Sleepy Hollow 4K UHD (1999)

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

This is what I was saying about the random DNR stick. Paramount are always doing this. You get a film that largely has good grain retention, but you get random shots where, for no clear reason, they've cranked the DNR right up. Their Trek TNG movies were the same. First contact looked great yet for no rhyme or reason you got some shots in Picard's ready room absolutely blasted even though there was no optical work or anything like that.

Even so, that shot still looks preferable in the 4K cap to my eyes. You can see the clumpy mushiness on the old disc that looks atrocious in motion.

I've actually noticed that Paramount elects DNR on shots that have large patches of light colors, like shots with a lot of blue sky (The Core 4K) or in this case the church background, I assume because grain is much more prominent on those large patches of light colors.

Based on the grain in the previous release, that also looks like it was DNR'd on the Blu using the method that causes the watercolor-looking grain as Beverly Hills Cop's first blu-ray release used.

[Kyle15]

Wowee that encode looks like complete garbage in some shots. What a mixed bag. It does look better than the Blu, but wow can Paramount please step it up? I knew To Catch a Thief was a bad sign of things to come.

[Mikezilla3k]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

Yikes.

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&...17014&i=15&l=0

Even with the DNR, the 4K still blows the old crusty Blu-Ray out of the water.

The man's outfit is just a black blob on the Blu-Ray where you can actually see it and his cape in the 4K: https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x...&l=1&i=15&go=1

[oddbox83]

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Even with the DNR, the 4K still blows the old crusty Blu-Ray out of the water.

The man's outfit is just a black blob on the Blu-Ray where you can actually see it and his cape in the 4K: https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x...&l=1&i=15&go=1

The door frame actually has a top as well.

Honestly, even with these random issues, I am so owning this. I like the movie but refused to buy the previous releases (MPEG2 or AVC, whatever variants) because they all shared the utter garbage old master. I saw it in motion in HD and that was enough, one of the worst HD transfers of a relatively recent movie I've seen.

Some shots on the new master with excessive DNR is nothing in comparison.

[oddbox83]

I do have a query though...

It's been ages since I saw the movie (for reasons I go into above), but is there any chance these softer caps may be part of shots with effects work, however small? That's still not an excuse to go overboard with the DNR (and other film transfers from this period from film with CG filmout shots don't and are all the better for it) but it would make more logical* sense than the randomness they appear to be from caps.

*'Cept as we know the studio that owns Star Trek isn't always as logical as one of said franchise's characters.

[GeoffOliver]

The 2007 Blu-ray looks like an old YouTube video compared to almost every shot. Huge upgrade, regardless of some questionable noise reduction.

[kevinquest]

Originally Posted by Mikezilla3k

Even with the DNR, the 4K still blows the old crusty Blu-Ray out of the water.

The man's outfit is just a black blob on the Blu-Ray where you can actually see it and his cape in the 4K: https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x...&l=1&i=15&go=1

But does it blow the Japanese release out of the water too ?

[Kyle15]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

I do have a query though...

It's been ages since I saw the movie (for reasons I go into above), but is there any chance these softer caps may be part of shots with effects work, however small? That's still not an excuse to go overboard with the DNR (and other film transfers from this period from film with CG filmout shots don't and are all the better for it) but it would make more logical* sense than the randomness they appear to be from caps.

*'Cept as we know the studio that owns Star Trek isn't always as logical as one of said franchise's characters.

A common thing is hitting optical effects shots with DNR to bring it in closer approximation to the rest of the film. They've done it to grainier darker shots too. What's bizarre to me is the shot of the guy at the door is not an optical shot. And it shouldn't have been particularly grainy. There's some shots with plenty of it on display that haven't been touched at all. It's wildly inconsistent and doesn't make much sense. I could see them pulling a Universal and hitting optical shots till smooth but there doesn't seem much rhyme or reason here. Nearly nuking them makes em stand-out more against the rest of the regularly rendered grain in any case!

