MikeMatt101

Unfortunately, both are…

September 2019 release (2011 Special Edition) - https://www.amazon.co.uk/STAR-WARS-NEW-HOPE-Blu-ray/dp/B07TNVWQCZ

August 2020 release (2019 Special Edition / Maclunkey version) - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Wars-Episode-IV-Blu-ray/dp/B08D7234D9

^ and I’d doubt the staff at some places knowing the difference - or being aware there is a difference…
 

I’m getting increasingly confused. The 2019 releases are US not UK. So why would people buying from Amazon UK or HMV be getting US stock?

oojason said:

adywan said:

Broom Kid said:

In the UK, if you buy a blu-ray only disc, you get the new masters on that blu-ray.

in the US, if you buy a blu-ray only disc, you get the 2011 discs repackaged. The only way to get new masters on blu-ray in the US is to buy a 4K disc that comes with the new masters on the pack-in blu-ray.

It’s pretty much pot luck if you buy the single blu-rays in the UK. Amazon, you’re not guaranteed to get the 2020 version. At HMV, someone i know purchased the OT as separates. ANH was 2011, ESB was 2020, ROTJ was 2011. HMV refused to take the 2011 discs back as the package was opened. So he ordered ANH & ROTJ from Zavvi. Got ANH 2020 & ROTJ 2011. The packaging is identical too so there’s no way of knowing which version you will get even if you go into a shop and check the covers. So now he is stuck with 2 versions of ROTJ and no way of knowing if he buys another copy if it will be the new version or not. Until all the old stock of the September 2019 releases are sold, its a risk buying them as separates.

I’m surprised this hasn’t received more attention online - especially given the seemingly endless and inane ‘unboxing’ and ‘review’ channels out there on youtube.

Ah, so it’s not the case that 2011 discs are being put in 2020 packaging, but that the retailers are getting confused by the 2019 and 2020 releases.

The 2019 releases don’t appear to be listed separately on Amazon, which I guess is why it’s pot luck which version you get.

adywan said:

Broom Kid said:

In the UK, if you buy a blu-ray only disc, you get the new masters on that blu-ray.

in the US, if you buy a blu-ray only disc, you get the 2011 discs repackaged. The only way to get new masters on blu-ray in the US is to buy a 4K disc that comes with the new masters on the pack-in blu-ray.

It’s pretty much pot luck if you buy the single blu-rays in the UK. Amazon, you’re not guaranteed to get the 2020 version. At HMV, someone i know purchased the OT as separates. ANH was 2011, ESB was 2020, ROTJ was 2011. HMV refused to take the 2011 discs back as the package was opened. So he ordered ANH & ROTJ from Zavvi. Got ANH 2020 & ROTJ 2011. The packaging is identical too so there’s no way of knowing which version you will get even if you go into a shop and check the covers. So now he is stuck with 2 versions of ROTJ and no way of knowing if he buys another copy if it will be the new version or not. Until all the old stock of the September 2019 releases are sold, its a risk buying them as separates.

That is bonkers. I was actually on the verge of ordering I-VI on Amazon based on comments on blu-ray.com and the screen caps I’ve seen, but now I think I’ll hang fire until I can justify getting the 4Ks. But even then it seems pot luck whether you get the slips.

I played the first few minutes of ROTJ on D+ last night and even though it’s only supposed to be SD through my NowTV Box 2 it actually looked more like HD to me - I was sat right in front of the screen and looked pretty damn good.

If you buy blu-ray only you are going to receive the 2011 masters.

Is this confirmed? I’ve just read a post on the blu-ray.com forum saying the standalone BD of Episode IV is the new master.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=18005214&postcount=4063

And these screen caps suggest otherwise:

https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?a=1&x=249&y=121&d1=14082&d2=13933&s1=143207&s2=141385&l=0&i=4&go=1

adywan said:

If you are going to buy the blu-rays, you HAVE to buy them as a box set or with the 4k separate versions. If you buy the blu-rays individually, then you end up getting the 2011 versions you already have. If you are going to upgrade to 4k in the future then just go for the 4k versions now, because they include the 2020 versions of the OT and you won’t have to double dip in the future once you upgrade

I thought the separate BDs recently made available on Amazon and HMV were the 2020 versions, e.g. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08D723MD6/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

(Sorry, probably should have said I’m in the UK)

Apologies if this has been covered ad nauseum elsewhere but I’d appreciate some honest opinions on this.

I have the old prequel DVDs.
I have the 2011 Blu Ray set.
I currently have a subscription to Disney+.
I have TFA, TLJ and ROTS on Blu Ray (I have the 3D Special Edition of TFA) so not interested in the monochrome box set.
I don’t have 4K and while I’m sure I will upgrade at some point it won’t be in the immediate future, so not currently interested in 4K.

