Oldboy (Blu-ray SteelBook) (Plain Archive Exclusive No.30) [Korea]

[teddyjun]

Release date: November 7, 2016
Purchase links: Type A - Type B - Quarter Slip - Dual Pack - Triple Pack - (Pre-order on September 29, 2016)
Price: Type A: $46.89 - Type B: $46.89 - 1/4 Slip: $45.69

Type A: 2,000 copies - Type B: 2,500 copies - 1/4 Slip: 1,000 copies

Spoiler

- The steelbook illustration is by Krzysztof Domaradzki.
- The artwork for the slipbox was used previously for the Oldboy vinyl LP. It was co-ordinated by Nicolas Winding Refn, the director of Drive, and illustrated by Laurent Durieux. The director of Oldboy Park Chan-wook wanted one of our editions to feature this artwork so we reached out to Milan Records and illustrator Laurent Durieux. You'll be able to see more of the artwork since parts of the top and bottom were cropped out for the vinyl LP.



Old mock up

 

[Flloydo]

What TV do you have? I bet it has supposed "

Once calibrated right you shouldn't need to switch picture settings for different movies, at all. If the BD uses a good transfer, any movie will look good on your TV.
You mention issues with "really old films", what age are we talking here? I've watched some really old films on BD and they looked great. (Like Nosferatu, a film made in 1922)

It depends and like you say some are great. But then some newer films are worse than some older filmS. I find studio canal can be hit or miss with their BD transfers

Can't think of any of the top of my head but an example of an older film that looks great ( i know that's not what you asked) is the thing. I thought predator PQ looked better in 3D compared to 2D. Goonies looked great too.
Saving private Ryan was pretty bad and i think I remember taxi driver being quite bad too. But i can't remember

 

[batmobilly666]

Plus like I mentioned to noodles earlier I've had my set up years and never had any issues like this unless the film was famous for a bad transfer and grain or a really old film and has a bad transfer because of that.

I don't know what your BD collection looks like but more recent films are usually less grainy than older ones, partially because of technological advancement, partially because of noise reduction. Thus, modern films will usually show less egregious artefacts on a badly calibrated TV.
I never need to switch picture settings for different films, I watch Nosferatu (1922) and The Lego Movie with the exact same settings. It should be as neutral as possible, making any film look how it's supposed to. A good transfer is a must, of course. Judging from caps-a-holic (usually a good source of accurate screen caps) Oldboy does look like a good transfer.

I have all Pixar movies on BD and did not realise they had that feature. I'll check it out

Do check it out, the overscan setting in particular was a revelation to me.

Saving private Ryan was pretty bad and i think I remember taxi driver being quite bad too. But i can't remember

Both Taxi Driver and Ryan have very good transfers. I think the issue is definitely on your (or your TV's) end.

 

[BumBum]

I never need to switch picture settings for different films, I watch Nosferatu (1922) and The Lego Movie with the exact same settings. It should be as neutral as possible, making any film look how it's supposed to.

Totally agreed on that one.
Use a good picture calibration tool and get your tv settings right once and you never have to switch between settings again!

 

[StifflersDad]

At the end of the day the transfer is only as good as it appears on your home TV and not on Caps-aholic .

 

[davhyl]

wow this is looking bad.
getting mine today.

This movie deserves a good transfer and release!

It has a really good transfer. Albeit crushing in dark areas, but colours, framing and overall quality are much better IMO

 

[BumBum]

At the end of the day the transfer is only as good as it appears on your home TV and not on Caps-aholic .

Sorry but that is total bullshit.
If you got your tv not well calibrated even a great transfer won't look great!

 

[batmobilly666]

At the end of the day the transfer is only as good as it appears on your home TV and not on Caps-aholic .

If your TV isn't set up properly, it's a very poor measure of picture quality. "It doesn't look good on my TV" is a highly subjective statement on so many levels.

 

[StifflersDad]

Sorry but that is total bullshit.
If you got your tv not well calibrated even a great transfer won't look great!

What's bullshit is the view that every other movie looks great on your TV but oldboy looks crap because suddenly your TV isn't set up properly . LOL

If your TV isn't set up properly, it's a very poor measure of picture quality. "It doesn't look good on my TV" is a highly subjective statement on so many levels.

Its not that subjective if your comparing to other movies with your TV at the same settings

 

[Deleted member 9789]

What the screencaps miss (and is visible in movement) is that in the older Tartan release, you can still see the grain but it appears (compared to the PA release) to be heavily reduced (DNR?).

I checked around the 6 minute mark (6:30 on PA release) where he opens the cell hatch and Oh-Dae Su shouts 'Sir Sir'.


