Young Sherlock Holmes (1985)

[romuald121]

I wouldn't tout it as good.I would say if you bought it on amazon.com (streaming version) you don't need to upgrade to bluray yet. The release is tainted with color smearing when characters move anytime in the movie just like the streaming version. Compression is very bad suffers same problem as the amazon prime video. Unless, you are interested in having a load of subs and audios which paramount put plenty on this disc and a nice looking steelbook (the only standout in this release) , no need to upgrade at all

To add, slight action in the movie is a nightmare, smearing gets out of control and I was watching where the dog is running after the capped villain and the dog's shadow has macro blocking. Some portions of that 'bluray' has it worse than some DVDs that I have watched recently.

[MagellanvsHimself]

Originally Posted by Dan_Shane

You are exaggerating.

YSH on Blu is no masterpiece, but "travesty" is not the right word. The Olive release of THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL is a travesty -- honestly unwatchable. My 4K projector produced a perfectly pleasant YSH image on my 120" screen.

I had to turn off THT on my 65" TV before the intermission; I don't think any studio could produce a worse Blu-ray experience if they tried. It went straight into the rubbish bin -- I couldn't bring myself to trade it in for someone else to buy.

YSH will see many repeat viewings, and a newer release would have to be substantially better in terms of PQ or extras to get me to repurchase. I am mostly happy with the one we got, and the old DVD is being recycled.

Not exaggerating. Its a garbage transfer. I don't understand the want to be complacent with something that's barely passable. Young Sherlock Holmes is an excellent film and deserves better treatment than this.

[Blades1370]

Originally Posted by Dan_Shane

You are exaggerating.

YSH on Blu is no masterpiece, but "travesty" is not the right word. The Olive release of THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL is a travesty -- honestly unwatchable. My 4K projector produced a perfectly pleasant YSH image on my 120" screen.

I had to turn off THT on my 65" TV before the intermission; I don't think any studio could produce a worse Blu-ray experience if they tried. It went straight into the rubbish bin -- I couldn't bring myself to trade it in for someone else to buy..

I see your THT and raise you Moontrap, coincidentally enough, also released by Olive Films.

I have an old VHS rip of the film that looks 10 times better, sadly it's only 4:3 ratio, but still a huge improvement over the Blu-ray in every way.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by MagellanvsHimself

Not exaggerating. Its a garbage transfer. I don't understand the want to be complacent with something that's barely passable. Young Sherlock Holmes is an excellent film and deserves better treatment than this.

You are exaggerating. It's not demo material, but it's not horrible. Yes, the film deserves better, but this release is easily watchable until something better comes along.

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by Blades1370

I see your THT and raise you Moontrap, coincidentally enough, also released by Olive Films.

I have an old VHS rip of the film that looks 10 times better, sadly it's only 4:3 ratio, but still a huge improvement over the Blu-ray in every way.

Agreed! OMG, now Moontrap was one of the worst Blu-ray transfers I've ever seen. DNR'ed beyond all reason + fake grain added. Blurry beyond words.

Put the Young Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray against that POS to see what a truly terrible Blu-ray transfer looks like.

[Blades1370]

Originally Posted by Katatonia

Agreed! OMG, now Moontrap was one of the worst Blu-ray transfers I've ever seen. DNR'ed beyond all reason + fake grain added. Blurry beyond words.

Put the Young Sherlock Holmes Blu-ray against that POS to see what a truly terrible Blu-ray transfer looks like.

It's sad when Predator UHE was considered by far one of the worse transfers ever....yet...

Moontrap comes along.... hold my beer

[Latheofheaven]

Originally Posted by Blades1370

It's sad when Predator UHE was considered by far one of the worse transfers ever....yet...

Moontrap comes along.... hold my beer

It's interesting that you guys mention 'MOONTRAP' I actually have the original commercial VHS. Many years ago I did a transfer to DVD. I should get that out and compare it to the Olive version, that would be fun

[Blades1370]

Originally Posted by Latheofheaven

It's interesting that you guys mention 'MOONTRAP' I actually have the original commercial VHS. Many years ago I did a transfer to DVD. I should get that out and compare it to the Olive version, that would be fun

After purchasing the Blu-ray, watching it once, I immediately found that VHS rip and downloaded it, traded the Blu-ray about a week later.

Zero regrets, it is the ONLY Blu-ray in 13 years of buying Blu/4K that I have ever purged in my collection.

[Katatonia]

Originally Posted by Blades1370

After purchasing the Blu-ray, watching it once, I immediately found that VHS rip and downloaded it, traded the Blu-ray about a week later.

Zero regrets, it is the ONLY Blu-ray in 13 years of buying Blu/4K that I have ever purged in my collection.

Technically it wasn't even Olive's fault, they just used what was given to them by the licensor. The problem was the transfer was done by Oliver Krekel, who is notorious for DNR'ing films beyond recognition. The German Blu-ray is exactly the same source, but has better black levels and reduced macro-blocking, and no fake digital grain added. Either release is still terrible however.

Hopefully a better release comes out someday.

