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A Few Words About A few words about...™ Rogue One: A Stars Wars Story -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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A show of hands, please...

Does anyone believe that Disney might allow a less than spectacular Blu-ray, representing a huge investment on their part, be released to the public?

Alright. Same three. You can put your hands down.

Rogue One was a film that even I enjoyed, especially as it nicely dove-tailed with the past. And that's saying a lot, as I despise more than half of anything Star Wars.

Everything here is large format, and as wonderful as the Blu-ray digital representation appears, it's still a down-rez from the final 4k data files.

I cannot image, since we know there are at least several thousand Star Wars fan(antics) out there, that this might be the perfect time for Disney to embrace 4k UHD technology for the home theater market.

Regardless, Disney's Blu-ray of Rogue One is reference quality, both visually as well as aurally.

While I would have preferred to hear the tracks in Dolby Atmos, or even DTS-X, as opposed to DTS-HD MA 7.1, sound is still big enough to more than get by.

The up-rez, as performed by Oppo, gives an inky of what this may eventually look like as a pure 4k UHD release.

Image - 5

Audio - 5

4k Up-rez - 5

Pass / Fail - Pass

Highly Recommended

RAH
 

Scott Merryfield

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Since I saw this in the theater (which is rare for me), I am not in a hurry to purchase this, even though I did enjoy the film. If I end up buying the BD, I will not double-dip on a future UHD release. Therefore, I plan on waiting in hopes that Disney will get on-board the 4K UHD train.
 

Robert Crawford

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Since I saw this in the theater (which is rare for me), I am not in a hurry to purchase this, even though I did enjoy the film. If I end up buying the BD, I will not double-dip on a future UHD release. Therefore, I plan on waiting in hopes that Disney will get on-board the 4K UHD train.
I will double dip for 3-D and 4K/UHD.
 

TJPC

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Is anyone aware of where the 3D version will be available in Canada? I usually by blu rays @ Costco or Best Buy. Target of course is impossible.
 

Nelson Au

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My take is Disney knows its core audience. That audience may not care or be able to afford to upgrade to the latest sound and video technologies that are at the bleeding edge, or even well within the edge. These are parents with their priorities.
 

Christian T Lee

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Is anyone aware of where the 3D version will be available in Canada? I usually by blu rays @ Costco or Best Buy. Target of course is impossible.
Hi Terry,
It looks like Best Buy in Canada will have it, I just did a search and the 3D version came up in their Steel Box edition.
Hope this helps.
 

Scott Merryfield

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I will double dip for 3-D and 4K/UHD.

I am not, nor ever have been, 3-D capable, so that doesn't apply in my case. I am really trying to be patient with new releases now, and would rather wait for a 4K UHD version to hit my price point in the future rather than buy a BD release now for titles where a future UHD version is likely. For other films that most likely will not see a future UHD release, I am still buying BD versions. In the case of Rogue One, I assume that Disney will eventually support the UHD format and this will certainly be a title they would offer in that format, so I will wait.

As for upgrading existing BDs in my collection, it will (1) have to be a favorite of mine that I revisit regularly on BD, and (2) there will have to be convincing evidence that the UHD is a significant improvement over upconverting the existing BD. I re-purchased a significant portion of my SD-DVD collection on BD, and I do not want to go down that same path again. I plan to be more reserved this time around.
 

Mark-P

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I remember that back in the 1990s the Disney company was asked why they were not using 16X9 enhancement on their DVD releases like the other studios were. Their answer: not enough people owned widescreen TVs to warrant it. Apparently they haven't changed their tune with new technology.
 

Nelson Au

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Thank you Mark, that's what I was trying to say in my post above.

Not enough people own 4K to warrant a 4K release.
 

Josh Steinberg

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Has Disney ever been the first to launch a new format? I don't recall them being at the front lines for BD in 2006, or DVD in 1997 either. This would seem in keeping with their history; they will stay on the sidelines until they are convinced that the technology is viable and mainstream.

