Heat 4K UHD (1995)

[RCRochester]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

No, but Fox controls them, and the last Blu-ray releases of all are from Fox, all have the Fox logo on the discs and packaging, and all boot up with the Fox logo.

No, Fox does NOT control them.

They were released on blu-ray by Fox because MGM had a distribution deal with Fox which is now expired. At no time did Fox have any actual jurisdiction over those films beyond putting out what MGM told them to.

[Geoff D]

Yep, the Fox/MGM deal expired in June 2020. Fox don't control nada when it comes to MGM. Anything that Fox distributed for them that's been kept in print by Warners is the same Fox discs in Warners packaging, true, but that's because there's no point in re-authoring a disc just to remove a logo.

Oh, and Towering Inferno is with Warners outside the US.

[Gacivory]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Phantom Menace's filmout files were 2K. They were not "720". Good Christ almighty you talk absolute bollox.

Classic Shane! He keeps rollin rollin rollin.

[chewbabka]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Phantom Menace's filmout files were 2K. They were not "720". Good Christ almighty you talk absolute bollox.



Basterds' average bitrate alone is 49 Mb/s on the UHD. It goes higher than that, it goes lower than that, that's how variable bitrate works. Please stoppppp.

I’ve decide to replace my TV with a bit-rate meter, because that’s how film was meant to be seen!

[suspiciouscoffee]

There is absolutely no way a 4k master of the theatrical cuts of Star Wars exist outside fan projects. Anything Disney/LFL say about a 4k master existing is referring to the 19SEs. Which is fine, I gave up years ago and am (mostly) happy with the 4KXX series. Even JJ Abrams says he watches Despecialized because he just couldn’t get anything out of Disney/LFL “for reasons I don’t entirely understand”.

[chewbabka]

Originally Posted by suspiciouscoffee

There is absolutely no way a 4k master of the theatrical cuts of Star Wars exist outside fan projects. Anything Disney/LFL say about a 4k master existing is referring to the 19SEs. Which is fine, I gave up years ago and am (mostly) happy with the 4KXX series. Even JJ Abrams says he watches Despecialized because he just couldn’t get anything out of Disney/LFL “for reasons I don’t entirely understand”.

I’m sure all the material is scanned and archived in 4k… but yeah, there is no indication a conformed and timed master exists. I’d love to be wrong.

[MachinesofHate]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

The Big Trail-Restored in 4K resolution for a previous Blu-ray; unknown whether both versions, just the AR version, or just the widescreen version were done
The Day The Earth Stood Still-Restored in 4K for the 1951 Blu-ray; unknown if this transfer made it to the 1951/2008 combo pack
The Robe-CinemaScope version restored in 4K for the previous Blu-ray release; AR version was restored in at least 2K
West Side Story-Restored in 4K for the previous Blu-ray, then tweaked by Fox after the first disc was hated by fans; the restoration isn’t that good and should definitely be redone, and a 4K of the current transfer would suck
The Longest Day-Black and white version restored in 4K for a previous Blu-ray release; colorized version never restored and only available as a pan-and-scan VHS
All official James Bond movies-All official Bond movies up to Die Another Day were scanned and restored at 4K by Lowry in the early 2000s, and released in 2006 to DVD and between 2008 and 2012 on Blu-ray. Surprisingly, all the negatives survived and still do. This was negated though by the fact that they half-assed the restorations. To add insult to injury, most of the Daniel Craig movies have 2K DIs, so their 4K transfers are just upscales. New restorations need to be done.
The Sound Of Music-Scanned at 8K, unknown how high or was restored at and finished at, and a 4K DI exists; this was done for the 2010 Blu-ray
The French Connection-Restored by William Friedkin, then retimed and rereleased a few years later, leaving two very different 4K transfers of the film in existence
The Towering Inferno-Restored in 4K for a previous Blu-ray release
Phantom Of The Paradise-Restored in 4K by Fox, then licensed out to several distributors including Shout! Factory
The Rocky Horror Picture Show-Scanned at 4K resolution, no other details known; listed as a “4K/2K Restoration” on the package
Star Wars (the original 1977 version)-Aside from Disney acknowledging that a 4K transfer exists, no other info about the unedited Star Wars movies is known; the edited transfers don’t count as “4K transfers of Star Wars” to me
The Empire Strikes Back (the original 1980 version)-see Star Wars
Return Of The Jedi (the original 1983 version)-see Star Wars
Aliens-Theatrical cuts restored in 4K for the previous Alien Anthology Blu-ray; unsure about alternate cuts
The Abyss-At least one transfer of the theatrical cut and one transfer of the SE have been created over the years; unsure what state they’re in due to the general BS of the situation
Alien3-see Aliens
True Lies-At least one transfer created; bogged in the same mess as The Abyss
Alien: Resurrection-see Aliens
The Phantom Menace (the 1999 version, but it’s an upscale from 720 lines)-see Star Wars
Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith (original versions, but they’re upscales from 2K DIs)-see Star Wars
Fight Club-This is the only mystery of the bunch, and the rumors are that it was completed before the deal and Disney is just sitting on it

When the Fight Club Blu-ray was released, one of the producers of the disc way back in the Home Theater Forums days answered some questions about the release. This was back 2009 or so. When asked why it took so long to get the movie out on Blu-ray, he said something to the effect of "David Fincher is a busy man and we had to wait for him to oversee the progress and approve the grading, etc."

