The Fog (1980) 4K UHD

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Martoto

There is an issue in the BD too, sadly.

Right after Mrs Kobritz gets it, in a shot of the beach house being engulfed in fog, there's flashes with grid lines visible for a few seconds.

Just checked that bit in the new Blu several times, step-framed through it even, and saw no flashing grid lines at all.

[Ms.45]

I have also spotted the flickering easily. Both DV and HDR10 on my Lg c7 and sonyx700 player. I’m pretty sure that it’s not equipment related but a fault on the hands of Studio Canal. It’s most noticeable in the first and last 15 minutes of the movie. Some scenes with blacks look perfect and others are pulsating. I have no idea what this is but it’s annoying. Does studio canal ever do replacements or look into these kind of things ??

[Ms.45]

The Blu-ray has the same problems though.

[kamkam]

Oh I'm so nervous to watch this on my oled b6 now flickering blacks is going to ruin this release for me if my set does this I have oled b6 and lg ubk90 player

[Ms.45]

Originally Posted by kamkam

Oh I'm so nervous to watch this on my oled b6 now flickering blacks is going to ruin this release for me if my set does this I have oled b6 and lg ubk90 player

I cannot imagine it’s an lg oled problem. It’s on the Blu-ray , in hdr10 and as well in Dolby Vision. So all versions. And all at the same spots. So not the whole movie is affected. In total it might be around 5 minutes or so.

[SplitScreen]

I'm watching this in DV on a 2016 OLED E6V that has been professionally calibrated and with an OPPO 203 and the only issue I noticed (or was obvious to me a least) was the scene at the beach house. When Mrs Kobritz says "What's that now?" and the fog starts to approach the house, it flickers. The rest of the scene is fine. At the very end of the scene after the truck has reversed away, there's a final shot of the beach house shrouded in fog. The fog in that shot flickers also. No where else in the movie does this happen.

The thing I noticed most about the cross scene with Father Halloran and Blake was the cross remains a yellow gold colour even when illuminated instead of the usual hot white I've noticed in other releases and Father Halloran's face looks sunburnt lol. When the cross starts to explode, yes, the shot of Blake looks odd but only for a brief moment.

The rest of the movie to me looks very filmic. Much darker than previous releases, yes, but the grain is super finely resolved and the stand out to me was the rich/warm presentation of the colours. Much warmer than previous releases and there's a noticeable uptick in detail despite the often blurry camera shots inherent in the source.

Overall, I think it's a great release. I thought it was very comparable to Halloween (haven't watched my 4k Steelbook copy of Prince of Darkness yet) but with much richer colour throughout. The only moment of flicker I experienced in Halloween was the scene where Laurie enters the Wallace house near the climax for the first time and jumps around the entrance to the living room to see if anyone was hiding there. That shot flickered. But that's all. No where else in the film. I only mention this because others with OLEDs seem to be noticing lots of problems/flickering with these Studio Canal releases and I'm not really.

[Ms.45]

As mention before by someone. If you want to check the flickering then check the scene at the beginning with the cameo of John himself, or better said , right after that. When the brick falls out of the wall and then the father walks towards the book in the wall, that’s where it’s most obvious in the entire film.

[02wikked]

I watched the complete UHD disc tonight in Dolby Vision using a professionally calibrated Oppo UHD-205 and LG OLED65E7 with the Oppo video out connected directly to the LG display rather than going through my Marantz AV8802a Pre/Pro. I specifically looked for pulsing, flickering or flashing during the movie, and I only noticed one 3-4 second point where an image of the fog pulsed around the 1:11:10 mark.

I need to go back to the previous discs that I have of The Fog to see if this 'pulsing' was in the previous releases and was possibly intentional.

[SplitScreen]

Originally Posted by Ms.45

As mention before by someone. If you want to check the flickering then check the scene at the beginning with the cameo of John himself, or better said , right after that. When the brick falls out of the wall and then the father walks towards the book in the wall, that’s where it’s most obvious in the entire film.

I didn't experience any flickering in that scene, just a slight momentary flutter just as he's about to reach for the book. Nothing before or after that. That's not what i was referring to when it comes to the beach house scene. The fog itself actually flickers.

[bradnoyes]

Just wrapped this up and while I found quite a bit to appreciate, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed.

The daytime scenes are beautiful, particularly when the sun is out. Colors are vibrant and nuanced and there’s a nice sense of depth. This disc really shines during the middle third, and the scenic shots around the 53:00 mark are just perfect. And there are some really nice looking flannel shirts going on here.

Like most of Carpenter’s early films, The Fog is pretty dang dark. Unfortunately, unlike Halloween and Christine, this disc does not handle darker scenes well. Some scenes are fine (for example, the scenes in the radio station mostly look good), but nearly all of the night scenes just feel too dark. Not that there’s crush; things just look a tad murky. But it’s the flickering that really got to me. It’s really bad. On my old B6 I experienced some flickering in the opening scene of Halloween that I was able to resolve by simply dropping the brightness by 1 click. That flickering in Halloween isn’t there at all on my new E8, yet it is pervasive here and adjusting the brightness does nothing to help.

