What are your best looking UHD Blu-rays?

[TwinCitiesBluFan]

Originally Posted by Owenjohnston

2. BBC Planet Earth 2

Really glad to see this on your list as I got the Planet Earth 2/Blue Planet 2 4k set during Prime Days, but haven't watched it yet. Looking forward to it!

[Owenjohnston]

Originally Posted by TwinCitiesBluFan

Really glad to see this on your list as I got the Planet Earth 2/Blue Planet 2 4k set during Prime Days, but haven't watched it yet. Looking forward to it!

I think Dynasties is better as most of it looks like it was filmed in 4k. Planet Earth 2 has some absolutely beautiful scenes, however they also contain scenes that seem like they were filmed in 720p or 1080p and upscaled, so it can be quite distracting going from 4k to a softer image in the next scene.

[gooseygander2001]

Originally Posted by Owenjohnston

I think Dynasties is better as most of it looks like it was filmed in 4k. Planet Earth 2 has some absolutely beautiful scenes, however they also contain scenes that seem like they were filmed in 720p or 1080p and upscaled, so it can be quite distracting going from 4k to a softer image in the next scene.

Totally agree...in fact for overall consistency, the 4k stream on Netflix of 'Our Planet' looks more wow, more often for me. Dynasties looks solid 4k for over 90% of its runtime IMHO, stunning!

My top 4k UHD PQ titles overall, not in order necessarily:

Black Hawk Down
Apocalypse Now
Alien
A few Good Men
All BBC 4k - PE2, BP2, Dynasties and especially Seven Worlds, One Planet (some episodes have incorrect black levels and require adjustment though, withe the exception of SWOP)
Clear and Present Danger
Patriot Games
Groundhog Day
Sully
Sicario
Leon
Zero Dark Thirty
Braveheart (UK Fox)
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Predator
Schindler's List
The Shining
Lone Survivor
Life of Pi
La La Land
Toy Story 4
Casino
Dunkirk

[discombobul8r]

Originally Posted by Tristold

90-95% of UHD transfer’s from a 35mm are 4k (or higher).
Hulk looks incredible (Native 4K).
The Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 look amazing also (Upscaled 4K), But they nailed it out of the park on the HDR use for those.
I think if you showed 1000 random people clips from all three, they wouldn’t all be able to tell which film is native 4K. I think it’d come very close to a split tie.

Yes 35mm can be scanned upto 6.5k & i agree I'm a fan of some of the up scales & scans we have so far.

But take the matrix trilogy. The first every light scene was grainy which I'm not a fan of. 2 was sharper but the white docking control room which was pin sharp on blue ray looked like a room full of mosquitoes in 4k.Then the 3rd had the best picture imo but they smudged the background in some scenes to clean it up. Same as Oblivion apparently.

All I'm saying is although there are successes with some upscales, as the studio's evolve & start mastering in 4k & above we'll get the demo disc quality i was expecting when i first bought into 4k.
Alot seem to enjoy filmic grain. To me it has no place in 4k material. I accept it now but i look forward to 4k blu ray evolving & future releases.

[TitusTroy]

Originally Posted by Owenjohnston

I think Dynasties is better as most of it looks like it was filmed in 4k. Planet Earth 2 has some absolutely beautiful scenes, however they also contain scenes that seem like they were filmed in 720p or 1080p and upscaled, so it can be quite distracting going from 4k to a softer image in the next scene.

I never paid much attention to Dynasties until I saw your post...the 4K review on this site also raves about it...so it's that much of a step up over Planet Earth 2/Blue Planet 2?

[Wes_k089]

Originally Posted by TitusTroy

I never paid much attention to Dynasties until I saw your post...the 4K review on this site also raves about it...so it's that much of a step up over Planet Earth 2/Blue Planet 2?

I would say its even or just a tiny step above.

Someone already mentioned Planet Earth and Blue Planet 2 have some upscaled footage. Its less prominent in Planet Earth 2 (isolated to some aerial shots, everything else is phenomenal).

Blue Planet 2 doesn't look quite as good because of the limitations on deep-sea photography (one sequence was shot in complete darkness to capture bioluminescence so it is slightly grainy, albeit spectacular).

[TXMoviebuff77]

I just watched Man of Steel & Wonder Woman last night, great quality. I would also add:
John Wick Chapter 3
Hulk
Avengers Endgame
Ready Player One
The Mummy
Ghostbusters 2016
The Matrix Trilogy
Transformers (all 5)

[ModWorld]

Originally Posted by discombobul8r

All I'm saying is although there are successes with some upscales, as the studio's evolve & start mastering in 4k & above we'll get the demo disc quality i was expecting when i first bought into 4k.
Alot seem to enjoy filmic grain. To me it has no place in 4k material. I accept it now but i look forward to 4k blu ray evolving & future releases.

