Perfect timing. I just bought an OLED TV because your channel revitalised my interest in film. My next purchase was going to be a 4K Blu-ray player, so I'm very pleased to see this list, thank you.
@@mikefisher2673 There's nothing like being able to go to look at a film collection on your own shelves Mike. There is always something to watch and you don't have to mess around with a computer or a smart TV to find it - just pick the disc out and stick it in the player. I hope you get back into it and it gives you many years of enjoyment. John.
@@moviecollector5920 so true, went from dvd to blu ray was a whole new experience. Watching the Pacific on my system years ago on 5.1, compared to the horrible TV sound made appreciate movies again. Following your show and others listening which disc have the better standards is really helpful.
I find I'm enjoying films more and more as the years go on Matt. I suppose we're able to have bigger home collections for far less money now and that's probably why. John.
I’d say Leon is one of the best looking 4ks I’ve seen. The street scenes look incredible. So much detail and colour is fantastic. It’s like a visual time capsule of what a part of New York looked like in the mid 90s.
I haven't seen it on 4K disc Ultrawide but it should look good as it was 35mm. That does mean it won't be as good as the 70mm releases though but maybe someone needs to compare it against the 4K of Jaws to see if it's knocked it off the top spot! John.
@@colinbooth531 I think the 5.6K transfer of Jaws may be a part of the reason why it turned out so well. 4K never did seem to be quite enough for full frame 35mm negative stock given that the estimate of what was required per frame in the 1990s was 90mb. Try projecting that sort of data size uncompressed. No chance! John.
@@moviecollector5920 I'm streaming through net but I would have to research what's top DVD 4k player and the other important thing of having a genuine 4k leader to connect the player to the tv.
@@deputyvanhalen6386 Poundland used to sell HDMI leads that handled 4K and yes, they were £1 each. In terms of best 4K players many commenters on this channel have cited the top of the line Panasonic's because they have programmable HDR output and that has turned out to be an important factor because some 4K HDR mastering has not been entirely consistent. Most Panasonic models have basic HDR tuning but the top models are the ones to look at to ensure you can get the best out of the discs. John.
You are an exemplar of dedication to a favorite craft, an encyclopedia of cinematography! ) The way you explain all the intricate details is very captivating and interesting! It makes me want to major in this art/engineering! Thank you kindly! Wonderful video!
Thanks Dmitri. Hope you and the family are doing well over there. By the way, I didn't realize I was going into detail - I just sat down, looked at the first film in the pile and thought "What am i going to say about this one?" Then it all just seemed to flow out. John.
Disc rot used to concern me when it came to CDs. I probably have around 500, and have only had a very occasional one which wouldn't play at all. Usually it is damage to the disc that allows the reflective part to start oxidizing. I think there are anti-oxidizing elements these days, but a scratched disc is a scratched disc. It used to worry me a lot, but why waste any sleep over it? Great reviews, many thanks!
A few faulty discs isn't the end of the world Lee but it is a little annoying when you're enjoying a film and the damned this locks up. My theory (which may be complete tosh) is that the reflective layer has been faulty from manufacture and the heat from the laser has finished off the faulty sections leading to image break up and lock up. The data the laser is trying to read on a 4K must be so tiny that any problem is exacerbated unlike with previous formats which weren't so miniscule on the disc. If I ever get to the bottom of the problem, I'll report in a future video. John.
@@moviecollector5920 In reading many reviews of UHD 4K Blu-ray players, as well as comments about the experiences other film enthusiasts have had with various players, saw a number of mentions made about the mid-priced Panasonic UB-820 player, being one of the few on the market that simply avoids 1 type of freeze up that seems to occur with many players when trying to cope with a 3rd layer on 4K discs, that's ONLY found on very LONG movies that exceed running times of about 2.5-3 hrs, or LONGER. Anyway, in using the UB-820 in the year since acquiring it, in March 2021, I've yet to have any 4K Blu-ray freeze up. Hope this info may be helpful to some of my fellow home theater enthusiasts. And Movie Collector, thank you SO MUCH for the terrific info that you provide for us fellow film fans with your fascinating videos! I greatly appreciate all of your efforts!
@@mrb0775 Thank you Mike. That's just the sort of information I'll need to tell fellow enthusiasts in the future if they don't see your post here. I don't suppose it's a third layer problem on 2001 as it's about an hour into the movie. I think the other two discs around about 30 minutes to 45 minutes in and one of them is only about 90 minutes long (Apollo 11). John.
@@moviecollector5920 John, I much appreciate you having taken the time to provide your kind reply. And you're more than welcome as I could only hope to be able to supply a tiny fraction of the very useful info that you regularly share with all of us who visit your channel. As a now retired guy, I'm really looking forward to enjoying hours of learning about cinema and the 4K medium (and even picking up tidbits about 1080p Blu-ray) thanks to the insights & experience of a film and cinema professional, such as yourself. You & yours stay safe during these extraordinary times in which we all live. Mike.
@@mrb0775 Ho ho. We actually decided to contract Omicron Covid-19 recently as it seems to be the only way to get decent long term immunity. We had to get it when we did as the stories of waning immunity from the vaccines were a little concerning and the longer we left it the greater the risk of serious illness. We only had a couple of days of feeling ill and about 10 to 14 days feeling fatigued; that was all that Omicron did for us. If the Hong Kong evidence was anything to go byIt seems to be more serious for the unvaccinated or previously uninfected though. I can't recommend what is right for anyone else but my thinking was - and is - that the only way we can avoid more problems in the future is to get as many of us younger people exposed as possible (and therefore hopefully immune) to protect those who are most at risk. John.
Django 4K UHD is still the best looking 4K transfer on the format in my opinion. I'm not sure if you're judging it by transfer quality or just how movies look. But Django is superb.
Just judging by how good the image looks. If you're talking about the 1966 film Django then that one was 35mm. Some of them do look pretty terrific but I haven't seen any so far that compare with anything shot 65mm or genuine IMAX. Happy to be proved wrong at any time though. John.
@@BlurayBinge We all have differing opinions Lee and sometimes I find that even if I've really wound someone up by saying that I think a particular film is great and that someone hates it, a quick conversation in the comments and we discover that there are other films we both love. Debate and conversation is vital in all subjects methinks. John.
When the UCI cinemas opened in Whiteley's new shopping centre . It was UCIs first multiplex in London. By UCIs standards the screens were quite small due to hight restraints. I remember opening with one of the Bond films. Because royalty came to the premier, we had a master print for screen 1 and standard prints in all the other screens. It's not often many people get to do a direct comparison. When going round the screens doing final checks, I really thought we had some issues with lens. The difference in detail and general picture quality hit you like a brick. I was amazed how poor the standard print picture quality really was. A similar, but different experience happened when at Manchester's Printworks multiplex with its huge screens and large auditoriums. We had the largest screen showing Toy Story with the first showing in video of the new very large and expensive Texas Instruments projector. Five other screens were showing standard 35mm prints. Again, the same story, the 4K video looked stunning, the 35mm prints looked soft focus, lacked detail. The word soon got around and people would only want to watch the 4K version. Once again, I was amazed how poor the 35mm prints were. Not an issue if you ONLY watched the 35mm copies Sorry, this has (almost) nothing to do with your review, just thought you might be interested.
That's really interesting Michael, particularly about the premiere print for the Bond film. One thing to bear in mind with video projection against film is that video projection is consistently brighter. I think that is why it looks so harsh to me and yet here at home I'm able to make video projection look like film. Death on the Nile in 70mm was a little disappointing as it was a 4K video used to create a 65mm negative (clearly nowhere near enough resolution to capture 65mm) but the film did still present the colour range and density of film. It wasn't as bright as the video projection of the trailers just before it but it was a relief for the eyes to take in something that looked so natural. John.
Nice, i think i may have to get the 6 disc package of Apocalypse Now , its available on Amazon. I watched it 20 years ago and held off as of late for the 4k. Also i definitely must get the Ten Commandments. It sells fast. Thx again John.
Apocalypse Now is one of my favourite 4K discs. It's not quite the best you'll see owing to it being a 35mm shoot but The Ten Commandments is up there with the best. It has optical effects shots where the downgrade in quality is usually obvious but it's fabulous to be able to see it in such quality and with the vivid Technicolor never having looked quite so good. There is a steelbook of the 4K for that one and I was tempted when it suddenly appeared even though I had the normal release already. John.
Great 10 Top, yes I knew what your #1 would be and you were 100% correct. I learned from all your individual reviews of the movies you listed here. Own all of your Top 10, except for "My Fair Lady". Bought it on DVD 20 years ago and I really need to upgrade it to 4K. As we have all said before, thanks for you videos, they have helped us understand and enjoy the movies even more then we have before. And, there have been a few movies I have bought because of your recommendations...yet to be disappointed. Have a good day.
Thank you Bob. Musicals aren't really my thing but I do make the occasional exception and My Fair Lady is one of them. I also made an exception for Grease because few people thought it was among the best 4K disc they'd seen but it's not quite that good. A lot of out of focus scenes from the original shoot don't exactly help it but that's nothing to do with the cine to video transfer. John.
Rewatched this video. Note that I am not a particular car racing fan and never watch any Formula1 racing on tv, BUT.... Le mans '66 is an absolute stunning good film and has exceptional Atmos audio on the 4k disc. It surprised me taht i could enjoy a car racing film this much. Also , TENET is indeed an amazing film. I saw it in the cinema inbetween covid lockdown periods. I did not see it in IMAX but on a very large screen with good audio. Stunning. I bought the 4k disc immediately when it came out in NL (holland / The Netherlands) where i live, and watched it the same day. I might rewatch one of these days . One of my favourites of director Christopher Nolan's films. I am very much hoping for a good quality 4k release of James Cameron's ALIENS (1986) in 2024 so maybe next list video, it could be on your list.... IF Mr. Cameron eases up on the DNR he plops onty some of his classic 4k releases. Aliens is still my no 1 fav film ever. Thank you John, for your always insightful and well informed and calmly and clearly spoken (what a joy!) videos. (Some other bluray reviewers on YT tend to wear you out after a while with a over-excited , sensationalyzed way of presenting reviews) Regards. Roland.
Evening Roland. I have Aliens on Super 8 and it's a pretty grainy film, but I did see the 70mm blow-up at the Odeon Leicester Square three times and I don't recall the image quality being very like the Super 8 prints (I have two of them). That's possibly a good sign that the forthcoming home video version will be rather good but probably best not to expect too much. With regard to Le Mans '66 a good film is a good film. Ken Miles's story is wonderful so combine that with Carroll Shelby and the Ford GT40 programme and it was a recipe for success on screen. TENET is a great film but it was always going to bamboozle most people and therefore be written off on that basis. I enjoy a challenge though and with image quality like the 4K I simply had to work it all out. To see something looking that good on home video suggested the 15/70 negative was almost unlike anything we'd ever enjoyed before and now having seen one of the 15/70 prints I can confirm that it was. One day it will get the credit it deserves. To excuse other TH-camrs who do home movie reviews it can be difficult to sit in front of camera and create something that some people around the world whom you have never met will see. Most haven't done anything like it before so the whole thing can be a little daunting or overwhelming and so the defence for this is to become someone else while the camera is on. I don't feel the need to put a disguise but I can understand why some others do. John.
That one was a Technicolor tour de force Ian. I only ever saw a reel of it many years ago but that looked fabulous too so I can imagine how good the 4K disc release looks. Just not a film I can get into for whatever reason. John.
@JamieNelsonsPool I think I only ever saw an extract from The Red Shoes and that really turned me off wanting to see it. I need to try again one day. John.
Thanks John - really interesting. I do have Jaws in 4K in my iTunes collection and (before for some odd reason it stopped playing in 4K and only in standard def - prompting me to buy the 4k BR - I was really blown away. All the others I have in 4k in iTunes and they all look better than previous BR discs
The bit rate should be lower than a Blu-ray so assuming that's the case then there is something else going on. Many see a brighter image and consider it better and you only have to listen to what reviewers say all the time when reviewing tellies and projectors because they're obsessed with a bright image. I find myself reining my video projector in all the time because it's often too bright to the detriment of the image as a result. 4K discs are more like film and therefore tend to be darker so that's a big thing in their favour over a standard Blu-ray. Jaws is probably still the best 35mm video transfer I've seen. The 5.6K transfer seems to have been closer to the mark. John.
I missed out the James Bond film 'No Time To Die' which probably would have featured somewhere. Apart from that there have been a couple of other potentials which are 'NOPE' and TOP GUN: Maverick but I'd have to take a very close look at them to compare them to all the other greats. John.
Discovered your channel a while back and was happy that you went into detail with all the films you discuss. Love movies shot on film but i also have an appreciation for good looking films shot on digital. I've just started discussing physical media, and while i don't have the equipment to review the quality as in-depth, i hope to grow to your level of expertise.
I'll have to keep an eye on what you upload so drop me a comment each time with a direct link so can't possibly miss it. You'll find that I rarely refer to anything as 'digital' because I've always considered that to be the wrong word. Digital is a way to make 'binary' sound like it's something special but also used to make us all think that something shot on video is not video to disguise that it's not film. I have professional video cameras but there's no way I'd ever tell anyone I was shooting on digital because that's pretty much what we all do now. John.
Finally, got a copy of Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. Both of these are just amazing and are definitely demo worthy to show someone what 4K is all about. Gorgeous, just gorgeous.
Funnily enough, I had both of them on a few days ago as part of a comparison to the new 4K of OPPENHEIMER for my latest video. Glad you like them. John.
John, what a fun list. I have them all in my collection and it's hard to disagree with any of your choices. Murder on the Orient Express is the reference disc in my collection and sits at number one here as well. I'm intrigued that you've approached your recommendations from a purely visual perspective. I'd add Vertigo (VistaVision), Alita: Battle Angel, Bladerunner, Bladerunner 2049, Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse, Ma Max Fury Road and Mission Impossible (most recent movie). All that said, the Vistavisions and 65mm sources seem to make the best 4Ks. One note of frustration for me is that I missed the original Columbia set and cannot find Lawrence of Arabia on 4K.
Evening Rob. Fear not for Lawrence of Arabia is coming out as an individual release on 4K soon. I'd prefer a 70mm print but I guess I'll have to wait a while longer for that! Blade Runner is a fabulous disc but I found the sequel a little drab so I think the image for that one may be optimized for Dolby Vision rather than standard HDR. I don't have Vertigo but one day I'll get that one. VistaVision is a big incentive when it comes to these 4K releases as is 65mm. Having said that, any film made on 35mm today should look better than most because video often just doesn't cut it... unless it's Le Mans '66! John.
@@moviecollector5920 LOA would be a must buy for me. I'll never forget seeing it in 70/65mm years ago. I really need to add Lemans to my collection. Thanks Jon, best to your seamstress 😊
I just wanted to say this is the first video from your channel I’ve seen so far and you did a wonderful job. I’ll definitely leave a follow and wish you the best:)
This is the video I'm most excited for. Great list John and thanks to you I now have several in my collection. Still a couple more I'd like to add also.
NiceGuyAidey just reminded me how good No Time To Die is too which I had completely forgotten about so if you don't have that one, there's another one for the list! Whatever you do and whichever titles you end up purchasing Darren I hope you have a great time with them. There's nothing quite like having a great movie in great quality to watch in the home. John.
@@moviecollector5920 No time to die is a purchase that will be done soon for me. I'd rather get it at HMV when it's in a deal which I'm sure it will be soon. I know it's cheaper at Amazon but like you I want to support the high street shops. You're 100% right. Nothing compares to watching something on a big screen. Mines only 100" so doesn't compare to a cinema but still not bad. Maybe one day soon I'll be able to go even bigger
@@Darrenlovesmovies This evening I think we're going to be sticking an old DVD on. I don't think it's going to come up to the standard of the best 4K discs but it's still really enjoyable to watch a favourite film on a big(ish) screen even if the image quality isn't quite the best. John.
A great list, in my opinion. Fully agree with your number 1 pick, it is proof that photochemical film can still be of top-tier quality in the twenty-first century.
I haven't seen every 4K disc Boss but nothing I've seen so far comes up to the standard of the 70mm films transferred to video so if confirmation were needed that film is still the king then I think 70mm is it. John.
Great video as always John. I love a top ten. Jaws has always been a favourite of mine and I think it looks amazing for such an old film. Theres a deal on Amazon UK at the moment on 2001 in 4K. Its currently £13.99 which is pretty cheap for such a great transfer
Cor, £13.99 is a bargain. I always try to avoid Amazon for everything though and I have paid quite a lot more from alternative shops and suppliers just to avoid them. Well, Amazon are killing our high streets after all. But with this one, I may just succumb! John.
@@moviecollector5920 Sorry John, only just saw your reply. I only buy off Amazon when I cant get it in HMV to be fair. They always have some great deals especially the 3 for 30 they did recently. I managed to pick up Le Mans 66 in the deal. Was the first time I had seen it and thought it was a great film. I did however use amazon for the new Robocop special edition as they offered me a £10 voucher so got it for 25. Brilliant package all round and looks great in 4k. Sharp picture and a nice amount of grain
@@chrissyboy7047 I nearly purchased 2001 in HMV a few days ago as they had it on offer too - I think it was £15. Funnily enough I'm preparing for my next video and it will be the 4K of Robocop which I bought in HMV on the same visit. I've watched both versions of the film and almost all of the extras, plus I've read the book which is a really interesting read. I need to give one of the discs another spin because at no time did I select the Dolby Atmos audio to check that one was okay because the 4.0 and 5.1 are not exactly top-notch. The best sound of the three I've checked so far is the Dolby Stereo/ProLogic track which is worth a try if you run it again. The dialogue was getting drowned out a little too much in places (a common problem with modern movies) but the Dolby Stereo tracks put the dialogue back to the correct level and still gave very effective surround sound. I think some miss the fact that the volume usually requires turning up a little for the Dolby Stereo tracks to get everything back to where is tends to be with Dolby Digital and as a result we've forgotten how good those matrixed surround soundtracks really were. Today I'll be looking at Robocop on Super 8 to see how it matches up to the new 4K and them perhaps tomorrow I can get on with recording the video. Stand by! John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thats brilliant timing John. I really enjoyed it again. Ive only watched the directors cut and will be watching the theatrical version so I'll give the stereo soundtrack a go. Have you seen Oliver Harpers retrospective review? Its really interesting and he goes into detail about the soundtrack. Apparently it was remastered at a later date and the music was enhanced so it drowns out the sfx. The drug den shoot out being a prime example. I watched it originally with the Atmos soundtrack and whilst it was good, it wasnt amazing. Overall Im pleased with it. Havent read the book fully yet but its a very nice little thing
@@chrissyboy7047 Well I've just been going through quite a few things on Robocop again and the Dolby Stereo tracks are better than the Dolby Atmos. I don't have an Atmos decoder but it splits down into 5.1 and assuming it's similar on most systems out there it rather makes sense why the '2.0' soundtrack is left as the default because it's the best. Just turn it up a few notches to match the level of the other soundtracks. Surround sound seemed a little better too but I may have been imagining that. I did watch a few Oliver Harper videos a while back but I didn't get on particularly well with them. I'll have to try him again sometime. Before this evening's movie I want to have a look at the Director's disc again to make sure there is a little image degradation in the added sequences. I was enjoying the film too much and they're mainly such quick cuts that I didn't really take it in. Interestingly the extra on the theatrical disc 'Robocop: Edited For Television' has a much nicer look that the 4K versions of the film. These sequences were from 35mm prints prepared for television and the colour is more natural rather than the more colourless look of the theatrical version. Mabye the Arrow Blu-ray release of Robocop will look the same as these 35mm for television graded sequences, but I doubt it. John.
