Death
Warrant 4K (1990/MGM/4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray*)/Identity
4K (2003/Arrow 4K Ultra
HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray*)/Lionheart
4K (1990/MGM/4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray*)/7th
Voyage Of Sinbad 4K
(1958/Sony 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/Troy
4K (2004/Warner/Arrow 4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray*/*all MVD)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B/B/B/B+/B+ Picture: B-/X/B/B/B Sound:
B-/B/B-/B/B Extras: C/C/C/B/C Films: C-/C/C/B-/C-
Up
next are 4K upgrades to several (mostly) hit titles, though the films
are not always so good...
Deran
Sarafian's Death
Warrant 4K
(1990) is the first of two Jean Claude Van Damme films here and this,
his prison movie, we somehow never got to reviewing, but looking back
at it, its amazing he ever got out of these B-movies to be a bigger
international star and he is still far more popular overseas than in
the U.S. market. He plays a detective who goes undercover as an
inmate to find and stop a killer.
Cynthia
Gibb and Robert Guillaume help make this relatively more watchable
than it is when they are on screen, but the film has more cliches
than martial arts moves and it is a curio at best.
Extras
repeat those on the
also-included Blu-ray version and that includes the poster. Those
extras include on both disc versions: a Feature Length Audio
Commentary by Director Deran Sarafian
DISC
2: The regular Blu-ray also adds:
Interview
with actor Patrick Kilpatrick (HD, 9:59)
Interview
with actor Art LaFleur (HD, 7:20)
"Defender
of Death: Memories of a Van Damme Classics with Cynthia Gibb"
interview (HD, 35:07)
Photo
Gallery
Original
Theatrical Trailer (HD, 1:24)
and
a Jean-Claude Van Damme Trailer gallery including Lionheart,
Black Eagle, Knock Off, and Double Impact.
James
Mangold's
Identity
4K
(2003) is back in two cuts, a film we reviewed a while ago on Blu-ray
at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/5213/Identity+(2003/Blu-ray
I
continued to be reminded how disappointed I was then and how this
should have worked and really did not. Mangold is a capable
filmmaker (Girl
Interrupted,
the underrated 3:10
to Yuma
remake, Ford
Versus Ferrari;
maybe he was just not ready to juggle all of this?) and a really
solid cast that includes John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Alfred Molina,
Amanda Peet, Jake Busey, John C. McGinley, Pruitt Taylor Vance and
Rebecca De Mornay, so you can imagine that this is getting the deluxe
treatment here because all that talent means plenty of curiosity
interest possibilities.
You
might enjoy some of it more than me, but I still think it is a highly
unfortunate failure and now you can see for yourself.
Extras
include
an Archival Feature Length Audio Commentary by director James Mangold
Archival
audio commentary by screenwriter Michael Cooney
I
Met a Man That Wasn't There, a brand new interview with actor
Pruitt Taylor Vince
Producing
Identity, a brand new interview with producer Cathy Konrad
On
The Set, an archival behind the scenes featurette
Deleted
scenes
Storyboard
comparisons
Original
Theatrical Trailer
Image
Gallery
Reversible
sleeve featuring two choices of original artwork
and
collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the film by Andrew
Cardno and original production notes.
Sheldon
Lettich's
Lionheart
4K
(1991) is the second of two Jean Claude Van Damme films here and his
fighting competition straight of the the Foreign Legion tale to help
his sick brother is at least a little more original, but it still
does not make it a much better film. One of our fellow critics liked
it more than me and explains in his coverage of the Blu-ray released
a few years ago here:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/15199/Beastmaster+(1982/MGM/Umbrella+Region+Free+Imp
On
both films, you really have to leave your brain at the door, but it
might be much worse depending. If you like Van Damme or are VERY
curious see it, but otherwise, skip it.
Extras
repeat those on the also-included Blu-ray version and that includes
the poster.
Nathan
Juran's The
7th Voyage Of Sinbad 4K
(1958) gets a pleasant Ultra HD upgrade from Sony and hopefully, the
rest of the Ray Harryhausen films will follow. You can read about
this film and its previous Blu-ray release (that disc is the one
included in this set) here in an early Harryhausen Blu-ray box set
here:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/7654/Ray+Harryhausen+Collection+(Sony+Blu-ray+Set+with
I
like all three of the Sinbad/Harryhausen films with this just making
it as the best, the next one second best and the final one fine, but
they stopped while they were ahead. Seeing the legendary stop motion
in 4K and better definition with the Technicolor really looking great
is the reason to upgrade. As a matter of fact, the creatures are so
vivd, it makes them more stark, though the human actors are softer
(optical printing at the time, sadly) but they look more realistic
than most of their CGI equivalents that you will be surprised and
even stunned if you have not seen any of these films on 35mm film.
