Back to the Future 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Watched the third last night. The only downside of UHD is the special effects where MJ Fox is playing multiple characters is it’s rather soft but I can let that go.
 
My all time favourite films. fantastic that they have finally been given the treatment they deserve.
 
I’m going to start part 1 now. Time circuits set, flux capacitor fluxing.... where we’re going we don’t need roads!
 
Just finished my first viewing. Promised the kids I’d wait until half term but couldn’t help myself. They will be in for a treat. What a movie! Smiles all over.... stunning pic/sound! So glad I didn’t wait for this.
 
Just watched the film on my jvc and thought it looked and sounded as good as I had hoped it would after reading cas's review. Great film given the restoration it deserved
 
Improvements are clear as day over the decade old Blu-rays...

 
Improvements are clear as day over the decade old Blu-rays...



I saw this today too. So glad this series got the proper treatment
 
Great Scott Back To The Future in 4K! Not a signed picture but will be proudly going on the wall once I've finished my 5.1 system.
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Quite simply one of the best movies ever made .... perfect. 2 and 3 are not IMHO.
 
I can’t believe there are so much dislike for the sequels. I was brought up on these things and yeah there’s plot holes but there is with everything if you dissect it. I go with the flow and follow the story - PERFECT
 
Great films, but the Atmos soundtrack is a massive disappointment (less so on 2 as the flying cars at least use the overheads a bit). The soundtrack, overall, is barely changed from the 2-channel Dolby Surround version from 1985. Most of the film is in the front channels. I can count on one hand the number of surround sequences, let alone overhead ones in the first film. The clock tower at the end is the only one to keep them going.

There were so many wasted opportunities for improvements like the guitar speaker blowing into the back of the room that didn't happen to the clocks going off all around at the start that were still just in the front channels. If they want to keep the original soundtrack exactly as it was, fine, include the original 2-channels soundtrack, but advertising Atmos immersive surround and then barely doing anything with it is a travesty, IMO.
 
Atmos was amazing on this. Including part one. The music coming in from all channels! Massive upgrade
 
Great films, but the Atmos soundtrack is a massive disappointment (less so on 2 as the flying cars at least use the overheads a bit). The soundtrack, overall, is barely changed from the 2-channel Dolby Surround version from 1985. Most of the film is in the front channels. I can count on one hand the number of surround sequences, let alone overhead ones in the first film. The clock tower at the end is the only one to keep them going.

There were so many wasted opportunities for improvements like the guitar speaker blowing into the back of the room that didn't happen to the clocks going off all around at the start that were still just in the front channels. If they want to keep the original soundtrack exactly as it was, fine, include the original 2-channels soundtrack, but advertising Atmos immersive surround and then barely doing anything with it is a travesty, IMO.

I’ve only watched the first 6 minutes so far, but the opening clocks in Doc’s house sounded absolutely awesome to me.
 
My atmos was pretty pumping. Not sure what you would expect from a 30 year old movie without it feeling natural?

It's 95% in the front three speakers the whole movie. You call that pumping? Don't confuse a movie or soundtrack in general with comments about Atmos utilization.

The clocks were all in the front channels. Listen to Pink Floyd's quad version of Time off Dark Side of the Moon if you want to hear a large number of clocks in surround done properly.

Surround bits of note in first movie:

-Steam vents from Delorean into rear surround speakers (already does this even on 2-channel laserdisc from 1985 with DSU, Neural X or even Pro Logic IIx enabled. Goes to "surround" speakers in 5.1 strict or Pro Logic 2-channel. In other words, nothing new.

-Clock Tower scene has thunder overhead, mostly in the front height/tops. Honestly, I watched The Skeleton Key (2005) in 5.1 with Neural X just before BTTF in Atmos and its thunder was far more enveloping and realistic sounding overhead.

