Halloween II & III Steelbooks - NEW 4K TRANSFERS

[Donl1282]

Originally Posted by CQD84

Ugh. I really want that Halloween II steelbook. But if I get that one, I'll have to get all of the Scream Factory steelbooks. Can't just have one.

Not for me. Just getting my favorite horror films in steelbook so i’ll Get Halloween 2 and 3 and if they release steelbook versions with 4K transfer of Psycho 2-4 and Poltergeist 2-3 I’ll double dip on these as well. Everything else in terms of steelbook with 4K I can live without.

[Jay Mammoth]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

The region free status of UHD probably makes most of the big studios hesitant about licensing. It’s also apparently very expensive to release UHDs - especially for the smaller labels.

That’s what I thought.

[jmat91]

shut up and take my money!!

The old blu rays never looked up to par, old dvd masters.

[DJR662]

I was just thinking of finally picking up Halloween II and here comes a new transfer. Nice!

[mar3o]

The current Shout release of Halloween II botched some of the extras - the alternate end scene and deleted scenes are in the wrong aspect ratio. They are pillarboxed, but not correctly, so the image is stretched horizontally. They also play a bit stuttery - the motion seems off, as well as having horrible compression artifacts.

The German blu-ray gave the TV version of Halloween II it's own blu-ray alongside Terror in the Aisles, so the TV version is given a much stronger bitrate and looks much better. The extras are also in the correct aspect ratio.

It would be nice if Shout bothered to fix these issues for this new release.

It would also be nice if Shout laid off the DNR this time. The DNR in their previous Halloween II release removed details throughout the film, which can be seen in some of the comparison caps on caps-a-holic (like random bits of flame being removed).

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by mar3o

The current Shout release of Halloween II botched some of the extras - the alternate end scene and deleted scenes are in the wrong aspect ratio. They are pillarboxed, but not correctly, so the image is stretched horizontally. They also play a bit stuttery - the motion seems off, as well as having horrible compression artifacts.

The German blu-ray gave the TV version of Halloween II it's own blu-ray alongside Terror in the Aisles, so the TV version is given a much stronger bitrate and looks much better. The extras are also in the correct aspect ratio.

It would be nice if Shout bothered to fix these issues for this new release.

It would also be nice if Shout laid off the DNR this time. The DNR in their previous Halloween II release removed details throughout the film, which can be seen in some of the comparison caps on caps-a-holic (like random bits of flame being removed).

It would also be nice if they included a corrected stereo track. The one on their current release folded down the stereo track into mono. The UNIVERSAL release has the correct stereo track (though lossy).

[FelixFlankin]

Count me among the ones unsure about these. I might preorder once Amazon puts them up, but these transfers would need to be incredible.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by jmat91

shut up and take my money!!

The old blu rays never looked up to par, old dvd masters.

Yep, that HALLOWEEN II transfer has been kicking around since 2001. I know some people are disappointed that these will apparently not be negative scans, but a brand new 4K IP scan is going to be a huge improvement over a 18 year old telecine.

[legendAA93]

I'm not a big steelbook collector and don't really care for the other Shout steelbooks. But damn do these two look great, May have to actually get these for the artwork to display. The new transfers are just a nice bonus.

[TitusTroy]

is this going to be available for purchase on Amazon, Best Buy etc?...

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

It would also be nice if they included a corrected stereo track. The one on their current release folded down the stereo track into mono. The UNIVERSAL release has the correct stereo track (though lossy).

Absolutely. I forgot about that. That's a big one.

Between these issues on the previous release, the fact that there are no new extras, and that we don't know the source they're using for the scan, all makes me want to sit back and see some screenshots and reviews before grabbing this one.

[mar3o]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

Yep, that HALLOWEEN II transfer has been kicking around since 2001. I know some people are disappointed that these will apparently not be negative scans, but a brand new 4K IP scan is going to be a huge improvement over a 18 year old telecine.

I'm hoping they stay far away from the DNR knob this time. I hate when companies do a 4k scan then apply DNR. You're right though - it is a pretty old master so this should be an improvement even if it's not the OCN, which it should be since it's available.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by mar3o

I'm hoping they stay far away from the DNR knob this time.

Let's hope.

[brettxwt]

Talk about unnecessary. I can't imagine these looking better than the Unviversal releases, so the only reason to get these for some might be the steelbook. This just like a quick cash grab and laziness, considering there's already the Universal releases for II and III, the initial individual Shout! releases for those films, and then the boxset, do we really need a fourth release of these films on blu-ray? Besides, a 2K scan of an OCN will most always look better than the best 4K scan of an IP, and you can't even get 4K detail out of an IP scan like JohnCarpenterFan said. Don't set your expectations too high, because more than likely SF! will probably scrub the shit out of it like they did with their releases of HII and III.

[Jay Mammoth]

Sure it will look even better than their original Blurays.
Preordered.

[DR Herbert West]

Originally Posted by brettxwt

Talk about unnecessary. I can't imagine these looking better than the Unviversal releases, so the only reason to get these for some might be the steelbook. This just like a quick cash grab and laziness, considering there's already the Universal releases for II and III, the initial individual Shout! releases for those films, and then the boxset, do we really need a fourth release of these films on blu-ray? Besides, a 2K scan of an OCN will most always look better than the best 4K scan of an IP, and you can't even get 4K detail out of an IP scan like JohnCarpenterFan said. Don't set your expectations too high, because more than likely SF! will probably scrub the shit out of it like they did with their releases of HII and III.

As I said earlier in the thread, the current HALLOWEEN II transfer was made around 2001. A brand new 4K IP scan is going to be a nice improvement over a 18 year old telecine.

[Kubrick0730]

Originally Posted by DetroitSportsFan

The region free status of UHD probably makes most of the big studios hesitant about licensing. It’s also apparently very expensive to release UHDs - especially for the smaller labels.

It has to be the licencing because shout already puts out 4K mostly nature and docs

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Dream...lu-ray/200812/

[brettxwt]

Originally Posted by DR Herbert West

As I said earlier in the thread, the current HALLOWEEN II transfer was made around 2001. A brand new 4K IP scan is going to be a nice improvement over a 18 year old telecine.

Yeah, but is the current transfer even the same master that was created for the DVD back in 2001? If so, it still looks really good for an 18 year old master.

[Justin33]

Originally Posted by Matt89

I mean it’s great that they’re getting new 4K restorations but isn’t anyone else kinda p*ssed that they pull this sh*t? Like why couldn’t they have done these restorations for the Halloween box set? I bought the titles individually, then sold them when they released the box set, now they come out AGAIN as steel books but now everyone who bought the box set has inferior masters.

It’s grrat that they’re restoring these movies, just the triple dipping on these titles at this point is a bit ridiculous.

~Matt

Totally agree

[GasmaskAvenger]

Oh what the hell!

Unlike Lifeforce, i'm all for upgrading these two (though Halloween II would be a TRIPLE dip as I own both the original Scream Factory release via the Complete Collection LE set AND the Universal standalone release). This also means I have no need to pick up the standalone Universal release of Halloween III (unless something gets screwed up royally along the way).