Dressed to Kill (1980) 4K - Capelight

[nicwood]

Announced by Capelight for 2024 as a Mediabook release.

[Fjodor2000]

For all the Capelite 4K BD threads you posted recently in this forum section, based on past track record, is the video stream expected to be the same as on the existing Kino Lorber releases of the same movies?

If not, is the Kino or Capelite usually better?

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by Fjodor2000

For all the Capelite 4K BD threads you posted recently in this forum section, based on past track record, is the video stream expected to be the same as on the existing Kino Lorber releases of the same movies?

If not, is the Kino or Capelite usually better?

I wish I could say for certain if it’s literally with every MGM-Kino title they released but most of the time, Capelight’s quality was clearly inferior to the Kino UHDs when comparing the encodes. They added fake HDR grades to SDR masters such as The Apartment and The Great Escape and made them look considerably worse as a result - also, compression left much to be desired. This is the short answer. They released some great looking 4K’s of shot-on-film films, such as The Lover and A River Runs Through It but these are the exceptions to the rule.

But I’ve got good news in the end. Their most recent MGM UHD is absolutely fantastic. It’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers. They changed authoring houses to a vastly superior one (LSP Medien - they also do excellent restorations) and thus achieved the currently best version - at least until the Arrow one releases. I don’t even see Arrow gaining anything that isn’t on the LSP encode.

If LSP continue to encode their UHDs, I’ll be more than happy to support them again.

[barrett75]

the other wonderful aspect of this news is that if all those MGM title are landing in EU it's almost certain we're going to see them by Arrow too.

[CouncilSpectre]

Originally Posted by barrett75

the other wonderful aspect of this news is that if all those MGM title are landing in EU it's almost certain we're going to see them by Arrow too.

More likely to be ported by Altitude I'd have thought, like BLOODSPORT and THE MISFITS....

[nicwood]

Dressed to Kill will be released as a Mediabook next week if you buy it from Capelight directly - the wide release date is February next year.

Today only for 30€, otherwise it'll surely go up to 35€: https://shop.capelight.de/detail/ind...2/sCategory/76

Below a translation of what's on there:

3-Disc Limited Collectors Edition in the Mediabook with the film on UHD Blu-ray and Blu-ray, a bonus Blu-ray and a 24-page booklet - Bonus: Strictly Business - Interview with Nancy Allen, Symphony of Fear - Interview with producer George Litto, An appreciation of Keith Gordon, US cinema trailer, German original cinema trailer, German trailer (remastered) - Bonus Blu-ray:

Making-of, Comparison of the cut versions, The Mutilation of Dressed to Kill, Killer Frames - Interview with Fred C. Caruso, An Imitation of Life - Interview with Keith Gordon, Dressed in White - Interview with Angie Dickinson, Dressed in Purple - Interview with Nancy Allen, Lessons in Filmmaking - Interview with Keith Gordon

Language/sound: German PCM 2.0, English PCM 2.0, German DTS-HD MA 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Image format: 2.35:1 (4K, Dolby Vision, HDR10), 2.35:1 (1080p)
Subtitles: German
Running time: 105 minutes


If Capelight's description is correct, their release ports over most of the Kino extras apart from the audio commentary and the archival audio interviews.

[blackprojection]

[nicwood]

Got my German UHD Mediabook today from Capelight and obviously hoped for the best in terms of encoding.

Unfortunately after their last two strong MB’s (Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Ronin), they’ve now delivered something lesser. In fact, I believe that they ported over Kino’s encode instead of doing their own. The blocking patterns on the Capelight are practically identical (the one shot of Angie Dickinson approaching the desk with the lamp on), as are the bitrates. I compared them back and forth.

LSP’s tight and crisp grain can’t be found here (and would have unveiled another layer of detail despite the soft look of the film).

I’ll sell my MB again as soon as I can and sincerely hope for an Arrow UK edition. This is definitely possible as this MB (unlike Ronin) is only Germany-friendly with no English subtitles or menus. Bloodsport & The Misfits also had dual menus. I take this as very good news that the rights are indeed with the right label. This film begs for a FiM encode.

And if Capelight are reading this: Please hire LSP again and stick with them indefinitely instead of either porting over mediocre foreign encodes or hiring subpar authoring houses. You’ll surely find it very valuable to improve upon foreign editions as we’re more likely to buy your editions when that’s the case.

[Stream]

@nicwood: thank you for this precious (and precise) feedback!

[MarkGubarenko]

Originally Posted by nicwood

Got my German UHD Mediabook today from Capelight and obviously hoped for the best in terms of encoding.

Unfortunately after their last two strong MB’s (Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Ronin), they’ve now delivered something lesser. In fact, I believe that they ported over Kino’s encode instead of doing their own. The blocking patterns on the Capelight are practically identical (the one shot of Angie Dickinson approaching the desk with the lamp on), as are the bitrates. I compared them back and forth.

LSP’s tight and crisp grain can’t be found here (and would have unveiled another layer of detail despite the soft look of the film).

I’ll sell my MB again as soon as I can and sincerely hope for an Arrow UK edition. This is definitely possible as this MB (unlike Ronin) is only Germany-friendly with no English subtitles or menus. Bloodsport & The Misfits also had dual menus. I take this as very good news that the rights are indeed with the right label. This film begs for a FiM encode.

And if Capelight are reading this: Please hire LSP again and stick with them indefinitely instead of either porting over mediocre foreign encodes or hiring subpar authoring houses. You’ll surely find it very valuable to improve upon foreign editions as we’re more likely to buy your editions when that’s the case.

maybe LSP is economically reasonable for them when they can sell more copies / uk+germany?

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by MarkGubarenko

maybe LSP is economically reasonable for them when they can sell more copies / uk+germany?

I'm not sure - they used them for their German-only Invasion of the Body Snatchers UHD, although when looking at it now it could have been due to Kino's horrendous encode. Ronin didn't call for a new encode either - this is actually one of Kino's best but Dressed to Kill certainly did in my opinion.
I wish I knew the reasoning but we can't do anything regardless. The inconsistency is sad.

Re. LSP's fees. Maybe they have increased but even some of the smallest of German labels regularly partner with them for encodes. I believe Subkultur, Wicked Vision and another very small label called Lisa Film which focus on neglected German genre films from the 70s / 80s. I just browsed on their website recently and nearly their entire Blu-ray catalogue seems to be encoded by LSP. Carlotta France also started using them for their UHDs not long ago. They've really cemented a reputation as a European version of FiM by now.

[Stream]

Originally Posted by nicwood

Ronin didn't call for a new encode either - this is actually one of Kino's best.

Still, the Capelight release looks better in several ways to you - if I got it right...

Originally Posted by nicwood

They've really cemented a reputation as a European version of FiM by now.

A good thing that's for sure. But in FiM we trust, all others we (for now) audit

[nicwood]

Originally Posted by Stream

Still, the Capelight release looks better in several ways to you - if I got it right...


A good thing that's for sure. But in FiM we trust, all others we (for now) audit

Absolutely - I’m very happy with LSP having done a new encode. The improvements are immediately palpable for me (less drastic for others) and I appreciate that.

By now, if labels mention that LSP worked on a particular release I’m interested in I rarely think twice.