Home Alone (1990) (25th Anniversary Edition) (Remastered)

[Alan_Grant]

You can choose itunes or UV

[grim_tales]

Theres a version on Amazon that says "25th Anniversary", is that the Mi4K release and is it worth upgrading?

[Geoff D]

The new transfer is quite delicious.

[filmbuffTX]

Originally Posted by grim_tales

Theres a version on Amazon that says "25th Anniversary", is that the Mi4K release and is it worth upgrading?

Yes and yes. A few pages back people have posted comparison screen shots.

[Fairfax]

Huh, thinking about it I don't reckon I've ever actually watched this film all the way through. Or perhaps even at all. One of those weird instances where you kind of just assume you have because of a film's age and status (or at least relative fame), but never actually have. I wonder if it's worth it now, since I'm not blessed with any kind of nostalgia.

[HD Goofnut]

I finally got to watch the newly remastered disc a few nights ago and this film has never looked better. I wish the sequel would get this kind of treatment, but I doubt that's going to happen.

[Alan_Grant]

II needs a remaster and special features :/

[chrislong2]

Nothing personal to those of you that love this new transfer, but I own the old one and based on several of the reviews here I bought the new one to replace the old one. I have just completed several back-to-back switching between several scenes of the old and the new, and the bottom line is the new transfer is much more accurate color-wise (the old one had a more pinkish hue), however part of the trade off is that the new one is NOT nearly as bright as the older one. This can be clearly seen in any number of scenes. It also despite what I was expecting being a 4k scan and knowing that the older one was fairly "soft" looking (DVD-ish even in parts), was NOT much clearer - there's a slight improvement in that front but that's it. Even when zoomed in at 8x, they looked very similar to me as far as detail. However, because it does have improved color, it does overall have less of a DVD feel than the old blu had.

The thing is though that part of me really liked the WARMTH of the old transfer (being brighter) since this is a fun Christmas movie with some good Christmas visuals (the lights and houses, etc.) and that just plain doesn't come through on the new transfer, which may be more accurate, but is missing that "feel" - everything is "duller" looking and it does affect the mood of the film a bit IMHO.

Personally it's 50/50 to me which one is "better" in the total picture and I can absolutely understand those who might rather stay with the old one. This new transfer is NOT a major revelation of a new transfer, though it is probably fair to say that it is more accurate.

[Herry Dunston]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTjA...ature=youtu.be

It has nothing to do with the blu-ray. I'm just happy to share it.

[DaBargainHunta]

Originally Posted by chrislong2

Nothing personal to those of you that love this new transfer, but I own the old one and based on several of the reviews here I bought the new one to replace the old one. I have just completed several back-to-back switching between several scenes of the old and the new, and the bottom line is the new transfer is much more accurate color-wise (the old one had a more pinkish hue), however part of the trade off is that the new one is NOT nearly as bright as the older one. This can be clearly seen in any number of scenes. It also despite what I was expecting being a 4k scan and knowing that the older one was fairly "soft" looking (DVD-ish even in parts), was NOT much clearer - there's a slight improvement in that front but that's it. Even when zoomed in at 8x, they looked very similar to me as far as detail. However, because it does have improved color, it does overall have less of a DVD feel than the old blu had.

The thing is though that part of me really liked the WARMTH of the old transfer (being brighter) since this is a fun Christmas movie with some good Christmas visuals (the lights and houses, etc.) and that just plain doesn't come through on the new transfer, which may be more accurate, but is missing that "feel" - everything is "duller" looking and it does affect the mood of the film a bit IMHO.

Personally it's 50/50 to me which one is "better" in the total picture and I can absolutely understand those who might rather stay with the old one. This new transfer is NOT a major revelation of a new transfer, though it is probably fair to say that it is more accurate.

Great post. This has convinced me not to "upgrade" my Blu-ray of the old transfer.

Am I correct in saying that only Home Alone 1 was "remastered," not Home Alone 2?

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by DaBargainHunta

Great post. This has convinced me not to "upgrade" my Blu-ray of the old transfer.

Am I correct in saying that only Home Alone 1 was "remastered," not Home Alone 2?

He's actually incorrect IMHO. I compared both when I bought the new disc last year and I think the remastered disc is noticeably better for colors, grain, and fine detail.

That's correct, but the DE disc of Home Alone 2 has better PQ with an improved encode and higher bitrate.

[gillbellow]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

He's actually incorrect IMHO. I compared both when I bought the new disc last year and I think the remastered disc is noticeably better for colors, grain, and fine detail.

That's correct, but the DE disc of Home Alone 2 has better PQ with an improved encode and higher bitrate.

also the disc from Japan is same as the DE disc

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by gillbellow

also the disc from Japan is same as the DE disc

Sure, but DE discs are usually cheaper than JP.

