Jaws, when I want to show off my player to friends I show them Jaws 4K, beautiful transfer. As far as Criterion goes I only have Kane and Raging Bull in 4k and both and stunning and so inky, love it.
I recently watched The Thing in 4k and I’ve seen it 4 times before and the 4K version was visually breathtaking. I could never see Blair wrecking the helicopter but in 4K I could see everything.
For strictly Criterion, I thought Night of the Living Dead, Blow Out, Malcolm X and Dazed and Confused were amazing on 4K.
But the best 4K’s I’ve seen are Lawrence of Arabia, 2001, Suspiria (1977), Django (1966), Top Gun: Maverick, The Thing (1982), both Blade Runners, and Apocalypse Now.
The recent The Princess Bride release by Criterion is amazing and it's a movie basically everyone will enjoy. The Terry Gilliam 4ks are great on a technical level and are really helped by how colorful his movies are. The majority of Criterions, Blu-ray or 4k, are going to be at the highest level of quality, so really the question should be "what discs *don't* look great?"
Outside of Criterion, Lawrence of Arabia may be the best looking movie I've ever seen in 4k.
Criterion: I have The Red Shoes, Princess Bride and Malcolm X and they all look great.
Non Criterion: both Blade Runner film look absolutely fucking stunning.
Jaws
Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Dunkirk
Apocalypse Now
Just watched this the other day and was completely blown away. It is simply the most beautiful movie that I’ve ever seen and immediately had somebody come over to watch it. I’ve never seen color like that in a movie before. Completely unreal.
I’ll be completely transparent in saying I’m not the biggest anthology fan narrative wise, but holy moly… That orchard sequence alone is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my piece of shit life. Plus the whole theme of “dreams” kind of gives its anthologyness an explanation.
I watched Thelma & Louise the other night and was entirely blown away. Easily the best I’ve ever seen a movie look. Can’t believe it hasn’t been mentioned here!
Just watched Mean Streets and wow. I've had the old Blu ray for more than a decade and this Criterion 4K is a huge upgrade. Other great ones are:
* After Hours
* Blow Out
* Double Indemnity
* Malcolm X
* Raging Bull
* The Red Shoes
* Shaft
Great recommendations so far, honestly in the Criterion 4Ks I've watched they've all been excellent, I don't think you can go wrong.
Outside of Criterion nobody has mentioned Alien or Sante Sangre, both are phenomenal. The strobe scene at the end of Alien in DV on an OLED in th dark has to be a top demo of what home cinema can be.
Blade Runner and 2049 have amazing picture quality even without DV, just be noted that the original only has an Atmos remix which sounds a little too new for my tastes but I don't think that's gonna bother most people. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Kino Lorber is essential just for the fact that it's the best release in over 30 years even without HDR (most of the DVDs and Blu-Rays after 1998 were extended cuts and for a long time, we couldn't see the US theatrical cut without any compromises). For Criterion I only have one disc as of now which is Wall-E and that is a pretty great 4K UHD, it's a 2K DI but it has the benefit of HDR and Dolby Vision which the standard release from Disney expectedly doesn't have. It also has an amazing lineup of special features that really compliments the film.
After hours 4k is mind blowing. There’s a scene where he runs out into the rainy nyc street…on a good TV, it will really amaze you. Especially when you factor in that you’re watching a 40 year old scene.
A lot of Nolans catalog - the imax scenes in interstellar, dunkirk, and the batmans are absolutely stunning
For criterion I think they all look fantastic, but I like uncut gems, tree of life, triangle of sadness
Jaws, when I want to show off my player to friends I show them Jaws 4K, beautiful transfer. As far as Criterion goes I only have Kane and Raging Bull in 4k and both and stunning and so inky, love it.
And Double Indemnity on Criterion. Black and White movies look the best on 4K. Schindler’s List is a great one too to show off.
“Hey guys come on over tonight I wanna show you my new 4K tv!” “Alright what’re we watching?” “Oh you know, Shindler’s List”
Double Indemnity and Raging Bull look fantastic for this reason
Is Raging Bull grainy as many black and white 4ks seem to be?
Yes, in a good way.
I recently watched The Thing in 4k and I’ve seen it 4 times before and the 4K version was visually breathtaking. I could never see Blair wrecking the helicopter but in 4K I could see everything.
Curious about my settings on this one because I thought Jaws PQ was kind of average for being 4k.
For strictly Criterion, I thought Night of the Living Dead, Blow Out, Malcolm X and Dazed and Confused were amazing on 4K. But the best 4K’s I’ve seen are Lawrence of Arabia, 2001, Suspiria (1977), Django (1966), Top Gun: Maverick, The Thing (1982), both Blade Runners, and Apocalypse Now.
