Pacific Rim 4K UHD (2013)

[Ricky G]

I just saw this on 4K for the first time and it was awesome! The most stunning part of the 4K was Idris Elba's suit, there was so much texture in there.

[Eschenpod]

From High-Def Digest

'Pacific Rim' is GLORIOUS in Ultra HD with HDR/WCG and may just be the finest example of what the format has to offer. It's not perfect -- there are a few moments of softness (the main title), skin tones are little flushed, and this HDR pass doesn't always deliver the spectral highlights and shadow details we'd want -- but it's darn close and blows the Blu-ray out of the water.

From the first frame to the last, 'PacRim' produces a sumptuous array of visuals. The inky black levels of drift-dreams and the ocean floor drip in shadows, while the neon glow of Hong Kong cityscapes pop off the screen, giving the image an almost-3D quality. The wider color gamut is jaw dropping too; futuristic computer monitors hover in bold primaries, while the Kaijus are rich in their oozing pastels. I just can't get over how beautiful this movie looks. Talk about eye candy.

This is a film where the VFX work varies from photo-real to something more akin to sytlized animé, and all of that holds up here. It seems HDR/WCG can reveal weaknesses in some UHD movies, say 'Fury Road', where certain effects feel lighter and less immersed in the movie's world. 'Pacific Rim', however, looks noticeably clearer and sharper and weighted than the Blu-ray and even the VUDU UHD version with Dolby Vision. Clearly, the added bandwidth of physical media has made this movie look better than ever.

That said, and I need to do a little more research on this over multiple titles, in comparing this UHD Blu-ray with HDR10 to the VUDU UHD with Dolby Vision, the UHD BD isn't as good at revealing spectral highlights (note the Jaegar's various laser weapons) or shadow details. In that sense, the UHD BD is a bit more contrasty, leading to some crush. However, some of this may be more inherent on my LG E6, which I'm still dialing in; then again, the Dolby Vision VUDU stream, on the very same panel, offers much more shadow detail without sacrificing color or contrast.

Bottom line. Meet your new Ultra HD demo disc. While not perfect, 'Pacific Rim' is one of my favorite Ultra HD offerings thus far (along with 'The Great Gatsby'). It's absolutely gorgeous, and a quantifiable upgrade for anyone with the right display.

[MasterCrayola]

Originally Posted by Eschenpod

[Show spoiler]

Both of those caps are from the sequel....

[Eschenpod]

You are correct, my bad.

[Eschenpod]

[Dirk504]

Pacific Rim is one of my favorite 4k titles. It really shines and still holds it's own on my projector set up. And the Atmos track is top notch.

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

It's bright AF but doesn't have any more highlight detail than the SDR version, it's just been boosted into 2000+ nits. This is enough to impress most but it's a very "empty calorie" approach to HDR, superficially satisfying but with no substance. If anything I appreciate the UHD for what it does to the lower end, as the 2D and 3D Blus have a massive amount of black crush while the UHD opens up the shadows considerably.

Well, I just hope the highlights aren't blown-out, as I hate that.
So, it sounds like it's still superior to the BD, which makes it a worthwhile upgrade to me.

[Platitude]

Lol Geoff offers his analysis (which is pretty well regarded in the forums) and the immediate reaction is to spam the thread with screenshots and reviews from others.

[Eschenpod]

Yeah sure, who listens to Bill Hunt.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Platitude

Lol Geoff offers his analysis (which is pretty well regarded in the forums) and the immediate reaction is to spam the thread with screenshots and reviews from others.

Well if you're gonna spam a thread, you gotta do it right.

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

Well, I just hope the highlights aren't blown-out, as I hate that.
So, it sounds like it's still superior to the BD, which makes it a worthwhile upgrade to me.

