Total Recall 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Casimir Harlow

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Lionsgate are really doing great stuff with 4K. I actually read a review on the forum yesterday from someone that had this and he said it was poor. However reading this review puts me at ease before I’ve got my copy.
 
Lionsgate are really doing great stuff with 4K. I actually read a review on the forum yesterday from someone that had this and he said it was poor. However reading this review puts me at ease before I’ve got my copy.

So I read the same thing, and I would be interested to see what views that person had on the recent BTTF 4K set.

The issues he noted are mostly legitimate but also almost completely unrelated to the transfer, in much the same way that there were issues during the effects shots of the BTTF movies due to the way in which the effects were merged with the live action elements.

I would think that most people happy with the similar era BTTF 4K set will be very chuffed with this.
 
Yeh. Lots of variable comments on this one but no matter. Gonna pass on the fancy set and add the vanilla one to my Black Friday list. Given the signficant amout of so so movies out there on 4K disc, a movie this good is an essential addition to the collection.
 
Great news this ! Hopefully my player will actually play it in DV as it seems to have forgotten how to do it....🥴
 
So I read the same thing, and I would be interested to see what views that person had on the recent BTTF 4K set.

The issues he noted are mostly legitimate but also almost completely unrelated to the transfer, in much the same way that there were issues during the effects shots of the BTTF movies due to the way in which the effects were merged with the live action elements.

I would think that most people happy with the similar era BTTF 4K set will be very chuffed with this.

I think I pretty much echoed your thoughts on BTTF. I’ve just upgraded to the Phillips oled805 and watching those movies in Dolby vision is something else. The BTTF movies looked fantastic and the onlyplacea where the image was ‘soft’ was the split scenes where actors played multiple versions of themselves on the screen each time. Like you said that is totally forgivable and a result of the 4K upgrade.
I’m really excited to watch Total Recall and have faith it will be as the same nature.
 
So I read the same thing, and I would be interested to see what views that person had on the recent BTTF 4K set.

The issues he noted are mostly legitimate but also almost completely unrelated to the transfer, in much the same way that there were issues during the effects shots of the BTTF movies due to the way in which the effects were merged with the live action elements.

I would think that most people happy with the similar era BTTF 4K set will be very chuffed with this.
I thought the BTTF 4K UHDs were all flawless to me on my equipment & I am a very demanding viewer!

Another thing I forgot to mention yesterday was 2-3 times there was also a frame rate mismatch I noticed on Ronnie Cox where he seems to judder for a few frames when walking across the screen. I suspect its because the transfer is 24FPS & not 23.98 FPS & some equipment does not always pick up the metadata as well as others. You need to look very closely but its visible & only lasts literally a few frames not even a second so hard to spot! he seems to accelerate at the end of the walk!!
 
I can finally put my HD DVD to rest. :D
 
Is this going to be available as a standard 4K disc (not steel book or box set)?
 
Is this going to be available as a standard 4K disc (not steel book or box set)?

Judging by past form (Elephant Man's April Collector's Edition release and November Standard Edition release), SC should release one April/May 2021.

However, considering it'll likely be £20 on release then, and a further few months until a discount, picking up the £30 steel seems like the best of both worlds (balancing price vs. immediacy)

It's also gorgeous (IMO) artwork, gloss and debossed. The main image on the review is taken from the steelbook artwork.
 
I'm going to wait until the standard release appears in a 3 for £30 deal.
 
Thanks for the review.

My steelbook arrived yesterday and I will be watching this evening.

I am always realistic in viewing native 4K releases of older films when CG is involved and expect the odd jarring decrease in quality. Clearly, it’s not ideal but it is the best we can realistically expect and comes with the territory. I also share the reviewers stance that it simply serves to highlight what a good job they have done with the majority of a film, which appears to be the case here. Contrast that with, say, the ESB, where IMO they just failed on the basic minimum requirements.
 
Thanks for the Review Cas. looking forward to renting this, or buying the Vanilla version second hand on Ebay down the Road.
 
Is this going to be available as a standard 4K disc (not steel book or box set)?
The US are getting a standard release Dec 8th.
 
Excellent review Cas !
I have the US version on pre-order since i liked the cover more but looking forward to give it a watch :)
 
Oh I’d love this but no vanilla release is just madness. With LOTR etc it’s too pricey. Shame. Looks amazing but I just don’t understand why they don’t offer the option.
Having said that I’ll probably succumb and order as I do love this film.
 
What a great film. I remember the hype about this costing so much and 18/R rated. Love it, but anxious about the effects. But oh well, it'll be worth it. The red shot of Mars' exterior were always bad, so hopefully the extra definition and HDR bring a little something extra to the party.

Thanks for the review Cas. This was always going to be a purchase anyways, but good to get your thoughts
 
Oh I’d love this but no vanilla release is just madness. With LOTR etc it’s too pricey. Shame. Looks amazing but I just don’t understand why they don’t offer the option.
Having said that I’ll probably succumb and order as I do love this film.

To be fair, I kinda understand why some of these 'premium' 4K releases are appearing as it's a good shout by some brands which we've come to expect premium material from, and who clearly need to push the SE before they offer a cheaper variation.

And, to be honest, we pay extra for Arrow's lavish 3-disc Blu-ray releases, so it's unsurprising that they'd deliver £25 special edition Blu-rays, so there's plenty of precedent.

A £25 3-disc TR set would probably be the best of both worlds (to reflect the above) but then again, there's the Steelbook which isn't far shy of that, particularly if you nabbed it with the code (which is becoming increasingly difficult).

Personally, I'm loving all these gorgeous sets. If it helps keep a potentially dying format alive a bit longer then I'm well up for all the SC/Arrow titles they can offer (Crash, Tremors, Cinema Paradiso and Basic Instinct are all upcoming) even if they're at a premium. They don't disappoint, and these are all titles I'm loving on the format.
 
@Casimir Harlow I'm conflicted on this one. When I heard this was coming out I was very happy. Then I read your review and I remembered Flash Gordon. Looks great but I couldn't get past the Hawkmen flying in front of an obvious matte painting.

How does this compare to Starship Troopers?
 
thanks Cas

i loved the BTTF set and the hitchcock set for that matter. if you have and sympathy for what was possible with these movies on 4K then you cannot fail to be stunned by the picture quality

this is one of my favourite films let alone favourite arnie films and was a certain pre order even at £30

cant wait for mine to arrive on monday and fire up the JVC with atmos as the icing on the cake

also very keen to see blade 4k the following week which will hopefully be a stunning disk as well
 
Oh I’d love this but no vanilla release is just madness. With LOTR etc it’s too pricey. Shame. Looks amazing but I just don’t understand why they don’t offer the option.
Having said that I’ll probably succumb and order as I do love this film.

I think these days if you just want to see the movie, then the ‘bare bones’ release is the streaming version. Apple TV 4K streaming is not quite as good as 4K disc, but close enough for most people, and that version is released 23rd November. Targeting the collectors first for a disc release is jsut good business sense.

Similar to Flash Gordon, this is a movie that I like a lot, but not enough to drop 30 quid on, and I don’t care about steel book or fancy packaging, the discs just end up in cupboard.
 
I remember going to the cinema to watch this and the long debate after re the ending. Definite buy for me.
 
Much as I love this movie and would love this set....not sure I can justify dropping a pony on it right now!
 

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