Allegedly, 20th Century Fox were planning to put Fight Club out on 4K for a 20th anniversary release in 2019 but there were a few complications:

1. The work done to the movie back in 2009 wasn't "up to standards" and needed to be redone and required a HDR grade pass.

2. David Fincher would need to re-approve everything and I think once again, he had an impossibly busy schedule.

3. Once the Disney takeover of Fox had been approved, Fox abandoned/cancelled their plans for a lot of their releases.
Edit: To be clear - I don't think any work had actually started on a Fight Club 4K, but it was one that had been planned.

There were many people within the industry who claimed that a 4K Alien Anthology set was also in the early stages of being prepped shortly after the 4K release of Alien Covenant. This would have been around August/September in 2017.

As we all know, the only movie which went on to receive an actual release was the original Alien given that the 40th Anniversary was too big of a milestone to not cash-in on.

I'm not saying Disney is flat out responsible for these delays/cancellations but they sat on the 4K restorations of Home Alone, Speed, Unbreakable, Hocus Pocus, X-Men 1 & 2 for literally YEARS before finally releasing them.
Edit: My mistake - X-Men 1, 2 and The Last Stand were initially 20th Century Fox releases but Disney only just recently re-printed them.

This release of Heat is another one that has been sat on for years. Other rumoured titles which they've been sitting on are:

1. Edward Scissorhands - The 25th Anniversary Blu-ray was struck from an all new 4K remaster.

2. Die Hard 2 - There are contradicting stories out there, but it seems Fox was planning to cash-in on the '30th Anniversary' of the original or the sequel. Given that the Disney takeover was completed in 2019, It seems like a missed opportunity that Disney didn't release a 4K of Die Hard 2 to celebrate it's 30th back in 2020.

3. Planet of the Apes (1968) - Fox allegedly finished work on an all new restoration of this in time for the film's 50th Anniversary. Disney has yet to do anything with it. Maybe next year for it's 55th? (or to tie in with the proposed new movie in the series)

4. Night at the Museum - Not exactly a 'top tier' movie but apparently, this was a title that received a HDR pass and was meant to arrive in 2018. Always seemed odd as Fox (and Disney) had a knack for anniversaries. My guess is that this is a title that sells well during the Holidays.

5. The Abyss - Yeah, yeah, we all know the drill. Needs Lord Cameron's approval. He's been too busy developing more live action Ferngully for the last 13 years. I say this with all due respect and as a fan of good ol' Jim!

[Blu-Curry]

^ Yeah it's a really interesting situation. I previously noticed on Disney+ that all 5 Die Hard films had a 4K version to stream. Made me wonder if that meant 4K UHD releases of the last 4 were on the way, but still nothing. I read a long time ago that Heat was on the way, so awesome that it's finally getting released.

[MrEWhite]

Went ahead and pre-ordered the steelbook from Best Buy, can't wait!

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by MachinesofHate

5. The Abyss - Yeah, yeah, we all know the drill. Needs Lord Cameron's approval. He's been too busy developing more live action Ferngully for the last 13 years. I say this with all due respect and as a fan of good ol' Jim!

Whenever I see comments like this I think back to 2010 when I met Cameron and his wife, I asked him about The Abyss and when it would be out on Blu-ray and how much I had enjoyed how Aliens came out in the Alien Anthology set. He smiled and said he was getting readyto oversee the Blu-ray transfer and if I liked what I saw with Aliens, that I would love how The Abyss would look and sound. Approaching 12 years since that evening and The Abyss has yet to be released on Blu-ray. I do hope that the 4K version is in the works based on the tidbits that have gotten out there. Jim was really friendly that night, taking the time to chat with me, sign some stuff that I had, etc.

Regarding Heat 4K, I am eagerly looking forward to it. Perhaps because the Heat 2 novel was expected last year, and I recall reading that the 4K release was planned as well, the delay in the novel perhaps caused the studio to delay the 4K release so that they both could be released the same day.

[StingingVelvet]

Remaster is worse than the first BD IMO, and I watched the HDR version on streaming and the HDR was barely present. Unless this is heavily reworked, it's likely going to disappoint everyone new to the experience.

That said it's Heat and of course I'll buy it.

[SpazeBlue]

Originally Posted by Shane Rollins

QT found out about Basterds months later, and by then the pissed off customers were already pissed, so that about ended all hope of un-pissing people off. And how did he find out? From the thousands of us complaining online. The last time he fixed a bad release of his, Reservoir Dogs, it took four years. And that’s the exception and not the rule.

???

Originally Posted by MachinesofHate

As we all know, the only movie which went on to receive an actual release was the original Alien given that the 40th Anniversary was too big of a milestone to not cash-in on.

And I guess the 35th Anniversary isn't big enough for a cash-in on Aliens. I don't want to have to wait another 5 years.