Glad you've compiled a Top 10, John - it makes it so much easier for me to check off the discs in my own collection - all bar two at this juncture which is quite nice! I can't tell you how excited I am to get my hands on "The Godfather" set tomorrow - hope you find your way to making a review for that one! Sorry to hear you're having issues with some of the 4K blu-rays in your collection but I can't imagine that the dreaded disc rot is the culprit - I've seen it happen to older CD's and the occasional DVD but never to a blu-ray. 4K discs have (unfortunately) been unusually susceptible to manufacturing faults so I suspect that you've just been a touch unlucky in that regard. All the best. Dan.
Thanks Dan. I don't particularly care for the Godfather films but I do have the first two films on LaserDisc. As for the disc rot theory I mooted, I hope I'm wrong but these discs only seem to go faulty after they've been played which suggests to me that the laser is doing something and the disc's reflective surface is breaking down. All three of the discs so far found to have developed the fault have displayed it in exactly the same place on both my players. It's a bit concerning but when you can get a replacement for a tenner it's certainly not the biggest problem in the world. John.
@@moviecollector5920 That's interesting - Keith from Euphoria said the same thing about "The Godfather" set! The only issue I've encountered with my 4K collection up to now has been a bizarre compatibility bug whereby a particular disc ("The Shining" was one) won't play on my main downstairs player but will spin just fine on my upstairs setup - which isn't even a dedicated 4K machine - it's an old Xbox console that I bought on the cheap as a backup. I've never heard of lasers damaging optical discs before, John - should I be worried? Across CD,DVD and Blu-Ray I've got thousands of the bloody things!
@@danhardcastle My theory is that the information on 4K discs is so tiny that the slightest flaw causes a problem. The theory is probably wrong but I think the heat from the laser will enhance any flaw in the disc so it may not be laser rot as we once knew it but I suspect it's delivering the same results. I will keep reporting any problems I find with any 4K discs in the future but not much feedback from others has ever come through to say they are finding the same issues so let's keep hoping it's just bad luck with a few crappy discs here. John.
@@moviecollector5920 I have to think that with the number of outlets and individuals who are out there reviewing physical media that any widespread problem inherent to the format would've been reported by now. Perhaps it's a case for Mulder and Scully - they know a thing or two about mysterious discs!
@@danhardcastle I've been thinking along those lines Dan but if I wasn't doing these videos then I would be leaving the discs on the shelves for five to ten years before watching them again. Maybe most of us are the same. John.
It's been a wonderful hobby for me Darrin. Take a look a my 'The Super 8 Gauge' video I did about 18 months ago and you'll see how it all started for me. I've never lost my fascination for the moving image but shooting movies on video just doesn't hold the same appeal even though it's how I made a living for about 15 years before Covid-19 came along and pretty much killed my little business overnight. John.
Excellent channel and video! The 4K movies that I enjoy most are: Top 10 Shot on film: Jaws, Alien, The Shining, Scarface, Die Hard, Groundhog Day, The Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down. Top 10 Digital: The Avengers, 13 Hours, The Revenant, Sicario, Logan, Dunkirk, 1917 and John Wick trilogy. Overall top 10: Jaws, The Shining, Scarface, Groundhog Day, The Shawhank Redemption, Braveheart, Black Hawk Down, The Revenant, Sicario and 1917.
That's a darned good list John Rambo. A few of them I haven't actually seen at all let alone on 4K so I must do better in future. Dunkirk was shot on film though - 70mm IMAX film so that's why it looks so good. What a wonderful hobby this love of film is and the best part of all is we can all talk about it with like-minded folk on here. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks for the answer and I'm glad you liked my list! You're right, I missed the point that Dunkirk was filmed in analog format (Nolan is a staunch defender of it). In accordance with everything you say, thanks again for the answer and continue with your channel. PD: It would be great to see a future list of your top 10 or top 15 best transfers after you have seen some titles pending review.
@@jorgeiramain There are so many great 4K discs that I've already been thinking that a video along the lines of 'Another Ten Best 4K Ultra HD In My Collection' so I'll see if I get the time to find another ten best. Another one people sometimes ask for is my top ten favourite films. I usually reply that I hope I haven't seen them yet but I do have ten to fifteen films that I think are my current favourites so it might be fun to go through them. Cue a lot of Super 8 and LaserDiscs in that one as it would be a good excuse to show previous home movie releases of some great films. John.
@@moviecollector5920 I would love to see part 2 of the top 10 4K transfers (thank God there are so many good ones available). A video with your list of 10 or 15 favorite movies would be great too. In this regard, I have to point out that your answer "I hope I haven't seen them yet" is very clever.
@@jorgeiramain I have to admit that the late film critic Barry Norman gave a similar answer when asked to name his favourite films and that stuck with me so I rather borrowed my answer from him. I hope to get to HMV and CEX today to see if there's anything available that is suitable for a review video but I'll keep the top ten type of videos in mind for when/if there's nothing worthwhile to review. John.
I've tried to make them all as professional as possible J J so hopefully you'll find a few of interest. Biggest one in terms of views so far is 2001: A Space Odyssey in 4K - Why Does It Look So Good? John.
Grand Prix from 1966 is made for 4k. Someone, please. Shot on 65mm, and imo the best racing movie ever. Great top 10, great video, thank you. My personal favorite 4k disc so far is The Revenant; this movie couldn't have been duplicated on film I bet....so much was shot during dawn and dusk in natural lighting,
I completely agree about Grand Prix. The Blu-ray is pretty fabulous already. How about Ice Station Zebra and How The West Was Won for the 4K wish list too? I have The Revenant on Blu-ray so haven't invested in the 4K. I didn't realize it wasn't shot on film but haven't watched it for a few years. I'll have to take another look. John.
@@moviecollector5920 How The West Was Won, on yea! Speaking of a film already looking good on Blu Ray, re Grand Prix, I saw Skyfall last night for first time on Blu Ray and thought it fabulous already:) I'm older than you and actually have never seen Ice Station Zebra, lol. I believe it's the film Howard Hughes watched over and over from his Las Vegas high rise apt. as his mental decline accelerated. I should check it out.
@@pete49327 Skyfall is modern 35mm which means it's very fine grain. Anything shot 35mm today should look outstanding for that reason but 35mm is obviously not up to anything shot 65mm or genuine IMAX. As for Ice Station Zebra, it's incredibly sharp but a lot of the film is clearly a studio set which lets it down a bit but because it's as sharp as it is it doesn't seem to matter as much as it should. John.
Amazing list, John! Loved the emphasis on movies shot on film. Great choices all around. I haven't encountered the laser rot issue yet and hope that I don't. Sorry to hear your copy of 2001 has been corrupted by it.
The Blu-ray of 2001 is almost as good Andrew so if I don't snag a copy of 2001 on special offer sometime I'll just have to watch the Blu-ray... or better still, my old Super 8 copy. John.
@@moviecollector5920 I remember your video which highlighted the super 8 version. Must look terrific. I agree, the Blu-ray is very close in quality but the HDR on the UHD is stunning. Best - Andrew
I usually can't bear musicals Master Yoda but I will take a look at the trailer and see if I think I will like it. I never saw the original version and that was 65mm if I remember correctly. But this one is from Mr. Spielberg and that gives me an extra push to look into it. Good to know he used film too which should mean it looks better than a video. John.
i also don't like musicals but this one is filmed and crafted so beatifully. They used giant real set builds, real locations and unlike the movie from the 60s the actors sang by themselves. And if you love filmic look it's just fantastic to look at.
@@davidsal28 HMV have West Side Story in the two for £30 right now so if I happen to visit a store before that offer runs out you never know. But I have My Fair Lady because so many people asked me to look at it and it was always one of my mother's favourites. John.
It compares well to my 35mm print Zero. It's a 35mm shoot though so will never come up to the standard of movies shot on 70mm, VistaVision or any of the other large film formats. I did see a 70mm blow-up print years ago at the Odeon Marble Arch. The screen there was 58 feet wide. John.
Very nice, John. For the record (and for those of us on the other side of "the pond"): _Le Mans '66_ was released in the USA under the title _Ford v Ferrari._
And that was because the great 'Le Mans' name doesn't hold the same recognition across the USA where Daytona, Sebring and Indianapolis are the top dogs. Such a shame because Le Mans '66 is such a great title. A great film with a great title... over here at least! But other opinions are available. John.
Sadly not many will ever see that masterpiece in genuine IMAX ever again Tom but if I can re-educate the world of the merits of IMAX film (cue maniacal laughter) over projected video in genuine IMAX cinemas then there's just a chance. John.
Great review as always. I am glad to say that I have all these films on 4K - thanks for the heads up about 6 disc Apocalypse now set which I have now ordered from HMV and should get next week. I now have a 4K projector too and a reasonable size screen - not as big as yours though.
Well done Paul. That six disc Apocalypse Now is one of the best releases ever as far as I'm concerned. I only really like the original version of the film but if you like all three then you have a lot of film to watch and hours upon hours of extras too. It's a film enthusiasts treat. John.
Hi John thank you for what u do! With the pic of the theatres ( here the Pictureville in Bradford) it wets the appetite to watch a film lol. It's fun to agree and disagree, keeps us on our toes for more ideas. These lists are tough either way and will always be challenged hence the fun. I gained some new ideas from this list so will check out The Dark Knight Films and Orient Express. Any talk of Casablanca some day? Just curious if it will find it's way to 4k. Cheers Dave BC!
Greetings Dave. I only finally decided to do this video because nothing much has been coming out worthy of review lately and so many people had asked me to do it. There seems to be quite a bit of agreement on many of the titles in the list which I wasn't really expecting. Gemini Man has been pointed out to me a few times in these comments but I think that's the worst 4K I've seen so that was never likely to make the top ten... it will make the bottom ten though! As for Casablanca, I don't think that will benefit much from a 4K release but you never know if it is ever done it might look spectacular. Black and white has always been sharper than colour on film owing to the silver content of the film stock. John.
@@moviecollector5920 "the silver content of the film stock", very interesting. Just a lover of B@W. Psycho I felt looked pretty darn good. Out of interest in slim pickings for new content I see the Godfather films are now released here. My notifications are turned if you put in a review I'll be excited to read. I imagine a tone of us will almost automatically be adding this collection by default maybe lol. Many regards to you and all over in England. Really enjoy your channel ! Dave. PS. agree on the SOHO poster .. very very sweet! Cheers D in BC
@@davemillage6129 I'd like to be able to say that I am going to review The Godfather films but unfortunately I never got on with them. I have the first two films on LaserDisc but have only ever run them once. Something about gangsters, mafia and the double-crossing murderous violence doesn't appeal to me. I can't imagine why! But I can see that they are great films, they're just no my cup of tea. Don't know what I'll do as a video next but I'll come up with something. Many people have suggested a video of my favourite films and if I did that one cue lots of Super 8 features and LaserDiscs. John.
Thanks for the list - it's obvious you are a Nolan fan. He really does put all his effort into the technical aspects of his movies, which I really appreciate.
I've only really become a Nolan fan recently Mandeep. Anyone who makes good films consistently is going to be someone I appreciate. Kenneth Branagh and Christopher Nolan are probably at the head of the list as far as I'm concerned right now but Clint Eastwood is still up there too. Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg too. John.
Thanks for making this list. I was surprised not to see Blade Runner on it (or even mentioned), since you were very positive about it in your review of that film on 4K.
Blade Runner is fabulous but we need to bear in mind that it was a 35mm shoot so will never match the quality of the 65mm and genuine IMAX shoots. It's probably up there around Apocalypse Now so it's not too far off the top ten. I've got a lot of discs to choose from but I did consider pulling Blade Runner out to take another look at it but the pile of discs for another viewing was already up to 12 by that point so I decided against it. John.
I only ever saw Robocop once Doug but I may actually give it a second try now it's coming to 4K. The fact that it's an 80s film seems to give me an extra incentive somehow. John.
@@moviecollector5920 It's a fantastic film. Easily one of my all time favourites. If you get the opportunity, check out the recent Running man transfer. They've done a fabulous job.
@@dougquaid570 If The Running Man appears over here then I will certainly get that one. A load of tosh but I love it. I'm one of the few who has read the book too but the book bears hardly any relationship to what ended up on screen. John.
I have heard that Gemini Man is a reference 4k disc. I recently purchased it but have not gotten a chance to watch it yet. It is shot digitally since it is a recent movie.
Gemini Man is more a video game than a movie. I don't like computer games and the unrealistic motion combined with the cartoon look makes it the worst 4K of the lost for me. But I hope you find the complete opposite as it's probably an age thing and if you've grown up playing computer games then you might love it. John.
Viewing your site for the first time. Extremely informative. I'm a huge collector of DVDS and Blu-rays. Considering getting into 4k. I also like viewing movies through my Emerson projector. You did make a mention of a 4k projector. So, I have to upgrade and purchase a separate 4k projector in order to view my 4k movies? The projector I have projects Blu-ray. Not good enough?
Good morning Christopher. Blu-ray is exceptional quality and in terms of clarity if the 4K disc and the Blu-ray disc have been created from the same video master file you will not be able to discern a difference in terms of clarity. Where you will see the difference is in the superior colour capabilities and density (contrast) of the 4K. To achieve this on your screen will require a 4K video projector. I have two of them, the older model has a bigger chip and is therefore more 4K than the new model (pixel shifting is what goes on in order to use the 4K label) but I'll be darned if I can tell which has the superior clarity because they are both brilliant. Trevor at Double Bill Movies got an entry level 4K (pixel shifting) Optoma video projector for well under a grand and he's achieving exceptional results from it. John.
Love LOVE the A-Now Redux 6 Disc collector's edition. Was so glad to have that in my collection. Redux is still my Favorite version. Final Cut is great too, but Redux still remains my favorite version. Really nice list, enjoyed the commentary.
That six disc set is very special. I have only ever seen Redux once when it was first released. I do prefer The Final Cut but my preference is still the original version of the film and that was why I had to get the six disc set in the end. Basically I wanted to see the original film in the same quality as the 4K disc of The Final Cut. John.
Hey John great to see you back, hope you're feeling better now :) Fantastic video as always and some great picks for 4Ks, a great mix of older films it does seem that older films do benefit a lot with 4K. I don't have access to 4K yet but rest assured I will watch this video again when I start 4K. Take care John speak soon
Good evening Pete. I'm feeling really good the last week or so which is a nice surprise after the ol' Kung Flu. I think the reason 4K appears to work better with film is because film looks better than video, particularly if the film was a 65mm shoot as most of them are in this top ten. I forgot about the recent Bond outing 'No Time To Die' which probably should have been in at number 5 or 6. You just can't get the staff nowadays. Hope you're feeling well and staying safe. I heard you were on a live stream with Keith at Euphoria recently but I still haven't found it to catch up on that one. I'll get there though. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Evening John glad to hear you're feel better now, yeah I can remember your review of No Time To Die was incredibly positive I know the Blu-ray was super impressive too. Yeah I'm good thanks, yeah Keith was on my livestream a few weeks ago it's always a pleasure to chat to him. It would be a honour to invite you on in the future John
@@PlaytendoGuy TalkTalk messed up our internet connection here and won't be sorting it out until May sometime. Maybe then I'll be brave enough to appear on a few livestreams Pete. It might actually be a lot of fun. John.
I have about 90 percent of all those titles John, the majority bought on your recommendation. I think The Shining and The Revenant are also reference quality too though but if it's a Top Ten some have to be discounted. I just hope this format can survive but with vinyl, CD and cassette making a comeback it gives me hope for all physical media!!
On another day I might have mentioned The Shining as one just outside of the top ten Gary. I did pull it out to consider it but looked at the large stack of titles already and decided against it. I did completely overlook No Time To Die and that certainly should have been in there. You just can't get the staff these days! John.
Hi John. The problem with discs freezing isn’t laser rot, it’s residue on the discs during manufacturing, especially 66/100gig discs. Thoroughly wipe with a microfibre cloth and your problems are over.
@@moviecollector5920 I only say that as I had the same issue with 2001 and a lot of the other discs people have complained about and a wipe down with a cloth has always solved the issue. On 2001 it would always freeze around the scene where Hal is singing Daisy while Dave is shutting him down and now there as no issues with the disc. It appears that if you've already done this there is indeed a separate issue at play. Put of interest, the other discs recently heavy with residue post production that have worked for me after a wipe down with a microfiber cloth have been The Thing and Dune (original version). It seems to affect Warner and Arrow discs more and never Sony discs.
@@benpascall4297 That's really interesting Ben. I did have the residue problem with a DVD once and that was either The Terminator or Predator, I can't recall which one now. But I've not come across it again since then. 2001 starts playing up about an hour into it. When I get another player in the future I'll give these discs another try because it's possible a newer player will come with better error correction and be able to get through them. But I won't hold my breath! John.
@@moviecollector5920 it's largely an isolated problem with the production of 4k discs and a quality control issue... Only affecting certain manufacturing facilities on behalf of Warner/Arrow and a few others. Whether this can be attributed to the decline in physical media to 10/15 years ago I'm not sure, but it's a clear QC issue. Sadly not a lot of people are aware of the residue and what a quick fix it is and the forums are full of people complaining about skipping and freezing discs... It doesn't appear the be the case in your instance John, but I thought it was worth documenting anyway in case you wanted to mention it in one of your videos for people's general awareness.
@@benpascall4297 Thank you for doing so Ben. Eventually I should come across a disc with the residue issue and then I can put people onto it. On the DVD that had the issue years ago I could clearly see the milky film covering that had formed. John.
Excellent list, I have just started collecting 4K last year after upgrading my TV and audio setup. So far I'd say Nolans films, The Matrix, and Skyfall are my top films out of my relatively small 4K collection of around 17 movies so far. I recently picked up Murder on the Orient Express and the picture was spectacular on my display. I much prefer when studios give us proper 4K mastered discs rather than the upscaled digital 2K discs that are common among recent films
A few recent releases such as Last Night In Soho were shot 35mm but then all that effort was downgraded to 2K video for general release. I believe that even the film prints of that one were struck via the 2K video master but I may be wrong. It still looks pretty good though, just not as good as it would have been. Mainly the image quality comes down to the lenses used to shoot the film and in the case of a genuine film, how sensitive and fine grain the negative stock is. John.
I've replied to quite a few comments that I should have included No Time To Die in the top ten Conor. Don't know how I missed it. Still, seems like a good excuse to do another top ten sometime soon. John.
Thank You for this. I agree that scanning 4k movies in a larger resolution like 8k or 5.6k really benefits the quality. I had a couple of 35mm Kodak vision 3 still films scanned in Germany in very large resolution and they look really amazing.
That transfer of Jaws did seem to point the best way forward but I expect it took half as long again as transferring at 4K and that's possibly why 4K is the chosen compromise. John.
Morning Gurdip. The shelves were ordered and delivered by Argos. As you see them behind me it is two shelving units mounted on top of one another with the top one being placed upside down. I've done this for years but now we have a room to put all of the discs out on display I ordered a few more of these shelving units. I think they are £18 each so an absolute bargain really. John.
@@gurdipvirdee9194 I put them on the shelf in the order of the video last watched. However, when we moved I separated the DVDs as we don't put DVDs on very often any longer. Putting them on the shelf in order of when they're watched does mean I have to shift a lot of discs along each time we spin a disc but it does mean we don't have to keep a written record of which title was watched when. John.
Love your list, info, and comments as always. I think The Shinning, Blade Runner, and Dune 2021 also deserve mention. Great transfers, great sound, great movies!!!
The Shining is excellent James but it's a 35mm and they struggle up against the 70mm films. Blade Runner is fabulous but for it's also a 35mm. Dune looked pretty awful on both my systems but all the reports came in on the comments for that video review and it seems more people had trouble with it than didn't and apparently it was the same at cinemas. There's a lot of discussion on the comments for that Dune video that might make for interesting reading. John.
