Do the Right Thing 4K UHD (1989)

[FragnitoM]

Originally Posted by Full Effect Ed

Best thing they did when they revised this is put the orange tone back into the film that the 20th anniversary Blu got rid of for whatever reason.

I'm thinking Spike/Dickerson probably were not consulted and assumed they wouldn't do something like that--then complained and told them to fix it when they were notified about plans for a UHD.

[Dailyan]

Originally Posted by FragnitoM

I'm thinking Spike/Dickerson probably were not consulted and assumed they wouldn't do something like that--then complained and told them to fix it when they were notified about plans for a UHD.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...7#post15914977

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Dailyan

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread...7#post15914977

...and now we're back to that distinctly warm tone with the filmmaker approved Criterion BD derived from a new 4K transfer and subsequent HDR UHD (of which it's not a stretch to assume was also filmmaker approved). It's why I keep saying, over and over, that the look of film has long been a moving target and is why HDR in itself isn't some heinously revisionist thing. Filmmakers have been revising their work in the video space for a long, long time and HDR is just another notch on that bedpost.

[Droste]

Watched it last evening. Very pleased with Do The Right Thing On UHD
Will keep the criterion but only watch the criterion one time in the near future for comparison reasons.
The UHD wil be the disc for me from now on.

[a-v-karin]

Originally Posted by Droste

Watched it last evening. Very pleased with Do The Right Thing On UHD
Will keep the criterion but only watch the criterion one time in the near future for comparison reasons.
The UHD wil be the disc for me from now on.

Maybe you should do the right thing and trade that criterion copy for my universal.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by a-v-karin

Maybe you should do the right thing and trade that criterion copy for my universal.

*ba dum tiss*

[urbo73]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Watched it stone cold sober and my god, when the cops kill Radio Raheem it hit me like a sledgehammer, it felt like my very soul was aching. The movie always had power but calling it unerringly prescient does it and its cause a major disservice because that shit was still happening then and is still happening now, fast forward 30 years and nothing has changed. Nothing.

And it's still such a good film because it doesn't give up any easy answers but it's not a tub-thumping polemic either. It's too easy to characterise Spike Lee as a militant black filmmaker but what he's always wanted to do is to normalise black lives on-screen, showing regular people going about their regular business whilst still putting their daily struggles with racism front and centre. Lee and his DP are both film fans so there are homages and references to some classic flicks too, they don't ignore the legacy of film.

It's a great film, and you're right that some things have not changed. But I can't say that nothing has changed, because in the US it's simply not true from what I've seen. I lived and grew up in LA and remember the 1992 riots when I was in college. Watching those documentaries now, Do the Right Thing, and the tons of stuff people are filming make it seem like nothing has changed, but things have definitely improved. With the 24/7 bombardment of videos of everything, the news in our faces 24/7, social media, etc., all these things make it seem that things are the same or even amplified. But my own personal experience tells me they are different and better overall. Yes, we still have identical behavior from many folks and cops, but overall, the numbers are on the side of of improvement. You don't want to know what you'd see if everyone was catching everything with cell phones back 30 years ago. Progress is slow, but it's being made.

[urbo73]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

...and now we're back to that distinctly warm tone with the filmmaker approved Criterion BD derived from a new 4K transfer and subsequent HDR UHD (of which it's not a stretch to assume was also filmmaker approved). It's why I keep saying, over and over, that the look of film has long been a moving target and is why HDR in itself isn't some heinously revisionist thing. Filmmakers have been revising their work in the video space for a long, long time and HDR is just another notch on that bedpost.

Yeah, filmmakers tend to do that. Yet in this case, is Dickerson really OK having two different grades, in a film where that intense orange is so important to the story? All this in the span of 18 months? I find that totally crazy. I think he's sort of moved on unfortunately.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by urbo73

It's a great film, and you're right that some things have not changed. But I can't say that nothing has changed, because in the US it's simply not true from what I've seen. I lived and grew up in LA and remember the 1992 riots when I was in college. Watching those documentaries now, Do the Right Thing, and the tons of stuff people are filming make it seem like nothing has changed, but things have definitely improved. With the 24/7 bombardment of videos of everything, the news in our faces 24/7, social media, etc., all these things make it seem that things are the same or even amplified. But my own personal experience tells me they are different and better overall. Yes, we still have identical behavior from many folks and cops, but overall, the numbers are on the side of of improvement. You don't want to know what you'd see if everyone was catching everything with cell phones back 30 years ago. Progress is slow, but it's being made.

Aye, it's easy for me to say that from 3000 miles away and I acknowledge the perspective of people who have boots on the ground. But given that Rodney King's surreptitiously videotaped beating is what set off those riots then it's a shame that it took another recorded scene of gut-wrenching inhumanity a full 30 years later to reignite that debate, which shouldn't be a debate at all.