[Tylerfan]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

Classic Shane! He keeps rollin rollin rollin.

[JSK23]

Originally Posted by MrEWhite

Went ahead and pre-ordered the steelbook from Best Buy, can't wait!

Seems really odd that the Steelbook is cheaper than the standard. Did Bestbuy flip flop the prices?

[Kinsella5]

Originally Posted by JSK23

Seems really odd that the Steelbook is cheaper than the standard. Did Bestbuy flip flop the prices?

If I had to guess, it is probably a mistake on the BB's part. Amazon tends to watch Best Buy and vice versa when it comes to pricing at times, I have a feeling the standard is supposed to be $24.99 and the steelbook $29.99. Target is actually $24.99 for the standard currently.

[MachinesofHate]

Originally Posted by SpazeBlue

???



And I guess the 35th Anniversary isn't big enough for a cash-in on Aliens. I don't want to have to wait another 5 years.

Disney would've been 1000% in charge by 2021 (they completely acquired Fox by 2019) so I guess Disney felt like Aliens just didn't matter. Who knows?

Disney don't seem very fussed about putting out catalogue titles out on 4K. I've heard many industry rumblings about Big Jim's first Avatar being in the works for a 4K release later this year to tie-in with the theatrical release of Avatar 2. The film is also receiving a huge restoration of sorts too for a return to theaters in the fall, so I guess it makes sense.

From everything I've managed to find out about this Heat 4K release is that Michael Mann has NOT gone back to tinker with the film. It will be exactly as the last remastered Fox Blu-ray. HOWEVER, the HDR pass was something that needed to be approved. It's expected to be exactly the same as the version currently streaming albeit with superior and massively improved compression and higher bit rate. I guess time will tell.

I seem to be one of the few who likes what Michael Mann did with the remaster. Flesh tones were dialed down, night scenes seemed more appropriately dark and drained of colour. I'm not big on directors going back and tinkering with movies but something about Heat's remaster just rings true to Michael Mann's visual style. I was never convinced that the original grading on the initial Warner Blu-ray was accurate. I think Mann himself (or maybe one of the DPs) mentioned the magenta levels being a tad overcooked. Maybe someone here remembers and can say for sure?

[Krynoid-Man]

Originally Posted by Gacivory

Classic Shane! He keeps rollin rollin rollin.

Rollin down the river

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Blu-Curry

^ Yeah it's a really interesting situation. I previously noticed on Disney+ that all 5 Die Hard films had a 4K version to stream. Made me wonder if that meant 4K UHD releases of the last 4 were on the way, but still nothing. I read a long time ago that Heat was on the way, so awesome that it's finally getting released.

IIRC Fox did new 4K transfers of the first three Die Hards for the 25th anniversary of the first film in 2013, that’s how long they’ve been sitting on them. We didn’t even remastered Blus, never mind UHDs of 2 and 3, as Fox’s treatment of catalogue disc releases took a strangely Disnee-esque turn - i.e. they stopped giving a shit - years before the studio was sold.

They were happy to keep restoring and remastering on an archival level, also very much like Disnee themselves, but a 4K master is not a guarantee of a 4K disc, and never will be.

[Jorvic]

I like the remastered Blu-ray. I will be keeping both that release and the Warner Blu-ray after I get the 4K UHD disc.

[MachinesofHate]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

IIRC Fox did new 4K transfers of the first three Die Hards for the 25th anniversary of the first film in 2013, that’s how long they’ve been sitting on them. We didn’t even remastered Blus, never mind UHDs of 2 and 3, as Fox’s treatment of catalogue disc releases took a strangely Disnee-esque turn - i.e. they stopped giving a shit - years before the studio was sold.

They were happy to keep restoring and remastering on an archival level, also very much like Disnee themselves, but a 4K master is not a guarantee of a 4K disc, and never will be.

I wasn't sure if Fox had done Die Hard 3 or just 1 and 2 but that sounds like Fox. They also did a fresh new scan of Kingdom of Heaven Director's Cut for the 10th Anniversary back in 2015, but frustratingly, only released it via Blu-ray steelbook and never on 4K. As I never bought that steelbook release, I'm unsure if that was a new disc encode with a new scan or just the original Blu-ray repackaged, but I recall Sir Ridley stating at some point during the press of 'Exodus: Gods and Kings' that he was going to be overseeing a new release of Kingdom.

Universal are another studio which happen to be sitting on a gold mine of recently (and not so recently) remastered 4K titles which they have yet to release. Their Universal Monsters have been done for a while as well as their entire Hitchcock collection. They're slowly releasing them now, thankfully. I heard rumblings of Spielberg's Duel being prepped for 4K as far back as 2017 and that also looks to be on the cards for this year.

Around the time when he released Gods of Egypt, Alex Proyas mentioned he was going in to do some work on a new release for The Crow. He was asked about Dark City and talked about it as a movie needing a definitive release which was also on the cards. Fast forward 6 years and we're still on radio silence regarding both.

Anyway, like Geoff stated - a finished 4K master - recent or not, is never a guarantee for a physical 4K release.

Anyway, not to derail the thread too much, but the Heat 4K master has been done for a long time.