Halloween 4K UHD (1978)

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

It would make it a lot easier to sort through those who have an informed opinion vs. those speculating and talking out their behinds.

I read this as 'talking out their bellends,' which made me lol.

[Kyle15]

[BluProofie]

Originally Posted by BillieCassin

It's too bad this forum didn't have "VERIFIED PURCHASE" markers like the reviews on Amazon, isn't it? It would make it a lot easier to sort through those who have an informed opinion vs. those speculating and talking out their behinds.

I don't have the previous release, just this new one, so I can't give you my own opinion on it - but I do believe as I follow this (mess of...) a thread, that literally almost everyone who has both releases says the Shout version is superior in all three realms - picture, audio, and extras.

Since you are one of the few who’ve actually watched it, how did you feel about the compression? I trust your opinion after seeing it in motion over screenshots zoomed to 200%.

[Covcraig]

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

u ok hun x

Pm me.

[dylrichard02]

Originally Posted by Covcraig

Pm me.

[Brian81]

Originally Posted by gigan72

What a mess of a thread, lol.

I'm gonna say this based off what I've seen reading through pages of this thread. This release is a solid upgrade over the previous, but still looks to fall short of a 'perfect' experience.

The release has a better scan, the colors look nicer, the bonus material is more plentiful and filled out PLUS it has the original audio.

However, the original audio is the same filtered track from before, which while a bit disappointing, nobody here knew until too late and i'm sure Shout had no idea either. I'm glad to have the original audio back.

I'm less able to forgive the meh compression in the HDR10 layer. The previous release from Lionsgate had better compression, and it's disappointing that even for a title as massive as Halloween Shout STILL provides the same mediocre and clumpy encodes. They're leagues better than Studiocanal, and i'm pretty sure Dolby Vision is gonna help alleviate some of the issues, but this a problem that they have had for literal years and show no signs of giving the smallest care about. The encode is far from a disaster, but it's kinda disappointing to see again and again and again. Especially as large of a title as this.

Still excited to see the new release, though. The new one is still a solid upgrade.

If the compression is truly as bad as the examples provided, it completely negates the quality increase provided by a scan of the negative over the prior release, IMO. The only thing it has going for it is the grading and the mono. Perhaps a regrade of the Lionsgate remuxing with the mono and I'd take that over this new one, as you can't remove compression artifacts. I need to locate this post by Rusty now to see other captures now, since a reply to my earlier post leads me to believe this may be an inconsistent presentation and these may be the worst examples?

[dylrichard02]

What would John Carpenter think of such a thread intended for talking about his 1978 classic that propelled a subgenre into stardom?

[aloop]

Okay, so I took one more screenshot to try and highlight how much improvement there is to the color on the new release. As I said before no HDR-to-SDR conversion can really be accurate, this works okay as a comparison though I think. The compression fares much better here as well!

I will note that I tweaked my madVR settings a bit since I took the other screenshots. I reduced the target nits from the default of 200 to 100, matching the target level that caps-a-holic typically uses, along with enabling highlight recovery and frame-by-frame peak luminance measurement.

Lionsgate
Scream Factory

[Brian81]

Originally Posted by aloop

Okay, so I took one more screenshot to try and highlight how much improvement there is to the color on the new release. As I said before no HDR-to-SDR conversion can really be accurate, this works okay as a comparison though I think. The compression fares much better here as well!

I will note that I tweaked my madVR settings a bit since I took the other screenshots. I reduced the target nits from the default of 200 to 100, matching the target level that caps-a-holic typically uses, along with enabling highlight recovery and frame-by-frame peak luminance measurement.

Lionsgate
Scream Factory

NEW does look better there. Tighter grain, less flat looking.

[mad_max2000]

Originally Posted by aloop

Okay, so I took one more screenshot to try and highlight how much improvement there is to the color on the new release. As I said before no HDR-to-SDR conversion can really be accurate, this works okay as a comparison though I think. The compression fares much better here as well!

