Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas 4K UHD (Criterion Collection)

[jedidarrick]

Does anyone know why the aspect ratio on the 4K is 2.39:1 whereas the Blu-ray is 2.35:1? It's a negligible difference, but the fact that Criterion goes out of its way to mention the new aspect ratio on the 4K is an eyebrow raiser.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by aschaeffer9

I still would have waited, I can get Criterion's twice a year at a 50% discount, UK arrow discs, not at all.

If you don't notice the compression problems then don't feel bad about saving $10-15. I'm not saying people are wrong at all about the differences and I get Arrows when I can, but if you don't see it then don't stress yourself out about it (and don't start yourself down a path of seeing it, honestly).

[Telemachus]

I got the Arrow for $27.95 + shipping, Criterion 50% off is such a red herring just like VinSyn sales, so full retail + discount is still like $25 for their UHDs and then spending $10 more for free Amazon shipping in most cases.

[spanky87]

I’ve always been impressed with what Gilliam pulled off since this isn’t an easy book to adapt and it’s relatively faithful in capturing the spirit and the main events that occur.

The Rum Diary is also a great book and seems much easier to adapt, but Depp and co really botched that one. So many unnecessary/inferior changes and it barely resembled the book beyond the basic concept.

[RageATL]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

I have the Arrow so no dice here, but good they're finally releasing it for those allergic to imports.

[MifuneFan]

This may not be representative of the final product, but I noticed there's a big difference in color grading between this cap of the Arrow 4K vs the same shot from Criterion's site. Criterion crops the black bars from their caps on their website. To be honest, it doesn't even really look like the same source to me.

Arrow (top) / Criterion.com (bottom)

[Telemachus]

The bottom doesn't even look like their previous Blu ray

[MifuneFan]

I do feel like the colors of the Criterion one seem closer to what it's supposed to look like, as the Arrow one leans red, and seems more like the colors used for a lot of older Universal masters. And I don't know if I'm crazy, but the Criterion looks like it's from a different/newer scan.

If someone could provide some matching caps from the Arrow disc to the ones at CC's site, that would be great.

https://www.criterion.com/films/215-...g-in-las-vegas

[DR Herbert West]

Interesting.

[Telemachus]

I just went on caps, both the Uni and Crit Blu rays looks pretty close to the Arrow UHD to me. This new shot looks different than all of them to me. If anything this looks like the Criterion DVD

[StingingVelvet]

To me the Criterion shot above looks too blanket tinted, but I guess we'll see. Could just be they added a tint tk the promo shot to make it stand out and the disc doesn't have it. Who knows.

[aschaeffer9]

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

If you don't notice the compression problems then don't feel bad about saving $10-15. I'm not saying people are wrong at all about the differences and I get Arrows when I can, but if you don't see it then don't stress yourself out about it (and don't start yourself down a path of seeing it, honestly).

Eh, the filtering on some of their stuff (not all) doesn't bother me since I'm not staring at pixels, I'm watching a film. I don't get the blanket statement on criterion, maybe if every encode was weaker than another distributors version but that's not the case.

Having the insane HST commentary track back, if we're doing some weird pissing contest (in the criterion thread of all places) is more valuable to me anyway, and I'd reckon that will be a factor for a bunch of people

This place is so goofy sometimes

e: maybe it's on me for expecting something different other than the routine of:
- complaints about cover art
- complaints about encodes before anyone actually sees the encodes (double if another UHD version exists already)
- people declaring they'll stick to what they have as if that copy will evaporate on the release day of another version

I think at this point I'm going to wait until a week after release to read threads to see if there are any egregious issues/disc replacements, and let you folks debate nothing

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by aschaeffer9

Eh, the filtering on some of their stuff (not all) doesn't bother me since I'm not staring at pixels, I'm watching a film. I don't get the blanket statement on criterion, maybe if every encode was weaker than another distributors version but that's not the case.

I mean, how much you care is relative (and I care less than a lot of people here), but the encoding is objectively worse. It is what it is. There's nothing wrong with prioritizing other things over that though if you don't really notice it. I got the Criterion Time Bandits for the commentary, for example.

[Sky_Captain]

Originally Posted by feedmebeans

No the Arrow was approved by Gilliam so it will be that except with a shit encode and that criterion pic is not what it is supposed to look like. Looks like they added a blanket tint to the movie for stills to grab the attention of the new generation but the disc will be the Arrow timing.

Ah, Mr Sock, but the Arrow was based on Gilliam's approved SDR grade.

I'm not saying that he's subsequently approved a different HDR grade for Criterion, but stranger things have happened.

[MifuneFan]

This could mean nothing, but Criterion does denote this as "New", which they didn't do for 4K restorations that were the same ones used by Arrow, and others internationally. Another thing I just noticed is Arrow's release had an AR of 2.35:1, while this new Criterion 4K is listed as 2.39:1. As far as I know, the previous 4K that Gilliam approved was 2.35:1.

Fear and Loathing:

New 4K digital restoration, supervised and approved by director Terry Gilliam, presented in the aspect ratio of 2.39:1, with 2.0 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack

Videodrome:

4K digital restoration of the unrated version, approved by director David Cronenberg, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

Don't Look Now:

4K digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Anthony Richmond, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

Breathless

4K restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack

[Telemachus]

Maybe this is a case of The Thing (Shout color timing) vs. The Thing (Arrow color timing)

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

I do feel like the colors of the Criterion one seem closer to what it's supposed to look like, as the Arrow one leans red, and seems more like the colors used for a lot of older Universal masters. And I don't know if I'm crazy, but the Criterion looks like it's from a different/newer scan.

If someone could provide some matching caps from the Arrow disc to the ones at CC's site, that would be great.

https://www.criterion.com/films/215-...g-in-las-vegas

I would be weary of Criterion.com's screenshots. Besides aspect ratio "black bar" cropping, they're not exactly reflective of the disc. Here's an example with "The Flight of the Phoenix"



Note: my screenshot is of the Fox Germany Blu but it is identical to Criterion in terms of grading, contrast, etc. (as seen in this caps-a-holic comparison)

[Brian81]

What's the chance Criterion actually updates the BD in the set? Have the Arrow UHD but the old BD master was terrible.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

This may not be representative of the final product, but I noticed there's a big difference in color grading between this cap of the Arrow 4K vs the same shot from Criterion's site. Criterion crops the black bars from their caps on their website. To be honest, it doesn't even really look like the same source to me.

Arrow (top) / Criterion.com (bottom)

I was going to say, its likely the color timing will be different because Arrow based their color timing on their own 1080p Blu-ray

[SpookyDollhouse]

Originally Posted by Brian81

What's the chance Criterion actually updates the BD in the set? Have the Arrow UHD but the old BD master was terrible.

Never say never but every single UHD Criterion combo I have bought so far has the same old blu-rays. I doubt they update for this new one