I found even more to love about this transfer the second time through. On my first viewing, I spent too much time analyzing pixels and color timing. This time I just let myself relax and enjoy the film in all of its UHD glory. It really is a sight to behold.

Next up, I popped in Halloween II from the SF 10 disc Halloween box set. Um...I've always liked part II, and the transfer wasn't bad, but it really hammered home just how well the 4k disc was done.

For the fence sitters, I would recommend picking this up, no matter what your preconceived notions of the transfer may be. Especially right now, while the price is low. I can't imagine it will stay this low forever, TBH. If you're a fan of the film already, I say it's worth a spin.

[Sabre95]

Can’t believe it took me so long but I finally watched this for the first time. The quality on this one is pretty damn good. I hope we can get Halloween II and III in 4K as well.

[Member-167298]

Originally Posted by Sabre95

Can’t believe it took me so long but I finally watched this for the first time. The quality on this one is pretty damn good. I hope we can get Halloween II and III in 4K as well.

If Halloween (2018) is as big a success this weekend as people think it is going to be, I would bet on it.

[EarlyGrace]

Originally Posted by Sabre95

Can’t believe it took me so long but I finally watched this for the first time. The quality on this one is pretty damn good. I hope we can get Halloween II and III in 4K as well.

Halloween III was absolutely terrible! No Michael Myers = No Halloween.

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by EarlyGrace

Halloween III was absolutely terrible! No Michael Myers = No Halloween.

Is this satire?

[Brian81]

Well, then dont watch H3 or a trailer for it

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Bolty

I like to see P. J. Soles boobs in 4K.

Is that revisionist?

It's totally not.

[StingingVelvet]

I remember being bummed about seeing less of them in widescreen. An early teacher about the nature of open matte.

[Martoto]

Originally Posted by EarlyGrace

Halloween III was absolutely terrible! No Michael Myers = No Halloween.

On a worldwide scale, very few movies have a Michael Myers in them.

Are they all absolutely terrible?

[Colson]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I remember being bummed about seeing less of them in widescreen. An early teacher about the nature of open matte.

Purism giveth, and purism taketh away.