@@FRandAI Thank you for reminding me Forrest. The original version of Dune was a 35mm of course so that's why it looks so good as a 4K disc. Not all the 35mm transfers look as good but that's usually down to the film stock used and how any film was shot on the day. My recollection of the 1984 films is a lot of bright, colourful scenes... and someone riding on the back of a giant worm! But I'm hoping to get into an HMV today (the Newbury branch) so I might see if it's affordable as I'd like to see it again... haven't seen it since 1984. John.
I never actually heard of 2.2 by 1 before so thank you for making me aware of it. I'll make sure I never make that mistake. Good to have you here. John.
Great top ten list. I was struck by one of the closing statements of 4k disc's packing in? What has caused this? I hear a lot about the production factory's struggling to produce the volumes needed with a fraction of staff due to shrinking sales. So mixed up disc's in box sets. Audio tracks on the masters not right and now disc's that stop working?
I think it's the miniscule data that the laser is trying to read Martyn and a few discs having faulty silver reflective layers that get a little more distorted by the heat from the laser so that the next time the disc is played the fault has made itself known. But I may be completely wrong. John.
@@moviecollector5920 thank you John for your video and your responses. I've yet to take the 4k plunge as my THX calibrated plasma is pulling out some wow moments for not only 1080p streaming and Blu Ray, but is pulling upscale duties for DVD and Laserdisc. I follow all great videos like yours as well as classic AV forums to brush up on UHD/4k and the various HDR meta data formats ready for the day I might need to bite the 4k OLED apple
@@jefffan171 The solution there Martyn is to keep the telly and get a 4K video projector. Then you'll have the best of both worlds. And before anyone tries to tell you that you'll have to spend a fortune on a screen all you really need to do is paint a wall white. It's better if you have black masking around the projected image of course but that can be blu-tacked to the wall when you have a big screen show. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! John.
6:40 Interesting about glitches in 4K disks. I've had problems with 4K disks of both Mad Max Furiosa and Godzilla -1.0 glitching all the time at the same place, on multiple 4K UHD players.
I made a TH-cam video all about 'The 4K Fault' Alex. I had six discs at the time but I've seen managed to purchase a seventh with consistent faults in the same places on two different players. It could be that brand spanking new players will get through the problem areas but even if that does prove to be the case, ultimately even a new player will succumb as it gets older. I think we will have to accept that the data on 4K discs is so miniscule that they are inevitably more susceptible to problems than any previous CD sized video disc format. I've replaced five of my faulty discs for not very much money so it's not exactly a catastrophe. John.
Are you planning on doing a review of the Godfather movies on 4K John? It's my 50th birthday and so I made myself an offer I could not refuse and got the 50th special edition of the three films yesterday - have watched the beginning of part one - looks really good and although I do not have a trained eye for this stuff - simple things like the red flower on Brando's wedding suit or Dianne Keaton's dress looks better than before colour wise so it all stands out, but feels kind of grainy at the same time plus the sound is great. One to look forward to.
Happy 50th birthday James. Your going to have a great time enjoying The Godfather films all over again. I only ever saw the first two films (I have them on LaserDisc but only ever ran them once) but didn't particularly like them. I don't think I've ever seen a mob film I've really enjoyed so it's not the Godfather films per se, I think I just don't like all that double-crossing, murderous thuggery. I can see that they are great films though despite the fact that I don't particularly enjoy them. John.
I hope you won't be disappointment with it Bumper. It looks fabulous on my video projector here and the soundtrack is pretty sensational too. The music is so evocative to the racing that I think it helps to make the film even more special, particularly if you're a car enthusiast like me. John.
Hello friend. Excellent video with great input on all selections. I agree on all Christopher Nolan selections I was lucky enough to see both Inception and Interstellar in true 70 mm IMAX and yes it is quite a spiritual experience. For me though the film I would like to see transferred to a 4K release would be Last of the Mohicans. One of my favorite films and I truly enjoy how Michael Man shoots with natural light. Your thoughts? Please and thank you and always enjoying your Channel.
Thank you for your kind words. I haven't seen The Last of the Mohicans for many years but I think we're talking about the Daniel Day Lewis version which was pretty terrific as I recall. I also very much enjoyed a television series as a child so it's a great story that lends itself well to film. If it gets issued on 4K I'll be the one in front of you in the queue to buy it! As for Christopher Nolan, he's one of the greatest film makers in the world today. In terms of how he shoots his films he's probably at the top of the list followed by Kenneth Branagh. Let's hope more directors become powerful enough to insist on large format film for their productions. John.
Only thing I noticed with some 4K on a Sony 800 is that definitely run louder a kinder hum that gets quieter as the film goes on. Only running a sound bar ( a temporary measure ) but God knows why the sound drops out for a second twice in a film. Anyway MY personal favourites in no order are. Passengers, Murder on the Orient express, Dune, Interstellar,Tenet, Blade runner 2049, Green Mile ( brilliant 4k ),Alita battle angel, Bridge on the river Kwai and Bad Times at the El Royal , or maybe Oblivion. Hard to choose but Passengers and Green Mile are exceptional.👍
I have Passengers on Blu-ray and that's excellent too. It was shot in high quality video and really did have a 4K video master and not a 2K upscale which is unusual for a film with computer animation in it. The Green Mile was a 35mm shoot so once you start projecting you'll probably see that the definition is not quite as good as you currently think it is. A few 35mm 4K releases have been mistaken for being better than 70mm films but this is because our home screens are tiny and it's often hard to differentiate. What we really need is 24 foot wide screens at home! John.
@@moviecollector5920 yep passengers I think was shot 6.5K. Just this second saw moonfall , probably not my cuppa being a Roland Emmerich CGI destruction fest ,but they say it's got the best Atmos mix and got a 9.9 on one channel, visuals only 7 due to CGI ,green screen and digital touch up, personally ends up like a video game. Looking FWD to Lawrence of Arabia , just hope the cover advitised is yet to be done, on Zavvi looks like a pre school effort 🤔
@@rikaardyyz3039 I rarely purchase from Zavvi now that they don't have physical shops. The steelbook of Super 8 is the only on-line order I think I've ever given them and that was only because it looked so darned good. Usually all my money goes down the HMV route. But whatever Lawrence or Arabia comes in, the 4K disc should be one of the best just like all the other 70mm releases we've enjoyed so far. I was only thinking that I might look at the Blu-ray before it's out just to remember how good that is. John.
Great choices. Some standouts for me in no particular order are; MI Fallout IMAX shots are amazing. Pacific Rim looks awesome. Sony disks sound fantastic, can't go wrong. Godzilla vs Kong is great. Dunkirk is for sure on my list!
Mission Impossible: Fallout is another excellent 4K Roger but I haven't seen Pacific Rim nor Godzilla vs. Kong. I find it increasingly hard to get through special effects laden movies largely done in a computer. There have been exceptions though so maybe one day I'll give that one a try. John.
I love that it's becoming quite difficult to form a list like this. We are building quite a reserve of beautiful transfers on this format! I'll gladly share the titles in my collection which stand out to me: Spartacus, My Fair Lady, Jaws, Suspiria, Django, Casino, Apocalypse Now, Tremors, Angel Heart, The Wizard of Oz, and In The Line of Fire.
That's a good list Mozart. I used to do a lot of Super 8 film reviews and it was easier to differentiate the good from the not so good with the biggest screen possible and now that we've moved and are projecting a bit wider than we were able to in our last home I can confirm that the same is true of video projection. If we do manage to get builders in to enlarge the cinema room then I hope to go considerably wider still. Should make the whole process quite a lot easier in the future. John.
Elysium Eastwood Westerns also by Sony is an excellent 4k tranfer- Also 65 and Prey- Life is excellent for Sci- FI Fans - Waiting for 4ks of RED Planet- Val Kilmer and Underwater - Clint Eastwood Westerns also look great
Sir, I thought there will be the movie "Mackenna's gold" among your best 4k collection, which has got , breath taking views of Grand Canyon parts, hope they have not released in 4k? Can we play 4k discs in the blue ray disc player? Or another 4 k player?
Good morning Shashidhar. I think there is a Grand Canyon film released on 4K disc and if I'm right it may have originally been a genuine 70mm IMAX so that should look absolutely fabulous. But if you're asking if you can play a 4K disc in a standard Blu-ray player then the answer is no, it has to be a 4K UHD Blu-ray player. They start at around £100 over here in the UK so they're not prohibitively expensive. You do need a 4K telly or video projector to screen them in 4K and HDR though. John.
@@moviecollector5920 sir, thanks for the quick reply,& the enlightenment.plz.give me the name of the other Grand canyon movie on 4k disc, thanking you sir.
@@shashidharmurthy2226 I may be completely wrong Shashidar but I'm pretty sure there was an early 4K release with some IMAX documentaries on it. It may have only been available in North America though and it's possible what I remember was actually a Blu-ray but I would put money on it still looking spectacular. Our home screens are so tiny that it's difficult to see any difference in resolution between Blu-ray and 4K. John.
4K Death on the Nile just announced in the US - Video - Captured on Panavision Super 70 film stock 2:39:1 aspect ratio, and was mastered in 4K. HDR10 grading for the disc and Dolby Vision available on digital. Looks priming John!
Morning Rob. Death on the Nile should have an aspect ratio of 2.20:1 but there was so much messing around to generate 70mm prints that I wouldn't be surprised if it's been cropped a little. I rather expect that it's going to look more impressive at home than it did at the Odeon but I may be wrong. John.
Thrilled to see you rate Murder on the Orient Express so highly. I was flabbergasted when I bought that disc. One of the best for sure. On the Dark Knight Rises subject, there’s certainly an argument it’s stronger from beginning to end than even its predecessor. The second movie peaks to such a degree in the second act that it’s almost got nowhere to go. Where as Rises absolutely builds to an exciting conclusion where anything could happen. Bruce climbing out of the pit it as euphoric as anything in the trilogy.
I too could not believe what I was seeing when I first put the 4K disc of Murder on the Orient Express in the player. I still can't quite believe how good it is today. Let's hope Death on the Nile looks almost as good when it comes to market next month. As for the Dark Knight trilogy of films I'd actually avoided them for years because I had become disillusioned with Batman on the big screen. That turned out to be a rather good thing because when I did see them is was on 4K disc. What an absolute treat! John.
I was thinking of doing something with the home cinema in 2006 Matthias and if TH-cam had have existed then I might have gone down this route all those years ago but alas, I got involved in making classic car documentaries and that took all my time and focus until Covid-19 came along. I had looked for fellow film enthusiasts on TH-cam for quite some time but there wasn't anyone who was doing what I now do and those that were doing something similar did not have film knowledge, just home video knowledge really. My opinion was that you could not categorically say that a 4K or Blu-ray was a great transfer or now without understanding the myriad different film formats that are always responsible for how a film looks on the finished product. That's why I keep pointing out when a film is 70mm or other large film formats because they always look best as a 4K disc. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Yes John, technically speaking you really know your stuff as well which is great but its how you break down the magic and humanity of the films that sets you apart from the videophiles who will rant for 20 minutes straight about the transfer, color grading, audio options etc and it all starts to feel very bland and soulless. You strike a great balance and the only other channel who comes close to you is 'Films at home', another nice gentleman who loves physical media, movies and can break down transfers and 4k reviews very well. Your experience and added time in the field of movies gives you a great advantage. I had never even heard of get carter because it came out before i was born...... i like when you throw in the older retro picks!
@@Drago-746 There have been some great films since the dawn of cinema Matthias and I think things really got going with the comedies in the 1920's from Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. Above all others from that period and prior to it, those films have stood the test of time. Now that I think about it, they're timeless which is why they are still so good. Get Carter was almost completely overlooked initially but now it's regarded as the true classic it always was. It was a film ahead of its time and I think a lot of people would have found it a bit depressing until a few decades had passed because it was a bit close to home in many ways. Jeff at Films At Home has always been good. I try not to watch his reviews at the moment as I don't want to risk anyone else influencing me when I may do a review on the same film. But his interviews with people in the industry have been wonderful recently and chock full of insider knowledge which is a help to us all. John.
Thanks great top 10 I have most of them. Discs that play fine then next time don't could be disc rot I have had a few titles with this issue. I bought The World at war boxset at CEX and none of the discs played, when I returned it they examined discs and said it was disc rot. I have backups of both blu Ray and 4k discs stored on hard drives on PC I am not shelling out twice for them.
It's a good idea to keep copies of the 4K discs. That will take up a lot of disc space though and I'm already storing so much of my own archive video that I'd need a massive SAN or NAS to make it all work and that would cost many thousands. If I see replacements for any of the faulty discs going cheap I think I'll snap them up because it can't be all of them that are faulty... famous last words! John.
@@moviecollector5920 yes it's not cheap although I have gradually added drives to my hcpc I think I have 9 drives now ranging from 3tb to 6tb and even this isn't foolproof as I don't have it in a raid erray to protect files if a drive dies. I do use monitoring software to keep an eye on them. I think some issues with disc rot is how they are stored perhaps that copy I bought had been sitting in the boot of a car for weeks with massive changes in temps affecting it prior ending up in CEX.
We watched In The Line Of Fire on Saturday evening Erhard and it is very good but it's a 35mm and therefore will always struggle when compared to 65mm and genuine IMAX. Lawrence of Arabia was 65mm so I know that's going to be one of the best, that's just the way it is. John.
Well if you do get Tenet and you can decipher it, I'll send you a medal!!! Orient Express is the best video quality I've ever seen and I am still astounded by it when I put it on as I did for this video. John.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition 4k release from very recently. It was supervised by Zack Snyder himself and it includes the original full frame IMAX 70mm sequences. It shifts to 1.43:1 ratio for them too. Absolutely superb and probably the best 4K transfer I’ve ever seen.
I did pull The Shining out but I could see the video was already going to be too long so I decided against talking about another one that may be number 10. It's difficult to decide sometimes so I would expect that if I were to go through all the best discs again I'd come up with a slightly different order. Might have to do another video called 'Another Ten Best 4K UHD In My Collection' because so many people have mentioned The Shining and a few others including Gemini Man which I think is the worst video quality I've ever seen. John.
Say what you want about the plot, but Gemini Man and Transformers: The Last Knight are two of the best 4k pictures ever! TTLK literally has every action scenario on display (space, dark ages war, high speed chases, water battles, exploration, live action, air combat…etc). All of it is immaculate and demo worthy!!
I know a lot of people really like the look of Gemini Man but I think it's the worst quality video I've ever seen. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration and I can see what the film makers were trying to achieve. I haven't played computer games for many, many years and don't like the way they look so Gemini Man was never going to appeal to me in terms of picture quality. I don't tend to like live action cartoons but there are exceptions occasionally. I expect Gemini Man in liquid crystal 3D would be just about the best 3D ever irrespective of what I've said above. Transformers is for youngsters though and I'm far too old now. I have seen bits and pieces of the Transformers films and series over the years but I left school a long time ago! John.
@@moviecollector5920 it all boils down to preference I guess. I mentioned these, specifically TTLK for video quality and the gamut of reference quality scenes on offer. While I don’t mind film grain at times, I appreciate the cleanest and clearest picture quality more in my 4k content. Cheers.
@@nwilkerson2365 Well there have been some very good movies made on video. I considered a few of them for this video but my preference is the filmic look so that rather knocked 'em all out. 'Lucy' is another cracking disc. John.
great review I saw2001 in London on giant Cinerama screen although it was shot in super Panavison70 it looked great on the giant curved screen yes please keep making the review s
Shining, interstellar, Gemini man, wizard of oz, revanant, tremors, green knight, dark knight, mission Impossible fallout are all some of my favorites to view. Older classics are always what I anticipate viewing the most when new transfers are announced.
I haven't seen all of those in 4K Ray but I think Gemini Man is the worst looking video I've ever seen. I expect it would have been a showstopper in LCD 3D and given that it was reportedly 120fps in cinemas I suppose that was what it was made for. John.
Fantastic Ranking, John! I need to give all these 4K discs a re-run on my tv, perhaps I may watching one this weekend, tenet maybe. seems that 65mm just makes a 4K disc instantly great (I can't wait to see the Death on the nile 4K disc, I wonder what it will look like compared to the shotty-70mm print) I actually haven't seen Death on the nile yet, I was going to wait for a 70mm screening here in sydney, but non have showed up yet, so I'll just buy the 4K, and if in the future, a 70mm print does visit sydney, I'll be sure to attend that screening! Thanks! Have a great day!
Greetings Clark. I have my suspicions that Death on the Nile will be more impressive at home than it was at the Odeon but I don't know for sure. Whether or not the 4K will come up to the standard of Murder on the Orient Express remains to be seen but it should be a treat however good it is. Tenet may be Nolan's second masterpiece but I doubt it will ever get the credit it deserves owing to the fact that it's almost incomprehensible to most viewers. I'll have to watch my own review video before I watch it again just so I can remember what the hell it's all about! John.
Great review. I agree that the older movies are never going to match new Imax. I do however love seeing restorations of the old films. Having seen most of them on television in standard definition the improvements now are phenomanal. It’s like seeing a whole new movie. Django, Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, Goldfinger, Zulu, Vertigo, The Ladykillers, Jaws, Taxi Driver, It’s a mad mad mad world, Good the Bad and the Ugly. I will stop there but could quote many more 😀
Funny that you should mention 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' Simon because that one was shot Techniscope. To save you looking up that process it was 35mm at an aspect ratio of about 2.40:1, but - and it's a big BUT - Techniscope was only two sprockets high! this means it is half the quality of an anamorphic 35mm film. It was blown up optically to make 2x squeeze release prints for cinemas. It is amazing that it should look any good at all but I suppose even Techniscope is a slight upgrade over 16mm quality so it probably illustrates just how good film is and why it is still superior to this day. Zulu would make for an excellent 4K release. Just like Spartacus it was Super Technirama 70. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks John, I suspect I am being a little biased with The Good Bad and the Ugly as it’s one of my favourite films. Definitely a good step up from the Blu Ray though. Can’t wait to see The Godfather trilogy. Great channel, i’m going to subscibe.
@@simonmcpartlin6547 All three of the Dollars trilogy were shot Techniscope and it was just a money saving exercise to do it. It is possible to get very good results from it though because if you think about it some movies were shot 16mm and blown up and no one seemed to notice the difference with them. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre isn't the best example as it looked pretty awful at the time but I bet even that looks pretty good from the latest 4K transfer of the 16mm camera negative. Film has greater resolution than the industry seems to want to have us believe. John.
Really great collection. I'm a new subscriber of your channel and love watching your content. I have a projector in the room but I love watching movies on my OLED. I know you mentioned you don't like watching films on the tv, but if you was able to get old of a huge OLED screen you would be blown away. The quality is out of this world and futuristic really. But I get why you like the super8, etc. to give it that cinematic look. :) TENET I thought was very bad though, even on multiple viewings. Spectacular 4k transfer but didnt like the film at all.
Greetings Gareth. Thank you for letting me know you enjoy the videos. I used to watch a lot of films through a telly but as soon as it became viable to video project it was the obvious thing for me to do. I already had all the setup thanks to Super 8, 16mm and 35mm so it was nice to get a big screen impact from DVD and then Blu-ray even if home video projection wasn't quite up to the standard of Super 8 until relatively recently. Just having a ten foot wide image was good enough. Had a smaller screen in Cornwall but we're almost back up to size now we've moved here. Just been in there this evening actually and projected a DVD which wasn't exactly brilliant in the dark scenes but still great to have it on a big screen. John.
I have to say that my OLED tv has ruined cinema a bit for me. I watched The Batman at the cinema and what was supposed to be black shadows was all grey, whereas the 4k trailer of the movie looked spectacular on my tv with great contrast and bright lights. I guess the mandatory emergency exit lights in the theater didn’t help but a projector also has limits when it comes to brightness and contrast versus actively lit pixels. I saw Spider-Man at the same theater and that wasn’t as problematic, maybe it’s just the very dark movies that suffer.
