this post was submitted on 12 Aug 2024
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Home Video (VHS, DVD, Blu-ray, 4k)

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On Reddit we have r/dvdcollection, r/boutiquebluray, r/4kbluray, r/steelbook, r/vhs, etc but let's start simply with a community to cover all the forms of home video collecting.

So, do you feel nostalgic for a format? Are you looking forward to a release? Heard any exciting news? Want to show us your shelves? Then post away.

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You can find the full interview here. Not very long but some interesting titbits on various projects including a new Terminator (he reveals nothing).

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 3 months ago (5 children)

I mean, Cameron is a douche, but he's right in this case. There's a lot to complain about with his body of work, but grain levels just aren't on the list.

[–] [email protected] 35 points 3 months ago (1 children)

It's a straw man. A lot of the 4k cameron remasters are not good. Color correction being extremely off being one of the biggest sins.

Also. His argument is awful "my team has done this forever"... Well they've done it wrong, guy. Literally have not heard of any other movie getting criticism for a 4k remaster except his

[–] [email protected] 12 points 3 months ago

It feels like he's jumped on the one time the criticism wasn't that valid, to invalidate all the times legitimate complaints have been raised.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 3 months ago

Who cares about grain levels, it just looks like shit.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The comparison images from the link sure seem to show reducing the grain was the right decision, but I haven't seen it in motion.

[–] [email protected] 28 points 3 months ago

They focus on the grain reduction nagging in Aliens when that was not even that big of an issue.

My main problem with these recent 4K releases was True Lies, it has straight up AI hallucinations in it, I really doubt he rewatched the final product at all.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

The grain isn’t the issue. They are straight up AI upscales filled with artefacts and barely any use of HDR colour capabilities. Fan edits have done better jobs.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

He made some really good movies barely watchable with AI upscaling. Imagine walking by a bridge construction and you ask the guy responsible why the two ends don't line up and he says: get a life loser, i build a lot of bridges.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 3 months ago (1 children)

lol, honestly respect him for not bending over backwards or giving a “political” response.

Sometimes you just need to tell people to fuck off and suck it up, especially when you’ve got nerds looking for a reason to be angry.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 3 months ago

God forbid someone exhibit humility and introspection. Nope, just commit to being right and never listen to anyone.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (3 children)

The Aliens transfer is possibly the best I have ever seen, of any movie. WTF is wrong with these people?

EDIT: Gang, I apologize. I know what’s wrong with them. I was just venting in the form of a question.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Modern social media gives a huge voice to the dipshits who just want to be mad at something. So they find some miniscule issue they can be made at and social media amplifies it as if it were a legitimate critique.

Most of these types of "complaints" can be safely ignored. Just as Cameron points out here, with no fucks given to their feelings.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

5 minutes ago I knew nothing about this, and honestly I don't have the "discerning eye" necessary to notice these issues even if they did exist.

That being said, I have been looking for something to get mad at...

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago

Lemmy user SquirtleHermit SLAMS famous director and is kept waiting for response DISRESPECTFULLY!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 months ago

How much time do you have?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 3 months ago

@UKFilmNerd

I have no complaints. Was just happy it FINALLY came out in 4K. Was on my wish list for years.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (2 children)

So what's wrong with a little grain? off colors? I mean, the audio world is shifting back to vinyl because it is imperfect but unique in a way that you can only appreciate when you hear other versions and dislike them because they don't "pop, skip, smoosh" the same way as you record does.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 3 months ago (1 children)

But the problem with Cameron is that he's removing the grain almost completely, using AI to help do it and it's making the films look worse.

To be fair he's using it at different levels, Titanic and The Abyss look the best but Aliens and Truth Lies look the worse.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 3 months ago (1 children)

The replies to this post make me think most people haven't seen the videos showing the hideous face distortions in the latter two.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I haven't and am not having luck finding them. Got a link by chance?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Here's a general one about Aliens. The problem with grain removal with the help of AI is that your also removing the fine detail on skin for example. People start to look waxy. Also, AI can fuck things up. Look at what it did to Hick's face in the background of a scene!

The comparison here is easier to see between the old and new copies of True Lies.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Thanks! Things in motionsure can look a lot different than static images.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 months ago

It doesn't. I hadn't looked at any screen captures before watching the disc and it's just as terrible and super distracting in motion. Thankfully only 3-4 scenes are marred by this. Oddly, it's usually Tom Arnold's face.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Oh my god look at Arnold's hair on that last one, it's chiseled from pure bronze

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think this one is the one I watched which breaks down both and was pretty interesting.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 months ago

Hot damn that really does show the problems a lot better than the single image.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago

The vinyl analogy can be used for these 4k remasters, but it's more akin to using AI to clean up audio in a vinyl recording and adding a bunch of distortion in the process.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Bad question framing and bad answer. The issue is the AI distortions, not the grain. Cameron surely knows this, so he's responding with a straw man.

Get a life? It's your industry, man. And maybe don't denigrate the people buying your movies. Lots of other studios get this right.

That said, I think the online criticism of True Lies (haven't watched the Aliens disc yet) is overblown except for maybe 3-4 scenes where it's super obvious, awful, and distracting.

At least The Abyss looked great.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I HATE DENOISING I HATE DENOISING.

I jest. I've watched some 35mm transfers and the noise is distracting

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago

He’s fine saying that, as long as AI wasn’t used to hallucinate details.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

Transcription:

So you've also had recently the 4K transfers of Aliens and True Lies that came out. It did get blowback in the fan community, some feeling that the image quality wasn't as high as they wanted it to be. You obviously have a very high standard. So l'm wondering what you thought?

When people start reviewing your grain structure, they need to move out of mom's basement and meet somebody. Right? Im serious. I mean, are you fucking kidding me? I've got a great team that does the transfers. I do all the color and density work. I look at every shot, every frame, and then the final transfer is done by a guy who has been with me [for years]. All the Avatar films are done that way. Everything is done that way. Get a life, people, seriously.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 months ago

Topaz Video AI has a great grain removal feature. I already do this to other upscaled Hollywood junk.