I need movies from the 20TH CENTURY on UHD, too!

[McCrutchy]

I know that UHD is a little ways off, but so far, I am extremely disappointed with the announced UHD titles so far.

All four titles from Fox are from 2012 or later. Two 2016 Fox catalog releases (Independence Day (1996) and The Omen (1976)) were mistakenly reported as UHD/BD combo releases, only to have Fox later clarify that they would be new 4K masters, presented on 1080p Blu-ray-only.

Now we have several announcements from Sony, and again, the oldest title coming out appears to be Hancock (July 2008) followed closely by Pineapple Express (August 2008).

I was really hoping Sony could have given us Lawrence of Arabia, or The Bridge on the River Kwai, or perhaps even something newer from the Mastered in 4K line of BDs, like Taxi Driver or Ghostbusters.

I am sure that these titles take longer to produce in UHD, and need to be readied for things like HDR, and so on, but so do the vast majority of the rest of the films that Sony (and probably even Life of Pi from Fox) did actually announce.

So, even though it's early, I want to say now that it would be great to see two or three, or even just one, major 4K-ready 20th Century catalog title announced for UHD, and made available with the first batch of titles.

I really want to adopt UHD BD, really and truly, no matter how "niche" it ultimately becomes, but I am a child of the 20th Century, and I need some of the great movies from that time to get me to buy the new TV and player.

[Opips3]

I like movie called " Victor Franksteines" is sci-fic horror. I would like to on UHD 4K disc. I don't want to back an old movie or classic movie. I'm fine with my collection Blu-ray.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

I know that UHD is a little ways off, but so far, I am extremely disappointed with the announced UHD titles so far.

All four titles from Fox are from 2012 or later. Two 2016 Fox catalog releases (Independence Day (1996) and The Omen (1976)) were mistakenly reported as UHD/BD combo releases, only to have Fox later clarify that they would be new 4K masters, presented on 1080p Blu-ray-only.

Now we have several announcements from Sony, and again, the oldest title coming out appears to be Hancock (July 2008) followed closely by Pineapple Express (August 2008).

I was really hoping Sony could have given us Lawrence of Arabia, or The Bridge on the River Kwai, or perhaps even something newer from the Mastered in 4K line of BDs, like Taxi Driver or Ghostbusters.

I am sure that these titles take longer to produce in UHD, and need to be readied for things like HDR, and so on, but so do the vast majority of the rest of the films that Sony (and probably even Life of Pi from Fox) did actually announce.

So, even though it's early, I want to say now that it would be great to see two or three, or even just one, major 4K-ready 20th Century catalog title announced for UHD, and made available with the first batch of titles.

I really want to adopt UHD BD, really and truly, no matter how "niche" it ultimately becomes, but I am a child of the 20th Century, and I need some of the great movies from that time to get me to buy the new TV and player.

They will not take longer to make as Sony already has the masters ready.
The whole mi4k line was to build 4k content and to get double dips also.
They will come but they won't shoot their bolt day one, why would they?

[Geoff D]

20th Century, you say? I'm quite sure the hotshot execs in every home video dept. have never heard of it.

Joking aside (I hope), I can totally see what McCrutchy's saying, mike. No, they're not going to release every premium title first up but how about an "old" movie which really WILL take advantage of the new format, even just in terms of spatial resolution, to show people what it can do?

I'm not quite sold on 35mm in 4K but something shot on 8/35 or 65mm would look the dog's bollocks even without WCG/HDR, and what better one from the Sony vaults than Lawrence? As you say, the masters are ready and waiting so why not give us that one at least? Sony were quick enough to put it on their 4K streaming service, after all.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

20th Century, you say? I'm quite sure the hotshot execs in every home video dept. have never heard of it.

Joking aside (I hope), I can totally see what McCrutchy's saying, mike. No, they're not going to release every premium title first up but how about an "old" movie which really WILL take advantage of the new format, even just in terms of spatial resolution, to show people what it can do?

I'm not quite sold on 35mm in 4K but something shot on 8/35 or 65mm would look the dog's bollocks even without WCG/HDR, and what better one from the Sony vaults than Lawrence? As you say, the masters are ready and waiting so why not give us that one at least? Sony were quick enough to put it on their 4K streaming service, after all.

Are people buying catalogue titles now?

Most people think "old" films were made before HD and won't work in 1080p

[Adam_ME]

Just out of curiosity, were movies shot digitally over the last decade or so done in a format that's 4K(or better)? I remember reading somewhere that the 2nd and 3rd Star Wars prequels were filmed in 1080p.

Point being that if these movies were shot in 2K or God forbid 1080p, studios may have to dig into their catalog and release older titles so that we can actually notice a difference in the 4K transfer.

[dvdmike]

Originally Posted by Adam_ME

Just out of curiosity, were movies shot digitally over the last decade or so done in a format that's 4K(or better)? I remember reading somewhere that the 2nd and 3rd Star Wars prequels were filmed in 1080p.

Point being that if these movies were shot in 2K or God forbid 1080p, studios may have to dig into their catalog and release older titles so that we can actually notice a difference in the 4K transfer.

Clones was below 1080p

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

Are people buying catalogue titles now?

Most people think "old" films were made before HD and won't work in 1080p

I think this is a problem facing UHD BD.

[I KEEL YOU]

The average consumer could barely handle film grain in 1080p, I wonder how the hell are they going to handle grain in 4K?

[Geoff D]

Grain tends to look finer at 4K, I don't think that'll be an issue. And Penton has mentioned before about how HDR exacerbates noise/grain so some sort of grain management will surely be done on those movies anyway.

[edit]That also begs the question of how those titles will look when downconverted to SDR for the poor bastards who don't have HDR 4K sets (ahem), that's another reason why I'm not bovvered about UHD BD, there are too many question marks over the downconversion of WCG/HDR content. I could end up with something that has less-than-optimally mapped colour and dynamic range plus an overtly noise-managed source, and all for the premium price that new formats always demand. Pffffft.

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by dvdmike

They will not take longer to make as Sony already has the masters ready.
The whole mi4k line was to build 4k content and to get double dips also.
They will come but they won't shoot their bolt day one, why would they?

If you mean what I think you mean, then simply prepping, announcing and releasing one or two catalog titles on UHD BD is no loss of "the bolt" at all, and in fact, should really be mandatory at the launch of any new video format. This idea that titles should be held, and held, and held (as their target audiences age out and grow frustrated waiting for them to come to the next optical disc) in perpetuity until some anniversary or remake appears is part of what is and was incredibly frustrating about the Blu-ray format.

My interest in the announced titles so far has been extremely limited, and while I will probably have the funds to move up to 4K, it would be silly to do so without some content that is actually worth watching, especially when, as far as I can discern, this content already exists and is largely ready to go. This is why Sony's announcement was particularly disappointing.

Simply assuming that there is no market for any film that is not an action, fantasy, or special effects extravaganza from the last ten years or so is very poor judgement, and as far as I can tell, only Wild does not fit that mold, and that is still a brand new film, not a catalog release.

[Joce]

You will wait maybe 2/3 years for big titles.

[Scarface32]

There's about 6 or-so movies by 20th Century Fox coming to UHD, how many do you need?