ah ok, gotcha. im looking at region free players now. that's not too bad price wise actually and I do have a region B copy of Strange Days I'd love to watch. Now if only I could order a copy of The Thing.
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Arrow Video is Working on a 4K Restoration of John Carpenter's The Thing
- Thread starter HStallion
- Start date
ah ok, gotcha. im looking at region free players now. that's not too bad price wise actually and I do have a region B copy of Strange Days I'd love to watch. Now if only I could order a copy of The Thing.
mariachi507
Member
I figure that Universal will want to hold those cards a little closer to their chest and will release the UHD Blu themselves down the line.
Is this really a good idea, though? Practical effects, even legendary ones like The Thing, can start to look a little fake'y when you up the resolution and look too closely. A lot of effects are designed with the medium in mind - leaving in rough edges that you know the camera won't pick up or the viewer won't discern.
Are there any comparable films with practical effects that received a good 4k treatment? Quite curious how they looked.
Are there any comparable films with practical effects that received a good 4k treatment? Quite curious how they looked.
NealMcCauley
Member
I think the only effect that would look noticeably worse is the brief claymation shot near the end (the Thing pulling the dynamite plunger into the hole), but it never looked great in the first place.
I have the just released Kairo (Pulse) and recently released Dark Water blurays, they're both Region A
Wasn't that sequence trimmed down substantially because Carpenter wasn't happy how the special effect turned out?
I'm hoping there are still copies left next week during the Arrow sale. 
Because those are dual territory releases unlike the UK only The Thing.
I'm hoping there are still copies left next week during the Arrow sale.
Because those are dual territory releases unlike the UK only The Thing.
That's weird. Of all the things (ha ha ha) to keep UK only, that doesn't make much sense.
LincolnSixEcho
Member
4K UHD is automatically region-free.
It's back on Amazon.co.uk. Immediately pre-ordered a copy at Amazon, but will cancel if it's still available during the Arrow sale.
Shout Factory already did a release of The Thing last year in the US. A license usually lasts for 3 to 5 years.
Yes, but The Thing ain't a 4K UHD release.
NealMcCauley
Member
mariachi507
Member
It's being restored in 4K for a standard Blu-ray release.
mariachi507
Member
The limited edition is currently available on Amazon UK.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B073M2946S/
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B073M2946S/
plagiarize
Banned
Rob Bottin put absurd amount of details into those things. The Thing got *more* convincing when it went from DVD to Blu-Ray. I wouldn't be worried about any 4K release that happens down the line.
Yes, some practical effects don't hold up in the close up, but some do.
Well, apart from this, yeah.
The Limited Edition is now sold out on the Arrow webshop, but it's still available on Amazon.co.uk.
2 hours ago Arrow said:
There are also still some steelbooks available on the Arrow webshop.
I secured a pre-order of the LE on the Arrow webshop earlier this day and cancelled my Amazon.co.uk pre-order.
2 hours ago Arrow said:
So much for that.
There are also still some steelbooks available on the Arrow webshop.
I secured a pre-order of the LE on the Arrow webshop earlier this day and cancelled my Amazon.co.uk pre-order.
Fancy Clown
Member
The medium the effects were made for -- 35mm film -- is still a higher "resolution" than a 4k scan thrown onto a bluray though.
http://arrowvideodeck.blogspot.com/2017/10/some-notes-on-restoring-thing.html
Some Notes on Restoring The Thing
The chance to oversee a new restoration of The Thing, one of my favourite films of the 1980s and my favourite John Carpenter film (tied with The Fog), was a rare opportunity that I honestly never expected to come along, given how widely available the film has been always been. It has already been remastered twice, and enjoyed not one, but two separate Blu-ray releases. It seemed that The Thing was a done deal, at least as far as Blu-ray was concerned. But once we reviewed the previous work, and considered how we ideally wanted to approach the project with access to the original film materials as well as full collaboration with the filmmakers we realised the potential of revisiting The Thing once more.
The earlier Universal and Shout Factory Blu-ray releases had used different 2K/HD restored masters, both sourced from the 35mm Interpositive elements. Arrow's new restoration is sourced from the original 35mm camera negative, which we scanned at 4K/16-bit resolution at Universal Post. This is the first and only time The Things original negative has been accessed for the purposes of restoration.