I will note that I tweaked my madVR settings a bit since I took the other screenshots. I reduced the target nits from the default of 200 to 100, matching the target level that caps-a-holic typically uses, along with enabling highlight recovery and frame-by-frame peak luminance measurement.

Lionsgate
Scream Factory

I understand the dicussion around here lately has been about compression but damn, looking at the screencaps side by side, the LG disc just looked so lifeless in its colors. Whatever faults there are with compression and filtered audio, there's no doubt in my mind that the SF release is the better of the two, hands down.

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by maverick22

I have a lot of movies I have purchased but have not watched them. This is one of them! I bought the old LG one, never watched it, and now bought the new SF one. If the LG is very close to the SF one, I can still return the new SF one within 45 days at Best Buy as long as it’s sealed.

I have no opinion at all about this movie or its PQ. I don’t give AF about being cool in any circumstance. I’m too old for that crap!

I want to make a smart decision and not waste $30 if I don’t need to. If enough people say this is a major upgrade from the Lg G one, I’ll gladly keep this new one!

I don’t understand this. You bought a movie you never watched before? Then proceeded to buy a new release still without watching the movie?

And now you are trying to justify returning the new purchase because of elitest comments as a smart decision?

I don’t want to be that jerk and tell anyone how to use money but what the hell?!

I still have the original disc of Love Actually despite the new disc with the proper US version dipping under $10. Because I don’t watch it enough to throw $10 away.

I never upgraded any of the Warner Dark Castle Blu-rays I own to the Scream versions because I don’t want to spend money like that.

Sure, I’ll drop $100 to $180 for sets but unless I’m going to a new format, I’m not doing that again. Heck, I’m happy with the $1 Blu-ray and DVD purchases from Dollar Tree and won’t buy new versions because there is no compelling reason to do so.

[Conan The Barbarian]

Originally Posted by dylrichard02

What would John Carpenter think of such a thread intended for talking about his 1978 classic that propelled a subgenre into stardom?

Probably will think to himself

"What the ****?"

[dallywhitty]

Originally Posted by Conan The Barbarian

Probably will think to himself

"What the ****?"

He'd be like, 'Where is my money????'

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by mad_max2000

I understand the dicussion around here lately has been about compression but damn, looking at the screencaps side by side, the LG disc just looked so lifeless in its colors. Whatever faults there are with compression and filtered audio, there's no doubt in my mind that the SF release is the better of the two, hands down.

Yes, it is (I have the disc).

[DaylightsEnd]

Originally Posted by Kyle15

That's sort of an ENORMOUS spoiler, hhhmmmmmmm??????? Great, now the first TWO films are out of the bag.....

[slimdude]

Originally Posted by aloop

Okay, so I took one more screenshot to try and highlight how much improvement there is to the color on the new release. As I said before no HDR-to-SDR conversion can really be accurate, this works okay as a comparison though I think. The compression fares much better here as well!

I will note that I tweaked my madVR settings a bit since I took the other screenshots. I reduced the target nits from the default of 200 to 100, matching the target level that caps-a-holic typically uses, along with enabling highlight recovery and frame-by-frame peak luminance measurement.

Lionsgate
Scream Factory

I am strictly not the person who'll thrives and judge the picture quality based on screenshots, but the Lionsgate version (which I already have) looks more natural and besides, you can't altered and tweak still photos away from their original photography to personally enhance the image to your specifications because it's not a valid comparison. As a matter of fact, nobody can compare anything until they see the movie in its entirety (in motion) on their own 4K TVs, if they been professionally calibrated.

[dylrichard02]

Originally Posted by Conan The Barbarian

Probably will think to himself

"What the ****?"

Originally Posted by dallywhitty

He'd be like, 'Where is my money????'

John Carpenter, at home, content, being unaware this thread exists:

[BillieCassin]

Originally Posted by BluProofie

Since you are one of the few who’ve actually watched it, how did you feel about the compression? I trust your opinion after seeing it in motion over screenshots zoomed to 200%.

