The Dark Crystal

[derek_1999]

The Dark Crystal

New Version:


https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-D...lu-ray/196812/

Older Release:


https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-D...-Blu-ray/5827/

As there isn't a Blu thread for the new version (or the old one), I thought it might be worth creating one.

Really wondering if the new version is a worth double dipping for? Has anyone compared both old and new versions?

[Anthony Thorne]

Has anyone compared both old and new versions?

A few brief reviews popped up online yesterday and they all said the new transfer was much better than the old one.

[rapta]

Yeah considering Labyrinth was a brand new restoration and this also came out on UHD, I assumed this was a new disc and ditched my old copy to get it. Not watched it yet but assume it'll be an upgrade, though I never actually got around to watching the previous one. Booklet added to this which was nice.

[princessgleek]

Bought this the other day, looking forward to watching it

[beadelf]

Originally Posted by rapta

Yeah considering Labyrinth was a brand new restoration and this also came out on UHD, I assumed this was a new disc and ditched my old copy to get it. Not watched it yet but assume it'll be an upgrade, though I never actually got around to watching the previous one. Booklet added to this which was nice.

I bought the 4k version does the standard come with a booklet then? what is it like? i may pick up standard copy as well, i know there was a digibook or something in america and labyrinth had one to here.

[derek_1999]

Interesting info, I'm tempted

Does the new release standard version come with a slip?

[unicron73]

i bought this for my other half,we already have the hmv exclusive steelbook from 2016,i had a quick look and apart from a 10 minute featurette and 30 page booklet-the film looks the same to me but our setup isnt too good.

nice edition to her collection

[CavebobSpongeman]

Originally Posted by derek_1999

Interesting info, I'm tempted

Does the new release standard version come with a slip?

No.

[derek_1999]

Originally Posted by CavebobSpongeman

No.

Thanks.

[IVI13]

Originally Posted by derek_1999

Has anyone compared both old and new versions?

There's a comparison with the 4K disc up at caps-a-holic

[Indiana Jones]

Originally Posted by IVI13

There's a comparison with the 4K disc up at caps-a-holic

Quite surprising how blurry the old BD looks in comparison but thats what a brand new 4K remaster gets you.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Indiana Jones

Quite surprising how blurry the old BD looks in comparison but thats what a brand new 4K remaster gets you.

Some of the new shot comparisons look incredible, but it would have been neat if they'd had the budget to digitally re-composite the picture. Then some of the matte lines could have been vastly improved upon the optical effects.

Shame caps-a-holic haven't got the new BD as well, I'm always interested to see how they stack up.

[derek_1999]

Originally Posted by IVI13

There's a comparison with the 4K disc up at caps-a-holic

Cheers - hadn't seen this. A shame it's not the Blu vs Blu.

However, the new remaster looks to be featuring another 'adjusted' (modernist) grade... if the caps are correct.

Definitely more noise (however, it is 4K downsampled), but the vivid blues (look at the sky difference) and the colour push (ie cream going to a red/blush tinge) or the hue/tones of light brown rocks that have become very dark brown/ruddy, certainly point to the fact that it's been re-graded with a more modern colour palette.

Most 1980's films had a certain colour palette (as, back then, 'look' was photo-chemical and had to do with a DP's choice of lens, camera stock and how it was lit 'on set') - now, with DI and digital grading, the way an image is shaped for film is very different.

What I'm seeing quite often with Re-masters is they end up being full re-grades (not just restorations), with new colour choices/schemes being applied... normally choices that match a modern aesthetic (ie the orange & teal look).

I'll still pick this up - but with a little less urgency after seeing these new caps.

[Indiana Jonezzz...]

Originally Posted by derek_1999

Cheers - hadn't seen this. A shame it's not the Blu vs Blu.

However, the new remaster looks to be featuring another 'adjusted' (modernist) grade... if the caps are correct.