@@foxyfoxtrot4233 I think we all have to cut cinemas some slack these days because they are now required to completely change all their equipment every few years and it's just not affordable. In the days of film projection that wasn't the case as the equipment could always be upgraded. Some cinemas were still using the basic projector that had been installed in the 1920s or 1930s and that's because sound, reel extenders, lamp housings and lenses could all be changed while 35mm film was the standard. Today many cinemas have to purchase secondhand video projection equipment and run that until they need to buy a replacement secondhand video projector. Many cinemas have early 2K video projectors and they're basically a load of rubbish. To see a video at a cinema really requires checking out the equipment they use now but even in the London premiere houses video is not up to the standard of the premiere master 35mm prints we used to enjoy. Combine that with the fact that experienced projection staff are largely a thing of the past and you have a recipe for disaster. BUT you won't have any problems if you go to the BFI IMAX (other than 2K video perhaps sometimes being passed off for IMAX!), the Odeon Leicester Square and the Empire Leicester Square. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Hi John, thanks for the reply. Yes, big screens are great. You have a great setup and I can see why you would prefer it :) My dad has an Epson projector in the living room and he created his own screen and painted it. That's around 90 to 100inch and I love watching films on that so got my own cinema also :) But in the bedroom I just love my OLED, the quality of those perfect blacks, color and viewing angles is outstanding. I like switching between them depending on the films I watch. :) Keep up the great work and take care. :)
@@foxyfoxtrot4233 Yeah, I mean OLED will always win for dark scenes. The fact pixels turn off and no led lights in the back of the oled tvs makes it superior. I cannot wait to see THE BATMAN on OLED in a few months foxy :)
I made that very video shortly after this one because I was aware it was a little unfair to include movies shot on video in the same class as those shot on film. John.
Many have asked me for that one but I struggle to think of a list. I think the problem is that I have all my favourite films on Super 8 and for me nothing will ever replace them on that format. Many apparently want The Abyss on 4K but I have a beautiful 'Scope Super 8 print so that's about as good as it gets even if the 4K will undoubtedly look better. John.
That’s a very nice 4K collection. Unfortunately I do not have the upgraded equipment for 4K but do have two 4K discs from which in my opinion “Valerian” is the best looking one.
Great list and a few to add to the collection! DUNKIRK has been a demo for me when showing friends and family the beauty and detail of 4k/IMAX in the comfort of your own home. Nolan is a real talent. Keep up the good work!
Those sequences with the Spitfires in Dunkirk are fabulous. I feel like I'm up there flying with them. A great disc and a great film... but it looked and sounded even better at the BFI IMAX. John.
@@philbxr By the way, the extract I saw in the BFI IMAX went off just before the bomb from the Stuka hit the ground which was just as well otherwise I may not have lived to tell the tale!
Some of my favorite 4K discs are films that had poor or mediocre Blu-ray transfers, just because the upgrade is so huge. Examples off the top of my head are Predator, The Matrix (the Blu-ray was recolored with a heavy green tint and looked more like video), and Arrow’s excellent release of Tremors.
@@tsloan2100 oh yeah it’s amazing and very filmic. Predator 2 as well. The exact opposite of the last Blu-ray release, which I’m pretty sure qualifies as the worst transfer of all time, with laughably heavy noise reduction to the point where it practically looked like a Pixar remake.
Predator was issued on Super 8 in about 1991 and it was one of the best ever Super 8 prints. I'm amazed that it was messed up for Blu-ray release for that reason because if anyone had have asked me about it for a 4K release I'd have confidently predicted that it would look excellent. However, it was a 35mm shoot so it was never going to be up there with the best offered by 65mm shoots for 70mm release. I still have the Super 8 print by the way and it still looks fantastic. John.
That's because I don't have it Matt. It was a 65mm shoot so I think all of us will now know that it's going to look terrific and among the best available. John.
@@mattmardigan If the steelbook is not one of those exclusives from Zavvi and I can get it from HMV then I may just go for it. Thank you for letting me know. I'd like to get the steelbook for Death on the Nile but yet again it's only available from Zavvi. Oh well, you can't win 'em all. John.
I recieved my 4K copy of Suspiria released by Synapse Films. It is by far the cleanest, sharpest and richest colored 4K i have yet watched. I highly recommend for you to get it if you haven't yet!
I keep forgetting to see if I can get hold of a copy of Suspiria Pedro. I'm pretty sure it was a 35mm shoot so it may be up there with the likes of Jaws but unless something was done that I don't know about it isn't going to match the 70mm films. I don't think I've seen Suspiria since I was a child... sounds nuts really but my brother and I used to watch every horror film that was around. Even had The Exorcist on Super 8 which we showed to all our school friends. Biggest success we ever had for a film show with our school friends was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I think I'm living proof that video nasties don't turn you into a psychopath! John.
I agree. I had to shell out close to £40 for it but worth every penny. I've never seen it look (or sound) better than the Synapse release. An essential purchase.
This isn't exactly super relevant to this particular video, but I thought it the least obtrusive. I was sifting through and picking a movie from every year with a very nice 4K transfer to keep. Figured I'd get your take. Weighing in film quality and visuals, would you rather recommend Dunkirk or Murder on the Orient Express for the 2017 pick? I'm having a tough time deciding.
That's difficult Kolton and both have arguments in their favour. Orient Express is the best image quality on 4K disc but I would probably struggle if I'd seen them both at a cinema, particularly when you consider Dunkirk is genuine IMAX and the extract I saw of that at the BFI IMAX was one of the most memorable things I've ever seen in a cinema. Given we're talking 4K discs here though, Murder on the Orient Express just has the edge. If in any doubt, take a look at the wailing wall sequence near the beginning and in particular, where the elevated camera is looking down on the crowd. There you will see distant faces that are still pin sharp. I've not seen definition on video like that ever before. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thank you. Your input is much appreciated! Also I love how even with approaching 21K subscribers, you make time for so many comments and interact with your audience. It's very cool.
I had the same fault on a brand new disc last weekend Stephen - Plane. So that's going back this time. Usually the fault is apparent after the laser has heated the poor surface of the disc around a layer change at least once but this time the problem was already there. That's five knackered 4K discs that I've found now but I would expect more to be hiding away as i go for years between repeat screenings. John.
That would be interesting Jeff. The trouble is I have most of the best films of the last century on Super 8 so probably won't see too many of them on 4K. It's been great to be able to watch them on a big screen over the past 50 years though. John.
I think it may be one of the greatest films ever made David but it does require seeing it in genuine IMAX to fully appreciate why I'm thinking along those lines. John.
Good afternoon John, I've just picked up The Godfather Trilogy from HMV. I cant wait to spin these up in 4K, starting with The Godfather and a beer tonight.
I hope they're all as good as Apocalypse Now was for image quality. I think it probably helped everyone having Coppola so involved with that one so the Godfather fims should be pretty darned good as I think he was just as involved with those. John.
I watched The Godfather last night and have to say it looked fantastic over all. Dolby Vision looked spot on here bringing a lot of pop to the picture. Inky blacks and you can almost feel the heat in the hills of Sicily. When Micheal and his guards sit down at the little bar for drink, it always makes smile. My wife took a picture of me sat in that very spot on holiday a few years ago.
@@LeShark75 Many people mention the black levels on OLED televisions but I don't think we ever really achieved that black on film without the Technicolor dye-transfer process. It may be the television not using pixels where the colour is considered to be totally black and that gives the extremely black richness to it. I had a quick look at my Godfather LaserDiscs this morning. They're not the best gatefolds ever created but they're nice to have even if I never spin the discs. Maybe I'll do that sometime soon. Might actually watch them on our television as that may prove to be more suitable for LaserDisc these days. John.
@@moviecollector5920 John, I've not spun a Laser Disc for years. I'll never forget hearing an AC-3 soundtrack in my own home for the first time, Return Of The Jedi, Golden Eye and Tomorrow Never Dies on NTSC Laser Disc. Epic times.
The Godfather movies are great films, I just didn't enjoy them the one time I ever watched them. The upshot is that I doubt I'll be getting that new 4K set Andy. Well, not any time soon anyway. John.
We're using another video projector since this video and because all equipment is different - and that's the case between our two 4K video projectors - TENET is the better image quality on the newer projector and so would take first place from Murder on the Orient Express. John.
Hello, I've just discovered your channel with this video and you seem to be someone both passionate and with many knowledges on what you're talking about, so I'll probably take a look on your other videos later. Now, if I may suggest a nice looking 4k blu-ray, other than the ones you've talked about or the ones I've seen many times in the comments, I would say that Basic Instinct is worth a look. Greetings from Belgium.
Greetings from England and good to have you hear. We actually watched the 4K of Basic Instinct a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't seen it other than a television broadcast previously so I didn't see a premiere master print of it on 35mm which is a shame because I'm sure I'd have remembered if it looked the same as this 4K. The grading is a little odd so if you take another look see what you think of the skin tones because they look sort of brown which I haven't seen on any other disc that I can recall. It's sharp as tack though and that's the main thing so a very good 35mm transfer. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Well, I've no point of comparison myself because I had never seen this film before buying the 4k blu-ray but I think I understand what you mean. The colors are very warm so the skin colors look more "brownish". I'm no expert in color grading but I think that the've done that to have a warmer look overal. I mean, the weather is sunny and this color grading makes you understand that it's quite warm where the story takes place (maybee even stuffy) --> if the skin colors were too pale / cold, it would probably have looked weird in comparison with the overal picture. Anyway, thanks for your answer and see you next time.
Funny how a good number of films on your list I haven't seen, just as in your description they don't appeal to me, but just curious is this top 10 list based on 4K transfers alone, or both with as your fave movies as well? I saw Murder on the Orient Express and really didn't care much for it. Much prefer the Albert Finney version and would love to see a remastered 4K of it. Similarly, LOVED Death on the Nile with Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury and others. This new version was good, just not as good as the original. Just don't see Branagh as Poirot. Don't know what it is, but just find him in the role a bit annoying. But hey, if we all liked the same things and agreed all the time, this world would be pretty boring. ;) Thanks for your review and picks, always good to watch. P.S. the one movie I hope will get a 4K treatment is Cleopatra with Liz Taylor. The 50th anniversary edition was incredible so it has to be close to getting the 4K treatment.
Cleopatra nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox so although it's not got the greatest film reputation in history it surely has to get a 4K release. Put me down for that one. I based the list on image quality alone but Tenet and Dunkirk may be interchangeable at number 2 and 3 so I put Tenet there largely on a hunch because I really like how that film made me think and think and think to try to work it all out. If I were to work out a top ten next week the same films would be listed but in a slightly different order perhaps. I did manage to overlook 'No Time To Die' which was probably number 6 but you can't win 'em all. I somehow glossed over it on the shelf so sorry about that. As for the 1978 Death on the Nile, that is one of my all-time favourite films. I didn't care anywhere as near as much for the Albert Finney 'Murder on the Orient Express' but I do very much like it. Peter Ustinov is the best ever Hercule Poirot but I also like Kenneth Branagh. That could be the main problem you have with his two films because if you don't appreciate him in the role I can imagine it would rather spoil the films. I never got into the television series which I found a little dull but that may have a bearing too because a lot of people can't see anyone but Mr. Suchet in the lead role as a result. Let's see how good the 4K disc of Death on the Nile is. I don't think it will come up to Orient Express standards but I'll happily be wrong on that one. John.
I have Spartacus The Dark Knight (don’t have Dark Knight Roses yet) and Orient Express and the picture quality on all of those really is exceptional. The IMAX scenes in Dark Knight are stunning, so I might seek out Dunkirk next. Tenet for me is just such an impenetrable movie I cannot face watching it again!
Tenet takes some working out Darth but I've grown to really like films that make me think. I don't think I've ever had to think so hard about a film as Tenet but fortunately I worked it all out and incorporated it in my review video so if you do ever dare to sit through it again, have a look at my video first and then it just might all make a bit of sense. John.
Thank you Mark. The problem with 2001 is the most extreme I've come across so far and I can only get through it if I skip two chapters ahead before the fault appears otherwise it's a complete lock-up. Still, the disc will make a nice beer mat! John.
@@robertt9342 I think it's developed the errors on the menu too now so it's a silver layer deterioration by the look of it. This was known as 'laser rot' on LaserDiscs but they would keep playing, just with a load of interference like imagery until the damaged area was passed. I've come across five 4K discs with this issue now and one that had the fault from new. I've replaced three of them but another I purchased a replacement for had the same error in almost the same location, just a couple of minutes sooner. John.
There are some excellent video cameras Rhu. I have a couple that provide the most beautiful imagery myself but they're not particularly cheap and those that are used for cinema productions cost tens of thousands more. I had an email recently from the firm who supply my own equipment as they were selling off some prime lenses cheaply and I think they started at £60K. Needless to say I didn't take up their kind offer! Film simply has a more natural look than video but even when a film has been transferred and is then video projected in a cinema it changes how it really looks. I haven't been to a cinema to see a video for many years now and only go when I know a film print is being screened. However, I find that I'm able to make video look like film when I video project at home so I suspect a lot of the problem is down to how bright modern video projectors are and without experienced projectionists to operate the equipment the video being projected is not being done full justice. Even at the Odeon for 'Death on the Nile' last month the video projections of the trailers prior to the film looked pretty awful - variable but generally bloody awful and they have experienced projectionists. John.
There are so many great UHD Disks. One of my favorite is "Joker". It's a masterpiece of a movie anyway, but the full frame imager Alexa Mini LF 4.4k Raw master, really does make a beautiful image with shallow depth of field. The UHD BluRay looks outstanding. Part of the problem with movies like Jaws, is that they've added so much noise reduction, it smears the image a bit. It looked like that in the theater for the 4k re-release AND on the UHD BluRay. I wouldn't even put that on a list because even though I love the movie and the transfer isn't bad, the de-grain was too much. Another "contender" for top UHD disk is the remaster of Vertigo. It's simply outstanding. Full photochemical finish on that one, with a beautiful transfer. Having seen the 70mm print several times, the UHD BluRay really does hold up. I haven't watched the other Hitchcock films on UHD yet, I have some of them, need to sit and watch, but Vertigo just stood out as a real gem. Anyway, keep up the great videos!
Vertigo is VistaVision so it's no surprise that so many people tell me it's an outstanding 4K disc. If the Hitchcock set wasn't so expensive then I'd have seen it by now. But I'm not the biggest fan of Hitchcock's films so that set hasn't quite tempted me enough yet. Make sure you've got all the digital 'enhancements' switched off or minimized on your system as that could be what is giving you the waxy look to some films. Jaws doesn't have those looks on my main system but the film grain is certainly visible so it's another example of all our systems being different. Scanning a film does exacerbate film grain though so it's highly likely some transfers have to go through a bit of computer editing software jiggery pokery to make them look a little less coarse at times. Many people report that the Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the worst offender for this but others report they don't get the waxy look at all. It seems to be down to different systems and how the computer information coming off the disc is interpreted by those systems. 'Sharpen' on the 4K players is the worst offender and I always advise that that is put onto the lowest setting of off altogether if possible. John.
Many have cited the Blade Runner sequel Ghetti but it actually looked rather drab on both my systems but perhaps you have Dolby Vision and that's pulling more out of it. Denis Villeneuve films tend to look a little colourless so it's may be just the look he likes. By contrast, the original Blade Runner looks fabulous just not up to the standard of the 70mm films but that's no surprise. One I missed which probably would have been in the top ten is the recent James Bond 'No Time To Die'. Another film with a lot of 70mm in it. John.
@@yeaboy707 Leon is an excellent film. I saw it at The Empire upon first release and have had it on Blu-ray for many years. It was a 35mm shoot so as good as it looks it won't come up to 65mm and genuine IMAX standards. A lot of the 1990s 35mm productions look fantastic and that's because as far as I'm concerned it's when picture quality at the cinema peaked. The downturn started late 90s and was really set on its way with the Star Wars Attack of the Clones video which foisted video projection on the Odeon Leicester Square. To this day that is the worst image quality I have ever seen in a cinema. John.
Part of the fun in collecting 4K for is seeing how good older films look.
Hear hear Steve! John.
THANK YOU John, you are a TH-cam movie buff's dream. Insightful, knowledgeable and always entertaining. Long may your channel grow! Michael - SA
You're a TH-cam movie buffs ideal subscriber Michael. Long may we communicate on this channel. John
100% agree - Thank you John for sharing your insights.
Perfect timing. I just bought an OLED TV because your channel revitalised my interest in film.
My next purchase was going to be a 4K Blu-ray player, so I'm very pleased to see this list, thank you.
Thank you Irochfort and enjoy your new telly. Next purchase after a 4K player will have to be a 4K projector!!! John.
Same here, hope next month to get a player and revisit my interest in film.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks, John. I'll be sure to tell my girlfriend you said so!
@@mikefisher2673 There's nothing like being able to go to look at a film collection on your own shelves Mike. There is always something to watch and you don't have to mess around with a computer or a smart TV to find it - just pick the disc out and stick it in the player. I hope you get back into it and it gives you many years of enjoyment. John.
@@moviecollector5920 so true, went from dvd to blu ray was a whole new experience. Watching the Pacific on my system years ago on 5.1, compared to the horrible TV sound made appreciate movies again. Following your show and others listening which disc have the better standards is really helpful.
Thanks again, John. I love rewatching your videos. Your enthusiasm for film is infectious and your knowledge and delivery makes them so rewatchable. 👌
I find I'm enjoying films more and more as the years go on Matt. I suppose we're able to have bigger home collections for far less money now and that's probably why.
John.
I’d say Leon is one of the best looking 4ks I’ve seen. The street scenes look incredible. So much detail and colour is fantastic. It’s like a visual time capsule of what a part of New York looked like in the mid 90s.
I haven't seen it on 4K disc Ultrawide but it should look good as it was 35mm. That does mean it won't be as good as the 70mm releases though but maybe someone needs to compare it against the 4K of Jaws to see if it's knocked it off the top spot! John.
Leon is definitely a stunning disc, but Jaws knocks it's socks off.
@@colinbooth531 I think the 5.6K transfer of Jaws may be a part of the reason why it turned out so well. 4K never did seem to be quite enough for full frame 35mm negative stock given that the estimate of what was required per frame in the 1990s was 90mb. Try projecting that sort of data size uncompressed. No chance! John.
@@moviecollector5920 I'm streaming through net but I would have to research what's top DVD 4k player and the other important thing of having a genuine 4k leader to connect the player to the tv.
@@deputyvanhalen6386 Poundland used to sell HDMI leads that handled 4K and yes, they were £1 each. In terms of best 4K players many commenters on this channel have cited the top of the line Panasonic's because they have programmable HDR output and that has turned out to be an important factor because some 4K HDR mastering has not been entirely consistent. Most Panasonic models have basic HDR tuning but the top models are the ones to look at to ensure you can get the best out of the discs.
John.
You are an exemplar of dedication to a favorite craft, an encyclopedia of cinematography! ) The way you explain all the intricate details is very captivating and interesting! It makes me want to major in this art/engineering! Thank you kindly! Wonderful video!
Thanks Dmitri. Hope you and the family are doing well over there. By the way, I didn't realize I was going into detail - I just sat down, looked at the first film in the pile and thought "What am i going to say about this one?" Then it all just seemed to flow out. John.
Disc rot used to concern me when it came to CDs. I probably have around 500, and have only had a very occasional one which wouldn't play at all. Usually it is damage to the disc that allows the reflective part to start oxidizing. I think there are anti-oxidizing elements these days, but a scratched disc is a scratched disc. It used to worry me a lot, but why waste any sleep over it? Great reviews, many thanks!
