Midway 4K UHD (2019)

[vjo81]

Here is what I've discovered in regard to the two freezes during the Marshall Islands attack on the Panny UB-820. If you play the HDR10 version of the movie, there are no freezes. They only occur on the Dolby Vision version. Some of the reviewers have said that there were no problems with their copies on the UB-820 which leads me to believe that something went astray in the later mass manufacturing process of the 4K disc. All of us who have experienced the problems should contact Lionsgate, the distributor and make them aware of this.

[slimdude]

It seems like there's an issue with the Panasonic 4K Blu-ray Player.

[vjo81]

Originally Posted by slimdude

It seems like there's an issue with the Panasonic 4K Blu-ray Player.

It could be . I did contact Lionsgate and they are going to exhange my copy for one directly from the company. More to come but it may well come down to an issue with the 820B yet. It hasn't had a firmware update in a while so who knows.

[nonametofame]

Originally Posted by nonametofame

Yeah, I expect the audio to be much tighter and more robust than the stream. I think you'll really dig it even if you don't have atmos capability. There's tons of surround activity on the rear channels, so I have no doubt you'll enjoy this one.

I'll most likely do a follow up once I have the disc in hand. I'm hoping to get a little bit more improvement on the overhead pans, and deeper bass.

As expected, the disc is an improvement over the digital, but not as much as I anticipated. The bass is demonstrably deeper, tighter, and more controlled. The latter was the most important since the low end is incredibly bombastic and frequent on this track.
I do think digital streams are betting better. Besides some typical weak shadow detail in the deep blacks (may only be an OLED issue), I found the picture and audio to be quite comparable. So the argument first disc over digital is losing its strength over time. And this I know is true for the masses, convenience always trumps quality.

Note- I played it through all way on my Oppo with no issues. Didn't play it on my Panasonic though. Hopefully they clear up this issue

[Richard Graham]

It's not bad. Glosses over the events featured in Michael Bay's film in less than an hour, then becomes it's own movie. It's 3/4 animated though. The battle stuff "looks" cool, but no budget for texturing, and realistic lighting.

Uncanny valley for days.

[Scottishguy]

Originally Posted by cupboy

I did. At a theatre. Some sort of sensurround setup.

For experiencing Sensurround, I certainly envy you. How long did that sound system even last?

Only know Earthquake and Midway utilized it as a gimmick.

[dougcherry]

I purchased the American steelbook from Best Buy today and made a shocking discovery when I arrived home and put in the disc labeled 4K Ultra HD and the output said 1080p! First time ever have I seen that on my TV info pane when starting a 4K movie. I thought it quite strange until I put in what was to be the standard 1080p Blu Ray and alas, this second disc indicates it is outputting in 2160p! But there is no HDR! What the heck is going on here?

[dougcherry]

Ok I put the 4K disc back it gave me the classic lions gate resume where I left off prompt and now it’s outputting in 2160p with HDR?!? What the heck. Someone screwed up this encode! If your movie isn’t in 4K try taking your disc out and resuming! Bloody ridiculous but it has worked for me on my Xbox One X!

[Kris Deering]

Lionsgate has released a couple UHD discs that are 1080p and non-HDR for the intro/opening menus and then the movie itself is proper 4K HDR. Sicario comes to mind immediately.

[johnnyringo7]

Originally Posted by TXMoviebuff77

Well 13 Hours was certainly miles better than Pearl Harbor which was essentially his version of Titanic, cheesy love story of a real life event.

13 Hours and Titanic both are great films and the last one it's now a classic, but Pearl Harbour it's not a good movie.

[jFug]

Originally Posted by Kris Deering

Lionsgate has released a couple UHD discs that are 1080p and non-HDR for the intro/opening menus and then the movie itself is proper 4K HDR. Sicario comes to mind immediately.

I believe Ex Machina is like this as well.

[jess1581]

I'm just perplexed as to why Emmerich made this movie.... Not saying it's a bad movie per se, but it's an awfully pointless movie considering it was so "by the book", and utterly routine not to mention being a remake of the 76 film.
There wasn't a moment in this movie that hasn't been seen before, and the story has been well mined as it is throughout the decades.

No amount of digital wizardry or ensemble cast can cover the staleness of the premise, nor is there an engaging drama to keep you from boredom. Roland added nothing, had nothing fresh to say, and really just flexed his comfort zone with cgi destruction and dogfights.... and Ed Skrein? Nah dude. He's getting old very quickly the way of Sam Worthington and Jai Courtney.

I read that Emmerich wants to do a WW2 movie next. Like good god, what next? Vietnam? Civil War? How about another Jesus movie while we're dredging up other cinematic dead horses?

The material has been done to death, no disrespect to the true events, and the real people involved.... but these are hollywood features made to collect profit.

[Duckbacker]

Originally Posted by vjo81

Despite my misgivings about the movie, I picked it up at Best Buy for under $22. I have Panasonic UB-820 and Oppo-203 players. There is a problem between the 4K disc and the Panny. During the Marshall Islands attack, the 4k disc froze twice at around 37.5 minutes and then again at a bit past 39 minutes. It did this on two tries. I took the movie back to Best Buy and swapped it for another copy. On the UB-820 it did exactly the same thing in the same places. When I played it on the Oppo-203, however, there were no problems. There must be some kind of compatibility issue with Midway and the UB-820. If anyone else has a UB-820 and the freezing occurs, please post that here.