[chrislong2]

Originally Posted by HD Goofnut

He's actually incorrect IMHO. I compared both when I bought the new disc last year and I think the remastered disc is noticeably better for colors, grain, and fine detail.

Well, you can have your "IMHO" and I'll have my "IMHO"

It is noticeably more "accurate" to me in regards to colors though I'm not sure I can say that that's actually better for the reason I stated - part of me loves the new and part of me prefers the brighter "pop" of the old transfer. Regarding grain and fine detail, I even have to correct what I said about that because I said the new one had a slight improvement regarding clarity. You think it's "noticeably better". I just right now did back-and-forth comparisons of a few scenes paying specific attention to clarity, noise, and grain (before I was mostly looking at color). These were both on the same device playing from media server so I could do very quick comparison with only a few seconds time between them so it would be easy to compare. The new one is a bit sharper as I said before, but it also has more noise and grain that I find more annoying too. So personally on that front, I think I prefer the old. And regarding the colors, it's still 50/50 to me as to it being "better". There is nothing earth shattering in any way about this remaster and I stand by my opinion that the old may even be a bit more enjoyable... IMHO of course.

[chrislong2]

I also just realized after looking at the main review here on this site that it echoed a lot of what I just said (if I ever read the review, it was some time ago). The reviewer also noted that this remaster is "surprisingly grainy" with a "gritty texture" that doesn't match what one typically associates with Holiday films, has only a "slight" increase in clarity, and is "noticeably darker" which does as the review mentions obscure some detail in some scenes. None of which sounds like the big improvement some tout this as...

[tehill]

Home Alone steelbook is currently $10.99 at Best Buy

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/home-alo...?skuId=5617614

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by chrislong2

I also just realized after looking at the main review here on this site that it echoed a lot of what I just said (if I ever read the review, it was some time ago). The reviewer also noted that this remaster is "surprisingly grainy" with a "gritty texture" that doesn't match what one typically associates with Holiday films, has only a "slight" increase in clarity, and is "noticeably darker" which does as the review mentions obscure some detail in some scenes. None of which sounds like the big improvement some tout this as...

It's a massive mprovement...if one wants the film to LOOK like film, as the "gritty texture" matches the state of faster stock at the time. The increase in filmic texture and fine detail is huge to my eyes (no it's not "slight") and the colour is much better balanced, with stronger primaries and no pink snow. The old one is surprisingly decent for its time and if someone prefers the softness, the pink tinge and the blown highlights then that's fine.

But I don't think the new one is "noticeably darker" as I was always a bit bemused by that complaint, what it has got is a far more natural roll-off of highlights and less of the old-school clipping, which may not 'pop' but which reveals hithero unseen details like the street lights in this shot, which look quite lovely in the new transfer: http://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a...=49239&i=7&l=0

The movie seems to have been shot with a fair bit of filtration which was no doubt intended to impart a slightly gauzier look as befits the "holiday movie" vibe, yet when it cuts to the France scenes they look colder and more sharply resolved which is a lovely piece of visual storytelling: Kevin gets to live his dream while his family is having a grimmer time of it in France. That kind of nuance is flattened out by the more pervasive softness on the old transfer, which is why I sold it as soon as I got the new edition because there was no way I was going to watch the old one again.

[Hardback247]

I'd like a picture comparison of the American and DE Blu-Rays for Home Alone 2 if possible.

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by chrislong2

Well, you can have your "IMHO" and I'll have my "IMHO"

It is noticeably more "accurate" to me in regards to colors though I'm not sure I can say that that's actually better for the reason I stated - part of me loves the new and part of me prefers the brighter "pop" of the old transfer. Regarding grain and fine detail, I even have to correct what I said about that because I said the new one had a slight improvement regarding clarity. You think it's "noticeably better". I just right now did back-and-forth comparisons of a few scenes paying specific attention to clarity, noise, and grain (before I was mostly looking at color). These were both on the same device playing from media server so I could do very quick comparison with only a few seconds time between them so it would be easy to compare. The new one is a bit sharper as I said before, but it also has more noise and grain that I find more annoying too. So personally on that front, I think I prefer the old. And regarding the colors, it's still 50/50 to me as to it being "better". There is nothing earth shattering in any way about this remaster and I stand by my opinion that the old may even be a bit more enjoyable... IMHO of course.

"...more noise and grain..."

You should expect that from a new scan. With older scans grain tends to look less noticeable and smoother.

[grim_tales]

Hey,
I recieved the new disc today, but it doesn't seem to mention "25th Anniversary" or "4K remastered" or something similar, anywhere on the packaging