A few faulty discs isn't the end of the world Lee but it is a little annoying when you're enjoying a film and the damned this locks up. My theory (which may be complete tosh) is that the reflective layer has been faulty from manufacture and the heat from the laser has finished off the faulty sections leading to image break up and lock up. The data the laser is trying to read on a 4K must be so tiny that any problem is exacerbated unlike with previous formats which weren't so miniscule on the disc. If I ever get to the bottom of the problem, I'll report in a future video.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 In reading many reviews of UHD 4K Blu-ray players, as well as comments about the experiences other film enthusiasts have had with various players, saw a number of mentions made about the mid-priced Panasonic UB-820 player, being one of the few on the market that simply avoids 1 type of freeze up that seems to occur with many players when trying to cope with a 3rd layer on 4K discs, that's ONLY found on very LONG movies that exceed running times of about 2.5-3 hrs, or LONGER. Anyway, in using the UB-820 in the year since acquiring it, in March 2021, I've yet to have any 4K Blu-ray freeze up. Hope this info may be helpful to some of my fellow home theater enthusiasts. And Movie Collector, thank you SO MUCH for the terrific info that you provide for us fellow film fans with your fascinating videos! I greatly appreciate all of your efforts!
@@mrb0775 Thank you Mike. That's just the sort of information I'll need to tell fellow enthusiasts in the future if they don't see your post here. I don't suppose it's a third layer problem on 2001 as it's about an hour into the movie. I think the other two discs around about 30 minutes to 45 minutes in and one of them is only about 90 minutes long (Apollo 11). John.
@@moviecollector5920 John, I much appreciate you having taken the time to provide your kind reply. And you're more than welcome as I could only hope to be able to supply a tiny fraction of the very useful info that you regularly share with all of us who visit your channel. As a now retired guy, I'm really looking forward to enjoying hours of learning about cinema and the 4K medium (and even picking up tidbits about 1080p Blu-ray) thanks to the insights & experience of a film and cinema professional, such as yourself. You & yours stay safe during these extraordinary times in which we all live. Mike.
@@mrb0775 Ho ho. We actually decided to contract Omicron Covid-19 recently as it seems to be the only way to get decent long term immunity. We had to get it when we did as the stories of waning immunity from the vaccines were a little concerning and the longer we left it the greater the risk of serious illness. We only had a couple of days of feeling ill and about 10 to 14 days feeling fatigued; that was all that Omicron did for us. If the Hong Kong evidence was anything to go byIt seems to be more serious for the unvaccinated or previously uninfected though. I can't recommend what is right for anyone else but my thinking was - and is - that the only way we can avoid more problems in the future is to get as many of us younger people exposed as possible (and therefore hopefully immune) to protect those who are most at risk.
John.
Django 4K UHD is still the best looking 4K transfer on the format in my opinion. I'm not sure if you're judging it by transfer quality or just how movies look. But Django is superb.
Just judging by how good the image looks. If you're talking about the 1966 film Django then that one was 35mm. Some of them do look pretty terrific but I haven't seen any so far that compare with anything shot 65mm or genuine IMAX. Happy to be proved wrong at any time though.
John.
I honestly fast-forwarded through the last 2/3 of the movie -- it's was just so boring, I couldn't take it anymore.
@@hxhdfjifzirstc894 Ah, the tiktok fast band furious generation
@@hxhdfjifzirstc894 go away.
@@BlurayBinge We all have differing opinions Lee and sometimes I find that even if I've really wound someone up by saying that I think a particular film is great and that someone hates it, a quick conversation in the comments and we discover that there are other films we both love. Debate and conversation is vital in all subjects methinks. John.
When the UCI cinemas opened in Whiteley's new shopping centre . It was UCIs first multiplex in London. By UCIs standards the screens were quite small due to hight restraints. I remember opening with one of the Bond films. Because royalty came to the premier, we had a master print for screen 1 and standard prints in all the other screens. It's not often many people get to do a direct comparison. When going round the screens doing final checks, I really thought we had some issues with lens. The difference in detail and general picture quality hit you like a brick. I was amazed how poor the standard print picture quality really was.
A similar, but different experience happened when at Manchester's Printworks multiplex with its huge screens and large auditoriums. We had the largest screen showing Toy Story with the first showing in video of the new very large and expensive Texas Instruments projector. Five other screens were showing standard 35mm prints. Again, the same story, the 4K video looked stunning, the 35mm prints looked soft focus, lacked detail. The word soon got around and people would only want to watch the 4K version. Once again, I was amazed how poor the 35mm prints were. Not an issue if you ONLY watched the 35mm copies
Sorry, this has (almost) nothing to do with your review, just thought you might be interested.
That's really interesting Michael, particularly about the premiere print for the Bond film. One thing to bear in mind with video projection against film is that video projection is consistently brighter. I think that is why it looks so harsh to me and yet here at home I'm able to make video projection look like film. Death on the Nile in 70mm was a little disappointing as it was a 4K video used to create a 65mm negative (clearly nowhere near enough resolution to capture 65mm) but the film did still present the colour range and density of film. It wasn't as bright as the video projection of the trailers just before it but it was a relief for the eyes to take in something that looked so natural.
John.
Nice, i think i may have to get the 6 disc package of Apocalypse Now , its available on Amazon. I watched it 20 years ago and held off as of late for the 4k. Also i definitely must get the Ten Commandments. It sells fast. Thx again John.
Apocalypse Now is one of my favourite 4K discs. It's not quite the best you'll see owing to it being a 35mm shoot but The Ten Commandments is up there with the best. It has optical effects shots where the downgrade in quality is usually obvious but it's fabulous to be able to see it in such quality and with the vivid Technicolor never having looked quite so good. There is a steelbook of the 4K for that one and I was tempted when it suddenly appeared even though I had the normal release already.
John.
Great 10 Top, yes I knew what your #1 would be and you were 100% correct. I learned from all your individual reviews of the movies you listed here.
Own all of your Top 10, except for "My Fair Lady". Bought it on DVD 20 years ago and I really need to upgrade it to 4K.
As we have all said before, thanks for you videos, they have helped us understand and enjoy the movies even more then we have before. And, there have been a few movies I have bought because of your recommendations...yet to be disappointed.
Have a good day.
Thank you Bob. Musicals aren't really my thing but I do make the occasional exception and My Fair Lady is one of them. I also made an exception for Grease because few people thought it was among the best 4K disc they'd seen but it's not quite that good. A lot of out of focus scenes from the original shoot don't exactly help it but that's nothing to do with the cine to video transfer. John.
Rewatched this video. Note that I am not a particular car racing fan and never watch any Formula1 racing on tv, BUT.... Le mans '66 is an absolute stunning good film and has exceptional Atmos audio on the 4k disc. It surprised me taht i could enjoy a car racing film this much. Also , TENET is indeed an amazing film. I saw it in the cinema inbetween covid lockdown periods.
I did not see it in IMAX but on a very large screen with good audio. Stunning. I bought the 4k disc immediately when it came out in NL (holland / The Netherlands) where i live, and watched it the same day. I might rewatch one of these days . One of my favourites of director Christopher Nolan's films.
I am very much hoping for a good quality 4k release of James Cameron's ALIENS (1986) in 2024 so maybe next list video, it could be on your list.... IF Mr. Cameron eases up on the DNR he plops onty some of his classic 4k releases. Aliens is still my no 1 fav film ever.
Thank you John, for your always insightful and well informed and calmly and clearly spoken (what a joy!) videos. (Some other bluray reviewers on YT tend to wear you out after a while with a over-excited , sensationalyzed way of presenting reviews)
Regards. Roland.
Evening Roland. I have Aliens on Super 8 and it's a pretty grainy film, but I did see the 70mm blow-up at the Odeon Leicester Square three times and I don't recall the image quality being very like the Super 8 prints (I have two of them). That's possibly a good sign that the forthcoming home video version will be rather good but probably best not to expect too much. With regard to Le Mans '66 a good film is a good film. Ken Miles's story is wonderful so combine that with Carroll Shelby and the Ford GT40 programme and it was a recipe for success on screen. TENET is a great film but it was always going to bamboozle most people and therefore be written off on that basis. I enjoy a challenge though and with image quality like the 4K I simply had to work it all out. To see something looking that good on home video suggested the 15/70 negative was almost unlike anything we'd ever enjoyed before and now having seen one of the 15/70 prints I can confirm that it was. One day it will get the credit it deserves.
To excuse other TH-camrs who do home movie reviews it can be difficult to sit in front of camera and create something that some people around the world whom you have never met will see. Most haven't done anything like it before so the whole thing can be a little daunting or overwhelming and so the defence for this is to become someone else while the camera is on. I don't feel the need to put a disguise but I can understand why some others do.
John.
The Red Shoes (Criterion) is another essential 4K title with stunning picture quality.
That one was a Technicolor tour de force Ian. I only ever saw a reel of it many years ago but that looked fabulous too so I can imagine how good the 4K disc release looks. Just not a film I can get into for whatever reason.
John.
@JamieNelsonsPool I think I only ever saw an extract from The Red Shoes and that really turned me off wanting to see it. I need to try again one day. John.
Thanks John - really interesting. I do have Jaws in 4K in my iTunes collection and (before for some odd reason it stopped playing in 4K and only in standard def - prompting me to buy the 4k BR - I was really blown away. All the others I have in 4k in iTunes and they all look better than previous BR discs
The bit rate should be lower than a Blu-ray so assuming that's the case then there is something else going on. Many see a brighter image and consider it better and you only have to listen to what reviewers say all the time when reviewing tellies and projectors because they're obsessed with a bright image. I find myself reining my video projector in all the time because it's often too bright to the detriment of the image as a result. 4K discs are more like film and therefore tend to be darker so that's a big thing in their favour over a standard Blu-ray. Jaws is probably still the best 35mm video transfer I've seen. The 5.6K transfer seems to have been closer to the mark.
John.
this was 11 months ago. new list coming? 😉 enjoy your channel a lot. thanks for the insights
I missed out the James Bond film 'No Time To Die' which probably would have featured somewhere. Apart from that there have been a couple of other potentials which are 'NOPE' and TOP GUN: Maverick but I'd have to take a very close look at them to compare them to all the other greats. John.
Discovered your channel a while back and was happy that you went into detail with all the films you discuss. Love movies shot on film but i also have an appreciation for good looking films shot on digital. I've just started discussing physical media, and while i don't have the equipment to review the quality as in-depth, i hope to grow to your level of expertise.
I'll have to keep an eye on what you upload so drop me a comment each time with a direct link so can't possibly miss it. You'll find that I rarely refer to anything as 'digital' because I've always considered that to be the wrong word. Digital is a way to make 'binary' sound like it's something special but also used to make us all think that something shot on video is not video to disguise that it's not film. I have professional video cameras but there's no way I'd ever tell anyone I was shooting on digital because that's pretty much what we all do now. John.
Finally, got a copy of Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. Both of these are just amazing and are definitely demo worthy to show someone what 4K is all about. Gorgeous, just gorgeous.
Funnily enough, I had both of them on a few days ago as part of a comparison to the new 4K of OPPENHEIMER for my latest video. Glad you like them. John.
John, what a fun list. I have them all in my collection and it's hard to disagree with any of your choices. Murder on the Orient Express is the reference disc in my collection and sits at number one here as well. I'm intrigued that you've approached your recommendations from a purely visual perspective. I'd add Vertigo (VistaVision), Alita: Battle Angel, Bladerunner, Bladerunner 2049, Spider-Man into the Spider-Verse, Ma Max Fury Road and Mission Impossible (most recent movie). All that said, the Vistavisions and 65mm sources seem to make the best 4Ks. One note of frustration for me is that I missed the original Columbia set and cannot find Lawrence of Arabia on 4K.
Evening Rob. Fear not for Lawrence of Arabia is coming out as an individual release on 4K soon. I'd prefer a 70mm print but I guess I'll have to wait a while longer for that!
Blade Runner is a fabulous disc but I found the sequel a little drab so I think the image for that one may be optimized for Dolby Vision rather than standard HDR. I don't have Vertigo but one day I'll get that one. VistaVision is a big incentive when it comes to these 4K releases as is 65mm. Having said that, any film made on 35mm today should look better than most because video often just doesn't cut it... unless it's Le Mans '66!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 LOA would be a must buy for me. I'll never forget seeing it in 70/65mm years ago. I really need to add Lemans to my collection. Thanks Jon, best to your seamstress 😊
I just wanted to say this is the first video from your channel I’ve seen so far and you did a wonderful job. I’ll definitely leave a follow and wish you the best:)
Thank you Cheffchen. I do put quite a lot of time into each upload. John.
This is the video I'm most excited for. Great list John and thanks to you I now have several in my collection. Still a couple more I'd like to add also.
NiceGuyAidey just reminded me how good No Time To Die is too which I had completely forgotten about so if you don't have that one, there's another one for the list! Whatever you do and whichever titles you end up purchasing Darren I hope you have a great time with them. There's nothing quite like having a great movie in great quality to watch in the home. John.
@@moviecollector5920 No time to die is a purchase that will be done soon for me. I'd rather get it at HMV when it's in a deal which I'm sure it will be soon. I know it's cheaper at Amazon but like you I want to support the high street shops. You're 100% right. Nothing compares to watching something on a big screen. Mines only 100" so doesn't compare to a cinema but still not bad. Maybe one day soon I'll be able to go even bigger
@@Darrenlovesmovies This evening I think we're going to be sticking an old DVD on. I don't think it's going to come up to the standard of the best 4K discs but it's still really enjoyable to watch a favourite film on a big(ish) screen even if the image quality isn't quite the best. John.
@@moviecollector5920 enjoy John 😊
A great list, in my opinion. Fully agree with your number 1 pick, it is proof that photochemical film can still be of top-tier quality in the twenty-first century.
I haven't seen every 4K disc Boss but nothing I've seen so far comes up to the standard of the 70mm films transferred to video so if confirmation were needed that film is still the king then I think 70mm is it. John.
I really enjoy your content. Please keep on, thanks!
Will do Federico and thank you. John.
Great video as always John. I love a top ten. Jaws has always been a favourite of mine and I think it looks amazing for such an old film.
Theres a deal on Amazon UK at the moment on 2001 in 4K. Its currently £13.99 which is pretty cheap for such a great transfer
Cor, £13.99 is a bargain. I always try to avoid Amazon for everything though and I have paid quite a lot more from alternative shops and suppliers just to avoid them. Well, Amazon are killing our high streets after all. But with this one, I may just succumb! John.
@@moviecollector5920 Sorry John, only just saw your reply. I only buy off Amazon when I cant get it in HMV to be fair. They always have some great deals especially the 3 for 30 they did recently. I managed to pick up Le Mans 66 in the deal. Was the first time I had seen it and thought it was a great film.
I did however use amazon for the new Robocop special edition as they offered me a £10 voucher so got it for 25. Brilliant package all round and looks great in 4k. Sharp picture and a nice amount of grain
@@chrissyboy7047 I nearly purchased 2001 in HMV a few days ago as they had it on offer too - I think it was £15. Funnily enough I'm preparing for my next video and it will be the 4K of Robocop which I bought in HMV on the same visit. I've watched both versions of the film and almost all of the extras, plus I've read the book which is a really interesting read. I need to give one of the discs another spin because at no time did I select the Dolby Atmos audio to check that one was okay because the 4.0 and 5.1 are not exactly top-notch. The best sound of the three I've checked so far is the Dolby Stereo/ProLogic track which is worth a try if you run it again. The dialogue was getting drowned out a little too much in places (a common problem with modern movies) but the Dolby Stereo tracks put the dialogue back to the correct level and still gave very effective surround sound. I think some miss the fact that the volume usually requires turning up a little for the Dolby Stereo tracks to get everything back to where is tends to be with Dolby Digital and as a result we've forgotten how good those matrixed surround soundtracks really were.
Today I'll be looking at Robocop on Super 8 to see how it matches up to the new 4K and them perhaps tomorrow I can get on with recording the video. Stand by!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thats brilliant timing John. I really enjoyed it again. Ive only watched the directors cut and will be watching the theatrical version so I'll give the stereo soundtrack a go. Have you seen Oliver Harpers retrospective review? Its really interesting and he goes into detail about the soundtrack. Apparently it was remastered at a later date and the music was enhanced so it drowns out the sfx. The drug den shoot out being a prime example.
I watched it originally with the Atmos soundtrack and whilst it was good, it wasnt amazing. Overall Im pleased with it. Havent read the book fully yet but its a very nice little thing
@@chrissyboy7047 Well I've just been going through quite a few things on Robocop again and the Dolby Stereo tracks are better than the Dolby Atmos. I don't have an Atmos decoder but it splits down into 5.1 and assuming it's similar on most systems out there it rather makes sense why the '2.0' soundtrack is left as the default because it's the best. Just turn it up a few notches to match the level of the other soundtracks. Surround sound seemed a little better too but I may have been imagining that.
I did watch a few Oliver Harper videos a while back but I didn't get on particularly well with them. I'll have to try him again sometime.
Before this evening's movie I want to have a look at the Director's disc again to make sure there is a little image degradation in the added sequences. I was enjoying the film too much and they're mainly such quick cuts that I didn't really take it in. Interestingly the extra on the theatrical disc 'Robocop: Edited For Television' has a much nicer look that the 4K versions of the film. These sequences were from 35mm prints prepared for television and the colour is more natural rather than the more colourless look of the theatrical version. Mabye the Arrow Blu-ray release of Robocop will look the same as these 35mm for television graded sequences, but I doubt it.
John.
Glad you've compiled a Top 10, John - it makes it so much easier for me to check off the discs in my own collection - all bar two at this juncture which is quite nice! I can't tell you how excited I am to get my hands on "The Godfather" set tomorrow - hope you find your way to making a review for that one! Sorry to hear you're having issues with some of the 4K blu-rays in your collection but I can't imagine that the dreaded disc rot is the culprit - I've seen it happen to older CD's and the occasional DVD but never to a blu-ray. 4K discs have (unfortunately) been unusually susceptible to manufacturing faults so I suspect that you've just been a touch unlucky in that regard. All the best. Dan.
Thanks Dan. I don't particularly care for the Godfather films but I do have the first two films on LaserDisc. As for the disc rot theory I mooted, I hope I'm wrong but these discs only seem to go faulty after they've been played which suggests to me that the laser is doing something and the disc's reflective surface is breaking down. All three of the discs so far found to have developed the fault have displayed it in exactly the same place on both my players. It's a bit concerning but when you can get a replacement for a tenner it's certainly not the biggest problem in the world.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 That's interesting - Keith from Euphoria said the same thing about "The Godfather" set! The only issue I've encountered with my 4K collection up to now has been a bizarre compatibility bug whereby a particular disc ("The Shining" was one) won't play on my main downstairs player but will spin just fine on my upstairs setup - which isn't even a dedicated 4K machine - it's an old Xbox console that I bought on the cheap as a backup. I've never heard of lasers damaging optical discs before, John - should I be worried? Across CD,DVD and Blu-Ray I've got thousands of the bloody things!
@@danhardcastle My theory is that the information on 4K discs is so tiny that the slightest flaw causes a problem. The theory is probably wrong but I think the heat from the laser will enhance any flaw in the disc so it may not be laser rot as we once knew it but I suspect it's delivering the same results. I will keep reporting any problems I find with any 4K discs in the future but not much feedback from others has ever come through to say they are finding the same issues so let's keep hoping it's just bad luck with a few crappy discs here. John.
@@moviecollector5920 I have to think that with the number of outlets and individuals who are out there reviewing physical media that any widespread problem inherent to the format would've been reported by now. Perhaps it's a case for Mulder and Scully - they know a thing or two about mysterious discs!
@@danhardcastle I've been thinking along those lines Dan but if I wasn't doing these videos then I would be leaving the discs on the shelves for five to ten years before watching them again. Maybe most of us are the same. John.
Now I am interested in learning about the different elements of film. Great video!