I've just joined the forum to give my two thumbs to your post! I too feel the same way and am completely disappointed how 4k experience is ruined due to the studio's choices of adding grain fro effect.

Best movie in my opinion is Lucy. Clean, sharp and this is how I think 4k should be.

If I wanted grain, artefacts in film, I'd stick with going to the cinemas instead of buying OLED tv etc. However, being naive partly played a small role in purchase decisions...

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by ModWorld

4k experience is ruined due to the studio's choices of adding grain fro effect

[TXMoviebuff77]

Originally Posted by ModWorld

I've just joined the forum to give my two thumbs to your post! I too feel the same way and am completely disappointed how 4k experience is ruined due to the studio's choices of adding grain fro effect.

Best movie in my opinion is Lucy. Clean, sharp and this is how I think 4k should be.

If I wanted grain, artefacts in film, I'd stick with going to the cinemas instead of buying OLED tv etc. However, being naive partly played a small role in purchase decisions...

You were born this century weren’t you? I’ve had every format going back to VHS, imagine these spoiled kids dealing with rewinding tapes or dealing with tracking issues.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by TXMoviebuff77

I’ve had every format going back to VHS, imagine these spoiled kids dealing with rewinding tapes or dealing with tracking issues.

No one ever had to deal with rewinding or tracking- that's what laserdisc was for!

[ryantoyota]

Originally Posted by ModWorld

I too feel the same way and am completely disappointed how 4k experience is ruined due to the studio's choices of adding grain fro effect.

When has a studio “added grain for effect”? I mean, I’m sure it happens in some cases but in the vast majority of cases (and I would assume almost every 4K disc) any grain you see isn’t being “added” by the studio after scanning, it’s part of the image in the negative and/or print that the original film was scanned from.

[R o d]

I sure hope that those opposed to film grain are not advocating for the DNR scrubbed look that takes on the appearance of a wax figure or video game character. Please tell me that’s not the “clean” look you seek.

[Archivy]

Originally Posted by R o d

I sure hope that those opposed to film grain are not advocating for the DNR scrubbed look

I think they are advocating for never watching a movie made prior to about 15 years ago, when films by their very nature had grain.

[discombobul8r]

Replying to Archivy & Rod. DNR is a big no thanks also. My LG C9 has brilliant dnr that does a good enough job.
My 4k experience i accidentally watched all brilliant 4k hdr material first. Firstly on youtube Then Logan, Lucy, BR2049 & Passengers. After watching those, then some scanned movies i thought wtf is this!! Then i joined every forum & read everything until i learned.
I really enjoy up scales like Ragnorok. The hdr is incredible.
But when it comes to scans, let me put it like this. If they can make Samuel L Jackson look 30 years younger in Cap Marvel, I'm sure they could clean up a scanned movie without removing detail. But they don't & that's cheap & lazy.
I probably won't buy any more older scans. Possibly original Blade Runner.
Like i said above though, i look forward to the media evolving & future movies having 4k & above master's.
& finally mod, they don't add grain. It's a remnant of the original film.

[Catnip]

I just don’t believe that anyone “adds grain.” I think the grain is already there, and the film maker doesn’t remove it because it would ruin the integrity of the film to do so. (Edited to say this post isn’t directed toward discombobul8r.)

[Avageektwit]

Ah Oh. I just saw Highdefdigest.com posted their 4k review of this release and they gave the same exact score as they did here for the ATMOS track, 3/5! This is so weird for a new Sony release !! Again, I'll still check it out for myself but my expectations are getting a bit rattled

[LegacyCosts]

Rambo 2008. I kid.

[trekky76]

Originally Posted by Catnip

I just don’t believe that anyone “adds grain.” I think the grain is already there, and the film maker doesn’t remove it because it would ruin the integrity of the film to do so. (Edited to say this post isn’t directed toward discombobul8r.)

It happens but not too often I think. But the likes of Rampage, Wonder Woman, Halloween and even recently Godzilla does have fake grain added. And then we have the famous Lionsgate filmouts.
I don't really notice it myself that much anymore. Either I got used to it or my C9 just doesn't display it noticeably. I also think some folks here tend to sit too close to their displays and notice tiniest little things in the picture.

[Catnip]

Originally Posted by trekky76

It happens but not too often I think. But the likes of Rampage, Wonder Woman, Halloween and even recently Godzilla does have fake grain added. And then we have the famous Lionsgate filmouts.
I don't really notice it myself that much anymore. Either I got used to it or my C9 just doesn't display it noticeably. I also think some folks here tend to sit too close to their displays and notice tiniest little things in the picture.

I have an OLED C9, too, now. What would be the recommended distance to sit away from the screen? I am about 10 feet away, and I have a 65” screen. I had no idea that grain was purposely inserted into movies! The only films that make sense to me are the obviously added effects in the Grindhouse films. Otherwise, it makes no sense at all to me. Thank you for posting the truth, when I had it wrong.