So this is about episodes 1-6 Blu Rays

From what I’ve read elsewhere, I wouldn’t see any improvement in PQ on the 2020 prequels v 2011. I probably will notice a slight improvement in PQ on the 2020 originals v 2011, and more importantly I’d notice the colour correction which I believe is generally acknowledged to be an improvement.

As far as bonus features are concerned, I’d get a few extra featurettes I don’t already have, though I wouldn’t be able to ditch my prequel DVDs and 2011 Blu Rays (and some of the “legacy” documentaries are screwed up on the new BDs).

While I’m tempted to take advantage of Amazon’s current offer and get 1-6 for £45, I’m also thinking I should hang fire until I upgrade to 4K and buy them all then rather than risk double dipping, especially as I can watch colour corrected versions of the originals on D+ whenever I want to (though I generally prefer physical media to digital).

Sorry, I know this is a boring post, but some opinions would be appreciated.

Assuming the front of the Falcon’s cockpit is a perfect circle (which it may not be), it seems to be slightly wider than it is taller on the 2020 image which I think suggests it has been stretched. Only a very rough measurement so I could be wrong.

One thing I find a bit odd is that pretty much every other screencap comparison I’ve seen shows the 2020 versions as being darker than the 2011, but with these it’s the other way around…?

Rodney-2187 said:

1080p blu-rays (2020)

even bigger gap

old 1080p blu rays (2011)

Are the new BDs really that much of an improvement? I know the colour grading is better, but all the screenshots I’ve seen haven’t been that amazing, though I know screenshots can be misleading.

Han Solo IRL said:

MikeMatt101 said:

Broom Kid said:

Looking at the cap from above, thought I’d put together a comparison of “Here to Rescue Yous”

http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/7DKY7NNX

I think I got those all labeled correctly.

May I ask, is the last of these screenshots the 2019 Blu Ray or the 2019 4K?

It’s the 4K. It’s got a 3840x1610 pixel count.

Thanks, explains the clear improvement in detail and makes me less in a rush to upgrade my 2011 BDs to the 2019 BDs.

Broom Kid said:

MikeMatt101 said:

Is this true of all the OT BDs though or just ANH?

My understanding is that it’s true of all the new blus, but the DNR problems are actually more pronounced on ESB and ROTJ.

OK, thanks, much appreciated.

Broom Kid said:

The 2019 BDs seem to be much more uniform in presentation than the UHDs no matter what. The biggest problem seems to be that Reliance went HAM on the transfer with noise reduction since they were primarily remastering for 3D conversion to be applied after the fact. Reliance is pretty heavy handed with the DNR even when they weren’t protecting for 3D gimmickry, so in scenes where the 3D probably wasn’t going to be very prominent, you end up with a nice transfer that makes the movie look better than it ever has on home video. And then in the same transfer you end up with SUPER-processed shots and sequences that are just smeared and artifacted to hell.

The color grade seems to be the first time since 1997 that we’re getting somewhat CLOSE to what the DP and director’s intended for their films to look like, and the 2019 Blu-Rays seem to be the best way of seeing what that looks like, for now, since the UHDs seem to mandate users do some tinkering on their side to figure out how to get it to “look right.”

Is this true of all the OT BDs though or just ANH?

Broom Kid said:

It’s the same as the cap from earlier in the thread that prompted the comparison. I just grabbed that one, and then grabbed all the others from what I had here.

I’m not 100% whether that cap was made from the 4k, or the 2019 blu-ray. I sorta feel like anyone trying to cap anything from the 4k disc is entering into a crapshoot since UHD is, frankly, kind of a mess so far as actually seeing what anyone who shot the damn thing meant for you to see. Even good UHD transfers seem to be kind of “up in the air” as to whether they look like the movie was supposed to look.

It really does seem to me like the primary instinct behind UHD’s creation was to match TV makers’ notions of what makes TVs look good, and not to capture what filmmaker’s notions of what they want their films to look like.

Thanks for this. The 2019 cap definitely has more detail than the 2011 (individual drops of sweat can be seen between Luke’s eyes on the 2019 cap for example), so if this is the BD then it’s a definite improvement over 2011, though to me it still seems quite drab compared to 2011 - however I appreciate that caps don’t always give an accurate representation.

Broom Kid said:

Looking at the cap from above, thought I’d put together a comparison of “Here to Rescue Yous”

http://www.framecompare.com/image-compare/screenshotcomparison/7DKY7NNX

I think I got those all labeled correctly.

May I ask, is the last of these screenshots the 2019 Blu Ray or the 2019 4K?