4K - 8K Resolution and/or Dolby Atmos/DTSX Content Reviews

[Movie2099]

I watched Signs in 4k last night.

The picture was clean and the HDR was seemed solid if not flashy. There was one scene where the shadows on faces during an extended dialogue scene seemed like there were a bit too stark or binary, but I suspect this was intended in the original shot anyways - in any case there are a lot of nighttime or dimly lit shots and all felt appropriately handled and moody.

I've seen the movie several times but it had been a while and I thoroughly enjoyed my 4k re-watch.

Did you watch it via streaming or 4k Disc?

 

[dolynick]

Did you watch it via streaming or 4k Disc?

It was the full fat UHD audio and video. Although I expect the streaming version would be just fine as well.

 

[Trell]

It was the full fat UHD audio and video. Although I expect the streaming version would be just fine as well.

I doubt your expectation.

 

[dolynick]

I doubt your expectation.

The UHD is always going to be the best copy. Not suggesting otherwise.

Most "lesser" 15-20MBbit streaming versions are usually serviceable though. Audio isn't lossless but usually ok (in a "just ok" sense). I wouldn't chose a streaming version if I was after maximum fidelity anyways but most people barely notice the difference.

If the streaming codec chokes on the dark/shadows in this one, it could get ugly but I haven't encountered much of that in practice lately myself.

 

[Trell]

The UHD is always going to be the best copy. Not suggesting otherwise.

Most "lesser" 15-20MBbit streaming versions are usually serviceable though. Audio isn't lossless but usually ok (in a "just ok" sense). I wouldn't chose a streaming version if I was after maximum fidelity anyways but most people barely notice the difference.

The streaming services are compressing very heavily with various artifacts clearly visible, like banding. Currently, Amazone Prime is the worst offender. Then there is the low sound quality that is mostly bad compression along with bad mastering. Not sure which is worse.

 

[dolynick]

The streaming services are compressing very heavily with various artifacts clearly visible, like banding. Currently, Amazone Prime is the worst offender. Then there is the low sound quality that is mostly bad compression along with bad mastering. Not sure which is worse.

I don't watch a lot of movies off the streaming services but definitely some streaming series. Granted it is mainly from Netflix but I personally haven't noted a lot of obvious artifacts in anything I've watched lately. Maybe it's just the content we're each choosing? The only content Amazon based that I've watched recently were Rings of Power S2 and The Boys S4 and I don't recall having any issues with either.

 

[j_garcia]

Never heard of Strange Darling. Had to look it up. Was this a straight to video release? haha

Seemed to have limited release in the summer. It was in theaters when we went to see Coraline.

 

[Trell]

I don't watch a lot of movies off the streaming services but definitely some streaming series. Granted it is mainly from Netflix but I personally haven't noted a lot of obvious artifacts in anything I've watched lately. Maybe it's just the content we're each choosing? The only content Amazon based that I've watched recently were Rings of Power S2 and The Boys S4 and I don't recall having any issues with either.

You’ll see the banding in dark scenes.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Never heard of Strange Darling. Had to look it up. Was this a straight to video release? haha

"Strange Darling" has a 7.2 IMDb rating, so it's a lot higher rating than MOST movies.

Not a blockbuster $200 million movie. And N-Might WISHES he could be as smart of a writer as this one. IOW, if M-Night had made this movie, it would have probably made $500 million.

 

[Movie2099]

Bad Boys 4-4k Disc

PQ- The picture quality was 4k crispy. Was shot on 8k cameras. So, you'll be able to see all the tiny details in faces, clothing, etc. Colors were good. It took place in Miami, so lots of sunshine scenes. The directors used a lot of drone shots. If you're a fan of drone shots, you'll love this movie!

SQ- The sound was pretty good. With all the action scenes with guns and explosives all the speakers stayed active. Bass came alive during certain scenes but overall was just ok. I would say it sounded very similar to Bad Boys 3.

Overall- I'm going to give the movie a 6/10. I know these movies still make money, but that doesn't mean they're good. To me, this movie seemed like something Netflix would make. The script was bad, it's all the same jokes from previous installments. Nothing new whatsoever. It had a couple funny moments, but overall, the comedic side of the movie just fell flat. I wasn't a big fan of the 3rd Bad Boys, and this one just continued with that same style and outcome. I enjoy Bad Boys 1 and 2 a lot more. If 3 and 4 never existed, it would be absolutely ok. I felt Bad Boys 2 concluded on a good note and could've ended there.

If you're in the mood for some over the top action, a shut your brain off type of entertainment, then I would say check this movie out. I believe it's on Netflix right now. So, you won't have to go out and purchase it.

