Ghostbusters 4K UHD (1984)

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by RBBrittain

Criterion also once had the LaserDisc rights to Citizen Kane & Menace II Society; didn't keep them from having to go back to WB for the 4K rights.

They can always go back for something. Doesn't mean that what they had before is a guarantee they'll release it now. I kinda doubt we'll ever see another Criterion edition of Ghostbusters.

[RBBrittain]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

They can always go back for something. Doesn't mean that what they had before is a guarantee they'll release it now. I kinda doubt we'll ever see another Criterion edition of Ghostbusters.

That was basically my point. Back in LaserDisc days it was easier for Criterion to get licenses from many studios, because they didn't do LaserDisc themselves; those licenses generally expired with LaserDisc or shortly thereafter.

Since DVD came along, Criterion is now just another boutique label (albeit the most respected one) whose releases overlap the studios' own; it's more or less the studios' business discretion whether or not to license titles out to those labels. It took a quarter-century of DVD, BD, and now UHDBD for WB to decide it was once again useful to license Kane & Menace II Society out to Criterion; even the original Ghostbusters is probably too big of a seller for Sony to license out for the foreseeable future.

This whole thing reminds me of my rant way back when Sony started licensing Best Picture winners out to Twilight Time. I wasn't attacking TT itself; Brian Jamieson & Nick Redman (RIP) developed their business model specifically to ensure lesser movies got a decent release on BD by paying the licensing & manufacturing costs up front for limited edition releases, with Brian & Nick personally assuming the risk if they didn't sell 3,000 copies. Instead, Sony (others too, but IMO they were the worst) made a quick buck licensing to TT movies that would have sold a lot more than 3,000 copies if only they had released them themselves, at the expense of collectors like me who had to pay $30+ a disc for a limited time to upgrade them to BD, or else miss out or pay exorbitant prices to scalpers on eBay or elsewhere. Ironically, of the three Best Pictures Sony did license out to TT, two of them (A Man For All Seasons & Oliver!) were released by Sony after TT's license expired (with Oliver! since hitting UHDBD via Columbia Classics Vol. 2); but the original All The King's Men (1949) is still limited to TT plus a defensive release by Sony in Spain (where another label released it on BD five years earlier with no indication whatsoever of Sony's copyright or licensing; that kind of almost certain piracy is sadly common in some European countries, especially Italy & Spain).

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by DMRI2006

It's like a lot of those early Sony UHDs, they just come off as really, really "hot". CLOSE ENCOUNTERS is another one that could use a Dolby Vision re-do.

It's not just Sony - E.T. is a title I feel that has Light Cannon™️ type HDR. Maybe next year for the 40th Anniversary (geez I feel old) they'll have a new edition. But with Universal who knows, usually they just re-use the same disc in a fancy new package.

[Geoff D]

Wait, what? E.T. is more like one of those 'watching with sunglasses on' kinda HDR grades. It may have some high brightness for the peaks but the average brightness is real low. Gives it a perpetual 'afternoon sundown' kinda look.

[zepol]

Originally Posted by kannibaliztik

"I remember"

Well, regardless of your memory of 37 years ago, the 4K for this looks good, grain and all. You're welcome to stick to your old dvds or laserdisc if thats what you feel looks best to you, but leave your nonsense at the door.

To save money in 2021 is not nonsense. But to blow money on bad looking double dips is nonsense.

[zepol]

Originally Posted by RBBrittain

That was basically my point. Back in LaserDisc days it was easier for Criterion to get licenses from many studios, because they didn't do LaserDisc themselves; those licenses generally expired with LaserDisc or shortly thereafter.

Since DVD came along, Criterion is now just another boutique label (albeit the most respected one) whose releases overlap the studios' own; it's more or less the studios' business discretion whether or not to license titles out to those labels. It took a quarter-century of DVD, BD, and now UHDBD for WB to decide it was once again useful to license Kane & Menace II Society out to Criterion; even the original Ghostbusters is probably too big of a seller for Sony to license out for the foreseeable future.

This whole thing reminds me of my rant way back when Sony started licensing Best Picture winners out to Twilight Time. I wasn't attacking TT itself; Brian Jamieson & Nick Redman (RIP) developed their business model specifically to ensure lesser movies got a decent release on BD by paying the licensing & manufacturing costs up front for limited edition releases, with Brian & Nick personally assuming the risk if they didn't sell 3,000 copies. Instead, Sony (others too, but IMO they were the worst) made a quick buck licensing to TT movies that would have sold a lot more than 3,000 copies if only they had released them themselves, at the expense of collectors like me who had to pay $30+ a disc for a limited time to upgrade them to BD, or else miss out or pay exorbitant prices to scalpers on eBay or elsewhere. Ironically, of the three Best Pictures Sony did license out to TT, two of them (A Man For All Seasons & Oliver!) were released by Sony after TT's license expired (with Oliver! since hitting UHDBD via Columbia Classics Vol. 2); but the original All The King's Men (1949) is still limited to TT plus a defensive release by Sony in Spain (where another label released it on BD five years earlier with no indication whatsoever of Sony's copyright or licensing; that kind of almost certain piracy is sadly common in some European countries, especially Italy & Spain).

