UHD Review A Few Words About A few words about...™ - The Abyss -- in 4k UHD (1 Viewer)

[Robert Harris]

Another Cameron film that's been languishing in DVD hell for decades, finally makes it way - not to Blu-ray - why stop along the way - but direct to 4k UHD, using the same secret sauce that's used for the other two in this release series, as well as for Titanic.

I'm aware that there are those who would have preferred to stick with the original grain structure, and generally I'll take than position also, but in this case...

Abyss pops off the screen, as both the original theatrical as well as the special edition, arrive on 4k. They look stunning.

While some shots are naturally as sharp as others, as an overall program, the processing works beautifully, and for those who know me, I'm taking a very rare position with these films. They simply work as new editions, and make the viewing experience that much more pleasant.

A final note for those concerned about the way that effects were handled. They look just fine. The film works beautifully.


Image – 10 (Dolby Vision)

Audio – 10 (Dolby Atmos)

Pass / Fail – Pass

Plays nicely with projectors - Yes

Makes use of and works well in 4k - 8

Upgrade from CED - Yes

Worth your attention - 8

Slipcover rating - 4

Highly Recommended

RAH



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https://www.amazon.com/Abyss-4K-UHD...movies-tv&sprefix=the+aby,movies-tv,76&sr=1-1

 

[sbjork]

In dealing with comments about this on social media posts and elsewhere, there's a hilarious disconnect between people complaining about the processing and it not being "true" to the original experience, mixed with complaints that the wide shot of the NTI ark still looks terrible and should have been fixed. You can't have it both ways, but that never stops people from trying.

 

[PMF]

Ah-Ha. Uniformity of image across the boards. So that’s what Mr. Cameron had in mind for each and every 4K/UHD, all along. Well, okay then; based upon RAHs reviews en total, the grand design has succeeded.

Now, if only we could get a T2 redux.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Sticking to The Abyss, based on RAH's review, I hope my preorder ships out as soon as possible.

 

[OliverK]

In dealing with comments about this on social media posts and elsewhere, there's a hilarious disconnect between people complaining about the processing and it not being "true" to the original experience, mixed with complaints that the wide shot of the NTI ark still looks terrible and should have been fixed. You can't have it both ways, but that never stops people from trying.

It is quite sad as people like these are one of the reasons that we have this kind of processing in the first place.

I will however say that when going all AI on these movies there really is no excuse to not fix that scene. In the James Cameron world where anything goes it would be easy to do something about that but I guess that the "better" options would have been too expensive.

 

[ghostwind]

They simply work as new editions, and make the viewing experience that much more pleasant.

Just like "The Godfather 50th 4k" right?

 

[Robert Crawford]

Just like "The Godfather 50th 4k" right?

It did for me!

 

[sbjork]

It is quite sad as people like these are one of the reasons that we have this kind of processing in the first place.

I will however say that when going all AI on these movies there really is no excuse to not fix that scene. In the James Cameron world where anything goes it would be easy to do something about that but I guess that the "better" options would have been too expensive.

There is an excuse, because whatever techniques are used to create a home video master, including AI upscaling (which is really just an advancement over digital sharpening tools that have been used for a long time now, for good or for ill), it's still a very different thing than replacing an existing shot completely with a newly generated one. The two are not analogous, and it's not hard to understand why Cameron thought that the new tools that were used to enhance the image were fine, but replacing an entire shot was not. (Keep in mind that the shot still went through the AI upscaling process, so there's nothing to be done to fix it further short of fully replacing it.) Even digital wire or mistake removal, as controversial as it may be, still is a different caliber than replacing entire shots.

 

[Worth]

Ah-Ha. Uniformity of image across the boards. So that’s what Mr. Cameron had in mind for each and every 4K/UHD, all along. Well, okay then; based upon today’s reviews, the grand design has succeeded.

Now, if only we could get a T2 redux.

Why? It looks the same as these new masters.

 

[John Sparks]

Ordered this last week. Can't wait to get it too!

 

[Robert Harris]

Just like "The Godfather 50th 4k" right?

Different situation, but we'll not re-visit.

 

[PMF]

Why? It looks the same as these new masters.