 

[j_garcia]

There is a new king of the flops. Flopenstein. Flopzilla. Flopula.

Borderlands made $31m on a $120m budget (not including marketing). Megalopolis made $13m on a $120m budget (not including marketing)

Kevin Costner's Horizon Drama Shows How Much Worse Francis Ford Coppola's $13 Million Bomb Could Have Been

Imagine if Megalopolis was a two-parter

screenrant.com

 

[Movie2099]

There is a new king of the flops. Flopenstein. Flopzilla. Flopula.

Borderlands made $31m on a $120m budget (not including marketing). Megalopolis made $13m on a $120m budget (not including marketing)

Kevin Costner's Horizon Drama Shows How Much Worse Francis Ford Coppola's $13 Million Bomb Could Have Been

Imagine if Megalopolis was a two-parter

screenrant.com

I would throw Joker 2 in there as well. It's looking like WB is going to lose between $150-$200 million from that movie.

 

[j_garcia]

I would throw Joker 2 in there as well. It's looking like WB is going to lose between $150-$200 million from that movie.

Joker is pretty interesting though. There might be a sort of reason why Philips did that. I read an interview that said the first film had an unexpected and very negative effect. Some people didn't see Joker as a sympathetic villain, they took after the rabid crowds in the film and saw him as a rallying call to rebel and commit crime in real life. So in this film, they wanted to de-glorify Arthur a bit. Not sure if that was a great plan though, certainly not going to sell well to the public, and I am not sure they were after it doing really well. I haven't seen it yet, nor does it sound interesting.

Another article that said what is up at WB? Most of the biggest losers this year were all theirs.

 

[panteragstk]

Joker is pretty interesting though. There might be a sort of reason why Philips did that. I read an interview that said the first film had an unexpected and very negative effect. Some people didn't see Joker as a sympathetic villain, they took after the rabid crowds in the film and saw him as a rallying call to rebel and commit crime in real life. So in this film, they wanted to de-glorify Arthur a bit. Not sure if that was a great plan though, certainly not going to sell well to the public, and I am not sure they were after it doing really well. I haven't seen it yet, nor does it sound interesting.

Another article that said what is up at WB? Most of the biggest losers this year were all theirs.

Discovery buying them as not gone well.

 

[Movie2099]

Joker is pretty interesting though. There might be a sort of reason why Philips did that. I read an interview that said the first film had an unexpected and very negative effect. Some people didn't see Joker as a sympathetic villain, they took after the rabid crowds in the film and saw him as a rallying call to rebel and commit crime in real life. So in this film, they wanted to de-glorify Arthur a bit. Not sure if that was a great plan though, certainly not going to sell well to the public, and I am not sure they were after it doing really well. I haven't seen it yet, nor does it sound interesting.

Another article that said what is up at WB? Most of the biggest losers this year were all theirs.

Zazzi (Zaslav) is running WB into the ground. Rumor mill is that he's trying to sell WB to another studio. He also comes from Discovery where he was in charge of TV shows. So his background is not movies.

My personal opinion on a few things from WB, i think it was stupid to wait this long to get a Batman 2 started. They don't even start filming until next March. So at the earliest, we won't see a Batman 2 until mid-late 2026. That will be 4 years after the first one came out. Hahaha way too long between movies. Batman 2 should've been greenlit immediately, so they could've started and had it released this year or early next. But good ol Zazzi had to think about it. Hahaha.

My take on Joker 2 is that the Director made it to screw over WB. Supposedly he and Phoenix did not want to make it but the studio forced him to. So he wrote a terrible script, turned it into a musical and screwed over the fans. So he (Phillips) decides to tarnish his reputation all because he didn't want to make a sequel. I'm not sure that was the right move....

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would throw Joker 2 in there as well. It's looking like WB is going to lose between $150-$200 million from that movie.

I watched about 30 minutes of Joker 2. I thought it was so bad I couldn’t take it and just gave up.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

My personal opinion on a few things from WB, i think it was stupid to wait this long to get a Batman 2 started. They don't even start filming until next March. So at the earliest, we won't see a Batman 2 until mid-late 2026. That will be 4 years after the first one came out. Hahaha way too long between movies. Batman 2 should've been greenlit immediately, so they could've started and had it released this year or early next. But good ol Zazzi had to think about it. Hahaha.

At least we have “The Penguin” TV series w/ Collin Farrell. I am loving this new series. So maybe “The Batman 2” will come out after Season 2 of The Penguin next year and will tie The Penguin into The Batman 2 movie.

I keep thinking that Batman or Bruce Wayne will make a cameo any episode now on The Penguin. Probably at the end of season 1 finale.

