List of Paramount 4K UHDs with Superior International Alternatives

[barrett75]

mean girls is certainly an A-Team joint so it's same disc worldwide. The Crow is from Miramax Team, so it's another story. Primal is a B-Team in US from the reviews i spotted around... i bought the italian disc some days ago but didn't have the time to watch it. i'm trying it today. the presence of metadata could be revealing.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

With Primal Fear Paramount's disc is US only and (I'm assuming) Plaion handled the EU disc. If that was a thing going forward, you'd think Mean Girls and The Crow would follow the same pattern, but apparently not.

These things are decided months in advance, so *if* Paramount are divesting their US and EU authoring then it won't fully show for a while. But again, Plaion are just releasing the Italian version and these new discs aren't just for Italy, so we don't know who's actually authoring them. Be nice to know who tho so I could give them a fookin medal!

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

These things are decided months in advance, so *if* Paramount are divesting their US and EU authoring then it won't fully show for a while. But again, Plaion are just releasing the Italian version and these new discs aren't just for Italy, so we don't know who's actually authoring them. Be nice to know who tho so I could give them a fookin medal!

Could be Paramount's EU branch, if one still exists, otherwise it's either Plaion or Divisa (Spain's distributor), they're the only ones that share all these new encodes.

The funny thing is this isn't something new, they've been doing different encodes for Paramount releases as far back as 2021 when that remastered Transpotting BD came out.

[bebbsie23]

Originally Posted by lgans316

I also have Primal Fear in the basket as it showed Plaion pictures. The only thing that is nagging me in the Italian title but how dare I complain about a Italian release with a Italian title.

I have the Primal Fear UK version. It has English, German, French, Italian and Japanese audio+subs. It also has metadata (A-Team encode???), One would presume the Italian disc is the same.

Just watched first 15 minutes and it seems decent enough so far. It has a similarly bland colour palette to The Firm and few out of focus shots, so it'll be interesting to see how the encode holds up. It's seems more stable than the U.S. edition of The Firm and to my eyes looks generally better than the U.K. edition of Flashdance. It does freak me out a little every time I press the "Playback Info" button and see the bitrate hovering abound the 30's lol, but I've not seen anything too offensive yet. Will watch it fully tomorrow night and leave a review in the appropriate thread.

[barrett75]

Originally Posted by bebbsie23

I have the Primal Fear UK version. It has English, German, French, Italian and Japanese audio+subs. It also has metadata (A-Team encode???), One would presume the Italian disc is the same.

yeah i just checked. metadata are indeed present but it looks like the usual s***ty encode with paramount madness bitrate from 10 to 90mbps. some blocky skies and highlights here and there. and a definitely "too managed" transfer for my taste. curious to know if the US disc carries metadata too. as there isn't any scandi language we can presume plaion is not involved with the encoding of the "new wave". i guess the finl proof will be with the upcoming The Core, in italy by Eagle with his own encoding. if the Scandi discs will have the new "enhanced" econding then we'll know something more.

[bebbsie23]

Originally Posted by barrett75

yeah i just checked. metadata are indeed present but it looks like the usual s***ty encode with paramount madness bitrate from 10 to 90mbps. some blocky skies and highlights here and there. and a definitely "too managed" transfer for my taste. curious to know if the US disc carries metadata too. as there isn't any scandi language we can presume plaion is not involved with the encoding of the "new wave". i guess the finl proof will be with the upcoming The Core, in italy by Eagle with his own encoding. if the Scandi discs will have the new "enhanced" econding then we'll know something more.

Are you watching in Dolby Vision?

[barrett75]

Originally Posted by bebbsie23

Are you watching in Dolby Vision?

i am. but that doesn't save it to be the usual paramount crap.

[bebbsie23]

Originally Posted by barrett75

i am. but that doesn't save it to be the usual paramount crap.

I was just curious because it didn't seem horrendous in the 15 minutes I watched. It's bland and not exactly bursting with clarity but I think I was expecting much worse. I should probably brace myself for what's to come hahaha. This Paramount lottery is exhausting sometimes.

[Ben_R]

A nice find!

Are these going to be Italy specific through Plaion or Europe wide on all Paramount titles?

[Ben_UK]

Can anyone yet confirm if Truman Show ITA looks better than the US disc?

[bebbsie23]

Originally Posted by Ben_R

A nice find!

Are these going to be Italy specific through Plaion or Europe wide on all Paramount titles?

I don't think there is enough evidence to draw any specific conclusion yet.

I think Forrest Gump summed it up the best... "Paramount is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

[Ben_UK]

What about Mean Girls?

[bebbsie23]

Originally Posted by Ben_UK

What about Mean Girls?

I have the U.S. edition of Mean Girls (I assume you are talking about the original because the new version is not worthy of a physical release lol). Picture quality was very good and appears to be an A-Team encode (including metadata). The U.S. disc includes audio/subs for all territories including Scandanavia, so there would seem very little chance of an alternative version.

[Ben_UK]

Originally Posted by bebbsie23

I have the U.S. edition of Mean Girls (I assume you are talking about the original because the new version is not worthy of a physical release lol). Picture quality was very good and appears to be an A-Team encode (including metadata). The U.S. disc includes audio/subs for all territories including Scandanavia, so there would seem very little chance of an alternative version.

Yea I have the UK version which I imagine is the same as the US, it’s pretty decent, however is the Italian one better is the question on everyone’s lips?! 😀

[bebbsie23]

Originally Posted by Ben_UK

Yea I have the UK version which I imagine is the same as the US, it’s pretty decent, however is the Italian one better is the question on everyone’s lips?! 😀

Why would it be better? Surely the Italian version is likely to be exactly the same as the US/UK disc, since it is already produced with Italian audio/subs and was released at the same time?