I don't recall anything else of significance in the surround channels the rest of the movie. Some slight steering bits into the sides here and there and music largely moved overhead, but again, Neural X already does this. This is bar none the laziest "upgrade" I've ever heard to a soundtrack to "Atmos".

Those of you that think it sounds great either don't have Atmos, don't know what Atmos (and possibly surround for that matter) is for and just like the soundtrack (and movie) period or never tried Neural X and are amazed by thunder being overhead in every movie it happens in (i.e. Easily pleased). I've got the original laserdisc, the DVD, the Blu-ray and now the 4K/UHD version and I can easily compare them all on my 17.1 (11.1.6) system.

The 2nd movie has several flying car moments, but the third is back to 1990 effects all over again. The only movie that disappointed me this much with its Atmos soundtrack was Labyrinth. Other than a few key moments, that one might as well have been in Pro Logic.

You want an example of a real Atmos upgrade? Jumanji (original) is amazing! So is the Atmos upgrade of the original Blade Runner. They are night and day by comparison. Even Groundhog Day vastly increased ambient surround effects in its Atmos upgrade, even if light on overhead use. They embraced the concept of increased immersion, not just tossing a few effects in the extended channels and calling it a day. Even some newer movies like Annihilation that did have some excellent Atmos oments made odd choices (e.g. A forest scene with trees all around, but bird sounds only in the front speakers).

A lot of Atmos movies (thankfully not all) save surround use in general only for big action scenes and its mostly up front the rest of the time. A good example is Knives Out (2019). Nice overhead drop of a table top onto the floor (ceiling sound from scene below), but no atmospheric effects inmost scenes in the house when you'd think there would be plenty during a party, for example.
 
Atmos was amazing on this. Including part one. The music coming in from all channels! Massive upgrade

Neural X already does that, even on the two channel version. That's not what I'd call massive. Take a scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in DTS:X with the flying car. It has added/amplified new car sounds panning overhead that don't exist as such in the 5.1 version, even with Neural X engaged. That one just has a quiet/distant engine sound while the X version pans overhead loudly as the car flies onto the screen. That's a real upgrade. Some of you seem happy with a reprint of the old BTTF Bluray with Neural X pre-recorded onto the disc because that's about what it sounds like.
 
Neural X already does that, even on the two channel version. That's not what I'd call massive. Take a scene from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets in DTS:X with the flying car. It has added/amplified new car sounds panning overhead that don't exist as such in the 5.1 version, even with Neural X engaged. That one just has a quiet/distant engine sound while the X version pans overhead loudly as the car flies onto the screen. That's a real upgrade. Some of you seem happy with a reprint of the old BTTF Bluray with Neural X pre-recorded onto the disc because that's about what it sounds like.

It's 95% in the front three speakers the whole movie. You call that pumping? Don't confuse a movie or soundtrack in general with comments about Atmos utilization.

The clocks were all in the front channels. Listen to Pink Floyd's quad version of Time off Dark Side of the Moon if you want to hear a large number of clocks in surround done properly.

Surround bits of note in first movie:

-Steam vents from Delorean into rear surround speakers (already does this even on 2-channel laserdisc from 1985 with DSU, Neural X or even Pro Logic IIx enabled. Goes to "surround" speakers in 5.1 strict or Pro Logic 2-channel. In other words, nothing new.

-Clock Tower scene has thunder overhead, mostly in the front height/tops. Honestly, I watched The Skeleton Key (2005) in 5.1 with Neural X just before BTTF in Atmos and its thunder was far more enveloping and realistic sounding overhead.

I don't recall anything else of significance in the surround channels the rest of the movie. Some slight steering bits into the sides here and there and music largely moved overhead, but again, Neural X already does this. This is bar none the laziest "upgrade" I've ever heard to a soundtrack to "Atmos".

