On Reddit we have r/dvdcollection, r/boutiquebluray, r/4kbluray, r/steelbook, r/vhs, etc but let's start simply with a community to cover all the forms of home video collecting.
So, do you feel nostalgic for a format? Are you looking forward to a release? Heard any exciting news? Want to show us your shelves? Then post away.
Elsewhere on the Fediverse:
Chat:
Rules:
Too much stuff
-2001 is absolutely stunning
-OG Alien
-Matrix Resurrections looks gorgeous and is an underrated masterpiece
-The Boy and The Heron and other Ghiblis
-Avatar 1 and 2
-Coraline and other stopmotion masterpieces
-The Lighthouse and some other infinite great B/W
I would recommend Wild Robot or Transformers One for more recent movies. In my opinion they look fantastic in 4k and are both great movies.
I would just add that if you feel inclined, always research what 4K you'd like to buy next by reading reviews and using sites like https://caps-a-holic.com/ to compare old blurays to the new 4K editions.
It's rare but just because it's a 4K release, that's not always a guarantee that it will be better. Some filmmakers like to use the opportunity to change the way the film looks entirely. Also, some filmmakers are using AI to improve the picture quality (cough! James Cameron) and it doesn't always come out the best. In other words, stay away from True Lies in 4K, it's awful.
If done properly, older films can look wonderful, such as Top Gun, Back to the Future, and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Yes, I own those. 😁
Thanks. That's solid advice. I did hear that about True Lies but mostly forgot about it as I didn't have a player at the time and it wouldn't be very high on my rewatch list.
I did find Aliens superb but it was my first run at 4k Blu-ray and I believe some folks weren't super happy with it but not at the True Lies level.
Aliens can be quite divisive. Some people like the very clean digital look but I prefer the Blu-ray release which has quite a lot of natural grain too it. But if you compare editions, you'll see that over the years, with each release, Cameron has changed the look of the film in regards to colours.
In an ideal world, studios, with directors assistance and approval, would scan the camera negative and leave it at that with no tinkering afterwards. 😄
In regards to Cameron's other films, they've all had various use of AI but Titanic and The Abyss come out really well and I believe The Terminator hasn't done too badly either.
The LOTR UHD release looks spectacular.
Not a movie, but BBC earth series (ie Blue Planet, Frozen Planet, etc) look amazing in 4K. You can see the scales on octopi and feel like you're underwater with the fish.
Oh that's a great one.
Mad Max Fury Road is the way to go.
Congrats! I'm in a similar position, recently acquiring a 4k player myself. I've been assembling discs as I've come across deals. Movies which I think really benefit from the 4k treatment include:
Lawrence of Arabia. Ideally, the first time anyone sees this movie would be on an IMAX screen. My first viewing was with 720p DVD rip watched on a cracked tablet screen, and it was STILL visually impressive. Watch it on a scale commensurate with the story itself, and it's quite possible some sequences will take your breath away.
The Magnificent Seven. Similar vein as Lawrence (sweeping widescreen shots of desert locales), but a little grimier. The whole image has this really lovely texture and vivaciousness to it. I particularly enjoy the latest releases new color grade, which lends further vitality to the picture, emphasizing the panoply of color in many scenes through increased saturation and dynamic range. It does not tread into cartoony, Technicolor excess though, instead feeling "just right" to my eyes. Like how I remembered the film looking, rather than how it actually appeared on my old DVD release of the movie. --> Addendum to the above, the Criterion release of Seven Samurai is also worth picking up. It a perfect example of how good an "old" black and white movie can look.
Blade Runner. It's a movie driven by vibe and aesthetic as much as plot, if not more, and the clarity of an HDR 4k picture enhances those features. Those aerial shots of LA, where you can see every little detail of the miniatures, down to each individual window of the Tyrell megastructure, are, again, breathtaking.
