Groundhog Day (1993)

[thinredline]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

It's all about money. The 2009 disc is still in print with all available extras so they saw no point in spending the money pressing new discs. Universal did the same thing with The Mummy trilogy UHD releases.

and Warner with Harry Potter!

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by thinredline

and Warner with Harry Potter!

Yeah, they pulled the same thing with Blade Runner: The Final Cut. The BD could have easily been done in AVC with a higher bitrate, but Warner rarely does something like that.

[cool hand bluke]

I was wondering about the Blu-ray myself. Could it be that they want the UHD to look so much better? A 4K remastered BD was released in Japan and capsaholic shows it to be much better quality. But there again, there wouldn't be the night and day dramatic difference between the Blu-ray and the UHD if they used the 4K version, would there? This shot gives a good example of the difference

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by cool hand bluke

I was wondering about the Blu-ray myself. Could it be that they want the UHD to look so much better? A 4K remastered BD was released in Japan and capsaholic shows it to be much better quality. But there again, there wouldn't be the night and day dramatic difference between the Blu-ray and the UHD if they used the 4K version, would there? This shot gives a good example of the difference

I agree, which is exactly why I imported it.

[albabe]

I guess I'll wait to see if the Better Scan is released on BR... if not, I'll pick-up the Japan release.

Do you guys have a place to buy Japan releases at a decent price?

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by albabe

I guess I'll wait to see if the Better Scan is released on BR... if not, I'll pick-up the Japan release.

Do you guys have a place to buy Japan releases at a decent price?

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/product/BLU...9b5a625eb4f1d3

$21.44 right now. I jumped on it not long after it was released for about $15.

[anthonyls]

The 4K release got a really good review on this site (5 stars). Couldn't you just watch the 4K disc instead on the Blu-ray version?

[steve_dave]

Originally Posted by anthonyls

The 4K release got a really good review on this site (5 stars). Couldn't you just watch the 4K disc instead on the Blu-ray version?

Only if you have a 4K UHD player.

[cool hand bluke]

While the review is of the 4K disc, we are discussing the reason why there wasn't a re-release of the film on Blu-ray using the 4K master and which, as can be seen in the caps from the Japanese release, looks far superior. I speculated that this was not only to save costs, but to make the UHD look far superior in comparison.
I imagine someone with his UHD being impressed by the quality and then playing the accompanying Blu-ray and thinking that Blu-ray looks s^^t in comparison. But the difference might be more marginal if they'd given the Blu-ray a 4K remaster release instead of the dated master they used for it. Hope that makes sense. That's why the UHD release is of interest to those who have or wish to have the Blu-ray.

[javi92]

Originally Posted by cool hand bluke

I speculated that this was not only to save costs, but to make the UHD look far superior in comparison.

I doubt that factored into it. Some bean-counter at Sony just looked at the cost to re-encode and repress the blu and concluded it wasn't worth it.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by javi92

I doubt that factored into it. Some bean-counter at Sony just looked at the cost to re-encode and repress the blu and concluded it wasn't worth it.

That's exactly what happened. Now, if the 2009 disc was OOP for a good while then they probably would have put the newer 4K master on a BD.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

That's exactly what happened. Now, if the 2009 disc was OOP for a good while then they probably would have put the newer 4K master on a BD.

But these studios know fans double/triple dip on blu-rays when they are a big improvement. In this case, the Japanese disc was a big improvement. Look at how many people bought the Criterion release of Breakfast Club, even though that uses the same master as the previous release. In this case, there's a very noticeable improvement. I'm sure they would have sold a good number of blu-rays again if they re-released the new master on blu-ray. Not everyone has the money or desire to upgrade to UHD any time soon. So they are left in the cold even though the blu-ray format is fully capable of giving them a much better experience with the film than they currently have. I know it's a different studio but Dark Crystal is getting it's own blu-ray separate from the UHD.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by mar3o

But these studios know fans double/triple dip on blu-rays when they are a big improvement. In this case, the Japanese disc was a big improvement. Look at how many people bought the Criterion release of Breakfast Club, even though that uses the same master as the previous release. In this case, there's a very noticeable improvement. I'm sure they would have sold a good number of blu-rays again if they re-released the new master on blu-ray. Not everyone has the money or desire to upgrade to UHD any time soon. So they are left in the cold even though the blu-ray format is fully capable of giving them a much better experience with the film than they currently have. I know it's a different studio but Dark Crystal is getting it's own blu-ray separate from the UHD.

The Dark Crystal and Groundhog Day both belong to Sony. Also, Universal's 30th release of The Breakfast Club has slightly better compression than the Criterion disc.

[cool hand bluke]

Originally Posted by mar3o

But these studios know fans double/triple dip on blu-rays when they are a big improvement. In this case, the Japanese disc was a big improvement. Look at how many people bought the Criterion release of Breakfast Club, even though that uses the same master as the previous release. In this case, there's a very noticeable improvement. I'm sure they would have sold a good number of blu-rays again if they re-released the new master on blu-ray. Not everyone has the money or desire to upgrade to UHD any time soon. So they are left in the cold even though the blu-ray format is fully capable of giving them a much better experience with the film than they currently have. I know it's a different studio but Dark Crystal is getting it's own blu-ray separate from the UHD.

Excellent point. I've been waiting for a re-release and haven't even watched the existing version which is gathering dust on my shelf. And now, the only way people can upgrade is to get the UHD!

[albabe]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

The Dark Crystal and Groundhog Day both belong to Sony. Also, Universal's 30th release of The Breakfast Club has slightly better compression than the Criterion disc.

"Better Compression," meaning "Less?"

So the only reason to buy the Criterion is the Bonus Features? Dang!

[albabe]

Originally Posted by anthonyls

The 4K release got a really good review on this site (5 stars). Couldn't you just watch the 4K disc instead on the Blu-ray version?

I'm a poor Writer/Artist. I can't afford to pick-up all a 4K Monitor, Receiver, Player. Feeling generous?

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by albabe

"Better Compression," meaning "Less?"

So the only reason to buy the Criterion is the Bonus Features? Dang!

Exactly.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by albabe

I'm a poor Writer/Artist. I can't afford to pick-up all a 4K Monitor, Receiver, Player. Feeling generous?

You don't need a new receiver unless you want to utilize Atmos/DTS:X by having the extra room for additional speakers/subs. Atmos tracks will simply downmix to Dolby TrueHD and DTS:X to DTS-HD MA.

[svenge]

The Japanese BD with the better master is still available at Amazon Japan for $22 shipped.

[indiana]

except japan, in which country can we get 4k remastered edition bluray disc of this movie? germany, spain and UK will release 4k uhd + bd set in a few days. Anyone knows blu disc in these sets are 4k remastered editions or old discs that was released before?