Yep, same problem with both of my copies. The first one was the standard 4K version pre-ordered through BB and the second copy was a steelbook version exchanged at the local BB store. The same two freezes occurred at 37:17 & 39:26 on my Panny UB-820. Currently trying to contact the right dept. at Lionsgate for a copy that works. The only other time I had this problem was with the first Sicario on my Samsung 4K player several years ago.

[vjo81]

Originally Posted by Duckbacker

Yep, same problem with both of my copies. The first one was the standard 4K version pre-ordered through BB and the second copy was a steelbook version exchanged at the local BB store. The same two freezes occurred at 37:17 & 39:26 on my Panny UB-820. Currently trying to contact the right dept. at Lionsgate for a copy that works. The only other time I had this problem was with the first Sicario on my Samsung 4K player several years ago.

Turn off Dolby Vision on the UB-820 and watch it in HDR10. There are no freezes in that format and there isn't a ton of difference in PQ between the two versions. The HDR optimizer may improve the HDR10 image somewhat.

[levcore]

Originally Posted by Richard Graham

It's not bad. Glosses over the events featured in Michael Bay's film in less than an hour, then becomes it's own movie. It's 3/4 animated though. The battle stuff "looks" cool, but no budget for texturing, and realistic lighting.

Uncanny valley for days.

I thought uncanny valley only applied to human looking...things.

[DMRI2006]

Originally Posted by jess1581

I'm just perplexed as to why Emmerich made this movie.... Not saying it's a bad movie per se, but it's an awfully pointless movie considering it was so "by the book", and utterly routine not to mention being a remake of the 76 film.
There wasn't a moment in this movie that hasn't been seen before, and the story has been well mined as it is throughout the decades.

No amount of digital wizardry or ensemble cast can cover the staleness of the premise, nor is there an engaging drama to keep you from boredom. Roland added nothing, had nothing fresh to say, and really just flexed his comfort zone with cgi destruction and dogfights.... and Ed Skrein? Nah dude. He's getting old very quickly the way of Sam Worthington and Jai Courtney.

I read that Emmerich wants to do a WW2 movie next. Like good god, what next? Vietnam? Civil War? How about another Jesus movie while we're dredging up other cinematic dead horses?

The material has been done to death, no disrespect to the true events, and the real people involved.... but these are hollywood features made to collect profit.

Totally disagree. If you are interested in the actual history the movie is far more accurate than the 1976 movie. And it's not a "remake" of it at all. It doesn't have a dumb soap opera plot, most of the characters are based on real people.

I can see how if you're not that interested in the subject matter the film is SO straightforward that it may not appeal to you. Yet I thought it was sufficiently compelling and well-done, with a minimum of made-up melodrama which the Heston film had in spades...not to mention the inane Pearl Harbor movie Michael Bay turned out.

[LexInHD]

Originally Posted by COBill

(What I wouldn't give to have the Vista Series cut of Pearl Harbor released on BD, but I think the master burned…)

You and me both pal, so get in line! Unfortunately, we don't know anything about the production work done on the DC and whether or not it was prepped for HD, like the TC was. Putting it on Blu-Ray with a Dolby Atmos (Not Atmouse!) mix would make it a potent release that would sell well to enthusiasts, though I doubt we'll see it.

[jess1581]

Originally Posted by DMRI2006

Totally disagree. If you are interested in the actual history the movie is far more accurate than the 1976 movie. And it's not a "remake" of it at all. It doesn't have a dumb soap opera plot, most of the characters are based on real people.

I can see how if you're not that interested in the subject matter the film is SO straightforward that it may not appeal to you. Yet I thought it was sufficiently compelling and well-done, with a minimum of made-up melodrama which the Heston film had in spades...not to mention the inane Pearl Harbor movie Michael Bay turned out.

I appreciate the subject matter, but you're missing my point. Midway 2019 is old hat, stale city. The story has been told on film numerous times not counting various documentaries, and this new film doesn't offer any new insights on the history. After 77 years and countless media on the subject, this new movie is nothing but old news, wrapped up in a digital package with all too familiar action set pieces, a cliche'd plot, and a lack of heart and soul behind the characters. There needs to be some kind of drama with people you can connect with since this is a movie, and there just wasn't any of that. It juggles so many different people, that you're just a spectator of a reenactment of true events. It doesn't involve you. It's alright as a history lesson for the youngsters of the current xbox age, but as a piece of cinema it fails to engage or enlighten. Emmerich's film is by the book, and by the numbers with nothing new to say.

[vjo81]

For the sake of being thorough I did a factory reset on the 820 but the freezing in the Dolby Vision format remained.

I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed in the Dolby Vision image. There's some over-saturation of reds on faces at times as well as "ruddy" completions. It's certainly not up to the standard set by the best DV releases.

[TwinCitiesBluFan]

I just watched this on a plane a few days ago and was thinking how awesome it would look on 4K! I don't need to buy it immediately, but maybe during the next Buy 2, Get 1 sale on Target.com.