It's been a wonderful hobby for me Darrin. Take a look a my 'The Super 8 Gauge' video I did about 18 months ago and you'll see how it all started for me. I've never lost my fascination for the moving image but shooting movies on video just doesn't hold the same appeal even though it's how I made a living for about 15 years before Covid-19 came along and pretty much killed my little business overnight. John.
Excellent channel and video! The 4K movies that I enjoy most are:
Top 10 Shot on film: Jaws, Alien, The Shining, Scarface, Die Hard, Groundhog Day, The Shawshank Redemption, Braveheart, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.
Top 10 Digital: The Avengers, 13 Hours, The Revenant, Sicario, Logan, Dunkirk, 1917 and John Wick trilogy.
Overall top 10: Jaws, The Shining, Scarface, Groundhog Day, The Shawhank Redemption, Braveheart, Black Hawk Down, The Revenant, Sicario and 1917.
That's a darned good list John Rambo. A few of them I haven't actually seen at all let alone on 4K so I must do better in future. Dunkirk was shot on film though - 70mm IMAX film so that's why it looks so good. What a wonderful hobby this love of film is and the best part of all is we can all talk about it with like-minded folk on here. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks for the answer and I'm glad you liked my list! You're right, I missed the point that Dunkirk was filmed in analog format (Nolan is a staunch defender of it). In accordance with everything you say, thanks again for the answer and continue with your channel. PD: It would be great to see a future list of your top 10 or top 15 best transfers after you have seen some titles pending review.
@@jorgeiramain There are so many great 4K discs that I've already been thinking that a video along the lines of 'Another Ten Best 4K Ultra HD In My Collection' so I'll see if I get the time to find another ten best. Another one people sometimes ask for is my top ten favourite films. I usually reply that I hope I haven't seen them yet but I do have ten to fifteen films that I think are my current favourites so it might be fun to go through them. Cue a lot of Super 8 and LaserDiscs in that one as it would be a good excuse to show previous home movie releases of some great films. John.
@@moviecollector5920 I would love to see part 2 of the top 10 4K transfers (thank God there are so many good ones available). A video with your list of 10 or 15 favorite movies would be great too. In this regard, I have to point out that your answer "I hope I haven't seen them yet" is very clever.
@@jorgeiramain I have to admit that the late film critic Barry Norman gave a similar answer when asked to name his favourite films and that stuck with me so I rather borrowed my answer from him. I hope to get to HMV and CEX today to see if there's anything available that is suitable for a review video but I'll keep the top ten type of videos in mind for when/if there's nothing worthwhile to review. John.
Just found your channel and I wish I found it earlier! Got a lot of videos to go through :D
I've tried to make them all as professional as possible J J so hopefully you'll find a few of interest. Biggest one in terms of views so far is 2001: A Space Odyssey in 4K - Why Does It Look So Good? John.
Grand Prix from 1966 is made for 4k. Someone, please. Shot on 65mm, and imo the best racing movie ever. Great top 10, great video, thank you. My personal favorite 4k disc so far is The Revenant; this movie couldn't have been duplicated on film I bet....so much was shot during dawn and dusk in natural lighting,
I completely agree about Grand Prix. The Blu-ray is pretty fabulous already. How about Ice Station Zebra and How The West Was Won for the 4K wish list too?
I have The Revenant on Blu-ray so haven't invested in the 4K. I didn't realize it wasn't shot on film but haven't watched it for a few years. I'll have to take another look. John.
@@moviecollector5920 How The West Was Won, on yea! Speaking of a film already looking good on Blu Ray, re Grand Prix, I saw Skyfall last night for first time on Blu Ray and thought it fabulous already:) I'm older than you and actually have never seen Ice Station Zebra, lol. I believe it's the film Howard Hughes watched over and over from his Las Vegas high rise apt. as his mental decline accelerated. I should check it out.
@@pete49327 Skyfall is modern 35mm which means it's very fine grain. Anything shot 35mm today should look outstanding for that reason but 35mm is obviously not up to anything shot 65mm or genuine IMAX. As for Ice Station Zebra, it's incredibly sharp but a lot of the film is clearly a studio set which lets it down a bit but because it's as sharp as it is it doesn't seem to matter as much as it should. John.
Amazing list, John! Loved the emphasis on movies shot on film. Great choices all around. I haven't encountered the laser rot issue yet and hope that I don't. Sorry to hear your copy of 2001 has been corrupted by it.
The Blu-ray of 2001 is almost as good Andrew so if I don't snag a copy of 2001 on special offer sometime I'll just have to watch the Blu-ray... or better still, my old Super 8 copy. John.
@@moviecollector5920 I remember your video which highlighted the super 8 version. Must look terrific. I agree, the Blu-ray is very close in quality but the HDR on the UHD is stunning. Best - Andrew
i highly recommend the new west side story from steven spielberg, it was captured on 35mm, and it looks fantastic
I usually can't bear musicals Master Yoda but I will take a look at the trailer and see if I think I will like it. I never saw the original version and that was 65mm if I remember correctly. But this one is from Mr. Spielberg and that gives me an extra push to look into it. Good to know he used film too which should mean it looks better than a video.
John.
i also don't like musicals but this one is filmed and crafted so beatifully. They used giant real set builds, real locations and unlike the movie from the 60s the actors sang by themselves.
And if you love filmic look it's just fantastic to look at.
@@masteryoda268 Well that's a darned fine advert for it Master Yoda.
@@moviecollector5920 And yet you have My Fair Lady on your list. West Side Story I think you'll like, if nothing for the Spielberg touch all over it.
@@davidsal28 HMV have West Side Story in the two for £30 right now so if I happen to visit a store before that offer runs out you never know. But I have My Fair Lady because so many people asked me to look at it and it was always one of my mother's favourites. John.
I really love the look of my Alien 4k disc. I've watched it over and over, and absolutely love the quality.
It compares well to my 35mm print Zero. It's a 35mm shoot though so will never come up to the standard of movies shot on 70mm, VistaVision or any of the other large film formats. I did see a 70mm blow-up print years ago at the Odeon Marble Arch. The screen there was 58 feet wide. John.
@@moviecollector5920 now that must have been an experience!
Very nice, John. For the record (and for those of us on the other side of "the pond"): _Le Mans '66_ was released in the USA under the title _Ford v Ferrari._
And that was because the great 'Le Mans' name doesn't hold the same recognition across the USA where Daytona, Sebring and Indianapolis are the top dogs. Such a shame because Le Mans '66 is such a great title. A great film with a great title... over here at least! But other opinions are available. John.
I was delighted when you said watching Interstellar was like a religious experience. This was my experience as well.
Sadly not many will ever see that masterpiece in genuine IMAX ever again Tom but if I can re-educate the world of the merits of IMAX film (cue maniacal laughter) over projected video in genuine IMAX cinemas then there's just a chance. John.
Great review as always. I am glad to say that I have all these films on 4K - thanks for the heads up about 6 disc Apocalypse now set which I have now ordered from HMV and should get next week.
I now have a 4K projector too and a reasonable size screen - not as big as yours though.
Well done Paul. That six disc Apocalypse Now is one of the best releases ever as far as I'm concerned. I only really like the original version of the film but if you like all three then you have a lot of film to watch and hours upon hours of extras too. It's a film enthusiasts treat. John.
Hi John thank you for what u do! With the pic of the theatres ( here the Pictureville in Bradford) it wets the appetite to watch a film lol. It's fun to agree and disagree, keeps us on our toes for more ideas. These lists are tough either way and will always be challenged hence the fun. I gained some new ideas from this list so will check out The Dark Knight Films and Orient Express. Any talk of Casablanca some day? Just curious if it will find it's way to 4k. Cheers Dave BC!
Greetings Dave. I only finally decided to do this video because nothing much has been coming out worthy of review lately and so many people had asked me to do it. There seems to be quite a bit of agreement on many of the titles in the list which I wasn't really expecting. Gemini Man has been pointed out to me a few times in these comments but I think that's the worst 4K I've seen so that was never likely to make the top ten... it will make the bottom ten though! As for Casablanca, I don't think that will benefit much from a 4K release but you never know if it is ever done it might look spectacular. Black and white has always been sharper than colour on film owing to the silver content of the film stock. John.
@@moviecollector5920 "the silver content of the film stock", very interesting. Just a lover of B@W. Psycho I felt looked pretty darn good. Out of interest in slim pickings for new content I see the Godfather films are now released here. My notifications are turned if you put in a review I'll be excited to read. I imagine a tone of us will almost automatically be adding this collection by default maybe lol. Many regards to you and all over in England. Really enjoy your channel ! Dave. PS. agree on the SOHO poster .. very very sweet! Cheers D in BC
@@davemillage6129 I'd like to be able to say that I am going to review The Godfather films but unfortunately I never got on with them. I have the first two films on LaserDisc but have only ever run them once. Something about gangsters, mafia and the double-crossing murderous violence doesn't appeal to me. I can't imagine why! But I can see that they are great films, they're just no my cup of tea. Don't know what I'll do as a video next but I'll come up with something. Many people have suggested a video of my favourite films and if I did that one cue lots of Super 8 features and LaserDiscs.
John.
Thanks for the list - it's obvious you are a Nolan fan. He really does put all his effort into the technical aspects of his movies, which I really appreciate.
I've only really become a Nolan fan recently Mandeep. Anyone who makes good films consistently is going to be someone I appreciate. Kenneth Branagh and Christopher Nolan are probably at the head of the list as far as I'm concerned right now but Clint Eastwood is still up there too. Ridley Scott and Steven Spielberg too. John.
Thanks for making this list. I was surprised not to see Blade Runner on it (or even mentioned), since you were very positive about it in your review of that film on 4K.
Blade Runner is fabulous but we need to bear in mind that it was a 35mm shoot so will never match the quality of the 65mm and genuine IMAX shoots. It's probably up there around Apocalypse Now so it's not too far off the top ten. I've got a lot of discs to choose from but I did consider pulling Blade Runner out to take another look at it but the pile of discs for another viewing was already up to 12 by that point so I decided against it. John.
Great stuff, John. I'm really looking forward to the Robocop release. Hopefully break into my top 10.
I only ever saw Robocop once Doug but I may actually give it a second try now it's coming to 4K. The fact that it's an 80s film seems to give me an extra incentive somehow.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 It's a fantastic film. Easily one of my all time favourites.
If you get the opportunity, check out the recent Running man transfer. They've done a fabulous job.
@@dougquaid570 If The Running Man appears over here then I will certainly get that one. A load of tosh but I love it. I'm one of the few who has read the book too but the book bears hardly any relationship to what ended up on screen. John.
Me too I love robocop can't wait to get it
@@markhempenstall5379 I suspect Robocop will have improved with age just like a lot of the 1980s films have. John.
I have heard that Gemini Man is a reference 4k disc. I recently purchased it but have not gotten a chance to watch it yet. It is shot digitally since it is a recent movie.
Gemini Man is more a video game than a movie. I don't like computer games and the unrealistic motion combined with the cartoon look makes it the worst 4K of the lost for me. But I hope you find the complete opposite as it's probably an age thing and if you've grown up playing computer games then you might love it.
John.
Viewing your site for the first time. Extremely informative. I'm a huge collector of DVDS and Blu-rays. Considering getting into 4k. I also like viewing movies through my Emerson projector. You did make a mention of a 4k projector. So, I have to upgrade and purchase a separate 4k projector in order to view my 4k movies? The projector I have projects Blu-ray. Not good enough?
Good morning Christopher. Blu-ray is exceptional quality and in terms of clarity if the 4K disc and the Blu-ray disc have been created from the same video master file you will not be able to discern a difference in terms of clarity. Where you will see the difference is in the superior colour capabilities and density (contrast) of the 4K. To achieve this on your screen will require a 4K video projector. I have two of them, the older model has a bigger chip and is therefore more 4K than the new model (pixel shifting is what goes on in order to use the 4K label) but I'll be darned if I can tell which has the superior clarity because they are both brilliant. Trevor at Double Bill Movies got an entry level 4K (pixel shifting) Optoma video projector for well under a grand and he's achieving exceptional results from it.
John.
Thank you very much for your time.
@@christopherhawley5001 Anytime Christopher. I think we're all film enthusiasts together on here. John.
Wow the details from you are incredible. Really interesting thank you!!!!
Thank you Scott. I'm glad you enjoyed it. John.
Love LOVE the A-Now Redux 6 Disc collector's edition. Was so glad to have that in my collection. Redux is still my Favorite version. Final Cut is great too, but Redux still remains my favorite version. Really nice list, enjoyed the commentary.
That six disc set is very special. I have only ever seen Redux once when it was first released. I do prefer The Final Cut but my preference is still the original version of the film and that was why I had to get the six disc set in the end. Basically I wanted to see the original film in the same quality as the 4K disc of The Final Cut.
John.
Hey John great to see you back, hope you're feeling better now :)
Fantastic video as always and some great picks for 4Ks, a great mix of older films it does seem that older films do benefit a lot with 4K. I don't have access to 4K yet but rest assured I will watch this video again when I start 4K. Take care John speak soon
Good evening Pete. I'm feeling really good the last week or so which is a nice surprise after the ol' Kung Flu. I think the reason 4K appears to work better with film is because film looks better than video, particularly if the film was a 65mm shoot as most of them are in this top ten. I forgot about the recent Bond outing 'No Time To Die' which probably should have been in at number 5 or 6. You just can't get the staff nowadays.
Hope you're feeling well and staying safe. I heard you were on a live stream with Keith at Euphoria recently but I still haven't found it to catch up on that one. I'll get there though.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Evening John glad to hear you're feel better now, yeah I can remember your review of No Time To Die was incredibly positive I know the Blu-ray was super impressive too. Yeah I'm good thanks, yeah Keith was on my livestream a few weeks ago it's always a pleasure to chat to him. It would be a honour to invite you on in the future John
@@PlaytendoGuy TalkTalk messed up our internet connection here and won't be sorting it out until May sometime. Maybe then I'll be brave enough to appear on a few livestreams Pete. It might actually be a lot of fun. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Yeah that's okay John, you'll always be welcomed on a stream it would be great to have a chat. Look forward to it :)
I have about 90 percent of all those titles John, the majority bought on your recommendation. I think The Shining and The Revenant are also reference quality too though but if it's a Top Ten some have to be discounted. I just hope this format can survive but with vinyl, CD and cassette making a comeback it gives me hope for all physical media!!
On another day I might have mentioned The Shining as one just outside of the top ten Gary. I did pull it out to consider it but looked at the large stack of titles already and decided against it. I did completely overlook No Time To Die and that certainly should have been in there. You just can't get the staff these days! John.
Hi John. The problem with discs freezing isn’t laser rot, it’s residue on the discs during manufacturing, especially 66/100gig discs. Thoroughly wipe with a microfibre cloth and your problems are over.
Not even alcohol solved the problem on these discs Ben. There may be a solution that dispels my laser rot theory but I haven't found it yet. John.
@@moviecollector5920 I only say that as I had the same issue with 2001 and a lot of the other discs people have complained about and a wipe down with a cloth has always solved the issue.
On 2001 it would always freeze around the scene where Hal is singing Daisy while Dave is shutting him down and now there as no issues with the disc.
It appears that if you've already done this there is indeed a separate issue at play.
Put of interest, the other discs recently heavy with residue post production that have worked for me after a wipe down with a microfiber cloth have been The Thing and Dune (original version). It seems to affect Warner and Arrow discs more and never Sony discs.
@@benpascall4297 That's really interesting Ben. I did have the residue problem with a DVD once and that was either The Terminator or Predator, I can't recall which one now. But I've not come across it again since then. 2001 starts playing up about an hour into it. When I get another player in the future I'll give these discs another try because it's possible a newer player will come with better error correction and be able to get through them. But I won't hold my breath! John.
@@moviecollector5920 it's largely an isolated problem with the production of 4k discs and a quality control issue... Only affecting certain manufacturing facilities on behalf of Warner/Arrow and a few others. Whether this can be attributed to the decline in physical media to 10/15 years ago I'm not sure, but it's a clear QC issue. Sadly not a lot of people are aware of the residue and what a quick fix it is and the forums are full of people complaining about skipping and freezing discs...
It doesn't appear the be the case in your instance John, but I thought it was worth documenting anyway in case you wanted to mention it in one of your videos for people's general awareness.
@@benpascall4297 Thank you for doing so Ben. Eventually I should come across a disc with the residue issue and then I can put people onto it. On the DVD that had the issue years ago I could clearly see the milky film covering that had formed. John.
Good to see plenty of Nolan in your list. The air plane scene in Dark Knight Rises is unbelievably clean. One of the best showings of 4k Bluray.
I certainly agree with that Justin. Pretty brave to be up there with genuine IMAX cameras. John.
Excellent list, I have just started collecting 4K last year after upgrading my TV and audio setup. So far I'd say Nolans films, The Matrix, and Skyfall are my top films out of my relatively small 4K collection of around 17 movies so far. I recently picked up Murder on the Orient Express and the picture was spectacular on my display. I much prefer when studios give us proper 4K mastered discs rather than the upscaled digital 2K discs that are common among recent films
A few recent releases such as Last Night In Soho were shot 35mm but then all that effort was downgraded to 2K video for general release. I believe that even the film prints of that one were struck via the 2K video master but I may be wrong. It still looks pretty good though, just not as good as it would have been. Mainly the image quality comes down to the lenses used to shoot the film and in the case of a genuine film, how sensitive and fine grain the negative stock is.
John.
thanks John! recently, i was really impressed with the sound quality on 4k No Time To Die (dolby Atmos)
I've replied to quite a few comments that I should have included No Time To Die in the top ten Conor. Don't know how I missed it. Still, seems like a good excuse to do another top ten sometime soon. John.
Thank You for this. I agree that scanning 4k movies in a larger resolution like 8k or 5.6k really benefits the quality. I had a couple of 35mm Kodak vision 3 still films scanned in Germany in very large resolution and they look really amazing.
That transfer of Jaws did seem to point the best way forward but I expect it took half as long again as transferring at 4K and that's possibly why 4K is the chosen compromise. John.
Love the shelving behind you that you are using for your collection. Could you plesse let me know where you purchased it. Thank you.
Morning Gurdip. The shelves were ordered and delivered by Argos. As you see them behind me it is two shelving units mounted on top of one another with the top one being placed upside down. I've done this for years but now we have a room to put all of the discs out on display I ordered a few more of these shelving units. I think they are £18 each so an absolute bargain really. John.
@@moviecollector5920 John, Thank you. Is there any particular order you arrange your collection.
@@gurdipvirdee9194 I put them on the shelf in the order of the video last watched. However, when we moved I separated the DVDs as we don't put DVDs on very often any longer. Putting them on the shelf in order of when they're watched does mean I have to shift a lot of discs along each time we spin a disc but it does mean we don't have to keep a written record of which title was watched when. John.
Love your list, info, and comments as always. I think The Shinning, Blade Runner, and Dune 2021 also deserve mention. Great transfers, great sound, great movies!!!
The Shining is excellent James but it's a 35mm and they struggle up against the 70mm films. Blade Runner is fabulous but for it's also a 35mm. Dune looked pretty awful on both my systems but all the reports came in on the comments for that video review and it seems more people had trouble with it than didn't and apparently it was the same at cinemas. There's a lot of discussion on the comments for that Dune video that might make for interesting reading. John.
The Arrow 4K restoration of David Lynch’s Dune on the other hand looks incredible.
@@FRandAI Thank you for reminding me Forrest. The original version of Dune was a 35mm of course so that's why it looks so good as a 4K disc. Not all the 35mm transfers look as good but that's usually down to the film stock used and how any film was shot on the day. My recollection of the 1984 films is a lot of bright, colourful scenes... and someone riding on the back of a giant worm! But I'm hoping to get into an HMV today (the Newbury branch) so I might see if it's affordable as I'd like to see it again... haven't seen it since 1984. John.
Just subscribed. Simply because you said 2.2 TO 1 aspect ratio and not 2.2 by 1 aspect ratio. Respect.