Definitely more noise (however, it is 4K downsampled), but the vivid blues (look at the sky difference) and the colour push (ie cream going to a red/blush tinge) or the hue/tones of light brown rocks that have become very dark brown/ruddy, certainly point to the fact that it's been re-graded with a more modern colour palette.

Most 1980's films had a certain colour palette (as, back then, 'look' was photo-chemical and had to do with a DP's choice of lens, camera stock and how it was lit 'on set') - now, with DI and digital grading, the way an image is shaped for film is very different.

What I'm seeing quite often with Re-masters is they end up being full re-grades (not just restorations), with new colour choices/schemes being applied... normally choices that match a modern aesthetic (ie the orange & teal look).

I'll still pick this up - but with a little less urgency after seeing these new caps.

It blows the old Blu-ray out of the water, it really is a big improvement. You’re saying the new remaster has revisionist colours, yet how do you know the creaky old HD master used for the old Blu didn’t have incorrect colours, and that therefore the new one is actually far closer to being “correct”? I’d say it looks a lot more natural, revealing nuances in certain colours that were previously just a big mass of one shade.

[indisposed]

Shame there is no steelbook for this remaster. The Labyrinth one was a thing of beauty.

[drush9999]

Got the the new remaster via the US digibook, really stunning transfer. Highly recommended

[derek_1999]

Originally Posted by Indiana Jonezzz...

It blows the old Blu-ray out of the water, it really is a big improvement. You’re saying the new remaster has revisionist colours, yet how do you know the creaky old HD master used for the old Blu didn’t have incorrect colours, and that therefore the new one is actually far closer to being “correct”? I’d say it looks a lot more natural, revealing nuances in certain colours that were previously just a big mass of one shade.

Well - I don't want to argue about it

I'd simply say that there is way too much of a colour push (based on the screen caps) -

I saw DC in the cinema (back in the olden days - LOL!) and it wasn't the way the new re-master looks... I'm not saying the old creaky master was right either - but, at least, that had a more correct tonality to the colours (with cream being cream and highlights being white etc).

With the 4K pics, I'm not really looking at details (ie seeing hair etc) but the overall colour timing and where colours/highlights and overall tonal and colour values are sitting. The killer for me is that the red Skeksis robes are now crimson - that's a telltale sigh of a modern grade on old materials.

An 80's movie, shot using the filmic techniques of the time, wouldn't have been bothered about the micro details (the way we are resolution obsessed these days) - things had a different 'vibe' and that (IMHO) is what's being lost today on all these re-grades. Plus, modern movies are shot with massive grading ranges in mind - old movies were WYSIWYG (apart from push processing and a few chemical systems) - that;s why, when you grade them like a modern movie, the colours shift around more, as things were 'baked' in with a specific intent.

But, as you say, the old master could be way out (alongside my ageing brain and memory!) - so, just my observations... but I certainly prefer the tonality of the old version.

[calmblueocean81]

Has this actually been released in the UK as a standard blu ray version?
When I searched on Amazon the 4k version was cheaper than the blu ray. And yet the link above brought me to a much cheaper blu ray (9.99!) but it's not in stock for 2-5 weeks. And all blu ray versions are titled A,B,C (region free), but below in product details Amazon lists them as region A only.
Any clarification from anyone in the UK who bought it?

[Indiana Jones]

Originally Posted by calmblueocean81

Has this actually been released in the UK as a standard blu ray version?
When I searched on Amazon the 4k version was cheaper than the blu ray. And yet the link above brought me to a much cheaper blu ray (9.99!) but it's not in stock for 2-5 weeks. And all blu ray versions are titled A,B,C (region free), but below in product details Amazon lists them as region A only.
Any clarification from anyone in the UK who bought it?

It was released on March 5th and is instock at both Zoom and Zavvi, ignore the Amazon region misinformation.

https://www.zoom.co.uk/product/the_d...dition_blu_ray

https://www.zavvi.com/blu-ray/the-da.../11678483.html

[calmblueocean81]

^ thank you kindly Indiana! I'll have to stick with Zavvi as I don't think Zoom deliver to Ireland for some reason.