Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Buying your favorite movies in 4K after having already purchased them on Blu-Ray and DVD (and even VHS) can feel like a real gamble. Has the studio really done the work to make the movie excel in the new format? Paramount in particular is pretty well known for sub-par double dips (ahem, Star Trek films!). Well, you can set those fears to rest here. I have never seen as big a jump in quality from Blu-Ray to 4K, and never felt better about a triple dip than this one. Video quality is significantly upgraded in nearly every area. Blacks are no longer crushed, revealing oodles of detail in cloth textures, dark suits, and shadows. Colors no longer show flushed hot faces, instead showing beautiful, even skin tones. Motion is also handled better, with less judder. Aliasing is no longer evident on some diagonal lines as it was in the Blu-Ray. One of the most amazing upgrades to the visual is in the 1980s-era optical effects. Previously, optical composite shots (in which several elements are filmed separately and then layered into a new image - for instance the mining cart chase in Temple or the plane crashing into the tunnel in Crusade) showed prominent black matte lines and diminished detail and shadow levels. Paramount has apparently taken all of those original filmed elements and recomposited them digitally instead of optically, eliminating all of the characteristic defects of the original process from the period (similar effects cleanup work was done on Star Trek TNG). Scenes such as the blimp and plane chase in Last Crusade take on a whole new life and level of detail. The movies have never looked this good, not even in the theater. Audio is fine, at least as good as the previous Blu-Ray. The extras are largely the same as previous editions. The packaging is subpar - far cheaper and less attractive than the Blu-Ray edition. But all in all, this is the rare 4K release that definitively trounces any Blu-Ray edition. It's one of the biggest upgrades I've ever seen in my own history of buying double and triple dips. Buy with confidence. It's finally worth it.