I noted a handful of macroblocking issues but nothing that would have felt too egregious if not for the flickering. But when taking both of those issues into account this disc feels like an overall dud, which is something I haven’t said in a while. If EFNY has the same flickering issue it’s going to be unwatchable, my friends.

[StingingVelvet]

No flickering or darkness issues here. Wouldn't have written my "I still prefer the UHD to the BD" post if I had seen anything like that. Only negatives I saw were occasional compression issues.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by SplitScreen

I'm watching this in DV on a 2016 OLED E6V that has been professionally calibrated and with an OPPO 203 and the only issue I noticed (or was obvious to me a least) was the scene at the beach house. When Mrs Kobritz says "What's that now?" and the fog starts to approach the house, it flickers. The rest of the scene is fine. At the very end of the scene after the truck has reversed away, there's a final shot of the beach house shrouded in fog. The fog in that shot flickers also. No where else in the movie does this happen.

Originally Posted by 02wikked

I watched the complete UHD disc tonight in Dolby Vision using a professionally calibrated Oppo UHD-205 and LG OLED65E7 with the Oppo video out connected directly to the LG display rather than going through my Marantz AV8802a Pre/Pro. I specifically looked for pulsing, flickering or flashing during the movie, and I only noticed one 3-4 second point where an image of the fog pulsed around the 1:11:10 mark.

I need to go back to the previous discs that I have of The Fog to see if this 'pulsing' was in the previous releases and was possibly intentional.

Guys, I pulled the Shout Blu-ray and had a look at those scenes in and around the Mrs Kobritz kill and the flickering is very much evident in several of the exterior shots. It's either on the optical VFX of the fog creeping around the house or the real shots of smoke that have been sped up which is why they flicker like they do, because the frequency/flicker rate of the lighting ballast is being exaggerated. So the flicker itself wasn't "intentional" as such but was an unavoidable artefact from the processes they were using in those scenes.

Photochemically shot & finished movie is photochemical, in other words. NOT to summarily dismiss the other issues that people are seeing elsewhere on either the new BD or UHD, I've seen the terribad compression with my own eyes, but sometimes a film flicker is just a flicker and it makes it a bit harder to nail down what was always there and what wasn't without a frame of reference. Another reason why I didn't instantly sell the Shout disc.

[Geoff D]

I just checked the MGM R1 SE DVD and the flickering in the various Kobritz exteriors is also there too.

[Member-167298]

WOW. I just had my first UHD nightmare. I dreamt that The Fog transfer was even worse than everyone is describing here. I think I was even crying in my dream because I was so upset and I remember thinking "I have to rebuy the Scream Factory Blu-ray now." Hopefully this was not pre-cognition.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by PrestonXI

WOW. I just had my first UHD nightmare. I dreamt that The Fog transfer was even worse than everyone is describing here. I think I was even crying in my dream because I was so upset and I remember thinking "I have to rebuy the Scream Factory Blu-ray now." Hopefully this was not pre-cognition.

Even with its issues, it's still a lot better than the Scream disc.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by PrestonXI

I remember thinking "I have to rebuy the Scream Factory Blu-ray now."

[Member-167298]

I need to stop reading this site before bed.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by PrestonXI

WOW. I just had my first UHD nightmare. I dreamt that The Fog transfer was even worse than everyone is describing here. I think I was even crying in my dream because I was so upset and I remember thinking "I have to rebuy the Scream Factory Blu-ray now." Hopefully this was not pre-cognition.

(I always love the second slap that Leslie Nielsen gives her ^, it's just not called for )

[monstermidget]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

That flickering in Halloween isn’t there at all on my new E8, yet it is pervasive here and adjusting the brightness does nothing to help.

I have the same issue brother, the flickering and pulse is visible throughout on my B7, what player are you using?

Edit: sorry just noticed you have an Oppo listed in your sig. I was hoping this was a player issue or at least that the issue might be ameliorated with another player, and previously Oled owners with Oppos, and sony players have been reporting minimal to zero flicker, but that's hopes sort of been blown out of the water now, very strange how some folks with the same set up have largely escaped this issue and others have not!

Maybe its the cables!?!

[Ms.45]

Originally Posted by monstermidget

I have the same issue brother, the flickering and pulse is visible throughout on my B7, what player are you using?

Edit: sorry just noticed you have an Oppo listed in your sig. I was hoping this was a player issue or at least that the issue might be ameliorated with another player, and previously Oled owners with Oppos, and sony players have been reporting minimal to zero flicker, but that's hopes sort of been blown out of the water now, very strange how some folks with the same set up have largely escaped this issue and others have not!

Maybe its the cables!?!

I have flickering on The Fog but not on Halloween as far as I remember. But I do remember to be bothered that the black in the opening minutes are not black. There is like a light source shining in from the right sight of the screen.