Rocky 4K UHD Boxed set - 2/28/23

[Nightman04]

Originally Posted by SpacemanDoug

if anyone else wants to participate in bombarding Warner with emails, contact whv@wb.com

I just emailed them, and I urge everyone else to do the same.

[PonyoBellanote]

Has anyone bothered to check if the stereo mixes for Rocky II-IV are also downmixes like the first one?

[stvn1974]

I don't get why studios half-assed these releases. They have to know that people who still love physical media know these films inside and out.

[Adam_ME]

Originally Posted by supes78

I hope WB doesn't do what they did with the Wonder Woman '77 Blu-ray set, where they issued corrected discs in later releases but never offered replacement discs for those who bought the original release.

WB did offer replacement discs for The Road Warrior. Although they took their sweet time shipping them out.

[meremortal]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

Has anyone bothered to check if the stereo mixes for Rocky II-IV are also downmixes like the first one?

Already mentioned it, but I wonder how common of a problem this is since probably very few would both know to check this and then take the time to do so. Multiple companies have been accused of doing downmixes and I'm not if they were accidental or not. Shout Factory, for example, include both a 2.0 and 5.1 track on almost all of their blus; it's part of their branding. So I wonder how often the
2.0 tracks are not genuine.

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

Has anyone bothered to check if the stereo mixes for Rocky II-IV are also downmixes like the first one?

It's harder to tell, since they were always in stereo. For all we know, they could be (and I actually suspect Rocky II is because the pitch issue affects both the 5.1 and 2.0). But also, the 5.1 tracks aren't particularly revisionist, and they don't seem to be missing anything (that I know of, but I could be wrong). So who knows?

Originally Posted by meremortal

Already mentioned it, but I wonder how common of a problem this is since probably very few would both know to check this and then take the time to do so. Multiple companies have been accused of doing downmixes and I'm not if they were accidental or not. Shout Factory, for example, include both a 2.0 and 5.1 track on almost all of their blus; it's part of their branding. So I wonder how often the
2.0 tracks are not genuine.

I imagine it happens much more often than we know, even going back to the early DVD days. Shout has gotten much better in recent years on the audio front; they usually at least make the attempt to include the original audio tracks (or at least something closely resembling them).

[PonyoBellanote]

Originally Posted by BNex99

It's harder to tell, since they were always in stereo. For all we know, they could be (and I actually suspect Rocky II is because the pitch issue affects both the 5.1 and 2.0). But also, the 5.1 tracks aren't particularly revisionist, and they don't seem to be missing anything (that I know of, but I could be wrong). So who knows?

The fact that you said the pitch problem exists in both tracks just tells me it's a downmix. I'd bet now every 2.0 is a downmix..

[BNex99]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

The fact that you said the pitch problem exists in both tracks just tells me it's a downmix. I'd bet now every 2.0 is a downmix..

A lot of them probably are. But then a lot of 5.1 "remixes" of older Dolby Stereo films are just the 4-track master reformatted, with the surround channel doubled up and the low-end filtered into the subwoofer. Depending on how carefully it was done, you might or might not lose some of the blend. But it's still essentially the original audio in a different container, and possibly with higher fidelity than would have been heard from the optical track on a print.

That's one reason I think a little nuance in this whole discussion of "original audio" can be beneficial. There are just some notorious cases of really goofed-up remixes that have put us on our guard, so-to-speak.

[Dreamliner330]

Review up.

[supersonic395]

Originally Posted by PonyoBellanote

The fact that you said the pitch problem exists in both tracks just tells me it's a downmix. I'd bet now every 2.0 is a downmix..

Rocky II is definitely not a downmix, it's different to the 5.1 and sounds like full channel Dolby surround

[jpilla415]

Originally Posted by Nightman04

I just emailed them, and I urge everyone else to do the same.

Email sent. What a joke.

[HDMan72]

Contemplating cancelling the steelbook of II or just let it go and hopefully we get replacement discs.

[meremortal]

Originally Posted by BNex99

I imagine it happens much more often than we know, even going back to the early DVD days. Shout has gotten much better in recent years on the audio front; they usually at least make the attempt to include the original audio tracks (or at least something closely resembling them).

Audio seems like the most vulnerable part of the process. I usually forget about it until it's brought up and probably 99.9% would never know if a mix were 'incorrect.' One of the things that kind of makes me nervous is the audio label Mobile Fidelity got in some hot water lately for apparently not having true analog masters for their vinyl releases going back several years. It took years for anyone to really notice and this was an audiophile crowd. These things pretty much just come down to trust. If there's a 1.0/2.0 track on a release, then we have to assume it's legit and not some lazy downmix or an uprez of lossy audio from a dvd or old broadcast master, etc.

[jpilla415]

Originally Posted by jpilla415

Email sent. What a joke.

They don't get it... not that I am surprised.

[zepol]

ROCKY 4KUHD COLLECTION HAS BIG PROBLEMS | ONE HANDED HANG OUT NIGHT 10 - YouTube

[stvn1974]

Looks like the clowns in the graphic design department for WB have now started doing the audio and video encodes.

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by jpilla415

They don't get it... not that I am surprised.

Yep, that says it all. They're awful. I got that same BS reply (gotta love the yelling at me as a customer coming to them with their defected product, "NO guarantees you will get the replacement...") with Poltergeist. However, I was able to exchange with Amazon.

[Nightman04]

Originally Posted by jpilla415

They don't get it... not that I am surprised.

Yup. Got that as well. I followed them up and called them out for not actually reading my email, then continued to list the problems with this release.

[andantelise]

Originally Posted by HeavyHitter

Yep, that says it all. They're awful. I got that same BS reply (gotta love the yelling at me as a customer coming to them with their defected product, "NO guarantees you will get the replacement...") with Poltergeist. However, I was able to exchange with Amazon.

Poltergeist's 2.0 track was a downmix?

[HeavyHitter]

Originally Posted by andantelise

Poltergeist's 2.0 track was a downmix?

My disc had a playback issue