Alita: Battle Angel. A 21st century update of the cyberpunk aesthetic, but looked at through the maximalist lens of anime/manga, as opposed to the brooding noir tone of the Blade Runner. I don't know when the next time we're going to get Jim Cameron levels of production value in a cyberpunk setting any time in the near future, so I appreciate being able to pick out all the little details in the background of the frame, as well as the heightened impact of the crystal clear action sequences (thinking of the rollerball death match race sequence in particular).
Thanks! And congrats to you too. If you don't mind me asking, where did you get the deals?
I'm in Ireland and haven't seen much beyond Amazon yet and I feel like Bezos has enough money so I'd like to buy elsewhere, wallet allowing. :)
Browsing today I did see that they have a 3 for 40 pounds (just under 50 USD) deal on quite a few which is tempting.
I check blu-ray.com with some degree of frequency. I'm not sure how reputable they are as a review website, but they appear to fairly objective with their assessments of A/V presentation, citing metrics that sound legit to my otherwise clueless ass. I will say that, subjectively, I tend to agree with their assessments, so I think they're onto something.
Their "deals" section is pretty hit or miss, but they'll occasionally do news post if a particularly good sale is going on somewhere. Similarly, I keep tabs on Criterion to catch any discounts they throw down.
With that being said, the majority of my acquisitions have been from local book resellers, the occasional yard sale, and impromptu bargain bin dives while passing through a retailer. For example, my 4K steel book of Magnificent Seven was marked down to like $12 in a big tub of random DVDs and Blu-rays. I had to look up this particular release in the store (on blu-ray.com) just to be sure I wasn't getting scammed with an inferior cash grab transfer. I also picked up a similarly priced 4k steel book of The Lair of the White Wyrm, which was a total impulse buy on the basis of it being $12 and looking nutty as hell.
So, it's a lot of luck, and I only own a dozen or so 4k discs, despite having started obtaining them several years ago, well before owning the requisite playback equipment.
That is great information. Thank you.
I would also suggest finding boutique retailer you vibe with. The Criterion Collection is oft cited, but it's not the only game in town. I was looking at what was out there last year and these were a few of the retailers that stood out to me.
Kino Lorber: Similar to Criterion in its seniority (started in 77) and art house focus. However, it seems as though their collection has become fairly diverse over time. I saw a 4k of Ben Affleck's Reindeer Games listed next to a Blu-ray of an Italian film I'd never heard of from the 70s, so who knows what you might find.
Arrow Video: UK based company, seems to operate in the same sort of genre space as Shout Factory in the US, with an emphasis on premium box art and pack in bonuses like posters and other bits and bobs. Runs a 2 for $60 UHD Bundle promo pretty consistently on their website. Seems like it's 2 for £40 on the UK version of the site.
Indicator Films (I swear this used to be its own label, but it seems to have been purchased by an entity called Powerhouse Films Ltd.). Another UK based label, seems to have themes for its offerings. Currently, they categorize their catalog in to Film Noir, Hammer Films, Ray Harryhausem, Mexico, Ozploitation, and Jean Rollin. So, covering a lot of bases there lol.
Severin Films, Vinegar Syndrome, American Genre Film Archive, and many others, specialize in the sort of schlock that gave rise to the Video Nasties, a reference I make having never lived in the UK, nor been alive during the time period that term was originated, so forgive me if I'm off the mark on its usage lol. To greater or lesser degrees these focus on the typical genre trifecta of action-horror-sci fi, with some light toe dipping into erotica, which is something to be aware of if you do your Blu-ray shopping at work, like I tend to do lol. Some boutiques are on a strict "check from home" regimen lol.
John Wick 4 was absolutely stunning to watch on 4K Blu-ray
It's not out yet, but The Fall is a stunning movie that should look fantastic in 4k.
If you're a fan of animation and don't mind gore, Castlevania is available on Blu-ray. I just watched all 4 seasons. Some of those scenes are just incredible.
The Abrams Star Trek trilogy.
Saving Private Ryan
This I'm really considering. Thanks for the recommendation.