Even if people weren't still being murdered on a street corner in broad daylight it's more the amount of unconscious bias that I notice now, how so much of mainstream society over here still excludes brown faces and not in a perniciously evil way, but that they just don't think to include people of colour. Then again that in itself may be seen to be problematic if they're then accused of cultural appropriation, so perhaps it's no wonder that people stick with what they know. Things are better in some respects but deeply ingrained in others and it's still gonna take a long time before we get to the other side. And hey, even Spike doesn't claim to have the answers.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by urbo73

Yeah, filmmakers tend to do that. Yet in this case, is Dickerson really OK having two different grades, in a film where that intense orange is so important to the story? All this in the span of 18 months? I find that totally crazy. I think he's sort of moved on unfortunately.

Having compared the Criterion and the UHD I see a hell of a lot of the same differences I see all the time between SDR and HDR, even on contemporaneous-ish grades. The UHD tones down the classic SDR yellow tint (and I don't mean "classic" w/ref to DTRT but to SDR in general) but has richer, warmer skin tones and in this case that conveys the heat in its own way.

[punisher]

it seems the only way to see movies as they were intended is to buy a camcorder bootleg off the street for a few bucks..lol

[Droste]

Originally Posted by a-v-karin

Maybe you should do the right thing and trade that criterion copy for my universal.

haha. I have given Away my universal ..
I did the right thing and asked nothing in return.

[cooleybird]

Waited a week and got it for $17.99. Now I’m going to sit on it until the first “stupid hot” day of summer. I can’t wait!

[Warm Gun]

Originally Posted by cooleybird

Now I’m going to sit on it until the first “stupid hot” day of summer.

[ShawnJ]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Watched it stone cold sober and my god, when the cops kill Radio Raheem it hit me like a sledgehammer, it felt like my very soul was aching. The movie always had power but calling it unerringly prescient does it and its cause a major disservice because that shit was still happening then and is still happening now, fast forward 30 years and nothing has changed. Nothing.

And it's still such a good film because it doesn't give up any easy answers but it's not a tub-thumping polemic either. It's too easy to characterise Spike Lee as a militant black filmmaker but what he's always wanted to do is to normalise black lives on-screen, showing regular people going about their regular business whilst still putting their daily struggles with racism front and centre. Lee and his DP are both film fans so there are homages and references to some classic flicks too, they don't ignore the legacy of film.

You're right. Unfortunately, things really haven't changed or improved all that much.

[Kakihara]

Originally Posted by ShawnJ

You're right. Unfortunately, things really haven't changed or improved all that much.

I agree. As a minority living in the U.S., having faced police discrimination myself and knowing others who have faced outright police brutality based on the color of their skin, I believe only those who aren't the targets of police's wrath have the privilege to say things have gotten better and chalk up the current issue to a rise in social media. People would like that to be the case that things are better but if they step into the shoes of a minority, especially those of a black person, they'd see that's not the case. I think steps are being taken to improve things moving forward but those are baby steps with a long way to go. Hope is there, though.

[SlaughterX]

Kinda salty I recently purchased the Criterion version of this... had no idea the 4k version was in the works, wouldn't have double dipped on the BD. Ohh well, not buying it now. Steelbook looks pretty ccool too.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by SlaughterX

Kinda salty I recently purchased the Criterion version of this... had no idea the 4k version was in the works, wouldn't have double dipped on the BD. Ohh well, not buying it now. Steelbook looks pretty ccool too.

I'm planning to trade my Criterion in and buy this 4K.

[urbo73]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Aye, it's easy for me to say that from 3000 miles away and I acknowledge the perspective of people who have boots on the ground. But given that Rodney King's surreptitiously videotaped beating is what set off those riots then it's a shame that it took another recorded scene of gut-wrenching inhumanity a full 30 years later to reignite that debate, which shouldn't be a debate at all.

Even if people weren't still being murdered on a street corner in broad daylight it's more the amount of unconscious bias that I notice now, how so much of mainstream society over here still excludes brown faces and not in a perniciously evil way, but that they just don't think to include people of colour. Then again that in itself may be seen to be problematic if they're then accused of cultural appropriation, so perhaps it's no wonder that people stick with what they know. Things are better in some respects but deeply ingrained in others and it's still gonna take a long time before we get to the other side. And hey, even Spike doesn't claim to have the answers.

The "debate" has never stopped, except for those that are not part of it...Then an incident happens, and they awaken and join for a brief moment. Then they go back to sleep. That's why progress is slow among other things. But to your previous post and point, there has been tremendous progress IMHO. Like I said, because of the inundation of mass media 24/7, it seems like it's actually worse when it really isn't.

[urbo73]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Having compared the Criterion and the UHD I see a hell of a lot of the same differences I see all the time between SDR and HDR, even on contemporaneous-ish grades. The UHD tones down the classic SDR yellow tint (and I don't mean "classic" w/ref to DTRT but to SDR in general) but has richer, warmer skin tones and in this case that conveys the heat in its own way.

I have no idea what yellow tint you are talking about on SDR. SDR BT.709 works the same across all devices that are calibrated for it. HDR is another story, as I've explained before - you never know what you're gonna get! It's like back to NTSC in terms of same colors across devices. I don't doubt what you see, but it's not what I'm seeing.