Chinatown 4K UHD (1974) (50th Anniversary Edition)

[MovieBuff647]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

The 4K disc has all the extras, the BD is barebones on the UK (and any non-US release).

It's weird that Paramount is only including The Two Jakes on the US release, because the EU BD is completely worthless.

Unless it is a remastered 2K disc, it could be the same Blu used in the HMV set, which was not barebones.

[MovieBuff647]

Originally Posted by Katatonia

It will most likely just be the older disc. Judging by the back cover specs, they look identical to the older Blu-ray. Paramount (same as Warner) doesn't seem to include updated Blu-rays in many of their 4K Combos... they could always surprise us, but I doubt it.

THE MAN WHO SHOT LIBERTY VALANCE and TERMS OF ENDEARMENT both included updated 2K discs, so I would not rule it out just yet.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by MovieBuff647

Unless it is a remastered 2K disc, it could be the same Blu used in the HMV set, which was not barebones.

Paramount don't usually remaster the BD. I wasn't aware the HMV release used the US disc instead of the EU one, but it would still be redundant when all the extras are included on the 4K and the old 1080p master is very dated.

[StingingVelvet]

Presuming it's the same old BD, the number of people who both need that disc and care about that disc has to be infinitesimally small. I can't imagine it's a factor. If it's a new master and some people want it for whatever reason then okay, but the old disc? Irrelevant IMO.

[MovieBuff647]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

Paramount don't usually remaster the BD. I wasn't aware the HMV release used the US disc instead of the EU one, but it would still be redundant when all the extras are included on the 4K and the old 1080p master is very dated.

You might be correct about them reusing that disc, but it's worth nothing that both of the two Paramount Presents releases mentioned above had remastered 2K discs. Might be different in the UK though.

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

Presuming it's the same old BD, the number of people who both need that disc and care about that disc has to be infinitesimally small. I can't imagine it's a factor. If it's a new master and some people want it for whatever reason then okay, but the old disc? Irrelevant IMO.

I don't own it on physical media at all yet because I was waiting for a new restoration, and though it may be that the 2K disc included in the UK set is an older one, I would much rather get that set with CHINATOWN on both discs with a bunch of other goodies than have to buy a 4K CHINATOWN + 2K TWIN JAKES, and then buy CHINATOWN again in 2K (and outdated) separately.

[Ben_C]

Originally Posted by KingBoo

Is there any guarantee that there’ll be a standard edition without all the, for want of a better word, tat? I just want a disc in a case, not all this added junk for an extra £10 stuck on the price tag.

Hope so. I do like special editions, but lots of these recent UK special editions, collector’s editions, call them what you will, are really anything but. The extra contents, much like that of the recently announced Italian Job set, are just a load of utterly pointless crap, and hardly the type of stuff I would class as special. 40 quid for that? No thanks, that set should be £25.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by MovieBuff647

I don't own it on physical media at all yet because I was waiting for a new restoration, and though it may be that the 2K disc included in the UK set is an older one, I would much rather get that set with CHINATOWN on both discs with a bunch of other goodies than have to buy a 4K CHINATOWN + 2K TWIN JAKES, and then buy CHINATOWN again in 2K separately.

If it's the old disc and you're not collecting 4ks though then you could literally get it for $3 somewhere.

[Hedrox]

Originally Posted by MovieBuff647

You might be correct about them reusing that disc, but it's worth nothing that both of the two Paramount Presents releases mentioned above had remastered 2K discs. Might be different in the UK though.

Those had new BDs because Paramount didn't want to include the extras on the 4K, so they issued new 1080p discs with the carryover and new extras. With Chinatown it's very obvious from the US listing that the extras will be on the 4k, so there's no point in doing a new BD.

[MovieBuff647]

Originally Posted by Hedrox

Those had new BDs because Paramount didn't want to include the extras on the 4K, so they issued new 1080p discs with the carryover and new extras. With Chinatown it's very obvious from the US listing that the extras will be on the 4k, so there's no point in doing a new BD.

Makes sense, I suppose. Still frustrating to just reuse the old one regardless.

Originally Posted by StingingVelvet

If it's the old disc and you're not collecting 4ks though then you could literally get it for $3 somewhere.

I'm future-proofing on 4K a bit and this is definitely one I'd want to own, assuming it's a good restoration. Plus, the UK packaging and bells & whistles are appealing.