Going this route has resulted in a dramatic leap in image quality over previous editions. The film now exhibits a finer, more detailed image with true, natural film grain and a richer, more nuanced palette, making full use of the colour range present on the negative. Details previously lost in the dark areas and the highlights are now distinct. At the same time, the dated remastering processes which resulted in video artefacts exhibited on previous masters are a distant memory. The Thing now looks and feels like celluloid as it was always meant to.
We had the great honour of working with both John Carpenter and director of photography Dean Cundey on this project. Id worked with Mr Cundey previously on The Witch Who Came from the Sea (from our first American Horror Project box-set), but Id never had the pleasure of working with Mr Carpenter. Our restoration workflow involved them from the start: we sent them files to review during the initial grading and cleanup work was underway at Silver Salt Restoration in London. When it came time for their final grading session at Deluxes Culver City facility, they spent several days reviewing over every shot to make sure colour, contrast, highlights were all exactly as intended. They also went through the entire film to assign final 2.35:1 framing to every shot. Sometimes this allowed for a sliver more image area than on previous video editions, one of the luxuries of having the unmasked negative to work from.
I gave no specific instruction to Carpenter and Cundey, as I believe no one has a better idea of how The Thing should look than they do. I did share with them some of the criticisms that had been voiced about both previous Blu-ray editions, but only as something to bear in mind when applying their final grading. Bottom line: we wanted both director and cinematographer to arrive at a version that was as true to their original vision, and as close to definitive as possible.
I fully expect there to be arguments about how our new restoration of The Thing looks in comparison with previous editions. There are distinct and noticeable differences between all of the films Blu-ray editions, and our release is no exception. The Thing means so much to so many people (myself included), and you certainly cant please everyone, but Im satisfied that with this new restoration, as approved by John Carpenter and Dean Cundey, we've delivered a better and more definitive presentation than the film has ever had before.
Special thanks to the teams at Silver Salt, Deluxe and Universal.
And a very special thanks to Mr Carpenter and Mr Cundey.
James White
Head of Restoration, Arrow Films
October 2017
Extra Sauce
Member
So what you're saying is I need a Region B player.
I've seen a 35mm projection of The Thing in a theater; it looks amazing on screen, so a well done 4K presentation should also look great.
mechashiva
Member
I recently got one and earlier I had ordered this just for the box and book. So stoked!
Bill R Boggess
Member
Arrow's stuff is fantastic.
I've been gobbling up their special edition boxsets including Hellraiser, Re-Animator, House and Donnie Darko.
Absolutely top shelf collections with superb transfers.
I've been gobbling up their special edition boxsets including Hellraiser, Re-Animator, House and Donnie Darko.
Absolutely top shelf collections with superb transfers.
Slackbladder
Member
"You gotta' be fucking kidding!" a 4K restoration of The Thing? Yes please!
The fact both Carpenter and Cudney are working on it straight from the 35 mm negatives means this should be a monster in terms of visual fidelity! I hope the extras are solid and this very well might become the definitive version of the film to own by fans. I can't wait to get a beefy 4K TV next year to really show this film off.
SentientStone
Member
Guys, should I wait for an 8k physical format's restoration of The Thing?
I don't mind waiting a decade.
What are the chances of this happening? I am not joking by the way, just debating my buying into the 4k format (which I have just begun doing).
I don't mind waiting a decade.
What are the chances of this happening? I am not joking by the way, just debating my buying into the 4k format (which I have just begun doing).
Most TV stations don't even output at 1080p so even if 8K TV's came out I foresee zero content for a long time that even comes close to take advantage of the resolution. Much the same gaming consoles can't even consistently output games at 4K.
DVDBeaver review: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-ray_reviews_73/the_thing_blu-ray.htm
Packaging shots: https://www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo/posts/1718521368181850
Looking good.
Arrow shipped my LE on Tuesday.
Packaging shots: https://www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo/posts/1718521368181850
Looking good.
Arrow shipped my LE on Tuesday.