The
cast is solid and does their best to react to technology that was
still so new and being perfected here, that they should be applauded
and savvier audiences will get that. I just wish that the original
footage of the actors form those fighting sequences with humans
versus various monsters still existed because they could be
recombined (as they were so masterfully in the recent Danger:
Diabolik
restoration) and make this film have even more impact.
Still,
this is a genre classic and outside of a mint 35mm (or 16mm or maybe
even sound Super 8) film print, this 4k edition is the best way to
see The
7th Voyage Of Sinbad,
a true classic of the genre.
Extras
repeat those of the Blu-ray, especially as the same Blu-ray is
included in this set as the old one, while we also get a Digital
Movie version and the 4K edition just has the Original Theatrical
Trailer and Harryhausen Chronicles featurette also on the
Blu-ray.
Wolfgang
Petersen's Troy
4K
(2004) is back in time for Nolan's Odyssey
(2026) to go through the roof at the box office, the Brad Pitt-epic
is one we reviewed twice (on the old HD-DVD format no less) in both
of its cuts and you can start by going to this link to see what we
said:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/6211/Troy+%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%80%9C+Directors+C
There
is a link to the other cut and in both cases, we were not impressed.
Like Oliver Stone's Alexander, they kept trying all kinds of
different cuts, but the flat, disappointing and forgettable results
in all cuts of both films showed how much of a fluke Gladiator
and Braveheart really were. Despite interesting cast and new
interest in the film (even without the goofy political attacks on
Odyssey,) all you get is a very overblown epic that does not
work much and though it has some fans and does a few things well,
Brad Pitt still delivers the longest dying scene in the history of
Warner Bros. since Bugs Bunny!
Now
you can see that in 4K too!
Extras
(which also apply to the regular Blu-ray set) include
a collectors' booklet featuring new writing on the film by Priscilla
Page and Laurie Maguire and an excerpt from the original production
notes
Reversible
sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter
Strain
DISC
1: THEATRICAL CUT (4K ULTRA HD)
DISC
2: DIRECTOR'S CUT (4K ULTRA HD)
Troy
Revisited, an archival introduction by director Wolfgang
Petersen
DISC
3: EXTRAS (BLU-RAY)
In
Movie Experience, an archive picture-in-picture commentary of
the film
Troy
in Focus, a series of archival behind-the scenes featurettes
In
the Thick of Battle, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
From
Ruins to Reality, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
Troy:
An Effects Odyssey, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
Attacking
Troy, an archival behind-the-scenes featurette
Gallery
of the Gods, an archival introduction to the Greek Gods
Easter
Egg
Original
Theatrical Trailer
and
Image Galleries.
Now
for playback
performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.85 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10;
Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Death
Warrant 4K
is from a recent 4K scan, but still has soft moments, grainy moments
and other signs of its low budget, a little less obvious on the
already-reviewed Blu-ray version, with the 4K just edging it out.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and PCM 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes do
what they can for the old audio, but it was done on a limited budget,
shows its age, sonic limits and the upgrades can be harsh and a
little uneven too.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Identity
4K is
a bit of an improvement over the older Blu-ray, but there are some
unavoidably soft shots and that seems to include some early, if
simple digital work. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is worthy of the PCM 5.1
from the old Blu-ray, but it has aged a bit since we covered the film
in the earlier edition. Still, it shows how ambitious this was, even
if it did not work out.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.78 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on Lionheart
4K is
from a new 4K scan, but still has soft moments, grainy moments and
other signs of its low budget, a little less obvious on the
already-reviewed Blu-ray version, with the 4K just edging it out.
The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 and PCM 2.0 Stereo lossless mixes do
what they can for the old audio, but (again) it was done on a limited
budget, shows its age, sonic limits and the upgrades can be harsh and
a little uneven too.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 1.66 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on The
7th Voyage Of Sinbad 4K
may show as much grain and age as the other films, but looks the best
considering it is the oldest. A color-rich improvement over the
older Blu-ray transfer (disc included here,) you can now really get
the idea of how great 35mm dye-transfer, three-strip Technicolor
prints of the film must have looked and it makes this more
entertaining and involving as a result. The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio)
5.1 lossless mix repeats the
lossless Dolby TrueHD 5.1
from the included older Blu-ray and it sounds just fine, even if it
is slightly different and maybe slightly smoother.
The
2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10; Ultra HD
Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on both versions of
Troy
4K
look as good as the best film prints issued when it was originally
issued, but the digital work is more obvious than ever, so it only
shines best in the non-digital shots. The
1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers of both are a
little duller and still show the age of the CGI effects. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix has been retained on all
four disc versions of the film and it holds up well enough. Best
just to leave that alone instead of trying for DTS: X or Dolby Atmos
and having it not work out.
-
Nicholas Sheffo
