4k UHD Blu-ray recommendations

Caquas · 16-10-2021 1:06pm

I never thought I would go for 4k discs but I’m changing my mind because I am very disappointed with the range of 4k films available on Netflix and Prime.

Netflix or Amazon productions are in UHD/4k but the vast bulk of feature films on these services are only available in HD in Ireland (UK has much more 4k movies on these services, I don’t know why). Same with sound which is generally Dolby Plus. Apple+ is better for 4k but I don’t want to add a third monthly bill for a couple of shows I might like.

I suspect there are legal/marketing reasons behind this limit on 4k movie streaming in the Irish market. Do others have the same experience with Netflix & Prime?

Snake Plisken · 16-10-2021 3:16pm

Yes outside of their own produced content which is normally 4K there is very few Movies on their services in 4K

I do buy lots of movies from Apple when they go on sale for as low as 3.99 and built up a collection of those. I will buy physical copies of movies I love, so I will pick up The Thing on 4K Disc before the end of the year.

Caquas · 16-10-2021 7:19pm

I tend to rent 4k movies from iTunes and only buy if I’m very enthusiastic or the whole family want to watch (usually at different times). Even then, 4k is sometimes limited in Ireland. I’m disappointed to see e.g. that Minari is only available as HD and only to buy at €11.99 in Ireland. I have good broadband but I think UHD discs may be better than 4k streaming, especially the audio.

I still don’t understand why we in Ireland are short-changed on 4k by streaming services e.g. Netflix and Prime. Why do we only get HD movies when the UK gets them in 4k e.g. the Joker, Jerry Maguire? I assume this is a legal issue but who decides that the Irish should go to the back of the queue?

El Duda · 19-10-2021 5:22pm

Watched The Thing in 4K the other night. I can confirm it is a very good update. The Zavvi steelbook is a thing of beauty.

I also have Clockwork Orange, Beetlejuice and The Guest lined up to watch soon.

Caquas · 25-10-2021 9:04am

Rented Black Hawk Down from iTunes - 4k is spectacular but no Atmos. I think my Fire TV 4k has a problem with Atmos, despite its specs. Pity, because the sound track is excellent and Atmos was made for those helicopters. The range and depth of colour in HDR is as important as the extra detail in 4K (everyone is covered in sweat all the time!).

The film itself is like an old-fashioned Western where the Indians are slaughtered but we are supposed to care only about the white people. I doubt if Hollywood will ever again make a movie like this. I wondered what its sales were like in Africa?

Sorry about Atmos but glad I didn’t lash out 20 quid on a UHD disc because it feels like US military propaganda so one viewing was enough.

Snake Plisken · 25-10-2021 8:02pm

Just a heads up, you can set up a Turkish Itunes account and with Turkish Itunes gift cards you can buy 4K movies extremely cheap only downside no extras. Some examples

Tenet 4K Dolby Vision €1.71

Alien 4K HDR €0.54 cents

The Thing 4K

Scream 4K €1.04

Matrix Trilogy 4K Dolby Vision and Atmos €3.59

Borne and Jurrasic World 5 movies €4.49

All harry potter and Fantastic beast movies (10 movie set) 8.98

So some fantastic prices can be had.

howamidifferent · 21-12-2021 4:42pm

Hi all,

Any update on where to gte reasonably priced 4k Blurays? I've looked at amazon.fr , .it and .es and dont see much value.

The White Wolf · 21-12-2021 5:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118356922#Comment_118356922

Zavvi might be the job. They do deals, 3 for the price of 2 and that type.

howamidifferent · 21-12-2021 5:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118357038#Comment_118357038

Do they sort out the customs etc like amaxon.co.uk do? Or would I be hit with additional charges?

The White Wolf · 21-12-2021 5:21pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118357054#Comment_118357054

I don't think there are additional charges bar shipping.

dublinman1990 · 21-12-2021 8:58pm

Robocop is going to be released on 4K Blu-ray on Arrow Video in March 2022 along with An American Werewolf in London & Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

https://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=29817

I already have 4k remaster of Robocop on 1080p Blu-ray from Arrow Video on my shelf. I haven't had time to watch it yet. However; The reviews on that version have remarked that the picture transfer in it is outstanding.

