My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) - February 3, 2015

[Arkadin]

Has Sony released any titles AFTER this one that exhibit the same "black crush" or do things seem to be back to normal? That's the main thing I'm interested in.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Arkadin

Has Sony released any titles AFTER this one that exhibit the same "black crush" or do things seem to be back to normal? That's the main thing I'm interested in.

The technical problem is still ongiing in Sony's output:

The Interview (Feb 2015)
My Girl (Mar 2015)
Annie (2014) (Mar 2015)
Troop Beverly Hills (Mar 2015)

All released after MBFW and all have the black crush, disastrously in the case of THE INTERVIEW.

For more info, see this thread:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=257809

[Arkadin]

not good; not good.

[mulscul]

Anyone know why Amazon isn't officially selling this anymore, doesn't mention if it's out of stock.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...n=new&sr=&qid=

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by mulscul

Anyone know why Amazon isn't officially selling this anymore, doesn't mention if it's out of stock.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...n=new&sr=&qid=

This is a VERY good sign that Sony may be in the process of reissuing it! The same thing happened with FRANTIC after I got Warners to fix that disc.

Hopefully we'll see a new version soon, love this film and hate having to choose between my ancient UK BD and this one, with its crushed blacks.

[filmmusic]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

This is a VERY good sign that Sony may be in the process of reissuing it! The same thing happened with FRANTIC after I got Warners to fix that disc.

Hopefully we'll see a new version soon, love this film and hate having to choose between my ancient UK BD and this one, with its crushed blacks.

I would hope so, but if they didn't reissue the other "corrected" new titles, I doubt they would re-issue this.

[mulscul]

http://www.amazon.com/Friends-Weddin...p;qid=&sr=

Still not available through Amazon but through marketplace sellers. Anyone have news on a possible newer version with the picture issues resolved?

[filmmusic]

Our best bet would be for Sony to release this new master in Europe!
Then I have a hunch it would be corrected.

[MattGuyOR]

Even after having just watched some 4k movies on my 120” screen, I revisted this and it looks fantastic. Gorgeous even. Didn’t notice any issues. Sure would like a 4k version one day.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by MattGuyOR

Even after having just watched some 4k movies on my 120” screen, I revisted this and it looks fantastic. Gorgeous even. Didn’t notice any issues. Sure would like a 4k version one day.

The new 4K scan of the film is, indeed mostly gorgeous. And since the movie takes place almost entirely in broad daylight and brightly lit rooms, the black crush is not nearly as distracting as in dark, moody films like The Interview and Fury.

Still, the image looks nothing like the filmmakers intended due to the technical error in the production of the BD.

I'm hoping for a 4K disc release of this title eventually, which will presumably fix the issue.

This is the same shot.

4K remastered BD with black crush:


UV Version, using same HD master as on old foreign BD and SE DVD:


The new 4K scan brings out colors and details that were lost in the original master, but sacrifices any area that's even remotely in shadow into inky, detail-free blackness.

[James Luckard]

The night scenes fare worst of all. Almost the entire ending in the tent was reshot on a soundstage when it was reimagined with Rupert Everett present, but they still had greens outside and lit them so it wouldn't look quite so fake. All that gets lost in the crushed black BD, and Everett himself turns into a black hole of nothingness:

4K remastered black crush BD:


UV version from original master:

[MattGuyOR]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

The night scenes fare worst of all. Almost the entire ending in the tent was reshot on a soundstage when it was reimagined with Rupert Everett present, but they still had greens outside and lit them so it wouldn't look quite so fake. All that gets lost in the crushed black BD, and Everett himself turns into a black hole of nothingness:

4K remastered black crush BD:


UV version from original master:

Ahhh I see now. Sure would kill for a corrected UHD version. I’m sure it’s possible, it’s popular enough.

How do these stupid mistakes even happen? Don’t they look at their own product?

[Bachelor]

Just had to mention that my grandma was an extra in this movie and is in the shot above. She is the older lady standing up in the far back on the left side in the group of 3 ladies. She passed away a few years ago and was nice to see this!

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by MattGuyOR

How do these stupid mistakes even happen? Don’t they look at their own product?

Sadly, no. It's amazing, but about half a dozen BDs slipped through in early 2015 with the black levels messed up like this - both catalog titles and new releases - and nobody at Sony seemed to notice.

Worse still, I had a devil of a time convincing anyone at Sony and even many people here that it was a legit technical problem. If you re-read the thread about the "Black Crush" issue here, you'll see the consensus was that the movies were supposed to look like this and that I was a loon, that is until I succeeded in pestering Sony enough that they corrected the black levels on the new releases (THE INTERVIEW, FURY, ANNIE) for the foreign discs, which came out a few months later.

Sadly MBFW had already been released on BD in every market except the US, using the old DVD-era master. The US was the only country that got the new 4K master on BD, and it was never corrected.

I agree, I'm eagerly awaiting the 4K disc, which will have this gorgeous new transfer, with proper black levels. Hopefully it will also include a corrected BD and not this abomination.

[MattGuyOR]

Originally Posted by Bachelor

Just had to mention that my grandma was an extra in this movie and is in the shot above. She is the older lady standing up in the far back on the left side in the group of 3 ladies. She passed away a few years ago and was nice to see this!

That is so cool. I’ll bet she had fun seeing herself on the silver screen.

[MattGuyOR]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

Sadly, no. It's amazing, but about half a dozen BDs slipped through in early 2015 with the black levels messed up like this - both catalog titles and new releases - and nobody at Sony seemed to notice.

Worse still, I had a devil of a time convincing anyone at Sony and even many people here that it was a legit technical problem. If you re-read the thread about the "Black Crush" issue here, you'll see the consensus was that the movies were supposed to look like this and that I was a loon, that is until I succeeded in pestering Sony enough that they corrected the black levels on the new releases (THE INTERVIEW, FURY, ANNIE) for the foreign discs, which came out a few months later.

Sadly MBFW had already been released on BD in every market except the US, using the old DVD-era master. The US was the only country that got the new 4K master on BD, and it was never corrected.

I agree, I'm eagerly awaiting the 4K disc, which will have this gorgeous new transfer, with proper black levels. Hopefully it will also include a corrected BD and not this abomination.

Oh wow, great info.

So since we got the new master, you think we’ll see it on UHD soon? Why they didn’t release it in 2017 for the 20th anniversary is beyond me.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by MattGuyOR

Oh wow, great info.

So since we got the new master, you think we’ll see it on UHD soon? Why they didn’t release it in 2017 for the 20th anniversary is beyond me.

Yep, it's a popular Sony catalog title and there's clearly a new 4K master, I suspect it'll make it to UHD eventually.

[whiteberry]

The cast reunites for EW:
https://ew.com/movie-reunions/2019/0...reunion-cover/

[James Luckard]

I keep hoping this will get a 4K release, it's a major Sony catalog title, so it seems likely. At best we'll get a 4K disc with a properly mastered BD. At worst, at least the 4K should be corrected.

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by whiteberry

Wow! They say men age more gracefully than women, but clearly there are exceptions to that rule!