I never actually heard of 2.2 by 1 before so thank you for making me aware of it. I'll make sure I never make that mistake. Good to have you here.
John.
Great top ten list. I was struck by one of the closing statements of 4k disc's packing in? What has caused this? I hear a lot about the production factory's struggling to produce the volumes needed with a fraction of staff due to shrinking sales. So mixed up disc's in box sets. Audio tracks on the masters not right and now disc's that stop working?
I think it's the miniscule data that the laser is trying to read Martyn and a few discs having faulty silver reflective layers that get a little more distorted by the heat from the laser so that the next time the disc is played the fault has made itself known. But I may be completely wrong.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 thank you John for your video and your responses. I've yet to take the 4k plunge as my THX calibrated plasma is pulling out some wow moments for not only 1080p streaming and Blu Ray, but is pulling upscale duties for DVD and Laserdisc. I follow all great videos like yours as well as classic AV forums to brush up on UHD/4k and the various HDR meta data formats ready for the day I might need to bite the 4k OLED apple
@@jefffan171 The solution there Martyn is to keep the telly and get a 4K video projector. Then you'll have the best of both worlds. And before anyone tries to tell you that you'll have to spend a fortune on a screen all you really need to do is paint a wall white. It's better if you have black masking around the projected image of course but that can be blu-tacked to the wall when you have a big screen show. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy! John.
6:40 Interesting about glitches in 4K disks. I've had problems with 4K disks of both Mad Max Furiosa and Godzilla -1.0 glitching all the time at the same place, on multiple 4K UHD players.
I made a TH-cam video all about 'The 4K Fault' Alex. I had six discs at the time but I've seen managed to purchase a seventh with consistent faults in the same places on two different players. It could be that brand spanking new players will get through the problem areas but even if that does prove to be the case, ultimately even a new player will succumb as it gets older. I think we will have to accept that the data on 4K discs is so miniscule that they are inevitably more susceptible to problems than any previous CD sized video disc format.
I've replaced five of my faulty discs for not very much money so it's not exactly a catastrophe.
John.
Are you planning on doing a review of the Godfather movies on 4K John? It's my 50th birthday and so I made myself an offer I could not refuse and got the 50th special edition of the three films yesterday - have watched the beginning of part one - looks really good and although I do not have a trained eye for this stuff - simple things like the red flower on Brando's wedding suit or Dianne Keaton's dress looks better than before colour wise so it all stands out, but feels kind of grainy at the same time plus the sound is great. One to look forward to.
Happy 50th birthday James. Your going to have a great time enjoying The Godfather films all over again. I only ever saw the first two films (I have them on LaserDisc but only ever ran them once) but didn't particularly like them. I don't think I've ever seen a mob film I've really enjoyed so it's not the Godfather films per se, I think I just don't like all that double-crossing, murderous thuggery. I can see that they are great films though despite the fact that I don't particularly enjoy them. John.
Wow, this was a really insightful video. You have such a good film knowledge and I have ordered Le Man's 66 from Amazon based on your recommendation.
I hope you won't be disappointment with it Bumper. It looks fabulous on my video projector here and the soundtrack is pretty sensational too. The music is so evocative to the racing that I think it helps to make the film even more special, particularly if you're a car enthusiast like me.
John.
Hello friend. Excellent video with great input on all selections. I agree on all Christopher Nolan selections I was lucky enough to see both Inception and Interstellar in true 70 mm IMAX and yes it is quite a spiritual experience. For me though the film I would like to see transferred to a 4K release would be Last of the Mohicans. One of my favorite films and I truly enjoy how Michael Man shoots with natural light. Your thoughts? Please and thank you and always enjoying your Channel.
Thank you for your kind words. I haven't seen The Last of the Mohicans for many years but I think we're talking about the Daniel Day Lewis version which was pretty terrific as I recall. I also very much enjoyed a television series as a child so it's a great story that lends itself well to film. If it gets issued on 4K I'll be the one in front of you in the queue to buy it! As for Christopher Nolan, he's one of the greatest film makers in the world today. In terms of how he shoots his films he's probably at the top of the list followed by Kenneth Branagh. Let's hope more directors become powerful enough to insist on large format film for their productions.
John.
I saw Interstellar in imax 70mm at the TCL Chinese theater. Was impressive.
Only thing I noticed with some 4K on a Sony 800 is that definitely run louder a kinder hum that gets quieter as the film goes on.
Only running a sound bar ( a temporary measure ) but God knows why the sound drops out for a second twice in a film.
Anyway MY personal favourites in no order are.
Passengers, Murder on the Orient express, Dune, Interstellar,Tenet, Blade runner 2049, Green Mile ( brilliant 4k ),Alita battle angel, Bridge on the river Kwai and Bad Times at the El Royal , or maybe Oblivion.
Hard to choose but Passengers and Green Mile are exceptional.👍
I have Passengers on Blu-ray and that's excellent too. It was shot in high quality video and really did have a 4K video master and not a 2K upscale which is unusual for a film with computer animation in it. The Green Mile was a 35mm shoot so once you start projecting you'll probably see that the definition is not quite as good as you currently think it is. A few 35mm 4K releases have been mistaken for being better than 70mm films but this is because our home screens are tiny and it's often hard to differentiate. What we really need is 24 foot wide screens at home!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 yep passengers I think was shot 6.5K.
Just this second saw moonfall , probably not my cuppa being a Roland Emmerich CGI destruction fest ,but they say it's got the best Atmos mix and got a 9.9 on one channel, visuals only 7 due to CGI ,green screen and digital touch up, personally ends up like a video game.
Looking FWD to Lawrence of Arabia , just hope the cover advitised is yet to be done, on Zavvi looks like a pre school effort 🤔
@@rikaardyyz3039 I rarely purchase from Zavvi now that they don't have physical shops. The steelbook of Super 8 is the only on-line order I think I've ever given them and that was only because it looked so darned good. Usually all my money goes down the HMV route. But whatever Lawrence or Arabia comes in, the 4K disc should be one of the best just like all the other 70mm releases we've enjoyed so far. I was only thinking that I might look at the Blu-ray before it's out just to remember how good that is. John.
Great choices. Some standouts for me in no particular order are; MI Fallout IMAX shots are amazing. Pacific Rim looks awesome. Sony disks sound fantastic, can't go wrong. Godzilla vs Kong is great. Dunkirk is for sure on my list!
Mission Impossible: Fallout is another excellent 4K Roger but I haven't seen Pacific Rim nor Godzilla vs. Kong. I find it increasingly hard to get through special effects laden movies largely done in a computer. There have been exceptions though so maybe one day I'll give that one a try. John.
I love that it's becoming quite difficult to form a list like this. We are building quite a reserve of beautiful transfers on this format!
I'll gladly share the titles in my collection which stand out to me:
Spartacus, My Fair Lady, Jaws, Suspiria, Django, Casino, Apocalypse Now, Tremors, Angel Heart, The Wizard of Oz, and In The Line of Fire.
That's a good list Mozart. I used to do a lot of Super 8 film reviews and it was easier to differentiate the good from the not so good with the biggest screen possible and now that we've moved and are projecting a bit wider than we were able to in our last home I can confirm that the same is true of video projection. If we do manage to get builders in to enlarge the cinema room then I hope to go considerably wider still. Should make the whole process quite a lot easier in the future.
John.
Elysium Eastwood Westerns also by Sony is an excellent 4k tranfer- Also 65 and Prey- Life is excellent for Sci- FI Fans
- Waiting for 4ks of RED Planet- Val Kilmer and Underwater - Clint Eastwood Westerns also look great
Sir, I thought there will be the movie "Mackenna's gold" among your best 4k collection, which has got , breath taking views of Grand Canyon parts, hope they have not released in 4k? Can we play 4k discs in the blue ray disc player? Or another 4 k player?
Good morning Shashidhar. I think there is a Grand Canyon film released on 4K disc and if I'm right it may have originally been a genuine 70mm IMAX so that should look absolutely fabulous. But if you're asking if you can play a 4K disc in a standard Blu-ray player then the answer is no, it has to be a 4K UHD Blu-ray player. They start at around £100 over here in the UK so they're not prohibitively expensive. You do need a 4K telly or video projector to screen them in 4K and HDR though. John.
@@moviecollector5920 sir, thanks for the quick reply,& the enlightenment.plz.give me the name of the other Grand canyon movie on 4k disc, thanking you sir.
@@shashidharmurthy2226 I may be completely wrong Shashidar but I'm pretty sure there was an early 4K release with some IMAX documentaries on it. It may have only been available in North America though and it's possible what I remember was actually a Blu-ray but I would put money on it still looking spectacular. Our home screens are so tiny that it's difficult to see any difference in resolution between Blu-ray and 4K. John.
@@moviecollector5920 thanks sir.
@@shashidharmurthy2226 Just found it: store.hmv.com/store/film-tv/4k-ultra-hd-blu-ray/extreme-adventure-collection
4K Death on the Nile just announced in the US - Video - Captured on Panavision Super 70 film stock 2:39:1 aspect ratio, and was mastered in 4K. HDR10 grading for the disc and Dolby Vision available on digital. Looks priming John!
Morning Rob. Death on the Nile should have an aspect ratio of 2.20:1 but there was so much messing around to generate 70mm prints that I wouldn't be surprised if it's been cropped a little. I rather expect that it's going to look more impressive at home than it did at the Odeon but I may be wrong. John.
@@moviecollector5920 certainly on our big screens.
@@Celestialrob Too bloody right!
Thrilled to see you rate Murder on the Orient Express so highly. I was flabbergasted when I bought that disc. One of the best for sure.
On the Dark Knight Rises subject, there’s certainly an argument it’s stronger from beginning to end than even its predecessor. The second movie peaks to such a degree in the second act that it’s almost got nowhere to go. Where as Rises absolutely builds to an exciting conclusion where anything could happen. Bruce climbing out of the pit it as euphoric as anything in the trilogy.
I too could not believe what I was seeing when I first put the 4K disc of Murder on the Orient Express in the player. I still can't quite believe how good it is today. Let's hope Death on the Nile looks almost as good when it comes to market next month. As for the Dark Knight trilogy of films I'd actually avoided them for years because I had become disillusioned with Batman on the big screen. That turned out to be a rather good thing because when I did see them is was on 4K disc. What an absolute treat! John.
thank you! THESE VIDEOS ARE LEGENDARY AND EVERY MOVIE GEEK LIVES FOR THIS TYPE OF S**t! You are magic john : )
I was thinking of doing something with the home cinema in 2006 Matthias and if TH-cam had have existed then I might have gone down this route all those years ago but alas, I got involved in making classic car documentaries and that took all my time and focus until Covid-19 came along. I had looked for fellow film enthusiasts on TH-cam for quite some time but there wasn't anyone who was doing what I now do and those that were doing something similar did not have film knowledge, just home video knowledge really. My opinion was that you could not categorically say that a 4K or Blu-ray was a great transfer or now without understanding the myriad different film formats that are always responsible for how a film looks on the finished product. That's why I keep pointing out when a film is 70mm or other large film formats because they always look best as a 4K disc.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Yes John, technically speaking you really know your stuff as well which is great but its how you break down the magic and humanity of the films that sets you apart from the videophiles who will rant for 20 minutes straight about the transfer, color grading, audio options etc and it all starts to feel very bland and soulless. You strike a great balance and the only other channel who comes close to you is 'Films at home', another nice gentleman who loves physical media, movies and can break down transfers and 4k reviews very well. Your experience and added time in the field of movies gives you a great advantage. I had never even heard of get carter because it came out before i was born...... i like when you throw in the older retro picks!
@@Drago-746 There have been some great films since the dawn of cinema Matthias and I think things really got going with the comedies in the 1920's from Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton. Above all others from that period and prior to it, those films have stood the test of time. Now that I think about it, they're timeless which is why they are still so good. Get Carter was almost completely overlooked initially but now it's regarded as the true classic it always was. It was a film ahead of its time and I think a lot of people would have found it a bit depressing until a few decades had passed because it was a bit close to home in many ways.
Jeff at Films At Home has always been good. I try not to watch his reviews at the moment as I don't want to risk anyone else influencing me when I may do a review on the same film. But his interviews with people in the industry have been wonderful recently and chock full of insider knowledge which is a help to us all.
John.
Thanks great top 10 I have most of them. Discs that play fine then next time don't could be disc rot I have had a few titles with this issue. I bought The World at war boxset at CEX and none of the discs played, when I returned it they examined discs and said it was disc rot. I have backups of both blu Ray and 4k discs stored on hard drives on PC I am not shelling out twice for them.
It's a good idea to keep copies of the 4K discs. That will take up a lot of disc space though and I'm already storing so much of my own archive video that I'd need a massive SAN or NAS to make it all work and that would cost many thousands. If I see replacements for any of the faulty discs going cheap I think I'll snap them up because it can't be all of them that are faulty... famous last words!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 yes it's not cheap although I have gradually added drives to my hcpc I think I have 9 drives now ranging from 3tb to 6tb and even this isn't foolproof as I don't have it in a raid erray to protect files if a drive dies. I do use monitoring software to keep an eye on them. I think some issues with disc rot is how they are stored perhaps that copy I bought had been sitting in the boot of a car for weeks with massive changes in temps affecting it prior ending up in CEX.
i was blown away by the UHDs of spartacus, in the line of fire and lawrence of arabia.
We watched In The Line Of Fire on Saturday evening Erhard and it is very good but it's a 35mm and therefore will always struggle when compared to 65mm and genuine IMAX. Lawrence of Arabia was 65mm so I know that's going to be one of the best, that's just the way it is. John.
Watched Dunkirk for the first time with my new projector, phenomenal!
One of the best 4K discs available Gary. And a fabulous film too. John.
Thanks for sharing John I really enjoyed watching this review,I don’t have Tenet but do have Murder On The Orient Express.
Well if you do get Tenet and you can decipher it, I'll send you a medal!!! Orient Express is the best video quality I've ever seen and I am still astounded by it when I put it on as I did for this video. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Yes John I will hope to I’ve thought about that film in the past I’ve never seen it.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Batman v Superman Ultimate Edition 4k release from very recently. It was supervised by Zack Snyder himself and it includes the original full frame IMAX 70mm sequences. It shifts to 1.43:1 ratio for them too. Absolutely superb and probably the best 4K transfer I’ve ever seen.
I'll answer on your same question on The Flash video Yanal as I think it's more relevant on there. John.
Was expecting to see The Shining in your top ten, John. I thought that was up there with Jaws. Another great video though.
I did pull The Shining out but I could see the video was already going to be too long so I decided against talking about another one that may be number 10. It's difficult to decide sometimes so I would expect that if I were to go through all the best discs again I'd come up with a slightly different order. Might have to do another video called 'Another Ten Best 4K UHD In My Collection' because so many people have mentioned The Shining and a few others including Gemini Man which I think is the worst video quality I've ever seen. John.
Perhaps you should do a video on the best cinema screens in the UK
Already done that as an extra on the end of the 70mm Death on the Nile video. John.
Say what you want about the plot, but Gemini Man and Transformers: The Last Knight are two of the best 4k pictures ever! TTLK literally has every action scenario on display (space, dark ages war, high speed chases, water battles, exploration, live action, air combat…etc). All of it is immaculate and demo worthy!!
I know a lot of people really like the look of Gemini Man but I think it's the worst quality video I've ever seen. Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration and I can see what the film makers were trying to achieve. I haven't played computer games for many, many years and don't like the way they look so Gemini Man was never going to appeal to me in terms of picture quality. I don't tend to like live action cartoons but there are exceptions occasionally. I expect Gemini Man in liquid crystal 3D would be just about the best 3D ever irrespective of what I've said above. Transformers is for youngsters though and I'm far too old now. I have seen bits and pieces of the Transformers films and series over the years but I left school a long time ago!
John.
@@moviecollector5920 it all boils down to preference I guess. I mentioned these, specifically TTLK for video quality and the gamut of reference quality scenes on offer. While I don’t mind film grain at times, I appreciate the cleanest and clearest picture quality more in my 4k content. Cheers.
@@nwilkerson2365 Well there have been some very good movies made on video. I considered a few of them for this video but my preference is the filmic look so that rather knocked 'em all out. 'Lucy' is another cracking disc. John.
great review I saw2001 in London on giant Cinerama screen although it was shot in super Panavison70 it looked great on the giant curved screen yes please keep making the review s
If you haven't already seen my video '2001 A Space Odyssey in 4K, why does it look so good?' then I think you might enjoy it Philip. John.
Shining, interstellar, Gemini man, wizard of oz, revanant, tremors, green knight, dark knight, mission Impossible fallout are all some of my favorites to view. Older classics are always what I anticipate viewing the most when new transfers are announced.
I haven't seen all of those in 4K Ray but I think Gemini Man is the worst looking video I've ever seen. I expect it would have been a showstopper in LCD 3D and given that it was reportedly 120fps in cinemas I suppose that was what it was made for. John.
You are class mate. Keep this high quality material coming. 10K ;)
That's the plan Jimmy. John.
Fantastic Ranking, John! I need to give all these 4K discs a re-run on my tv, perhaps I may watching one this weekend, tenet maybe.
seems that 65mm just makes a 4K disc instantly great (I can't wait to see the Death on the nile 4K disc, I wonder what it will look like compared to the shotty-70mm print)
I actually haven't seen Death on the nile yet, I was going to wait for a 70mm screening here in sydney, but non have showed up yet, so I'll just buy the 4K, and if in the future, a 70mm print does visit sydney, I'll be sure to attend that screening!
Thanks! Have a great day!
Greetings Clark. I have my suspicions that Death on the Nile will be more impressive at home than it was at the Odeon but I don't know for sure. Whether or not the 4K will come up to the standard of Murder on the Orient Express remains to be seen but it should be a treat however good it is.
Tenet may be Nolan's second masterpiece but I doubt it will ever get the credit it deserves owing to the fact that it's almost incomprehensible to most viewers. I'll have to watch my own review video before I watch it again just so I can remember what the hell it's all about!
John.
Great review. I agree that the older movies are never going to match new Imax. I do however love seeing restorations of the old films. Having seen most of them on television in standard definition the improvements now are phenomanal. It’s like seeing a whole new movie. Django, Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, Goldfinger, Zulu, Vertigo, The Ladykillers, Jaws, Taxi Driver, It’s a mad mad mad world, Good the Bad and the Ugly. I will stop there but could quote many more 😀
Funny that you should mention 'The Good, The Bad & The Ugly' Simon because that one was shot Techniscope. To save you looking up that process it was 35mm at an aspect ratio of about 2.40:1, but - and it's a big BUT - Techniscope was only two sprockets high! this means it is half the quality of an anamorphic 35mm film. It was blown up optically to make 2x squeeze release prints for cinemas. It is amazing that it should look any good at all but I suppose even Techniscope is a slight upgrade over 16mm quality so it probably illustrates just how good film is and why it is still superior to this day.
Zulu would make for an excellent 4K release. Just like Spartacus it was Super Technirama 70.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thanks John, I suspect I am being a little biased with The Good Bad and the Ugly as it’s one of my favourite films. Definitely a good step up from the Blu Ray though. Can’t wait to see The Godfather trilogy. Great channel, i’m going to subscibe.
@@simonmcpartlin6547 All three of the Dollars trilogy were shot Techniscope and it was just a money saving exercise to do it. It is possible to get very good results from it though because if you think about it some movies were shot 16mm and blown up and no one seemed to notice the difference with them. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre isn't the best example as it looked pretty awful at the time but I bet even that looks pretty good from the latest 4K transfer of the 16mm camera negative. Film has greater resolution than the industry seems to want to have us believe. John.