[Blades1370]

Originally Posted by Katatonia

Technically it wasn't even Olive's fault, they just used what was given to them by the licensor. The problem was the transfer was done by Oliver Krekel, who is notorious for DNR'ing films beyond recognition. The German Blu-ray is exactly the same source, but has better black levels and reduced macro-blocking, and no fake digital grain added. Either release is still terrible however.

Hopefully a better release comes out someday.

I remember him quite well, arguing on the forums, "that's what films are supposed to look like"

Ummm... what dude?

Pretty sure he was banned a long, long time ago

[Edward Kenway]

Comparison between Spanish Bootleg BD and Paramount official BD. It seems to be a bit cropped:

https://imgsli.com/MTU0ODM0

[Lil Steevy]

The cropping looks aliigned slightly lower but it doesn't seem like there is anything missing to me. Is there something specific in that frame we should be looking for?

[Latheofheaven]

Originally Posted by Lil Steevy

The cropping looks aliigned slightly lower but it doesn't seem like there is anything missing to me. Is there something specific in that frame we should be looking for?

Boobies...?

[C.C. Baxter]

Seems to me that we have been drifting away over the last posts, hope you won't mind my steering back towards the topic of this thread, which is YSH for those of you who have lost the plot, but I can't blame you.
Proudly returning this piece of crap back to the sender based on the poor rating by the Home Theater Forum reviewer, who calls it "a major disappointment" and "one of the worst-looking catalog releases on Blu-ray by a major studio in some time". Would have liked to read a BR.com review but none of our official reviewers seem keen to indulge. Paramount don't think that you can fool people by just wrapping up crap in EUR 20 steelbooks. Criterion delivers very good products for the same price tag and very seldom disappoint their customers. Shame on you Paramount!

[Lil Steevy]

Originally Posted by C.C. Baxter

Seems to me that we have been drifting away over the last posts, hope you won't mind my steering back towards the topic of this thread, which is YSH for those of you who have lost the plot, but I can't blame you.
Proudly returning this piece of crap back to the sender based on the poor rating by the Home Theater Forum reviewer, who calls it "a major disappointment" and "one of the worst-looking catalog releases on Blu-ray by a major studio in some time". Would have liked to read a BR.com review but none of our official reviewers seem keen to indulge. Paramount don't think that you can fool people by just wrapping up crap in EUR 20 steelbooks. Criterion delivers very good products for the same price tag and very seldom disappoint their customers. Shame on you Paramount!

Yes it's not perfect picture, and even not great, but it's good and a perfectly fine disc version of the existing master. No one seems to mention that the audio is excellent. Whether it's worth the monetary price for value is up to you. The steelbook itself is deluxe, but it's just a case. There seem to be a lot people here that value the package but I'm not one of them. I don't want to be an apologist for subpar releases but its roughly the same price as a digital purchase and you get it on disc. Personally I'd like a full on remastered special edition, but until that happens this is a realistic release, albeit one that should have happened 10-15 years ago.

[Jbux]

Made the mistake of pre-ordering from Zavvi, it arrived 10 days late. Would have been cheaper and quicker to order from Amazon. I want to support independent companies but what’s the point with service like this?

What a beautiful steelbook, but what’s inside? A complete turd of a disc. I should have just held on to my iTunes copy because this is just a slightly higher bitrate version of that dreadful master. Soft, flat, bland and full of dirt and blocky encoding.

After decades of this classic being neglected on HD, Paramount finally get around to it, bother to make a nice steelbook, and then serve up this slop. Are they trolling us? Are they trying to hasten the death of physical media?

Again, I’m trying to support a company for doing the right thing and they just spit in your face. Do better.

[Matt89]

Yeah this disc is not perfectly fine lol. It looks like absolute shit.

This transfer is a total mess and the film should've received a new scan.

Bought the steelbook, skimmed through the disc and immediately sent it back to Amazon for a refund. One of Paramount's worst discs as of late, and that's certainly saying something.

[WaverBoy]

Except it’s still better than the DVD, so it’ll do until a proper remaster comes along. It’s no Predator UHE at least.

[Torgon]

Reviews aren’t great, but is it worth the $14 price? Debating to grab it or wait longer.

[mike drumm]

Originally Posted by Jbux

Made the mistake of pre-ordering from Zavvi, it arrived 10 days late. Would have been cheaper and quicker to order from Amazon. I want to support independent companies but what’s the point with service like this?

What a beautiful steelbook, but what’s inside? A complete turd of a disc. I should have just held on to my iTunes copy because this is just a slightly higher bitrate version of that dreadful master. Soft, flat, bland and full of dirt and blocky encoding.

After decades of this classic being neglected on HD, Paramount finally get around to it, bother to make a nice steelbook, and then serve up this slop. Are they trolling us? Are they trying to hasten the death of physical media?

Again, I’m trying to support a company for doing the right thing and they just spit in your face. Do better.

Some interesting takes, but aren't we almost always dancing with the devil when it comes to these companies? I've never heard of anyone calling Zavvi an independent company, so I wonder what that means to you. They're owned by The Hut Group, whose 2021 revenue was £2.18B. They're not selling movies out of the goodness of their heart.