Those of you that think it sounds great either don't have Atmos, don't know what Atmos (and possibly surround for that matter) is for and just like the soundtrack (and movie) period or never tried Neural X and are amazed by thunder being overhead in every movie it happens in (i.e. Easily pleased). I've got the original laserdisc, the DVD, the Blu-ray and now the 4K/UHD version and I can easily compare them all on my 17.1 (11.1.6) system.

The 2nd movie has several flying car moments, but the third is back to 1990 effects all over again. The only movie that disappointed me this much with its Atmos soundtrack was Labyrinth. Other than a few key moments, that one might as well have been in Pro Logic.

You want an example of a real Atmos upgrade? Jumanji (original) is amazing! So is the Atmos upgrade of the original Blade Runner. They are night and day by comparison. Even Groundhog Day vastly increased ambient surround effects in its Atmos upgrade, even if light on overhead use. They embraced the concept of increased immersion, not just tossing a few effects in the extended channels and calling it a day. Even some newer movies like Annihilation that did have some excellent Atmos oments made odd choices (e.g. A forest scene with trees all around, but bird sounds only in the front speakers).

A lot of Atmos movies (thankfully not all) save surround use in general only for big action scenes and its mostly up front the rest of the time. A good example is Knives Out (2019). Nice overhead drop of a table top onto the floor (ceiling sound from scene below), but no atmospheric effects inmost scenes in the house when you'd think there would be plenty during a party, for example.

If I had to hazard a guess I’d say you weren’t a fan.
That’s ok, we’ll have to agree to disagree. I love these films and never heard them this good. I too have had every format the movie has been on.

I do feel it’s unfair to to compare a disc encoded in 5.1 up mixed to a disc that’s mastered in atmos. Listening to a movie encoded in stereo in neural x is going to be everywhere I’m sure but for me this is the tightest the films have sounded. Very crisp, detailed and focused.

PS. I’ve got 5.1.2 so there.
 
If I had to hazard a guess I’d say you weren’t a fan.

It has nothing to do with the movies themselves and implying I must like the Atmos sound mix because I like the movies sounds like some form of fanaticism. I've already got the Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-Ray versions. The Blu-Ray at least vastly improved the picture over the DVD. Since my projector isn't 4K, I don't know how much sharper the UHD is, but it does seem less colorful than the Blu-Rays (might be more accurate to the 35mm film, though or perhaps an issue of the tone-mapping), but I was hoping for a greatly improved soundtrack.

When the new 4K Charlie's Angels (from 2000, not the newest one) has a fantastic Atmos soundtrack (with all kinds of overhead sounds and rear channel use compared to the 5.1 mix), this just seems disappointing (ironically Crispin Glover is in that movie as "The Thin Man"). It has nothing to do with how well I like the movie itself. BTTF is one of the greatest movies of all time. I was hoping the Atmos track would reflect that too rather than feel more like 1985. What we got was a 2-channel version with a few sounds moved to discrete new channels (vented steam moved to surround rear (which with 5.1.2 you can't tell the difference anyway) and thunder (which if you have 2 overhead in the middle you probably get a better version of it than 4+ overheads as most of the thunder sound effects are in the front height, not the middle).

I do feel it’s unfair to to compare a disc encoded in 5.1 up mixed to a disc that’s mastered in atmos.

Unfair? My entire point is they did almost nothing with the 2-channel mix when they moved to 5.1 and they did almost nothing with the 5.1 mix when they moved to Atmos. 95% of the soundtrack is identical to a Dolby Pro Logic decoding of the 2-channel laserdisc in terms of imaging (in other words, most sounds are up front). I remember when THX started licensing speaker wire and computer speakers and the name just became meaningless as they tried to cash in on the name rather than the high standards. If Atmos mixes don't bother to do immersion, but just engage the Atmos label on the receiver, the name will become meaningless and the standard will eventually disappear (why bother).

Listening to a movie encoded in stereo in neural x is going to be everywhere I’m sure but for me this is the tightest the films have sounded. Very crisp, detailed and focused.

PS. I’ve got 5.1.2 so there.