[Ben_UK]

Originally Posted by bebbsie23

Why would it be better? Surely the Italian version is likely to be exactly the same as the US/UK disc, since it is already produced with Italian audio/subs and was released at the same time?

Ahh yes, maybe you are right on that. My excitement is quelled.

[Geoff D]

Heh. Turns out I never opened my UK steelbook of Flashdance so I might as well flog it along with BHC, Vanilla Sky and The Firm. Won't buy the Italian one just yet tho for the same reason as with The Firm: I'm not made of money. When they get to <€20 is when I'll bite.

[Captain Paranoia]

A couple of additions to this list:

Apocalypse Now
US (Final Cut) - HEVC 49676 kbps HDR10/HEVC 7577 kbps Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 6330 kbps 24-bit, English subs
US (Theatrical Version) - HEVC 39120 kbps HDR10/HEVC 5621 kbps Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 6344 kbps 24-bit, English subs
IT (Theatrical Version) - HEVC 64381 kbps HDR10/HEVC 13944 kbps Dolby Vision, DTS-HD MA 5.1 4696 kbps 24-bit, no English subs

Drive
US - N/A
DE - HEVC 57980 kbps HDR10/HEVC 14539 kbps Dolby Vision, DTS-HD MA 5.1 3663 kbps 24-bit, English subs
FR - HEVC 80063 kbps HDR10/HEVC 8931 kbps Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 4158 kbps 24-bit, no English subs
UK - HEVC 54454 kbps HDR10/HEVC 9609 kbps Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1 3703 kbps 16-bit / DTS-HD MA 5.1 3192 kbps 24-bit, English subs

In the Mood for Love
US - HEVC 72439 kbps, CN DTS-HD MA 5.1 3681 kbps 24-bit, English subs
DE - HEVC 70407 kbps, CN DTS-HD MA 5.1 2017 kbps 16-bit, no English subs
FR - HEVC 73690 kbps, CN Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 4122 kbps 16-bit / CN DTS-HD MA 2.0 1624 kbps 24-bit, no English subs

Parasite
US - HEVC 57394 kbps, KO Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 4022 kbps 24-bit, English subs
DE - HEVC 58469 kbps, KO Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 4686 kbps 24-bit, no English subs
FR - HEVC 78673 kbps, KO Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 4678 kbps 24-bit / KO DTS 2.0 768 kbps, no English subs - Best PQ
KO - HEVC 76786 kbps HDR10 / HEVC 6264 kbps Dolby Vision, KO Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 5125 kbps 24-bit, English subs

Seventh Seal, The
US UHD - HEVC 81246 kbps, SE LPCM 1.0 1152 kbps 24-bit / EN DD 1.0 192 kbps, English subs
UK UHD - HEVC 79628 kbps HDR10 / HEVC 64 kbps Dolby Vision, SE LPCM 1.0 1152 kbps 24-bit, English subs

[HD_Tech]

The new version of „The Core“ is also available in spain:
https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-C...lu-ray/361247/

[HD Goofnut]

Originally Posted by Captain Paranoia

A couple of additions to this list:

Apocalypse Now
US (Final Cut) - HEVC 49676 kbps HDR10/HEVC 7577 kbps Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 6330 kbps 24-bit, English subs
US (Theatrical Version) - HEVC 39120 kbps HDR10/HEVC 5621 kbps Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 6344 kbps 24-bit, English subs
IT (Theatrical Version) - HEVC 64381 kbps HDR10/HEVC 13944 kbps Dolby Vision, DTS-HD MA 5.1 4696 kbps 24-bit, no English subs

Drive
US - N/A
DE - HEVC 57980 kbps HDR10/HEVC 14539 kbps Dolby Vision, DTS-HD MA 5.1 3663 kbps 24-bit, English subs
FR - HEVC 80063 kbps HDR10/HEVC 8931 kbps Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 4158 kbps 24-bit, no English subs
UK - HEVC 54454 kbps HDR10/HEVC 9609 kbps Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos/Dolby TrueHD 7.1 3703 kbps 16-bit / DTS-HD MA 5.1 3192 kbps 24-bit, English subs

In the Mood for Love
US - HEVC 72439 kbps, CN DTS-HD MA 5.1 3681 kbps 24-bit, English subs
DE - HEVC 70407 kbps, CN DTS-HD MA 5.1 2017 kbps 16-bit, no English subs
FR - HEVC 73690 kbps, CN Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 4122 kbps 16-bit / CN DTS-HD MA 2.0 1624 kbps 24-bit, no English subs

Parasite
US - HEVC 57394 kbps, KO Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 4022 kbps 24-bit, English subs
DE - HEVC 58469 kbps, KO Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 4686 kbps 24-bit, no English subs
FR - HEVC 78673 kbps, KO Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 4678 kbps 24-bit / KO DTS 2.0 768 kbps, no English subs - Best PQ
KO - HEVC 76786 kbps HDR10 / HEVC 6264 kbps Dolby Vision, KO Dolby Atmos/TrueHD 7.1 5125 kbps 24-bit, English subs

Seventh Seal, The
US UHD - HEVC 81246 kbps, SE LPCM 1.0 1152 kbps 24-bit / EN DD 1.0 192 kbps, English subs
UK UHD - HEVC 79628 kbps HDR10 / HEVC 64 kbps Dolby Vision, SE LPCM 1.0 1152 kbps 24-bit, English subs

Is it confirmed that the KO UHD has the best PQ of Parasite?