As soon as the 4K version of this film gets released with HDR from March. The picture quality on it could become bloody jaw droppingly good once it's out on sale.

dublinman1990 · 16-08-2022 2:53am

I just read in the last few weeks that Watership Down is getting a 4K Blu-ray release from the BFI in late October. I think this could be the very first time that a title like this one is officially coming out on this format for the UK & Ireland market this year.

Pre-orders are up on Zavvi for the past few days. The price on there is for about €36 which includes the Blu-ray copy as well.

https://www.zavvi.ie/4k/watership-down-4k-ultra-hd-includes-blu-ray/13935714.html

The release date is October 24th.

dublinman1990 · 04-10-2022 2:31am

WAYNE'S WORLD! WAYNE'S WORLD!

IT'S PARTY TIME AND IT'S EXCELLENT!!!!

Wayne's World is coming out on 4K UHD Blu-ray in the UK and Ireland later this year.

The release date is November 14th.

https://www.filmstories.co.uk/news/waynes-world-is-coming-to-4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray-disc-in-the-uk/

dublinman1990 · 04-04-2023 12:30am

Arrow Video is a releasing a 4K Blu-Ray edition of The Lighthouse starring Robert Pattinson.

They are also going to release the following titles in 4K UHD Blu-ray

Waterworld with Kevin Costner

Blackhat starring Chris Hemsworth

Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas

Naked Lunch

Pre-orders are up now if you want to get them.

quazzy · 01-09-2024 5:15pm

Thought I'd bump this thread and ask where ppl buy their physical media.

I'm getting my first 4k BR player and just wanted to know where to look for 4k movies and if there is any decent bargain value sites to look out for.

Also, any recommendations for first few 4k discs to start the collection?

Snake Plisken · 01-09-2024 6:04pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122571123#Comment_122571123

If the deal is still going you can pick up 2 for €25 4K in Golden Discs, also look for deals on Amazon not just UK check Spain Italy Germany France, keep an eye on hotukdeals site for some bargains as well

Arthur Fent · 01-09-2024 6:31pm

As above, 2 for €25 in Golden Discs, 2 for €35 in Tower. Especially if you're only starting. I get most of mine from Amazon these days. Their new release prices can be a fair bit cheaper then the shops over here. IFI shop is very good as well.

jh79 · 01-09-2024 7:33pm

Worth remembering that 4k discs are not region locked so Amazon.com is another option.

The White Wolf · 01-09-2024 8:05pm

Bram Stoker's Dracula is still my number 1 to date.

Snake Plisken · 01-09-2024 10:12pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122571749#Comment_122571749

True but a lot of the extras are normally on the standard Blu-ray that is packaged in with the 4K disc and they are normally region locked

Snake Plisken · 01-09-2024 10:31pm

Movies i would recommend are any of the Nolan movies look great older films like 2001, Alien, Blade Runner and Jaws look fantastic.

One to avoid is Terminator 2 Jim Cameron removed all the grain and it looks horrific

Rule of thumb is I try and upgrade my favourite movies as long as there are some decent reviews about the transfer.

quazzy · 01-09-2024 11:24pm

Thanks for all the replies.

I wouldn't have thought about golden discs to be honest. Nice extra option to have.

Snake Plisken · 02-09-2024 12:42am

Looking at golden discs they have some great titles as part of that deal like Dune and The Batman plus most of the titles I listed. I've read Goodfellas isn't a very good transfer so stick with your standard Blu-ray.

What player are you picking up?

One thing I've learned from experience is that they are hyper sensitive to fingerprints and smudges and you can get glitches on the picture particularly around the layer change.

johnny_ultimate · 02-09-2024 1:00am

The problem with Golden Discs is the selection tends to be extremely limited to the most mainstream studio releases and basic discs. Good value for some titles, just not much selection or much (if anything) from the boutique labels where the most interesting releases tend to come from.