Neural X is utterly amazing in how well it upconverts old movies to Atmos-like sound. I watched the old movie Biggles (Adventures in Time) with Neural X (it's only 2-channel) and the biplanes and helicopter were overhead just like you'd expect. It wasn't outstanding like a newer mix, but it was pretty impressive what it could do with 2-channel. Neural X is so good that DTS-HD 6.1 version of Top Gun sounds virtually identical to the Atmos version as Neural X already moved the jets overhead and pan forward/backward overhead as well.

I'm simply saying I expect more out of an Atmos mix than the equivalent of the 5.1 mix played back with Neural X. My comments have nothing to do with the Alan Silvestri score or sound effects themselves, only that they're still mostly up front when there could be more ambience. I think if Back To The Future had been made at the same time as Jurassic Park, we'd have a very different soundtrack today in terms of surround use. The DTS:X version of Jurassic Park isn't night and day different, but it was already pretty impressive in 5.1 DTS. In fact, it used to be my go-to DEMO disc for a very long time (I've got the 5.1 DTS laserdisc and 5.1 DVDs and 5.1 Blu-Rays and DTS:X UHD Blu-Rays of that one too).
 
It has nothing to do with the movies themselves and implying I must like the Atmos sound mix because I like the movies sounds like some form of fanaticism. I've already got the Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-Ray versions. The Blu-Ray at least vastly improved the picture over the DVD. Since my projector isn't 4K, I don't know how much sharper the UHD is, but it does seem less colorful than the Blu-Rays (might be more accurate to the 35mm film, though or perhaps an issue of the tone-mapping), but I was hoping for a greatly improved soundtrack.

When the new 4K Charlie's Angels (from 2000, not the newest one) has a fantastic Atmos soundtrack (with all kinds of overhead sounds and rear channel use compared to the 5.1 mix), this just seems disappointing (ironically Crispin Glover is in that movie as "The Thin Man"). It has nothing to do with how well I like the movie itself. BTTF is one of the greatest movies of all time. I was hoping the Atmos track would reflect that too rather than feel more like 1985. What we got was a 2-channel version with a few sounds moved to discrete new channels (vented steam moved to surround rear (which with 5.1.2 you can't tell the difference anyway) and thunder (which if you have 2 overhead in the middle you probably get a better version of it than 4+ overheads as most of the thunder sound effects are in the front height, not the middle).



Unfair? My entire point is they did almost nothing with the 2-channel mix when they moved to 5.1 and they did almost nothing with the 5.1 mix when they moved to Atmos. 95% of the soundtrack is identical to a Dolby Pro Logic decoding of the 2-channel laserdisc in terms of imaging (in other words, most sounds are up front). I remember when THX started licensing speaker wire and computer speakers and the name just became meaningless as they tried to cash in on the name rather than the high standards. If Atmos mixes don't bother to do immersion, but just engage the Atmos label on the receiver, the name will become meaningless and the standard will eventually disappear (why bother).



Neural X is utterly amazing in how well it upconverts old movies to Atmos-like sound. I watched the old movie Biggles (Adventures in Time) with Neural X (it's only 2-channel) and the biplanes and helicopter were overhead just like you'd expect. It wasn't outstanding like a newer mix, but it was pretty impressive what it could do with 2-channel. Neural X is so good that DTS-HD 6.1 version of Top Gun sounds virtually identical to the Atmos version as Neural X already moved the jets overhead and pan forward/backward overhead as well.