I was referring to “The Secret Sauce” used in this recent 4K/UHD wave of Cameron releases.


Cameron proceeded in the same fashion with Aliens, True Lies and The Abyss as he had with Titanic. Uniformity…as in continuity or consistency of Mr. Cameron’s preparations of how these discs shall look. He obviously cared and wanted all of his titles to look their updated best.

I’m in. I’ll support all these titles.

 

[Stephen_J_H]

RAH, my wallet may hate you, but I thank you.

 

[Bartman]

In dealing with comments about this on social media posts and elsewhere, there's a hilarious disconnect between people complaining about the processing and it not being "true" to the original experience, mixed with complaints that the wide shot of the NTI ark still looks terrible and should have been fixed. You can't have it both ways, but that never stops people from trying.

He did this so you'd fixate on that scene, creating tons of social media fodder in the process, while making the rest of the film acceptable to RAH.
I've been waiting for the 4K rental price to drop. It looks as though I'll miss all the extras. Dare I pull the laserdisc boxset from the basement for the very last time & spin it up. I bet the discs have rotted. Fox/Disney, I want my $100 ($200 today) back.

 

[WillG]

I’m exited to get this, but the only bummer is that they dropped the excellent text commentary from the original DVD. Why? All it is is just one extra subtitle track. Well I could just take the original DVD and see if I can fit it into the UHD case, though come to think about it, do I really want to retire my original DVD? sure it’s woefully outdated in terms of video quality but it’s kind of a “museum” disc that really showed off the power of the new DVD format (aside from anamorphic enhancement) with its interactive menus, quality of the special features (I think one of them even hand an “angle” option, (remember that?) Where you could toggle between full frame and matted widescreen on some of the raw footage shown)

Quite the conundrum

 

[DVDvision]

There's no conundrum. You should keep all your collection, as often, old versions have an edge over re-release, like untouched audio mixes, or bonuses etc.

 

[TravisR]

I’m exited to get this, but the only bummer is that they dropped the excellent text commentary from the original DVD. Why? All it is is just one extra subtitle track. Well I could just take the original DVD and see if I can fit it into the UHD case, though come to think about it, do I really want to retire my original DVD? sure it’s woefully outdated in terms of video quality but it’s kind of a “museum” disc that really showed off the power of the new DVD format (aside from anamorphic enhancement) with its interactive menus, quality of the special features (I think one of them even hand an “angle” option, (remember that?) Where you could toggle between full frame and matted widescreen on some of the raw footage shown)

Quite the conundrum

I keep every disc that has any real content that isn't ported over to another format but at this point, I probably couldn't sell The Abyss DVD for a buck so keeping it is an even easier choice for me.

 

[WillG]

There's no conundrum. You should keep all your collection, as often, old versions have an edge over re-release, like untouched audio mixes, or bonuses etc.

I do keep all that in mind, but eventually space becomes an issue.

Though it still seems confusing as to why the text commentary was the only thing left off.

 

[Bartman]

IMHO for physical media the P&S fullframe DVD has been the best option up to now. I have streamed The Abyss in HD a couple of times over the years & it looked pretty good. I don't have a 4K player, for fear of another (VHS, laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray) upgrade cycle. With that in mind, is the regular Blu-ray in this set seamlessly branched? If you had to choose between streamed 4K (ATV+) & regular Blu-ray which would you choose? Thanks!
P.S. I have the laserdisc directors cut boxed set. It cost $100 in 1993. Are all the boxed set extras included on the Blu-ray?

 

[sbjork]

IMHO for physical media the P&S fullframe DVD has been the best option up to now. I have streamed The Abyss in HD a couple of times over the years & it looked pretty good. I don't have a 4K player, for fear of another (VHS, laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray) upgrade cycle. With that in mind, is the regular Blu-ray in this set seamlessly branched? If you had to choose between streamed 4K (ATV+) & regular Blu-ray which would you choose? Thanks!
P.S. I have the laserdisc directors cut boxed set. It cost $100 in 1993. Are all the boxed set extras included on the Blu-ray?

It appears that they do, in a similarly slightly altered form as was done for the DVD. The content is there, but the accessibility has naturally been altered a bit.