The Fifth Element 4K UHD (1997) (20th Anniversary Edition)

[Fat Phil]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yeah. I've done my own share of whining on that issue to be fair, but if it suits the content (unlike them yellow peas in the old BD of Apocalypse Now! ) then I'm down with it.

Sure, there's gonna be plenty of occasions when complaining about colours is warranted - we've seen some wrong'uns in our time .

It's more that automatic fear people have of any presentation that looks slightly different that i'm railing against. And it's not just joe public either. How many times have we seen studios and labels change more stylised presentations and lean into the more 'natural' look? Like how those early releases of John Carpenter's Vampires ended up without the prominent red, or the warmth of Dennis Hopper's The Hot Spot, which I was talking about in the Kino thread the other day. The DP Ueli Steiger was complaining about how all the extreme colour was timed out on the blu-ray release - even going so far as to say the VHS, while having its own problems (e.g. aspect ratio) was in fact the more accurate presentation colour-wise

[panasonicst60]

Where can I find this new SC 4k version in the US for the best price?

[Vangeli]

Wow that looks amazing.

[Mierzwiak]

Just finished watching my SC disc.

Gorgeous colors and grain, even most VFX shots look surprisingly good, although there are few ugly, weirdly low-res shots early in the movie when Cornelius speaks to the President.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Mierzwiak

Just finished watching my SC disc.

Gorgeous colors and grain, even most VFX shots look surprisingly good, although there are few ugly, weirdly low-res shots early in the movie when Cornelius speaks to the President.

That whole bit where he talks to the Prez is a dupe, feck knows why.

[AaronMK]

Who is David M?

[Filmmaker]

Originally Posted by AaronMK

Who is David M?

No less than the absolute best video disc compressionist in the world.

[Pyoko]

I like the improved look of the SC. Not as harsh/sharpened, finer grain, with less dull/dirty color grade. Will definitely pick it up.

[Dubstar]

Originally Posted by Filmmaker

No less than the absolute best video disc compressionist in the world.

his name should be along side: Grover Crisp and Lee Kline

[Bar81]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

You're looking at SDR converted screen caps, the sheer vibrancy of the SC transfer when viewed in actual HDR is largely negated here. The SC does however have that yellower tinge to skin tones but the Sony still looks duller and darker in comparison when viewed in HDR.

The Sony also looks grittier too because of the sharpening, it's not classic high frequency edge ringing but more like an unsharp mask that offsets contrasting edges and leaves a thin black outline behind. If that's your idea of "improving things" (it reminds me a lot of what Universal did to the Blu of Back to the Future) then you can keep it.

This movie was never meant to look grim and gritty but bright and bouncy, the SC grade restores this look and also makes it look like film negative again rather than some weird sharpened intermediate.

I'll take a look, thanks; I now have the SC disc.

[Geoff D]

Originally Posted by Bar81

I'll take a look, thanks; I now have the SC disc.

Just see what you think of it in motion mit HDR, if you still hate it then that's entirely fair enough.

[Hedrox]

I still wonder why no extras are included with the SC release, when the previous UK edition had them(although admittedly it was not from SC).
Their recent 4K release of Leon carries over everything from the previous editions with the added bonus of the isolated score.
Maybe David M. can shed some light on the extras being MIA.

[JimDiGriz]

Originally Posted by AaronMK

Who is David M?

Definitely not Charlie ****ing M.

[Optimus]

Ordered my copy

[notops]

Originally Posted by JimDiGriz

Definitely not Charlie ****ing M.

Charlie M? Charlie M?! You make me pop your ****ing eye out of your head to protect that piece of shit??

[Bar81]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Just see what you think of it in motion mit HDR, if you still hate it then that's entirely fair enough.

So I've gone through the first part of the movie up until the badaboom taxi scene. Fyi, I'm much more of an audio guy than video.

SC
The copious amounts of grain tell me this hasn't been messed with so likely represents how it looked in the theater.
In motion, the picture doesn't look soft; rather, very film like.
I'm still not on board with the coloring but it looks ok as long as you're not comparing to the Sony disc and colors do pop.
Audio track seems to have been transferred flat and sounds very natural.

Sony
I don't really have any issues with the cleanup and sharpening; Sony doesn't go overboard - the picture still looks good but does lose that film quality.
I prefer the darker more natural Sony colors.
The audio track has been treble boosted to give the appearance of enhanced detail. Like the video change, Sony hasn't gone overboard and has exercised restraint.

Ultimately, the SC is the superior disc if you want it as the director intended, but contrary to the hyperbole in this thread, Sony's tweaks were implemented with restraint and the Sony disc still looks and sounds excellent. I can live with either.

[Noremac Mij]

Sony hasn’t gone overboard here?

[Hardback247]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

I still wonder why no extras are included with the SC release, when the previous UK edition had them(although admittedly it was not from SC).
Their recent 4K release of Leon carries over everything from the previous editions with the added bonus of the isolated score.
Maybe David M. can shed some light on the extras being MIA.

In terms of extras, I have the Sony Blu-Ray and the Universum Blu-Ray from Germany.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by Hardback247

In terms of extras, I have the Sony Blu-Ray and the Universum Blu-Ray from Germany.

Yeah, I'll probably get the newer Universum BD as well for the extras, as it seems to have the majority of them and usually goes for pretty cheap.

[panasonicst60]

Anyone order the studiocanal recently from Amazon UK and got a slipcover?