The African Queen 4K UHD (1951)

[PonyoBellanote]

Oh god it's drenched in piss and snot again.

[kmhofmann]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

Oh god it's drenched in piss and snot again.

No, it looks beautifully graded, like print film.

[PonyoBellanote]

Originally Posted by kmhofmann

No, it looks beautifully graded, like print film.

Like a faded worn out print, you mean?

Yeah, no. Don't tell me movies are meant to look yellow and sickly green.

[kmhofmann]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

Like a faded worn out print, you mean?

Yeah, no. Don't tell me movies are meant to look yellow and sickly green.

No, like a restored film print. It does not look sickly yellow and green.

You seem to be taking ancient DVD/home video release transfers as a false reference that should NOT serve as reference whatsoever.

[PonyoBellanote]

Originally Posted by kmhofmann

No, like a restored film print. It does not look sickly yellow and green.

You seem to be taking ancient DVD/home video release transfers as a false reference that should NOT serve as reference whatsoever.

And you seem to be taking ancient, worn out 35mm prints as a false reference of what a 4K remaster should look like. Not like this, I guarantee you. Of course if you have 35mm prints as reference you're gonna think sickly colours as what all movies should look like. Negative and film prints are entirely different things..

[Driver78]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

Like a faded worn out print, you mean?

Yeah, no. Don't tell me movies are meant to look yellow and sickly green.

People insisting that film restorations should look exactly like they remember seeing them in a theater 35 years prior, regardless of the condition of the print or the projectionist's abilities, is so 21st century. What if they went to a second run grindhouse?

[moviemaker]

Originally Posted by kmhofmann

No, it looks beautifully graded, like print film.

Yes. It’s always had this warm, slightly yellowish hue to it. Not my personal preference but I imagine the filmmakers wanted to invoke the idea of a hot tropical jungle safari. So if it’s true to the filmmakers vision than so be it. Fantastic film regardless.

[Deadend45]

Thank goodness I have the Paramount BD, looks like Ritrovata (or one of its subsidiary) has ruined another UHD.

Originally Posted by kmhofmann

No, it looks beautifully graded, like print film.

Lol! Yeah that it is indeed the standard nonsense posted every time Ritrovata wrecks the color grading including films I saw back in the 80s and 90s that in no way look like the butchery Ritrovata did.

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by Deadend45

Thank goodness I have the Paramount BD, looks like Ritrovata (or one of its subsidiary) has ruined another UHD.

Ritrovata had nothing to do with this UHD. This is the exact same restoration you have on your Paramount BD. SC only ported it to 4K and added a HDR grade. Also, the master’s colors were timed to match Jack Cardiff’s exact specifications.

[Alfred E. Neumann]

Originally Posted by nicwood

Ritrovata had nothing to do with this UHD. This is the exact same restoration you have on your Paramount BD. SC only ported it to 4K and added a HDR grade. Also, the master’s colors were timed to match Jack Cardiff’s exact specifications.

The cinematography (+ color grading) looks identical to Cardiff‘s “Rambo - First Blood: Part II“ (1985).
The jungle shots are so similar, it’s almost impossible to tell them apart.

[PonyoBellanote]

So maybe it's intentional for this movie, then. No idea.

[DAT_JB]

[moviemaker]

Originally Posted by DAT_JB

I think the Art Haus Blu-ray is playable on a Region A Panny 820 using the Top Menu trick. Can anyone confirm this?
I know the Blu-ray of their other titles work this way.

That's one reason I was leaning away from the UK version. I can survive not having "The" in the title.

[moviemaker]

Originally Posted by moviemaker

I think the Art Haus Blu-ray is playable on a Region A Panny 820 using the Top Menu trick. Can anyone confirm this?
I know the Blu-ray of their other titles work this way.

That's one reason I was leaning away from the UK version. I can survive not having "The" in the title.

Scratch that. Hearing reports that the German edition has been edited for "political correctness". Here is what I found translated from German:

"Visually speaking, the 4K disc is very well done. Unfortunately, Studiocanal was of the opinion that they had to tweak the original German synchro for reasons of political correctness. Let me give you a brief example: From about minute 17:25, the original dubbing, which can be heard on the old Blu-ray from Eurovideo, for example:

“When I drove away the other day, I heard the Negroes drumming in the jungle. Soon after, my boys started whining and rolling their eyes. I asked her what that meant. They said that the drums were reporting that the Germans were carrying out a punitive expedition because the Negroes had raided one of their camps in the area, and when I came to Limbasi, everything had burned down. When my boys saw this, they disappeared in a flash. The misfortune is that the natives don't even know who they should fight for or against.”

In the version here with a noticeably different voice actor, this resulted in:

“As I drove away the other day, I heard drums in the jungle from all directions. Soon after, my boys started whining and rolling their eyes. I asked them what drumming meant. They then said that the Germans began to abduct their people and set fire to their huts so that they would have nothing to return to. Everything had also burned down at home in Limbasi. When my boys saw this, they disappeared in a flash. The way I see it, the Germans want all of Africa. For this, they need soldiers and help the locals.”

The subsequent tampering with works of art for the sake of so-called wokeness is hair-raising nonsense. For this reason, unfortunately, an ambiguous publication."



Can anyone confirm this? And does this edit appear on all the various 4K UHD editions from different countries?

[BXR 1138]

Originally Posted by moviemaker

Can anyone confirm this? And does this edit appear on all the various 4K UHD editions from different countries?

That article is clearly referring to the German dub track, not the original audio. The original English dialogue is unaltered, and in that particular scene is different than either of the German dub translations. Not sure why you'd want the German edition anyway when the already released Studiocanal 4K is perfectly fine and not likely to be improved upon.

[MifuneFan]

Illustrations are okay, but the overall composiiton, and title design is just terrible. Not to mention that they ****ed up the title, since it's The African Queen.

[andreasy969]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Illustrations are okay, but the overall composiiton, and title design is just terrible. Not to mention that they ****ed up the title, since it's The African Queen.

"African Queen" is the (silly) German title, so that's on purpose in this case. (and other than the slip, a reason I went with the UK release)

[CelestialAgent]

Originally Posted by andreasy969

"African Queen" is the (silly) German title, so that's on purpose in this case. (and other than the slip, a reason I went with the UK release)

Not the only time the definitive article has been dropped for a German title

[Unbeliever63]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Not the only time the definitive article has been dropped for a German title

I think you meant the "definite" article.

[RossyG]

Originally Posted by CelestialAgent

Not the only time the definite article has been dropped for a German title

They can't pronounce it so it makes sense to drop it.