I'm no image expert, nor do I have a $5K set-up - so please don't take anything I say as definitive LOL. I also only own like 30 4K releases at this point, so I'm honestly still just learning about the ins and outs of 4K transfers on disc. It sure is way more complicated than judging a standard Blu-ray transfer, that is for sure. Also full disclosure - I've never owned this movie on a disc format, so this is all from just watching it fresh without comparing it to anything else.

That said...I personally didn't see any compression issues when watching the film. I didn't analyze the frames, I didn't pause and compare to anything, I just watched the film, and I did not see any compression artifacts, banding, or other anomalies that can happen with such dark material. Though I will say that I did spend a lot of time looking in the shadows, because I kept being amazed at all the detail you could see. As reported earlier, I did keep an eye on the bit rate, out of curiosity - it was solidly in the mid-70's - occasionally dipping to 68.5 or raising to the low 80's.

I also should note I watched it in Dolby Vision. As I've been learning, at least for the releases I have seen and been reading about, that in most cases Dolby Vision > HDR10. I just upgraded my player from a XBOX Series X to a stand-alone 4K player a few months back because the former doesn't do DV - and I have definitely noticed the difference on a few discs. Example - Game of Thrones S8 - there were compression issues/banding/artifacts in HDR10, and not when displayed in DolbyVision. So frankly - I won't be surprised if that the HDR10 here does have slight issues versus DolbyVision, as that seems to be rather normal (though still unfortunate).

I too look forward to hearing some more reviews from qualified folk who actually have it in hand. My grumpiness in the past few pages of this thread has been following it and seeing people just fly through the mass of positive comments from those who have it in hand, just reading one brief critique, then it spreading like wildfire (even into other threads!) where it blows up way out or proportion and becomes "the narrative".

For my part - I can just say again - I was blown away by this disc. It is the closest I have felt yet to actually feeling like I am in a theater watching an actual 35MM print.

I also know it is blasphemous around these parts, but I thought the new Atmos mix was also incredible - and I'm only listening to it in TrueHD. I sampled back and forth with the original mono, and I completely understand the desire for it - but they did such a good job on the track. I'm really eager to hear what folks who actually have Atmos have to say about it.

[maverick22]

Originally Posted by steve_dave

I don’t understand this. You bought a movie you never watched before? Then proceeded to buy a new release still without watching the movie?

And now you are trying to justify returning the new purchase because of elitest comments as a smart decision?

I don’t want to be that jerk and tell anyone how to use money but what the hell?!

I still have the original disc of Love Actually despite the new disc with the proper US version dipping under $10. Because I don’t watch it enough to throw $10 away.

I never upgraded any of the Warner Dark Castle Blu-rays I own to the Scream versions because I don’t want to spend money like that.

Sure, I’ll drop $100 to $180 for sets but unless I’m going to a new format, I’m not doing that again. Heck, I’m happy with the $1 Blu-ray and DVD purchases from Dollar Tree and won’t buy new versions because there is no compelling reason to do so.

I didn’t mind “blind double dipping” on a classic such as this. If this was considered a crappy movie, I wouldn’t be double dipping blindly. I wanted to secure a copy in case it would be difficult to get my hands on. I didn’t want to regret not going for it.

I have faith that this one is worth getting the superior version, and if it’s indeed the new one, I’ll sell the old one on eBay for a few bucks perhaps. I don’t know. I’m still waiting to hear a few more reviews. I have time.

[dylrichard02]

Originally Posted by maverick22

I didn’t mind “blind double dipping” on a classic such as this. If this was considered a crappy movie, I wouldn’t be double dipping blindly. I wanted to secure a copy in case it would be difficult to get my hands on. I didn’t want to regret not going for it.

I have faith that this one is worth getting the superior version, and if it’s indeed the new one, I’ll sell the old one on eBay for a few bucks perhaps. I don’t know. I’m still waiting to hear a few more reviews. I have time.

The older 4K release seems to be out of print, due to the rights maybe not being open to Lionsgate anymore, despite still being in stock, I'd hold on to it for a while and you might at some point make back what you spent on the new Shout release.