The upper highlight range is virtually the same as the BD, whether it looks nuked or not depends on the TV and how it tone maps. Prior to the spam-a-lot there was a decent little bout of comparisons going on between various versions (Dolby Vision stream, HDR10 disc, SDR disc) on various TVs, you can see what I mean here: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...1#post17136481

[Bluyoda]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

[Show spoiler]Well if you're gonna spam a thread, you gotta do it right.

The upper highlight range is virtually the same as the BD, whether it looks nuked or not depends on the TV and how it tone maps. Prior to the spam-a-lot there was a decent little bout of comparisons going on between various versions (Dolby Vision stream, HDR10 disc, SDR disc) on various TVs, you can see what I mean here: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...1#post17136481

Thanks a lot. I pray it won't look blown-out on my TV.
Is it similar to The Mummy, although that one got a proper 4k transfer, and I reckon a proper HDR layer as well?
Anyway, I actually see blown-out highlights in The Mummy UHD, even though it's still a thousand times better than the BD: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...7#post17508277

[Geoff D]

I haven't double checked those bits in La Momie but it's worth pointing out that even HDR viewed in optimal conditions may still clip if it's part of the source or even desired by the people doing the grading. It's on us to decipher what part of it is the display implementation doing the clipping and what part is the source doing the clipping, like with the Pacific Rim comparisons in this very thread. We have this long-ingrained notion that our TVs don't lie to us, especially when people are dropping thousands on TVs, but HDR tone mapping has taken that notion and nuked it from orbit.

[4kUltraBD]

I finally picked this up at Wal-Mart last night (even had a slip), and gave it a spin today.

Woo boy! I'm gonna jump right to the chase, and say that this one blew me away in terms of improvement over the BD. I have to admit that the regular BD never really blew me away in terms of PQ, even though it was well received, I just personally didn't feel it was true reference quality.

On 4k though, it's a different story. Oh my, I was blown away by how great this looks. The colors are amazing, the black levels are nice and deep (without any of the crushing I found to be problematic on the BD), and the highlights were a treat, even on my low end set. A real winner IMO.

As for the movie. I like it well enough, but I'm probably in the minority, in that I like part two more. It's a good movie, but it takes itself a bit too serious at times. This is a monster movie, and as such, I suppose it could have been a bit more "fun".

Having said all that, the final act here is a good time, and does leave me pining for a larger panel to watch it on. A winner in that regard.

Overall, I'll give the movie a 3.5/5 starts and the transfer a 5/5 stars. Dang, it looks noice!

[Bluyoda]

Got it yesterday, and just had to watch it today.
My favourite creature movie, unless SW counts.

PQ: 4.5/5 Hm, it's super clean, just as the BD, nicely detailed, has no visible compression artifacts, aside from some aliasing in chapter 3 and 5, beautiful shadow detail, but to me the contrast is too harsh. I compared it carefully to the stunning BD, and while this one is much brighter in the highlights, and far more in your face, there isn't any additional detail to be seen, so it's kind of fake HDR to me. The BD has a smooth roll-off, yet the UHD looks really harsh quite a lot of the time. One can argue if that's the way it should look, since it's highly stylized to begin with, and it's certainly a matter of taste, but it's not the best implementation of HDR in my book. The colours looks super pushed and vibrant, but again, I don't see a lot of additional gradients of colours. I find it a bit harsh on the eyes, but I was really focusing on it. Perhaps next time, I'll be able to just enjoy the epicness unfold.
My favourite shot is Otachi spreading its wings for the first time, and flying off with Gypsy Danger in its talents. That right there is as good as it gets! Pure cinema joy.
Anyway, it's a great disc, but it's not a major upgrade from the almost perfect BD, which suffers from the same aliasing problems (I saw two obvious instances), but has about the same level of detail upscaled, so it's not actually any better per say, but if you want everything to the max, then this is the one for you. It's certainly a showstopper, and most likely the format of choice for this movie from heron in.