Really great collection. I'm a new subscriber of your channel and love watching your content. I have a projector in the room but I love watching movies on my OLED. I know you mentioned you don't like watching films on the tv, but if you was able to get old of a huge OLED screen you would be blown away. The quality is out of this world and futuristic really. But I get why you like the super8, etc. to give it that cinematic look. :) TENET I thought was very bad though, even on multiple viewings. Spectacular 4k transfer but didnt like the film at all.
Greetings Gareth. Thank you for letting me know you enjoy the videos. I used to watch a lot of films through a telly but as soon as it became viable to video project it was the obvious thing for me to do. I already had all the setup thanks to Super 8, 16mm and 35mm so it was nice to get a big screen impact from DVD and then Blu-ray even if home video projection wasn't quite up to the standard of Super 8 until relatively recently. Just having a ten foot wide image was good enough. Had a smaller screen in Cornwall but we're almost back up to size now we've moved here. Just been in there this evening actually and projected a DVD which wasn't exactly brilliant in the dark scenes but still great to have it on a big screen.
John.
I have to say that my OLED tv has ruined cinema a bit for me. I watched The Batman at the cinema and what was supposed to be black shadows was all grey, whereas the 4k trailer of the movie looked spectacular on my tv with great contrast and bright lights. I guess the mandatory emergency exit lights in the theater didn’t help but a projector also has limits when it comes to brightness and contrast versus actively lit pixels. I saw Spider-Man at the same theater and that wasn’t as problematic, maybe it’s just the very dark movies that suffer.
@@foxyfoxtrot4233 I think we all have to cut cinemas some slack these days because they are now required to completely change all their equipment every few years and it's just not affordable. In the days of film projection that wasn't the case as the equipment could always be upgraded. Some cinemas were still using the basic projector that had been installed in the 1920s or 1930s and that's because sound, reel extenders, lamp housings and lenses could all be changed while 35mm film was the standard. Today many cinemas have to purchase secondhand video projection equipment and run that until they need to buy a replacement secondhand video projector. Many cinemas have early 2K video projectors and they're basically a load of rubbish. To see a video at a cinema really requires checking out the equipment they use now but even in the London premiere houses video is not up to the standard of the premiere master 35mm prints we used to enjoy. Combine that with the fact that experienced projection staff are largely a thing of the past and you have a recipe for disaster.
BUT you won't have any problems if you go to the BFI IMAX (other than 2K video perhaps sometimes being passed off for IMAX!), the Odeon Leicester Square and the Empire Leicester Square.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Hi John, thanks for the reply. Yes, big screens are great. You have a great setup and I can see why you would prefer it :) My dad has an Epson projector in the living room and he created his own screen and painted it. That's around 90 to 100inch and I love watching films on that so got my own cinema also :) But in the bedroom I just love my OLED, the quality of those perfect blacks, color and viewing angles is outstanding. I like switching between them depending on the films I watch. :) Keep up the great work and take care. :)
@@foxyfoxtrot4233 Yeah, I mean OLED will always win for dark scenes. The fact pixels turn off and no led lights in the back of the oled tvs makes it superior. I cannot wait to see THE BATMAN on OLED in a few months foxy :)
Would be interested to see a top ten but for movies that were shot on digital
I made that very video shortly after this one because I was aware it was a little unfair to include movies shot on video in the same class as those shot on film. John.
Oh that's awesome! I just found your channel so will have to go watch your other videos, thanks for responding!
@@wtpanos I think there's about 130 of them now wtpanos so that could take a while. Good to have you here. John.
Make a video on
The top 10 or 15 movies that need a 4k release
Many have asked me for that one but I struggle to think of a list. I think the problem is that I have all my favourite films on Super 8 and for me nothing will ever replace them on that format. Many apparently want The Abyss on 4K but I have a beautiful 'Scope Super 8 print so that's about as good as it gets even if the 4K will undoubtedly look better. John.
That’s a very nice 4K collection. Unfortunately I do not have the upgraded equipment for 4K but do have two 4K discs from which in my opinion “Valerian” is the best looking one.
Oh yes, Valerian is wonderful Mobey. I seem to recall that it's mastered at 2K really but that's not unusual for heavy computer animation films. John.
Great list and a few to add to the collection! DUNKIRK has been a demo for me when showing friends and family the beauty and detail of 4k/IMAX in the comfort of your own home. Nolan is a real talent. Keep up the good work!
Those sequences with the Spitfires in Dunkirk are fabulous. I feel like I'm up there flying with them. A great disc and a great film... but it looked and sounded even better at the BFI IMAX. John.
@@moviecollector5920 it certainly did, the sound design blew me away. Kept me gripped throughout!
@@philbxr By the way, the extract I saw in the BFI IMAX went off just before the bomb from the Stuka hit the ground which was just as well otherwise I may not have lived to tell the tale!
Some of my favorite 4K discs are films that had poor or mediocre Blu-ray transfers, just because the upgrade is so huge. Examples off the top of my head are Predator, The Matrix (the Blu-ray was recolored with a heavy green tint and looked more like video), and Arrow’s excellent release of Tremors.
The original Predator has a good quality 4k release?! I'd have to get that.
@@tsloan2100 oh yeah it’s amazing and very filmic. Predator 2 as well. The exact opposite of the last Blu-ray release, which I’m pretty sure qualifies as the worst transfer of all time, with laughably heavy noise reduction to the point where it practically looked like a Pixar remake.
@@Motorheadache95 thanks for the heads up!
I cant believe how fantastic Tremors looked! Arrow is awesome.
Predator was issued on Super 8 in about 1991 and it was one of the best ever Super 8 prints. I'm amazed that it was messed up for Blu-ray release for that reason because if anyone had have asked me about it for a 4K release I'd have confidently predicted that it would look excellent. However, it was a 35mm shoot so it was never going to be up there with the best offered by 65mm shoots for 70mm release. I still have the Super 8 print by the way and it still looks fantastic. John.
Great list and great explanations! I was surprised to not see Lawrence of Arabia on your list. :)
That's because I don't have it Matt. It was a 65mm shoot so I think all of us will now know that it's going to look terrific and among the best available. John.
@@moviecollector5920 nice! The steelbook will be released soon so hopefully you can get it. Love your channel and your passion for film!
@@mattmardigan If the steelbook is not one of those exclusives from Zavvi and I can get it from HMV then I may just go for it. Thank you for letting me know. I'd like to get the steelbook for Death on the Nile but yet again it's only available from Zavvi. Oh well, you can't win 'em all.
John.
I recieved my 4K copy of Suspiria released by Synapse Films. It is by far the cleanest, sharpest and richest colored 4K i have yet watched. I highly recommend for you to get it if you haven't yet!
I keep forgetting to see if I can get hold of a copy of Suspiria Pedro. I'm pretty sure it was a 35mm shoot so it may be up there with the likes of Jaws but unless something was done that I don't know about it isn't going to match the 70mm films. I don't think I've seen Suspiria since I was a child... sounds nuts really but my brother and I used to watch every horror film that was around. Even had The Exorcist on Super 8 which we showed to all our school friends. Biggest success we ever had for a film show with our school friends was The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. I think I'm living proof that video nasties don't turn you into a psychopath!
John.
I agree. I had to shell out close to £40 for it but worth every penny. I've never seen it look (or sound) better than the Synapse release. An essential purchase.
@@67eamonn I'll give you a tenner for it Eamonn!!!
Seriously, where did you purchase your copy from?
John.
This isn't exactly super relevant to this particular video, but I thought it the least obtrusive. I was sifting through and picking a movie from every year with a very nice 4K transfer to keep. Figured I'd get your take. Weighing in film quality and visuals, would you rather recommend Dunkirk or Murder on the Orient Express for the 2017 pick? I'm having a tough time deciding.
That's difficult Kolton and both have arguments in their favour. Orient Express is the best image quality on 4K disc but I would probably struggle if I'd seen them both at a cinema, particularly when you consider Dunkirk is genuine IMAX and the extract I saw of that at the BFI IMAX was one of the most memorable things I've ever seen in a cinema. Given we're talking 4K discs here though, Murder on the Orient Express just has the edge. If in any doubt, take a look at the wailing wall sequence near the beginning and in particular, where the elevated camera is looking down on the crowd. There you will see distant faces that are still pin sharp. I've not seen definition on video like that ever before. John.
@@moviecollector5920 Thank you. Your input is much appreciated!
Also I love how even with approaching 21K subscribers, you make time for so many comments and interact with your audience. It's very cool.
@@koltonknox9836 The dscussions about movies with everyone on here is the best part of it Kolton. John.
I've not found similar faults in my (albeit limited) 4K collection, but what you described, I do see that happening in around 3% of my 3D Blu Rays
I had the same fault on a brand new disc last weekend Stephen - Plane. So that's going back this time. Usually the fault is apparent after the laser has heated the poor surface of the disc around a layer change at least once but this time the problem was already there. That's five knackered 4K discs that I've found now but I would expect more to be hiding away as i go for years between repeat screenings. John.
Nice one. Would love a top 10 list of best 20th century ones (less chance of Nolan dominating ;)
That would be interesting Jeff. The trouble is I have most of the best films of the last century on Super 8 so probably won't see too many of them on 4K. It's been great to be able to watch them on a big screen over the past 50 years though.
John.
Tenet is amazing, glad to see it gets some love
I think it may be one of the greatest films ever made David but it does require seeing it in genuine IMAX to fully appreciate why I'm thinking along those lines. John.
Good afternoon John, I've just picked up The Godfather Trilogy from HMV. I cant wait to spin these up in 4K, starting with The Godfather and a beer tonight.
I hope they're all as good as Apocalypse Now was for image quality. I think it probably helped everyone having Coppola so involved with that one so the Godfather fims should be pretty darned good as I think he was just as involved with those. John.
Apparently all four discs are very very nice. The third movie is on two separate discs. Coda on one, the Theatrical and "91 cut" on another.
I watched The Godfather last night and have to say it looked fantastic over all. Dolby Vision looked spot on here bringing a lot of pop to the picture. Inky blacks and you can almost feel the heat in the hills of Sicily. When Micheal and his guards sit down at the little bar for drink, it always makes smile. My wife took a picture of me sat in that very spot on holiday a few years ago.
@@LeShark75 Many people mention the black levels on OLED televisions but I don't think we ever really achieved that black on film without the Technicolor dye-transfer process. It may be the television not using pixels where the colour is considered to be totally black and that gives the extremely black richness to it. I had a quick look at my Godfather LaserDiscs this morning. They're not the best gatefolds ever created but they're nice to have even if I never spin the discs. Maybe I'll do that sometime soon. Might actually watch them on our television as that may prove to be more suitable for LaserDisc these days. John.
@@moviecollector5920 John, I've not spun a Laser Disc for years. I'll never forget hearing an AC-3 soundtrack in my own home for the first time, Return Of The Jedi, Golden Eye and Tomorrow Never Dies on NTSC Laser Disc. Epic times.
There's a great bunch there John looking forward to you doing THE GOD FATHER after the new 4k restoration
The Godfather movies are great films, I just didn't enjoy them the one time I ever watched them. The upshot is that I doubt I'll be getting that new 4K set Andy. Well, not any time soon anyway. John.
Great video sir! Very informative! Thanks a million.
We're using another video projector since this video and because all equipment is different - and that's the case between our two 4K video projectors - TENET is the better image quality on the newer projector and so would take first place from Murder on the Orient Express. John.
Hello,
I've just discovered your channel with this video and you seem to be someone both passionate and with many knowledges on what you're talking about, so I'll probably take a look on your other videos later.
Now, if I may suggest a nice looking 4k blu-ray, other than the ones you've talked about or the ones I've seen many times in the comments, I would say that Basic Instinct is worth a look.
Greetings from Belgium.
Greetings from England and good to have you hear. We actually watched the 4K of Basic Instinct a couple of weeks ago. I hadn't seen it other than a television broadcast previously so I didn't see a premiere master print of it on 35mm which is a shame because I'm sure I'd have remembered if it looked the same as this 4K. The grading is a little odd so if you take another look see what you think of the skin tones because they look sort of brown which I haven't seen on any other disc that I can recall. It's sharp as tack though and that's the main thing so a very good 35mm transfer.
John.
@@moviecollector5920 Well, I've no point of comparison myself because I had never seen this film before buying the 4k blu-ray but I think I understand what you mean. The colors are very warm so the skin colors look more "brownish". I'm no expert in color grading but I think that the've done that to have a warmer look overal. I mean, the weather is sunny and this color grading makes you understand that it's quite warm where the story takes place (maybee even stuffy) --> if the skin colors were too pale / cold, it would probably have looked weird in comparison with the overal picture.
Anyway, thanks for your answer and see you next time.
@@lhommetrouble1246 You could well be right with your analysis there. Well done! John.
Another very entertaining video. Thanks buddy.
Thanks Andrew. This one seems to be doing rather well which makes a change lately. John.
Funny how a good number of films on your list I haven't seen, just as in your description they don't appeal to me, but just curious is this top 10 list based on 4K transfers alone, or both with as your fave movies as well? I saw Murder on the Orient Express and really didn't care much for it. Much prefer the Albert Finney version and would love to see a remastered 4K of it. Similarly, LOVED Death on the Nile with Peter Ustinov, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury and others. This new version was good, just not as good as the original. Just don't see Branagh as Poirot. Don't know what it is, but just find him in the role a bit annoying. But hey, if we all liked the same things and agreed all the time, this world would be pretty boring. ;) Thanks for your review and picks, always good to watch. P.S. the one movie I hope will get a 4K treatment is Cleopatra with Liz Taylor. The 50th anniversary edition was incredible so it has to be close to getting the 4K treatment.
Cleopatra nearly bankrupted 20th Century Fox so although it's not got the greatest film reputation in history it surely has to get a 4K release. Put me down for that one.
I based the list on image quality alone but Tenet and Dunkirk may be interchangeable at number 2 and 3 so I put Tenet there largely on a hunch because I really like how that film made me think and think and think to try to work it all out. If I were to work out a top ten next week the same films would be listed but in a slightly different order perhaps. I did manage to overlook 'No Time To Die' which was probably number 6 but you can't win 'em all. I somehow glossed over it on the shelf so sorry about that.
As for the 1978 Death on the Nile, that is one of my all-time favourite films. I didn't care anywhere as near as much for the Albert Finney 'Murder on the Orient Express' but I do very much like it. Peter Ustinov is the best ever Hercule Poirot but I also like Kenneth Branagh. That could be the main problem you have with his two films because if you don't appreciate him in the role I can imagine it would rather spoil the films. I never got into the television series which I found a little dull but that may have a bearing too because a lot of people can't see anyone but Mr. Suchet in the lead role as a result.
Let's see how good the 4K disc of Death on the Nile is. I don't think it will come up to Orient Express standards but I'll happily be wrong on that one.
John.
I have Spartacus The Dark Knight (don’t have Dark Knight Roses yet) and Orient Express and the picture quality on all of those really is exceptional. The IMAX scenes in Dark Knight are stunning, so I might seek out Dunkirk next. Tenet for me is just such an impenetrable movie I cannot face watching it again!
Tenet takes some working out Darth but I've grown to really like films that make me think. I don't think I've ever had to think so hard about a film as Tenet but fortunately I worked it all out and incorporated it in my review video so if you do ever dare to sit through it again, have a look at my video first and then it just might all make a bit of sense. John.
Great review john my 2001 was perfect but I had your problem with the new dune kept stopping at scene 12 I had to skip to 13 and rewind
Thank you Mark. The problem with 2001 is the most extreme I've come across so far and I can only get through it if I skip two chapters ahead before the fault appears otherwise it's a complete lock-up. Still, the disc will make a nice beer mat!
John.
@@moviecollector5920. Sounds like a layer transition error.
@@robertt9342 I think it's developed the errors on the menu too now so it's a silver layer deterioration by the look of it. This was known as 'laser rot' on LaserDiscs but they would keep playing, just with a load of interference like imagery until the damaged area was passed. I've come across five 4K discs with this issue now and one that had the fault from new. I've replaced three of them but another I purchased a replacement for had the same error in almost the same location, just a couple of minutes sooner. John.
Great video. I've noticed that restorations of older films look better than films shot digitally. Are digital cameras as good as film?
There are some excellent video cameras Rhu. I have a couple that provide the most beautiful imagery myself but they're not particularly cheap and those that are used for cinema productions cost tens of thousands more. I had an email recently from the firm who supply my own equipment as they were selling off some prime lenses cheaply and I think they started at £60K. Needless to say I didn't take up their kind offer!
Film simply has a more natural look than video but even when a film has been transferred and is then video projected in a cinema it changes how it really looks. I haven't been to a cinema to see a video for many years now and only go when I know a film print is being screened. However, I find that I'm able to make video look like film when I video project at home so I suspect a lot of the problem is down to how bright modern video projectors are and without experienced projectionists to operate the equipment the video being projected is not being done full justice. Even at the Odeon for 'Death on the Nile' last month the video projections of the trailers prior to the film looked pretty awful - variable but generally bloody awful and they have experienced projectionists.
John.
There are so many great UHD Disks. One of my favorite is "Joker". It's a masterpiece of a movie anyway, but the full frame imager Alexa Mini LF 4.4k Raw master, really does make a beautiful image with shallow depth of field. The UHD BluRay looks outstanding. Part of the problem with movies like Jaws, is that they've added so much noise reduction, it smears the image a bit. It looked like that in the theater for the 4k re-release AND on the UHD BluRay. I wouldn't even put that on a list because even though I love the movie and the transfer isn't bad, the de-grain was too much.
Another "contender" for top UHD disk is the remaster of Vertigo. It's simply outstanding. Full photochemical finish on that one, with a beautiful transfer. Having seen the 70mm print several times, the UHD BluRay really does hold up. I haven't watched the other Hitchcock films on UHD yet, I have some of them, need to sit and watch, but Vertigo just stood out as a real gem.
Anyway, keep up the great videos!
Vertigo is VistaVision so it's no surprise that so many people tell me it's an outstanding 4K disc. If the Hitchcock set wasn't so expensive then I'd have seen it by now. But I'm not the biggest fan of Hitchcock's films so that set hasn't quite tempted me enough yet. Make sure you've got all the digital 'enhancements' switched off or minimized on your system as that could be what is giving you the waxy look to some films. Jaws doesn't have those looks on my main system but the film grain is certainly visible so it's another example of all our systems being different. Scanning a film does exacerbate film grain though so it's highly likely some transfers have to go through a bit of computer editing software jiggery pokery to make them look a little less coarse at times. Many people report that the Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the worst offender for this but others report they don't get the waxy look at all. It seems to be down to different systems and how the computer information coming off the disc is interpreted by those systems. 'Sharpen' on the 4K players is the worst offender and I always advise that that is put onto the lowest setting of off altogether if possible.
John.
Nice list, I personally put blade runner final cut, 2049, Leon the professional & The Suicide squad in my top 10 as well.
Many have cited the Blade Runner sequel Ghetti but it actually looked rather drab on both my systems but perhaps you have Dolby Vision and that's pulling more out of it. Denis Villeneuve films tend to look a little colourless so it's may be just the look he likes. By contrast, the original Blade Runner looks fabulous just not up to the standard of the 70mm films but that's no surprise. One I missed which probably would have been in the top ten is the recent James Bond 'No Time To Die'. Another film with a lot of 70mm in it. John.
Leon is the best 90’s movie on the format. Keeps the film look, but looks very detailed. I love it!
@@yeaboy707 Leon is an excellent film. I saw it at The Empire upon first release and have had it on Blu-ray for many years. It was a 35mm shoot so as good as it looks it won't come up to 65mm and genuine IMAX standards. A lot of the 1990s 35mm productions look fantastic and that's because as far as I'm concerned it's when picture quality at the cinema peaked. The downturn started late 90s and was really set on its way with the Star Wars Attack of the Clones video which foisted video projection on the Odeon Leicester Square. To this day that is the worst image quality I have ever seen in a cinema. John.