They can also hit the master with DNR during the encode step to make it easier work which is sloppy business and that could be what happened here to an extent also.

[y2jman]

i'm little worry about this 4k guess have to wait see somebody does a review if its not good i'll just skip order princess bride 4k<=which i supposed its good am not sure as of yet

[Kyle15]

Originally Posted by kevinquest

But does it blow the Japanese release out of the water too ?

It's definitely better than the old Japanese Blu. I never liked that disc to be honest and never got the positive reception toward it. Literally the same master as the US disc but with extra digital garbage going on, in some cases it looks worse. It's not that hard to beat. Even with whatever's going on with the 4k it's a lot better.

[PeterTHX]

Isn't the Japanese Blu also 1080i and not 1080p?

[colormeandrew]

What a disaster to my tea and light refreshments.

[lgans316]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

This is what I was saying about the random DNR stick. Paramount are always doing this. You get a film that largely has good grain retention, but you get random shots where, for no clear reason, they've cranked the DNR right up. Their Trek TNG movies were the same. First contact looked great yet for no rhyme or reason you got some shots in Picard's ready room absolutely blasted even though there was no optical work or anything like that.

Even so, that shot still looks preferable in the 4K cap to my eyes. You can see the clumpy mushiness on the old disc that looks atrocious in motion.

If this looks bad then I expect a bit more uproar when Sweeney Todd is out on 4K physical

Having watched parts of the 4K DV stream it can look from sharp with nice layer of film grain and a bit soft possibly due to some grain management coupled with the stylised cinematography.

[PowellPressburger]

Sweeney Todd, when I saw it in theaters seemed like when they would do camera pans etc, the image seemed soft to me. I figured it was from the live action composited with CGI intermixed. I bet the visual effects were at 2K

Be curious to see on 4K disc how it comes out.

[emmet otter]

Ordered the steel. Gotta have it for the upcoming fall season

[Count Orlok]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

I do have a query though...

It's been ages since I saw the movie (for reasons I go into above), but is there any chance these softer caps may be part of shots with effects work, however small? That's still not an excuse to go overboard with the DNR (and other film transfers from this period from film with CG filmout shots don't and are all the better for it) but it would make more logical* sense than the randomness they appear to be from caps.

*'Cept as we know the studio that owns Star Trek isn't always as logical as one of said franchise's characters.

I'm not quite sure, but I noticed that the Horseman's CGI collar stands out more now in the 4K version than it did in the older master. It just looks off. A lot of the CGI doesn't blend very well with the practical effects in this movie.

[that1guystudios]

Originally Posted by Kyle15

A common thing is hitting optical effects shots with DNR to bring it in closer approximation to the rest of the film. They've done it to grainier darker shots too. What's bizarre to me is the shot of the guy at the door is not an optical shot. And it shouldn't have been particularly grainy. There's some shots with plenty of it on display that haven't been touched at all. It's wildly inconsistent and doesn't make much sense. I could see them pulling a Universal and hitting optical shots till smooth but there doesn't seem much rhyme or reason here. Nearly nuking them makes em stand-out more against the rest of the regularly rendered grain in any case!

They can also hit the master with DNR during the encode step to make it easier work which is sloppy business and that could be what happened here to an extent also.

A lot of the modern noise reduction and restoration programs used in current 4K workflows will take into account the amount of motion within a shot and can apply more reduction to a static shot, and less to a moving shot. May be the reason for this.

[Filmmaker]

Me sitting back thinking of all the times someone in this thread insisted on trying to school me that this would be a Best Buy exclusive as my Bull Moose shipping notification drops into my inbox…

[Trekkie313]

That shot with the flowers is a downgrade in color and sharpness. Funny how the windmill explosion is a lot more orange now though. Can anyone confirm if those scenes were punchier than the rest of the film in theaters?

[PowellPressburger]

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

Me sitting back thinking of all the times someone in this thread insisted on trying to school me that this would be a Best Buy exclusive as my Bull Moose shipping notification drops into my inbox…