An American Werewolf in London (1981) (Limited Edition)

[Kyle15]

I too felt the Universal one was awful despite detail not being scrubbed away entirely. It was more like smudged around. Awful, predictable Universal BS. Arrow is finally doing it right. Now if only they could grab every other nasty Universal botch job and fix those too!

[Johnzilla2179]

Originally Posted by Kyle15

I too felt the Universal one was awful despite detail not being scrubbed away entirely. It was more like smudged around. Awful, predictable Universal BS. Arrow is finally doing it right. Now if only they could grab every other nasty Universal botch job and fix those too!

Yep. I actually emailed them (as well as Criterion) to suggest that they show the original Tremors some love. The people complaining about a bit of DNR on AAWIL need to go watch that crap and see for yourself just how bad it can be (with no end in sight as of this writing). I’m pretty sure Uni has just used the same master that was prepared for the DVD in 1998 ever since and applied some filtering to “bring it up to standard.” Me, I’d gladly take a new 4K scan with some unnecessary tweaking over what we have.

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by Johnzilla2179

Yep. I actually emailed them (as well as Criterion) to suggest that they show the original Tremors some love. The people complaining about a bit of DNR on AAWIL need to go watch that crap and see for yourself just how bad it can be (with no end in sight as of this writing). I’m pretty sure Uni has just used the same master that was prepared for the DVD in 1998 ever since and applied some filtering to “bring it up to standard.” Me, I’d gladly take a new 4K scan with some unnecessary tweaking over what we have.

I was just thinking about how awesome it would be if Tremors got some love from Arrow or Shout. That one, more than any other, is in desperate need of a restoration.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Shingster

Yup, I too was very critical of the Universal 4K, much more critical than Geoff was - in fact I seem to recall Geoff tried his best to be positive and give it a fair shake until he sat down and watched it, so it's not necessarily a case of the caps made the grain management look worse than it is. Some found it worse in motion, some didn't.

This Arrow looks very nice indeed. The only question mark is what are the shadows like during the finale because that final screenshot has very little shadow detail. I believe the Universal is too bright there, but the Arrow is clearly too murky. Thankfully the other screenshots exhibit no issues whatsoever, so it might just be a fleeting issue easily ignored. The proof will be in the pudding.

I twisted myself this way and that, yep, but the initial reaction of people like yourself wasn't wrong, and I soon came around once I'd actually watched it.

I'm hoping that the last cap is just botched levels during the capture of the screenshot, none of the other caps have anything like that sort of black clipping.

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Back then you said you'd rate the transfer in motion a 4/5, which in my opinion is a fairly high rating. Again, quite at odds with how you're depicting the transfer now. So, which is correct, does it have a nice grain structure, or has it been completely scrubbed of all natural grain?

There’s nothing in the quote that you took from me that is at odds with what I’m saying now. With the Arrow now to compare the older transfer to, the deficiencies of the earlier disc are just more apparent. That’s the way of these things. I still don’t think the Universal was the abomination some made it out to be in motion, but I also think it looks pretty lousy compared to what Arrow is offering now. I stand by what I said at the time FOR the time. It was the best way to watch the film then, but clearly that is no longer the case. I'm surely not the only person to ever reevaluate an older transfer in light of a superior one down the line. We all used to be pretty happy with our DVD's once upon a time...then came Blu-ray, then UHD, etc. Based on how the Universal looked *compared to what had come before*, I still think 4/5 was probably where I'd land. Compared to this? 3/5 tops (with the Arrow being 5/5 IMO). More to your direct question, I simply didn’t realize *how much* fine grain there was to resolve on this title. Now that I do, the older transfer looks a lot less appealing than it did at the time.

[Jimllfaxit]

"But the plane was still too evy"

[dr. wai]

Some screenshot comparisons:

2016 Universal blu-ray:

[IMG][/IMG]

2019 Arrow Video blu-ray:

[IMG][/IMG]

2016 Universal blu-ray:

[IMG][/IMG]

2019 Arrow Video blu-ray:

[IMG][/IMG]

2016 Universal blu-ray:

[IMG][/IMG]

2019 Arrow Video blu-ray:

[IMG][/IMG]

[MassiveMovieBuff]

Jenny Agutter looks even more stunning now!

[Bobbyjoe766]

Originally Posted by MassiveMovieBuff

Jenny Agutter looks even more stunning now!

I think she looks her best in this film.

[Trekkie313]

Anbody notice how strangely bright the Arrow transfer becomes in certain places? Then certain places like hair and brown areas become darker.

[Shingster]

The dynamic range is different for sure, but for all but that one cap from the film's final act, I would definitely take the Arrow over the Universal in this regard.

Still, at least this gives Ruined something to moan about!

[RalphoR]

Originally Posted by Bobbyjoe766

I think she looks her best in this film.

She looks great but I have to go with Equus

[jtu128]

We’re really splitting hairs here, if I have to zoom in to see a difference. I’ll wait for the inevitable 4k release.

[moviebuff75]

I want it for the mono track.

[broly965]

They both look near identical, guess the 2016 transfer was quite good since it looks like arrow used that transfer for theirs. I've had the 2009 version all these yrs as i don't like to double/triple dip on movies. I mostly wanted this version because i knew i didn't have the best version of this movie by a long shot and the new arrow art and extras are too hard to say no to. It has the same kind of packaging as their waterworld limited edition and i loved that so no brainer.

[yellowcakeuf6]

The Full Moon was too hot. The Restored was too cold. The Arrow is juuuust right.

[spudeus]

Originally Posted by Bobbyjoe766

I think she looks her best in this film.

I love that they let her natural beauty show through. You can see circles under her eyes (which a nurse working all-night shifts would have)! If made today, they'd probably coat her face with a half-inch of putty make-up.

Debating whether to order direct from Arrow or take my chances on Amazon. . .

[Member-222782]

What's the general consensus on Universal UHDs? Good? Among the best? So so? I don't have many and most of the Universal 4K titles I own are newer films so can't really form an opinion yet (Lionsgate is the worst when it comes to 4K picture quality IMO). I ask because those skipping this and holding out for an eventual UHD edition may actually end up with an inferior version, not to mention potentially featureless. I don't know, to me it's like going backwards.

[Croweyes1121]

Originally Posted by jtu128

We’re really splitting hairs here, if I have to zoom in to see a difference.

Originally Posted by broly965

They both look near identical

How in God's name anyone is coming to these conclusions is simply beyond me. I had surgery for double retina detachment three years ago. My eyes are all kinds of f**ked...and I can still *easily* see a massive difference in these two transfers.

[zw94]

Originally Posted by Cinema84

What's the general consensus on Universal UHDs? Good? Among the best? So so? I don't have many and most of the Universal 4K titles I own are newer films so can't really form an opinion yet (Lionsgate is the worst when it comes to 4K picture quality IMO). I ask because those skipping this and holding out for an eventual UHD edition may actually end up with an inferior version, not to mention potentially featureless. I don't know, to me it's like going backwards.

Buy the Arrow set and if the UHD has an improvement in PQ but no features then shove that disc into the Arrow set.

If the UniHD has all the features, sell the Arrow set. If it's a crappy disc all around, don't buy it and keep the Arrow set.