Tower Records in Dublin tends to have a much better variety of titles if sometimes fairly expensive for particular releases, or the IFI bookshop is often good for a browse (though limited 4K selection in the latter). They’d have good selections from the likes of Criterion, Arrow and other smaller labels. But Amazon or, increasingly and preferably, straight from the label is often a good bet. There’s some decent smaller online speciality stores too, but for much more specific titles (like Terracotta for Asian film releases). Though I think standard Blu-Ray remains more than sufficient for most titles, especially when the extra cost can be so high.

Flinty997 · 02-09-2024 9:07am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122571123#Comment_122571123

Amazon, golden discs and tower records.

I upgraded to a 4k player mostly as my old Blu-ray player was struggling with some newer titles and was slow in general. So I thought a 4k player would be better player for HD discs.

I was never trying to build up a physical media collection, so I really only buy bluray disc of favourite movies of mine or the family that aren't available streaming or in decent quality. Sound seems better on 4k discs. Though I don't have a sound system..

Thus far I've only got Blade Runner, Dune 1 & 2, Red October, Solo and "the Fog". But obviously I've seen 4k content from streaming.

I still think HD Blu-ray's are great value, so I still pick them up. There is a massive difference between HD and anything below that. But between HD and 4k there is a smaller difference. But you'll often find more love has been put into a 4k of an older release.

Probably the new Dune movies are a standout in 4k for me.

one armed dwarf · 02-09-2024 10:55am

Yeah I mainly buy regular blu ray but it's also hard to see where for instance a 4k upgrade can benefit a B&W film which I've loads of. They can do higher contrast via HDR and sometimes get better detail but a lot of the time the regular blu is fine, I think that's why BFI just put out the new Ikiru 4k restoration on a blu.

Specifically WRT 4K, I really liked how The Red Shoes looked. Paths of Glory came out from Eureka a while back and that's a B&W film that I thought looked great in 4k.

For more modern stuff, I was really impressed recently by Into the Spiderverse. I'm not a Marvel head at all but I think it's one of the most stunning CG films I've seen and the HDR in particular is not to be missed.

My 4K UHD of Taxi Driver arrived today so I'll stick that on at some point, I hope it's a good effort. Sometimes with films from this era you get great upgrades like Alien (get this on 4K), othertimes you get the smeary vaseline fest like what Cameron does

Flinty997 · 02-09-2024 11:06am

The trailer for the Dambusters in 4k looked pretty good.

quazzy · 02-09-2024 2:01pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122572577#Comment_122572577

Picking up this:

https://www.richersounds.ie/p-203380-panasonic-dpub820-uhd-blu-ray-player.aspx

Snake Plisken · 02-09-2024 2:19pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122574241#Comment_122574241

Have that myself a great player, does a great job of upscaling standard Blu-ray's as well. I think it's worth paying the extra for the Supercare plan for piece of mind as some players have developed a fault with freezing, not saying it's going to happen with yours but worth speaking with the lads about the extended warranty

quazzy · 02-09-2024 2:32pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122574370#Comment_122574370

I think it's coming with a 6 year warranty. But maybe I should double check with RS. Thanks for the heads up.

Snake Plisken · 02-09-2024 3:41pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122574459#Comment_122574459

6 year plan only comes free for the TV's everything else you have to pay extra for this I think its £34.90. Also needs to be shipped back up to their stor as far as I know.

Acosta · 02-09-2024 8:26pm

Already been mentioned, but Back To The Future is the best 4k restoration I've watched. For a movie I've seen a million times, I really noticed the the difference. The sound is perfect.

dublinman1990 · 03-09-2024 1:43am

The NeverEnding Story is making it's debut on 4K UHD Blu-ray in Australia later this year. Imprint Pictures are releasing a 5 disc UHD Box-set of the film which includes the Theatrical cut of the film and a Extended Cut released in Germany. It will have a new 170 minute documentary about the film on a bonus disc. Australian Blu-rays have Region B codes on them. We use Region B for 1080p Blu-rays here in Europe. The trailer here below looks great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToUgsvlsemo

4k UHD Blu-ray recommendations

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