I'm simply saying I expect more out of an Atmos mix than the equivalent of the 5.1 mix played back with Neural X. My comments have nothing to do with the Alan Silvestri score or sound effects themselves, only that they're still mostly up front when there could be more ambience. I think if Back To The Future had been made at the same time as Jurassic Park, we'd have a very different soundtrack today in terms of surround use. The DTS:X version of Jurassic Park isn't night and day different, but it was already pretty impressive in 5.1 DTS. In fact, it used to be my go-to DEMO disc for a very long time (I've got the 5.1 DTS laserdisc and 5.1 DVDs and 5.1 Blu-Rays and DTS:X UHD Blu-Rays of that one too).
Really good post and you make a good point about Atmos and that it should immersive. Just because music comes from all the speakers, as one previous poster commented, doesn't make it a good Atmos mix. Neither can the age of BTTF be a reason for the Atmos to be less than good, the OT of Star Wars are older and sound very good to me.

I'm in no rush to purchase these, spent loads on various versions (steelbooks and boxsets) 5 years ago and I'm happy to wait for a price drop. As such I can't comment on the sound on these but knowing how many mediocre and poor audio mixes have been praised on here recently I'm expecting to be underwhelmed by the sound. I hope I won't be and that you have got it completely wrong but I doubt it.

Completely agree with you regarding Neural X. It still amazes me how well it works, I thought it would be a gimmick when it first came out.

I always wanted a mega bass moment in BTTF when Marty hooks up his guitar and gets thrown across the room because "there's a slight possibility of overload". Sadly with the modern way of filtering bass on home releases that's never going to happen.
 
People don’t expect too much do they. 4K uhd isn’t just made up of sound. It’s picture too. There’s just no pleasing some people.
Expecting a movie 30 years old to sound brand new through your 60.6.9 surround system is embarrassing. Perhaps wait for the 16k box set....
 
People don’t expect too much do they. 4K uhd isn’t just made up of sound. It’s picture too.

I already said I'm still using a 2K projector and the picture looks like they turned the color saturation down. I know people on AVS forums that do have 4K TVs and projectors and they weren't thrilled with the picture either. It's 35mm film. It's only going to be so sharp compared to modern 4K/8K sources. I'm perfectly happy with the picture on the old Blu-Ray, though. It's the Atmos soundtrack I was looking forward to hearing.

If you like it, fine. Why get upset when someone is warning others about what to expect? If they like the original soundtrack, that's mostly what they get (similar to Superman and Labyrinth that say Atmos on the box, but are mostly the same as they always were. Shooting the messenger for saying the Emperor has no clothes seems moot. I'm simply telling people ahead of time so they can make a better informed decision and not be disappointed by it. Universal did a better job with the Jurassic Park and Fast and the Furious series in DTS:X

There’s just no pleasing some people.
Expecting a movie 30 years old to sound brand new through your 60.6.9 surround system is embarrassing. Perhaps wait for the 16k box set....

Blade Runner (1982) is older than Back To The Future and its Atmos soundtrack is excellent. Other than some clipping that happened clear back then, it's like a brand new soundtrack by comparison. There was actually several people that complained that it was too different from the original soundtrack and that they wanted the untouched original soundtrack as it was meant to be heard in 1982 and it wasn't included on the UHD disc so they were very unhappy with it. To each their own, I suppose, but that movie is a good example what an Atmos retrofit soundtrack can do on an older movie. The original Jumanji (1995) is night and day better. Bridge Over The River Kwai was in MONO in 1957. Somehow, they managed to do an Atmos soundtrack for it in the 4K release!

I simply feel a lot of poorly immersive Atmos soundtracks will end up giving Dolby Atmos a bad name in the long run. The Atari 2600 died in the 1980s from too many bad releases. No one thinks much of THX these days because they started making everything "THX" from cables to computer speakers. The high quality theater standards turned into a joke because they sought to cash in on the name, which in turn destroyed the THX name. Atmos stands for Atmospheric which implies immersive ambience. Using it for the occasional thunderstorm effect isn't what it was meant to be. The Dolby Atmos demos have tons of immersion and show what could be done. Sadly, few movies come close to them. But some do (e.g. The Meg, Overlord, Blade Runner 2049, Midway, Gravity, Hacksaw Ridge, IT Parts 1 & 2, Star Trek Beyond, MI: Fallout and more)
 

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