Worth noting the dvdbeaver review for the Tartan release:

"the grainy sequences look like they have been projected on a thick carpet (it reminded me of Eyes Wide Shut on hi-def in that regard). I can't be positive, but I did note what seemed to be a flaw when the titles credits were shown - there was a bluish sheen infiltrating the image on the right hand side of the screen. This doesn't appear again throughout the film. Again, it may have been intentional and not picked up fully on SD. Digital noise is far less on the BRD than the SD(s) and although noticeable at times is unusual if not distracting upon the narrative."

So my thoughts are: the film is effing grainy and we're seeing it even more so.

Edit: added a screenshot from the dvdbeaver review - "Intense grainy look (intentional)"

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews33/Oldboy_blu-ray.htm

 

[BumBum]

What's bullshit is the view that every other movie looks great on your TV but oldboy looks crap because suddenly your TV isn't set up properly . LOL

LOL
Then live with your crappy picture Oldboy BD - your decision!
Am pretty sure Caps-aholic got a well calibrated setup which I would trust much more than the opinion of an average tv user with an uncalibrated TV.

 

[StifflersDad]

LOL
Then live with your crappy picture Oldboy BD - your decision!
Am pretty sure Caps-aholic got a well calibrated setup which I would trust much more than the opinion of an average tv user with an uncalibrated TV.

Enjoy watching it on Caps-aholic then rather than your home setup

 

[Flloydo]

I don't know what your BD collection looks like but more recent films are usually less grainy than older ones, partially because of technological advancement, partially because of noise reduction. Thus, modern films will usually show less egregious artefacts on a badly calibrated TV.
I never need to switch picture settings for different films, I watch Nosferatu (1922) and The Lego
Movie with the exact same settings. It should be as neutral as possible, making any film look how it's supposed to. A good transfer is a must, of course. Judging from caps-a-holic (usually a good source of accurate screen caps) Oldboy does look like a good transfer.


Do check it out, the overscan setting in particular was a revelation to me.


Both Taxi Driver and Ryan have very good transfers. I think the issue is definitely on your (or your TV's) end.

I have a bit of everything in my collection and like I said i can't think of the top of my head. I remember the indies havjng a great transfer but I'm pretty sure private Ryan is a bad transfer.

And i never change picture mode either and watch everything on the same setting which is what I like but now this f*cking Oldboy disc had messed me up and I'm just getting confused now lol

So I looked on the site you posted a link for and put a Pixar film in to test it all and I've had my screen size on 16:9 instead of screen fit like the Pixar tutorial has said. So ive changed that but my tv has 3 types of modes (dynamic, standard and movie. I never watch anything on movie because it's so dark but that was the best way I found to watch Oldboy because it gor rid of some of the grain but it was too dark. I'm not able to change gamma in Dynamic so that leaves me with the other two I followed the contrast and brightness part but it's made the colour (I'm using the tool on the Up BD) really dull compared to how I had it. Plus the white and dark boxes are the same visibilty for me instead of one being slightly visible and the other invisible. Getting annoyed with all this now and tbh wish I kept my setting how they was last night and not bother with the "remastered" Oldboy disc. I'll put Oldboy in now to check but I have a feeling it's going to be worse


I used standard mode to change the setting and just clicked on dynamic whilst watching up and it's brought it back to beautiful colour instead of it looking dull like the Pixar tutorial told me to have it by adjusting the settings. So I'm not sure what's going on now!!

 

[Four Foot One]

For a low budget film filmed 13 years ago, on older equipment, I never expected it to look pristine.

Personally I think it's the best quality version of the film I own, so I'm happy

 

[StifflersDad]

After all the hoopla surrounding the remastered disc it should blow your socks off out of the box- not have you scurrying around trying to make adjustments to your settings that you were perfectly happy with previously . I have seen low budget films 50 yes old with no remaster look absolutely pristine . So why all the excuses?

 

[Flloydo]

For a low budget film filmed 13 years ago, on older equipment, I never expected it to look pristine.

Personally I think it's the best quality version of the film I own, so I'm happy

My problem is after watching the standard play.com steel BD hundreds of times and not having any issues with it, the remastered brings so much grain into it that I fail to see how it's better!

 

[Flloydo]

Do people have the gamma low or high?

When doing the Pixar tutorial the best way was the gamma to be high +3 but Oldboy on the darker scenes looks better with it at its lowest -3



Think I've found the best I can get out of this now after having another play around. Maybe I just like things brighter. I dunno.