AQ: Sensational in every way. LFE is house shattering. Surrounds are constantly active, atmospherics are beautifully presented, dialogue is nice and clear, as well as dynamic, music is perfectly handled as well. And it sounds smoother than the DTS-HD MA on the BD, but that might be to the different DACs I am using (Oppo-83SE vs. Oppo-203 now), so take it with a grain of salt.

[kevin87]

Originally Posted by 4kUltraBD

I finally picked this up at Wal-Mart last night (even had a slip), and gave it a spin today.

Woo boy! I'm gonna jump right to the chase, and say that this one blew me away in terms of improvement over the BD. I have to admit that the regular BD never really blew me away in terms of PQ, even though it was well received, I just personally didn't feel it was true reference quality.

On 4k though, it's a different story. Oh my, I was blown away by how great this looks. The colors are amazing, the black levels are nice and deep (without any of the crushing I found to be problematic on the BD), and the highlights were a treat, even on my low end set. A real winner IMO.

As for the movie. I like it well enough, but I'm probably in the minority, in that I like part two more. It's a good movie, but it takes itself a bit too serious at times. This is a monster movie, and as such, I suppose it could have been a bit more "fun".

Having said all that, the final act here is a good time, and does leave me pining for a larger panel to watch it on. A winner in that regard.

Overall, I'll give the movie a 3.5/5 starts and the transfer a 5/5 stars. Dang, it looks noice!

I also found it at WM with a slipcover, watched it tonight to make sure it works before return period is up lol I don't have a 4K TV so I can't geek out about it, but it still looked better than I remember the normal BD looking.

It's odd that the 4K dropped the entire bonus features disc. I'll just have to buy some 3 disc 4K cases someday and use one to just stick the bonus features disc from the WM exclusive in it. Wish they'd used that cover too, since it's a scene from the movie (and the best of the artwork variants IMO), not a fake scene made just for the cover. Might watch Uprising tomorrow just because, maybe I can appreciate it better this time around knowing what I know now lol

[4kUltraBD]

Originally Posted by kevin87

I also found it at WM with a slipcover, watched it tonight to make sure it works before return period is up lol I don't have a 4K TV so I can't geek out about it, but it still looked better than I remember the normal BD looking.

It's odd that the 4K dropped the entire bonus features disc. I'll just have to buy some 3 disc 4K cases someday and use one to just stick the bonus features disc from the WM exclusive in it. Wish they'd used that cover too, since it's a scene from the movie (and the best of the artwork variants IMO), not a fake scene made just for the cover. Might watch Uprising tomorrow just because, maybe I can appreciate it better this time around knowing what I know now lol

I like Uprising. I know most people aren't as hyped about it, but I think it's the better of the two movies. I have some quibbles with it, but I find it to be entertaining and a fun watch.

[DisplayCalNoob]

The most impressive shots to me are inside Gypsy Danger.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by 4kUltraBD

I like Uprising. I know most people aren't as hyped about it, but I think it's the better of the two movies. I have some quibbles with it, but I find it to be entertaining and a fun watch.

I thought it was entertaining as well, with some great visuals and good use of the scope framing. Story wise though I'll definitely be ignoring it when watching the original.

[kevin87]

Watched Uprising tonight for the hell of it... and I technically needed to test the disc since I didn't have a 4K player until last year, so I was only able to watch the BD previously. It glitched on two separate occasions about 7 minutes from the end, so I'll need to find a dirt cheap sale someday lol Makes me scared to think of all the potential duds out of the other 41 4K release that I bought pre-May 2019 where I couldn't test the 4K discs lol

It's not a bad movie, but the tone is too different and the story is just average, and the leads just didn't fit for me, especially compared to Hunnam. The part I had most trouble with was how jaegers were were to fluid in their movement. Almost felt like somebody did an unofficial sequel and managed to use three past characters and clips of Idris Elba lol

[lgans316]

Correct way to experience Pacific Rim is by watching the 3D BD remuxed with Atmos audio from the UHD. No amount of HDR can offer that level of immersion like watching properly done 3D on a gigantic screen.