Saint Gregory
Member
While I love these kinds of restorations 4K spiderhead is something I never asked for
Haloid1177
Banned
I usually order from Zavvi. Reasonable prices and they ship to US.
digitalrelic
Banned
DVDBeaver review: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-ray_reviews_73/the_thing_blu-ray.htm
Packaging shots: https://www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo/posts/1718521368181850
Looking good.
Arrow shipped my LE on Tuesday.
Hmm... I prefer the Shout! Factory 2K transfer over the Arrow transfer in pretty much every one of those comparison shots on DVD Beaver. The Arrow version looks blurry and stretched.
Fox Mulder
Member
I'll wait for a US 4k release, gotta come eventually.
You can import it but make sure you have a player capable of playing Region B material.
Do not ever trust DVD beaver screencaps.
But just to follow up on this, the old scan of The Thing had a lot of DNR (digital noise reduction) applied to it, so much so that one of the notorious things about it is that a ping pong ball goes missing because the DNR is so heavy.
And the new Arrow restoration restores that ping pong ball, what's also noticable in that cap is how the watch is oval in Shout and round in the Arrow.
So the Arrow isn't more "blurry" it has restored the film grain and it's not stretched but actually in the correct ratio.
DeathoftheEndless
Crashing this plane... with no survivors!
Not available in the US and won't work on American Blu Ray players.
digitalrelic
Banned
I don't know man, I'm not seeing film grain. I'm seeing blurriness. Usually I like film grain but this seems different.
This zoomed in shot for example:
Shout! Factory 2K
Arrow 4K
The label is much easier to read, there's more definition on the screws on the light switch, etc... Same could be said on the Comparison #4 on the link you provided. Look at the text on the cardboard box next to Kurt Russell.
There is film grain on the Arrow release, but it is a lot finer than the grain on the Shout Factory release. The grain is more apparent on the Shout Factory release because it is sourced from an interpositive and digitally sharpened. Interpositives have 2 layers of film grain, one inherited from the original camera negative and one from the interpositive.I don't know man, I'm not seeing film grain. I'm seeing blurriness. Usually I like film grain but this seems different.
This zoomed in shot for example:
Shout! Factory 2K
Arrow 4K
The label is much easier to read, there's more definition on the screws on the light switch, etc... Same could be said on the Comparison #4 on the link you provided. Look at the text on the cardboard box next to Kurt Russell.
All the "extra detail" you see on the Shout Factory is the result of digital sharpening. If it wasn't digitally sharpened it would look softer and less detailed than the Arrow restoration from the original camera negative.
plagiarize
Banned
Yeah, the tell tale sharpening halo is really apparent on the writing in the Shout Factory release. Less detail in the 2K one even if that mainly comes from the destructive sharpening effect applied to it.
And if people want an artificially sharpened look, you can turn sharpness up on your tv to get it. If it's baked into the image, nothing you do can get the lost detail back. The ping-pong ball would be an extreme example of this.
SentientStone
Member
I have no interest for TV stations, mostly for films. As I said, I can wait a decade. ;p
I received mine today. PQ looks great, will watch it tonight.
I am uploading a bunch of lossless screenshots while I'm typing this. All screenshots should be up within an hour.
https://imgbox.com/g/SP1RhgJ55E
I am uploading a bunch of lossless screenshots while I'm typing this. All screenshots should be up within an hour.
https://imgbox.com/g/SP1RhgJ55E
What do you think overall of this version?
The restoration is nothing short but breathtaking. I don't have the Universal and Shout Blu-rays, but going by the screenshots of the Universal and Shout on caps-a-holic, the Arrow Video Blu-ray obliterates them. The film grain is much more finely resolved and there's none of that sharpening or DNR bullshit from the previous Blu-rays. Colors look also much more balanced. The restoration is as good as other recent Arrow Video in-house 4K restorations of 80's films, such as 'To Live and Die in L.A' and 'A Fish Called Wanda'
Didn't notice any compression artifacts, but then again David MacKenzie did the encoding.
Haven't dived into the special features yet. Will get to those tomorrow.
Awesome. I hope this version get released in the US or I may have to buy a region free player at some point. I probably should anyway.
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