Great post!

[zepol]

Originally Posted by -JKR-

Which were sourced from dated (often magenta heavy and washed out) telecine masters, adjusted for playback on old tube-based TV sets.

Back in the 90s' I can't remember to much complaining about how transfers looked laserdiscs. Only very, very few here in there. In some of those cases it was because the director decided to change the look of the movie like DRACULA (1979), PLATOON had a version that they added a lot of grain to it to make it look 1960s' newsreel. GHOSTBUSTERS Criterion looked better than at the movies. Maybe there is some old reviews somewhere.

[-JKR-]

Originally Posted by zepol

Back in the 90s' I can't remember to much complaining about how transfers looked laserdiscs. Only very, very few here in there. In some of those cases it was because the director decided to change the look of the movie like DRACULA (1979), PLATOON had a version that they added a lot of grain to it to make it look 1960s' newsreel.

There was only so much you could do with that format and resolution, less material to make comparisons and less knowledge about the technicalities of filmmaking.

People also didn't spend their time getting out their frustrations and obsessing over stuff on the Internet.

And obviously those formats were the very best we had back then. But we've come a long time since. Whether you can accept that or not is your problem.

Blu-ray and 4K UHD are the first home media formats able to almost replicate the image quality of theatrical exhibition. Previous formats, including DVD, never managed to replicate the look of a film print.

So of course they won't look like your old Laserdiscs, which couldn't be any further from looking like 35mm.

Originally Posted by zepol

GHOSTBUSTERS Criterion looked better than at the movies.

For ****'s sake, this has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.

[zepol]

Originally Posted by -JKR-

For ****'s sake, this has to be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard.

So did you see GHOSTBUSTERS in 1984 at the theater and drive-in?
Did you watch GHOSTBUSTERS in the 1990s' on laserdisc on a say 27 inch or bigger tv?

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by zepol

So did you see GHOSTBUSTERS in 1984 at the theater and drive-in?
Did you watch GHOSTBUSTERS in the 1990s' on laserdisc on a say 27 inch or bigger tv?

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by zepol

So did you see GHOSTBUSTERS in 1984 at the theater and drive-in?
Did you watch GHOSTBUSTERS in the 1990s' on laserdisc on a say 27 inch or bigger tv?

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by zepol

So did you see GHOSTBUSTERS in 1984 at the theater and drive-in?
Did you watch GHOSTBUSTERS in the 1990s' on laserdisc on a say 27 inch or bigger tv?

[Monkey Ballz]

I think these laser disc fetishists assume the larger the disc, the greater the resolution... meanwhile, in the real world...

[zepol]

Originally Posted by Monkey Ballz

I think these laser disc fetishists assume the larger the disc, the greater the resolution... meanwhile, in the real world...

No, it means I am making my comments based on having looked at all video products unlike some who are only looking at one form of video and they think because 4k is new it is the best. I can guess how you are when it comes to talking about other things besides movie videos.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by zepol

No, it means I am making my comments based on having looked at all video products unlike some who are only looking at one form of video and they think because 4k is new it is the best. I can guess how you are when it comes to talking about other things besides movie videos.

Have you seen the VHS on a 19 inch Zenith? Breathtaking.

[Jay H.]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

Have you seen the VHS on a 19 inch Zenith? Breathtaking.

Zenith? Pfftt. Curtis Mathes was the only TV worth a crap. Loser.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by Jay H.

Zenith? Pfftt. Curtis Mathes was the only TV worth a crap. Loser.

[Show spoiler]

[Kyle15]

Originally Posted by zepol

No, it means I am making my comments based on having looked at all video products unlike some who are only looking at one form of video and they think because 4k is new it is the best. I can guess how you are when it comes to talking about other things besides movie videos.

[NYorker]

Originally Posted by zepol

I remember seeing it at movie theater in 1984 and on VHS in 1985 and the cable tv. In the 90s' I saw it on Criterion laserdisc. Up to that point the laserdisc looked the best because of sharpness. I had no issues about color. Then I got dvd and it looked good. Then I rent 4k and it's whaaat? All of a sudden I notice it doesn't look like I have seen it before and I mean that in a bad way.

Just...wow.

Even if was released in 16K with Dolby Ultra Super Vision and HDR+1000, people will be nitpicky and find stuff to complain about. This has become ridiculous. Like in the LOTR thread, when someone said the DVDs were better than the 4K versions. Shut up!

The movie looks fantastic. It's never looked better, and I saw the originals in theaters.

[Jay H.]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

[Show spoiler]

Nah, man. You got to get the one with TV dials (including one to switch between UHF and VHF), and rabbit-ears antenna (a loop antenna for the UHF stations). No remote control; that's what kids are for. Power and volume knobs.

It's like you aren't even trying.