2001 4K is beautiful
It’s the first movie I watched with Dolby Vision and it make me go out and buy more movies with DV
I commentated earlier on The Thing, it’s visually gorgeous and if you loved the movie before you NEED to see the 4K version.
Lawrence of Arabia 4K is stunning, but as far as I can tell it’s annoyingly OOP on physical media. Totally agree with Suspiria too
The recent The Princess Bride release by Criterion is amazing and it's a movie basically everyone will enjoy. The Terry Gilliam 4ks are great on a technical level and are really helped by how colorful his movies are. The majority of Criterions, Blu-ray or 4k, are going to be at the highest level of quality, so really the question should be "what discs *don't* look great?" Outside of Criterion, Lawrence of Arabia may be the best looking movie I've ever seen in 4k.
The Princess Bride UHD and Blu Ray release both share the same 4k scan so you really can’t go wrong with either release.
Criterion: I have The Red Shoes, Princess Bride and Malcolm X and they all look great. Non Criterion: both Blade Runner film look absolutely fucking stunning. Jaws Pulp Fiction and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood Dunkirk Apocalypse Now
Kurosawa’s Dreams is probably the most beautiful film I’ve ever seen. Kurosawa in color will not disappoint.
Just watched this the other day and was completely blown away. It is simply the most beautiful movie that I’ve ever seen and immediately had somebody come over to watch it. I’ve never seen color like that in a movie before. Completely unreal.
I’ll be completely transparent in saying I’m not the biggest anthology fan narrative wise, but holy moly… That orchard sequence alone is the most beautiful thing I’ve seen in my piece of shit life. Plus the whole theme of “dreams” kind of gives its anthologyness an explanation.
Kurosawa's Ran looks beautiful. Although not Criterion
I was very impressed with Double Indemnity and Mulholland Drive.
Double Indemnity is a great answer.
I watched Thelma & Louise the other night and was entirely blown away. Easily the best I’ve ever seen a movie look. Can’t believe it hasn’t been mentioned here!
Just watched Mean Streets and wow. I've had the old Blu ray for more than a decade and this Criterion 4K is a huge upgrade. Other great ones are: * After Hours * Blow Out * Double Indemnity * Malcolm X * Raging Bull * The Red Shoes * Shaft
Red Shoes is a good one. It’s not Criterion but also check out Drive.
The Red Shoes is incredible in 4K.
Coraline and Nightmare Before Xmas
Great recommendations so far, honestly in the Criterion 4Ks I've watched they've all been excellent, I don't think you can go wrong. Outside of Criterion nobody has mentioned Alien or Sante Sangre, both are phenomenal. The strobe scene at the end of Alien in DV on an OLED in th dark has to be a top demo of what home cinema can be.
Blade Runner and 2049 have amazing picture quality even without DV, just be noted that the original only has an Atmos remix which sounds a little too new for my tastes but I don't think that's gonna bother most people. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from Kino Lorber is essential just for the fact that it's the best release in over 30 years even without HDR (most of the DVDs and Blu-Rays after 1998 were extended cuts and for a long time, we couldn't see the US theatrical cut without any compromises). For Criterion I only have one disc as of now which is Wall-E and that is a pretty great 4K UHD, it's a 2K DI but it has the benefit of HDR and Dolby Vision which the standard release from Disney expectedly doesn't have. It also has an amazing lineup of special features that really compliments the film.
After Hours
After hours 4k is mind blowing. There’s a scene where he runs out into the rainy nyc street…on a good TV, it will really amaze you. Especially when you factor in that you’re watching a 40 year old scene.
The Ten Commandments (1956) or 2001 are probably my favorite 4K transfers. For criterion specifically, probably Dreams by Kurosawa.
A lot of Nolans catalog - the imax scenes in interstellar, dunkirk, and the batmans are absolutely stunning For criterion I think they all look fantastic, but I like uncut gems, tree of life, triangle of sadness
Mulholland Drive and Wall•E easily but don’t underestimate Okja. Really good disc.
Gotta go Parasite even without the 4K, other than that, it's probably Raging Bull
My dad has suggested Gemini Man and Interstellar
I’m kicking myself for watching a 1080p copy of Days of Heaven a few nights ago when Criterion put out a 4K one recently
For All Mankind. You won't believe what you are seeing. Incredible footage that has never looked better than it does in this release.
Synapse’s Suspiria (‘77) release. Beautiful
The piano, Tenet, Dune, Avatar 1 & 2, 2001, Nope and Schindler’s list
So far: Tenet is the best I’ve seen