The other thing which could be a factor is that the overwhelming majority of the films Disney has produced in the digital intermediate era have been completed at 2K resolution. All of the Marvel films prior to Civil War are 2K, and only the airport battle sequence in the middle of that film is true 4K resolution. (Doctor Strange is also 2K.) For the main branch of studio, same deal, 2K DIs for their titles. In the case of Lucasfilm, with Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Disney/Lucasfilm obviously felt completely comfortable using 2K for their flagship release. The film played on the largest movie screens in the world, including IMAX. If 2K was satisfactory for giant IMAX screens, Disney may feel that 2K would therefore be sufficient for home viewing and not view this format as a top priority. Though the DI for Rogue One is in 4K, according to American Cinematographer, there are portions of the film that were not done at that full resolution, so the movie itself may not be fully 4K.

With Disney, we're pretty much all just guessing until they make an announcement, but as a guess, if 2K has been perfectly satisfactory for the company on their biggest and most notable releases, they may feel that 2K or less is satisfactory for home viewing too.
 

David Norman

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Has Disney ever been the first to launch a new format? I don't recall them being at the front lines for BD in 2006, or DVD in 1997 either. This would seem in keeping with their history; they will stay on the sidelines until they are convinced that the technology is viable and mainstream.
.

They were sort of in on the Bluray side of the ledger early, but it was really 2008 or 2009 before they really started releasing a significant amount of their high tier items.

Dinosaur 9/2006
Pirates 1 and 2 were released May 2007 about a year after Bluray debuted,
quite a few Touchstone mid tier items
Meet teh Robinson 11/2007
Several Pixar Items came out late 2007 -- Ratatouille, Cars, Pixar short films
Pirates 3 last 2007
Nightmare Before Xmas -- 9/2008
Sleeping Beauty 10/2008

It was close to 3 years into DVD before any of their major properties came out on DVD.

I do get a kick out of looking at the items that came out early on DVD and each that I can find have an interesting Bluray phenomenon

DVD launched March 1997
At least in my collection of Disney DVD -- there maybe some other missing items, but not too many
George of the Jungle -- 12/1997
101 Dalmatians (Live) -- 4/1998
Flubber (1997) -- 6/1998
Parent Trap (1998) -- 3/1999
The Black Hole -- 3/1999

A Bug's Life -- 4/1999 (Pixar was still fairly separate at this stage)
Pinocchio 10/1999
Mulan -- 11/1999
101 Dalmatians 11/1999
Hercules 11/1999
Lady and the Tramp 11/1999
Peter Pan 11/1999
Jungle Book -- 12/1999
Little Mermaid -- 12/1999
Tarzan -- 2/2000
Saludos Amigos 5/2000
Three Cabelleros 5/2000
Extremely Goofy Movie -- 2/2000
Make Mine Music - 6/2000
Melody Time 6/2000
Fun and Fancy Free 6/2000
Goofy Movie 6/2000

Pocahontas 6/2000
Hercules 8/2000
Rescuers Down Under 8/2000
Tigger Movie 8/2000
Black Cauldron 10/2000
Toy Story 10/2000
Fantasia 11/2000

A pile of Disney's came out late 1999 as a Limited Edition Collection and apparently sold very poorly at least in part due to a $40 price tag and bare bones approach. Many of those were re-released a year or so later under the Gold Collection banner and a lower price tag .
 
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Dick

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Has Disney ever been the first to launch a new format?

Nah...they just wait in the shadows until a format is successful and then ride in on those coattails, rather than helping to support it by releasing some of their big guns to attract people to it earlier-on. Then they're the first to begin abandoning 3D after being so influential in encouraging people to buy into it. I've always been a bit pissed at Steven Spielberg for taking this same stance with Blu-ray, whereas his films alone might have expedited the popularity of that format much sooner.
 
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