Still some scenes with bad grain but the majority looks better

The Scene with him locked up and trying to talk to the guard at 6 mins 30 and meeting the villian in the patterned room at 53 mins are still awful pictures but at least I've cleaned up some of the other scenes. Anyways I've got a headache from all this

A big thanks to everyone who's helped me or tried helping me

 

[davhyl]

Think my gamma on my Sony is -1, you need to find your TV model and google calibration settings. Hopefully a site like HDtest has done it like they did with mine

 

[BumBum]

Just using the modes you got with your TV will never give you a good quality picture - same goes with
all the image enhancement tools the TV comes with. Switch them off, get some pictures to calibrate your tv
and then you can stick to these settings forever!

That should help --> http://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/how-to-calibrate-your-tv

And sure - if then a BD stands out for a bad transfer then we can dicuss about it.
But with Oldboy it seems to me tobe a problem with your setup as I have read much more positive opinions than
negative ones so far.

Hope the calibrating will work out for you so you finally can enjoy the movie!

 

[batmobilly666]

What's bullshit is the view that every other movie looks great on your TV but oldboy looks crap because suddenly your TV isn't set up properly . LOL

That's not what he said, though. He mentioned that Taxi Driver and Saving Private Ryan look bad and "very old films" are problematic, too.

Its not that subjective if your comparing to other movies with your TV at the same settings

Bad settings can make one film look fine while another will look like crap. That's a fact.

I have a bit of everything in my collection and like I said i can't think of the top of my head. I remember the indies havjng a great transfer but I'm pretty sure private Ryan is a bad transfer.

Private Ryan should be pretty good.

And i never change picture mode either and watch everything on the same setting which is what I like but now this f*cking Oldboy disc had messed me up and I'm just getting confused now lol

See it as a wake-up call to fix the settings.

So I looked on the site you posted a link for and put a Pixar film in to test it all and I've had my screen size on 16:9 instead of screen fit like the Pixar tutorial has said. So ive changed that but my tv has 3 types of modes (dynamic, standard and movie. I never watch anything on movie because it's so dark but that was the best way I found to watch Oldboy because it gor rid of some of the grain but it was too dark. I'm not able to change gamma in Dynamic so that leaves me with the other two I followed the contrast and brightness part but it's made the colour (I'm using the tool on the Up BD) really dull compared to how I had it. Plus the white and dark boxes are the same visibilty for me instead of one being slightly visible and the other invisible. Getting annoyed with all this now and tbh wish I kept my setting how they was last night and not bother with the "remastered" Oldboy disc. I'll put Oldboy in now to check but I have a feeling it's going to be worse

I used standard mode to change the setting and just clicked on dynamic whilst watching up and it's brought it back to beautiful colour instead of it looking dull like the Pixar tutorial told me to have it by adjusting the settings. So I'm not sure what's going on now!!

Heh. I think a very large part of the problem here is human nature and the way eyes (and brains) can get used to stuff. You're used to the way your TV looks and now it looks wrong to you because it's different. It's a very common phenomenon.
I once tried to adjust the TV of my in-laws, just a little, because the colours nearly burned-out my retinas every time I looked at the screen. People's skin looked positively purple and grass had the colour of these neon pants you'd see on '90s ravers. They were a bit angry with me because I messed up their "beautiful" colours. Now I'm not allowed to pick up the remote anymore.

 

[Flloydo]

That's not what he said, though. He mentioned that Taxi Driver and Saving Private Ryan look bad and "very old films" are problematic, too.


Bad settings can make one film look fine while another will look like crap. That's a fact.


Private Ryan should be pretty good.


See it as a wake-up call to fix the settings.


Heh. I think a very large part of the problem here is human nature and the way eyes (and brains) can get used to stuff. You're used to the way your TV looks and now it looks wrong to you because it's different. It's a very common phenomenon.
I once tried to adjust the TV of my in-laws, just a little, because the colours nearly burned-out my retinas every time I looked at the screen. People's skin looked positively purple and grass had the colour of these neon pants you'd see on '90s ravers. They were a bit angry with me because I messed up their "beautiful" colours. Now I'm not allowed to pick up the remote anymore.

Haha yeah I'm probably so used to it, but honestly where I played a few mins of up after it did look so dull until I selected dynamic mode and it brought my colours back lol

It was like having one of those comfort blankets, I felt weird until the colour returned lol

Basically I'll watch Disney, Pixar and marvel on dynamic and everything else on standard. But i do need a new tv (but that will have to wait fortunately)

Oh and a modern film I found really grainy was a place beyond the pines but maybe if I revisit that it will be better now.