 

[Movie2099]

At least we have “The Penguin” TV series w/ Collin Farrell. I am loving this new series. So maybe “The Batman 2” will come out after Season 2 of The Penguin next year and will tie The Penguin into The Batman 2 movie.

I keep thinking that Batman or Bruce Wayne will make a cameo any episode now on The Penguin. Probably at the end of season 1 finale.

yeah, unfortunately that won't be happening. The other unfortunate thing is that the Penguin is not doing well as a whole. None of the episodes are showing up on Nielsen TV ratings. That's really bad. People are watching old shows and movies more than trying out something new in the Batman universe on HBO/MAX.

Not sure how quickly they could make a season 2 before the next Batman movie drops. But from what I've read, the events that happen in this show do lead into the next movie.

 

[Movie2099]

Twisters 4k Disc

PQ- The picture quality was good. They shot the film on 35mm and then gave it the 4k treatment. They shot it with using natural light and nothing added in post production. So, colors aren't popping off the screen. It was shot in Oklahoma. So, if you have ever been or for some that live there, you know what Oklahoma looks like. haha! Overall, not demo worthy, but still a very solid transfer.

SQ- I wasn't cranking the volume on this one, but it's pretty solid soundtrack. A little disappointed with atmos. I thought they would pack this movie with tons of Atmos sounds, but there really wasn't much of anything. Just the wind blowing, but with so much going on in the scene, all the sound felt like it was just coming from the front 3 speakers. There were a few bass heavy scenes. Which should be expected for a movie like this. Even with my volume lowered, the house was still shaking a bit, so I can only imagine for those that really crank up the volume and bass levels, this movie might move earth and your house!

Overall- I'm giving the movie a 7/10. The original is still king. This follow up was just ok. I didn't really like the main character (Kate). Was kind of mixture of bad writing and acting. I felt nothing for her or her issues. Could pretty much care less. I enjoyed Glen Powell's (Tyler) character. Sure, we all know why he was brought it, but really, every time he and his team were on screen, it made the movie better. The writers definitely stole similar events and scenes from Twister and used them in this movie. They had to give Kate her big "I'm a strong female lead" moment and I thought it was just pathetically forced. That's what made the original so great. The chemistry between everybody felt natural and they worked off each other. In this movie, there is ZERO chemistry between anybody. I'm not trying to bash the movie, I still think you should check it out, but these are just my nitpicks. Sometimes I can just turn the brain off and watch movies for what they are, but for some reason things in this one bothered me a bit. Maybe because I'm a big fan of the original and had really high expectations for this follow-up. Oh well....

 

[j_garcia]

Twisters 4k Disc

PQ- The picture quality was good. They shot the film on 35mm and then gave it the 4k treatment. They shot it with using natural light and nothing added in post production. So, colors aren't popping off the screen. It was shot in Oklahoma. So, if you have ever been or for some that live there, you know what Oklahoma looks like. haha! Overall, not demo worthy, but still a very solid transfer.

SQ- I wasn't cranking the volume on this one, but it's pretty solid soundtrack. A little disappointed with atmos. I thought they would pack this movie with tons of Atmos sounds, but there really wasn't much of anything. Just the wind blowing, but with so much going on in the scene, all the sound felt like it was just coming from the front 3 speakers. There were a few bass heavy scenes. Which should be expected for a movie like this. Even with my volume lowered, the house was still shaking a bit, so I can only imagine for those that really crank up the volume and bass levels, this movie might move earth and your house!

Overall- I'm giving the movie a 7/10. The original is still king. This follow up was just ok. I didn't really like the main character (Kate). Was kind of mixture of bad writing and acting. I felt nothing for her or her issues. Could pretty much care less. I enjoyed Glen Powell's (Tyler) character. Sure, we all know why he was brought it, but really, every time he and his team were on screen, it made the movie better. The writers definitely stole similar events and scenes from Twister and used them in this movie. They had to give Kate her big "I'm a strong female lead" moment and I thought it was just pathetically forced. That's what made the original so great. The chemistry between everybody felt natural and they worked off each other. In this movie, there is ZERO chemistry between anybody. I'm not trying to bash the movie, I still think you should check it out, but these are just my nitpicks. Sometimes I can just turn the brain off and watch movies for what they are, but for some reason things in this one bothered me a bit. Maybe because I'm a big fan of the original and had really high expectations for this follow-up. Oh well....

That is really odd and too bad, which means the disc has a bad mix then. In the theater, it was one of the craziest Atmos movies I've seen, at least the couple of instances when they are in the tornados.

I liked it as a cheese action flick, but yeah, it lacks the personal side of the original.