[The Sovereign]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

UK Back cover

I like that they provided all three versions of Jake's nose.

[SpacemanDoug]

Originally Posted by kristoffer

Restored mono only on the BD?!

Look more closely at the 4K specs, you can see an English option next to the other foreign mono options, however it seems like the audio got downgraded from lossless to lossy, since shockingly the old US BD had the mono encoded as True HD 2.0 (and it looks like it's gonna be the exact same disk here), while the specs on the 4K cover look like they made it a plain old DD 2.0 track, very likely the same mastering too

I'm honestly just happy it's gonna be included at all

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by SpacemanDoug

Look more closely at the 4K specs, you can see an English option next to the other foreign mono options, however it seems like the audio got downgraded from lossless to lossy, since shockingly the old US BD had the mono encoded as True HD 2.0 (and it looks like it's gonna be the exact same disk here), while the specs on the 4K cover look like they made it a plain old DD 2.0 track, very likely the same mastering too

I'm honestly just happy it's gonna be included at all

Right. The US BD was one of the rare major studio discs to include both a remix and the original audio in lossless quality. The original UK BD was the one sold in Europe which--standard practice for Paramount--dropped all the extras, but also dropped the mono track entirely and included more European language options. Then, apparently, the UK Premium Collection edition used the US BD. According to the UK 4K UHD back cover, this US BD is the Blu-ray that will be included with the UK 4K UHD disc. Note the different language options:

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

UK Back cover

[Show spoiler]

So the extras will be on both discs, with the exception of the one marked "NEW", which will be on the 4K UHD disc only. Unfortunately, it does look like the mono will only be in Dolby Digital 2.0 on the 4K UHD disc, something which is frankly absurd, but whatever.

In place of Chinatown on BD (perhaps because Paramount don't want the mono discrepancy highlighted), the US 4K UHD will provide The Two Jakes, likely just its existing BD which was barebones, so the UK edition is probably a better value, although I would prefer a standard UK edition for £23, which would be cheaper than the US edition at $40 or $35.

[nicwood]

I wonder if the mono track actually has audible information that reach beyond the range of what a lossy encode is capable of. (I’m no audio expert, I can’t remember the value right now). I remember this being the case with The Conformist as M A pointed out at the time. If this is the case here as well, I wouldn’t mourn the lossless configuration.

[tylergfoster]

Originally Posted by McCrutchy

So the extras will be on both discs, with the exception of the one marked "NEW", which will be on the 4K UHD disc only.

This doesn't make any sense because per the press release there are three new extras: the labeled "State of Mind," but also "Chinatown Memories" and "The Trilogy That Never Was."

[McCrutchy]

Originally Posted by tylergfoster

This doesn't make any sense because per the press release there are three new extras: the labeled "State of Mind," but also "Chinatown Memories" and "The Trilogy That Never Was."

Maybe so. These two are not indicated as new on the UK back cover, but do not appear to be on the US Blu-ray, so perhaps Paramount UK screwed up the cover.

[Cat Tomato]

Originally Posted by Katatonia

The price on the UK release isn't too bad, so I may just get it instead of the US release.

Really? 40 quid without The Two Jakes and some tat? I’m not letting Paramount think that’s ok by giving them my money. Greedy sods!

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by Cat Tomato

Really? 40 quid without The Two Jakes and some tat? I’m not letting Paramount think that’s ok by giving them my money. Greedy sods!

I don't really need The Two Jakes though, and it's not like it's all that much more $ than the US release.

[kristoffer]

Originally Posted by SpacemanDoug

Look more closely at the 4K specs, you can see an English option next to the other foreign mono options, however it seems like the audio got downgraded from lossless to lossy, since shockingly the old US BD had the mono encoded as True HD 2.0 (and it looks like it's gonna be the exact same disk here), while the specs on the 4K cover look like they made it a plain old DD 2.0 track, very likely the same mastering too

I'm honestly just happy it's gonna be included at all

Well, that is disappointing.

[Geoff D]

Yes, but betterer than no mono at all (providing it is the OG track and not a downmix).

[SpacemanDoug]

Originally Posted by Geoff D

Yes, but betterer than no mono at all (providing it is the OG track and not a downmix).

Fortunately Paramount's native releases that do include the original mixes have been legit from what I've seen

They're not like Kino with their downmix fetish