Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood 4K Blu-ray Review & Comments

Heading into Christmas, I'm being all economical and not buying new 4K discs for a while. Expensive time of year, so building me general blu-ray collection through second-hand seller. I can get 15-25 films for the price of this one disc by just taking the time to comb gumtree for the good stuff. Will get back to buying new stuff in the new year sometime and will surely add this to the collection. I think my pricing anchor point has just shifted recently. Getting so many great films so cheaply makes £25 for one feel unnecessarily wasteful.
 
Heading into Christmas, I'm being all economical and not buying new 4K discs for a while. Expensive time of year, so building me general blu-ray collection through second-hand seller. I can get 15-25 films for the price of this one disc by just taking the time to comb gumtree for the good stuff. Will get back to buying new stuff in the new year sometime and will surely add this to the collection. I think my pricing anchor point has just shifted recently. Getting so many great films so cheaply makes £25 for one feel unnecessarily wasteful.
I know this has been said dozens of times before but why do you buy 4k films at £25? I haven't bought a single film at the price and that includes new ones.
 
I know this has been said dozens of times before but why do you buy 4k films at £25? I haven't bought a single film at the price and that includes new ones.

Well, you still won't find it for much less that £20 if you go hunting. Unless you have some tips on finding it cheaper?
 
Well, you still won't find it for much less that £20 if you go hunting. Unless you have some tips on finding it cheaper?
Just the usual. Amazon, eBay, etc etc. I've picked up brand 4k films only a few weeks old for 10 quid. More often than not it comes down to patience. I've only bought a couple of films at day 1 full price: The Matrix & Avengers at £20 each. Cap America and Dark Knight box sets were also picked up day 1 but on special offer. So the current used prices is basically the same price I paid brand new.
 
Yep, I agree, most I’ve spent is £23 for Apoc Now 6 disc set, keep an eye on hotukdeals and the classifieds here. I’ve picked up many £10, sold them on for the same price.
If you purchase new after release on the likes of Amazon, you are going to pay top price.
@Slinkywizard while you are correct in the Blu-ray bargains compared to UHD, at the end of the day, while blu good, resolution/wcg and Atmos (on some) is worth the uptick in price for those with 4K sets/surround sound setups.
Once you try one with a decent transfer (not all do have one), you might find it difficult to go back, that’s what I found anyway.
 
Yep, I agree, most I’ve spent is £23 for Apoc Now 6 disc set, keep an eye on hotukdeals and the classifieds here. I’ve picked up many £10, sold them on for the same price.
If you purchase new after release on the likes of Amazon, you are going to pay top price.
@Slinkywizard while you are correct in the Blu-ray bargains compared to UHD, at the end of the day, while blu good, resolution/wcg and Atmos (on some) is worth the uptick in price for those with 4K sets/surround sound setups.
Once you try one with a decent transfer (not all do have one), you might find it difficult to go back, that’s what I found anyway.

I have about a hundred 4K blus, but of the films I want to own, only about 5% are available in 4K, and the vast majority of those are 2K upscales. My display algorithmically adds detail to 1080p images, and my audio set-up upmixes to use the height channels on standard blu-rays. Sure, if the UHD disc is native 4K through the entire production chain it makes a difference. But the difference is not huge on most discs and a good blu-ray still looks STUNNING on my setup.
 
Yep, I agree, most I’ve spent is £23 for Apoc Now 6 disc set,
That's a good example because I've picked that up for £13.
Once you try one with a decent transfer (not all do have one), you might find it difficult to go back, that’s what I found anyway.
Definitely true. Just be careful of very poor transfers like the Bourne Trilogy.
 
But the difference is not huge on most discs and a good blu-ray still looks STUNNING on my setup.
Just looking at your setup, nice! I'm surprised you don't see too much difference on a 133" screen.
Ive almost stopped purchasing blu's, most UHD's I have bought have won me over, maybe its the colour regrading, WCG, HDR (and on a supposed dull oled, this does look great) I'm not sure, but at £10-15 I think its worth it. Agree with you at £25 maybe not.
Don't get me wrong, I wish they would drop the blu ray to get the cost down (although they need it for the lazy special features).
I will be purchasing the above but not at full rrp, you don't have to wait long before they are added to the 2 for £15 these days anyway or on the classifieds for under £18.
 
That's a good example because I've picked that up for £13.
yeah, the US import was going for a cracking price recently, almost sold my UK version on ebay when it was hitting £65, but couldn't give it up :)
 
I have about a hundred 4K blus, but of the films I want to own, only about 5% are available in 4K, and the vast majority of those are 2K upscales. My display algorithmically adds detail to 1080p images, and my audio set-up upmixes to use the height channels on standard blu-rays. Sure, if the UHD disc is native 4K through the entire production chain it makes a difference. But the difference is not huge on most discs and a good blu-ray still looks STUNNING on my setup.
2k upscale is not an issue. It really isn't. People get hung up on resolution when it is actually contrast and colours that are more important. It's why the 720p Kuro was the best TV on the planet for a long time even after 1080p sets became the norm. It's also why OLEDs are said to be state of the art.
 
2k upscale is not an issue. It really isn't. People get hung up on resolution when it is actually contrast and colours that are more important. It's why the 720p Kuro was the best TV on the planet for a long time even after 1080p sets became the norm. It's also why OLEDs are said to be state of the art.

Sorry, I didn't mean that I thought 2K upscales to be an issue. The conversation was whether standard blu-rays are still worth buying versus 4K blu-rays and, visually at least, I'm starting to lean more towards them only being worthwhile when they are natively 4K. Because honestly? With features like Reality Creation and Dynamic Focus Optimisation on my projector, blu-rays look spectacular, 4K or not. I guess I was kind of making the opposite point to the one you thought I was. :thumbsup:
 
I've been waiting for this and as I'm easily pleased I really enjoyed it. Yeah the ending wasn't what I was expecting but hey, it's a factional film!
 
This shouldn't bug me as much as it does but here goes:

the movie is referenced both here and on IMDB as Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood but all the marketing materials clearly print the title as Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood.

The ellipsis comes after the in. After!
THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME!
 
I dont know wether to get the standard blu ray or drop the extra £10 on the 4k on my way home from work, if it had an immersive audio soundtrack on the 4k, i wouldn't think twice.
 
This shouldn't bug me as much as it does but here goes:

the movie is referenced both here and on IMDB as Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood but all the marketing materials clearly print the title as Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood.

The ellipsis comes after the in. After!
THIS IS IMPORTANT TO ME!

Yeah, you might need to watch the movie again then, as that's how Tarantino wrote the title:

Once Upon a Time
... in Hollywood
 
Now I'm even more confused!!
Fire that marketing team immediately!!
If it makes you feel any better I don’t think IMDb updated it until after watching the movie too; they were clearly also going by promo material.
 
Hope it’s as good as most of the hype.

I’m saving it for the Xmas day film.

Giant belly, a cold beer and a stack of mega snacks.
 
If it makes you feel any better I don’t think IMDb updated it until after watching the movie too; they were clearly also going by promo material.

This is Inglorious Bastards all over again. Sorry, I mean Inglourious Bastards. Inglourious Basterds. Inglhuouyuss Bartlets. Ingmarbergmanous Blistoids.
 
This is Inglorious Bastards all over again. Sorry, I mean Inglourious Bastards. Inglourious Basterds. Inglhuouyuss Bartlets. Ingmarbergmanous Blistoids.

I'm guessing the Asylum made a movie immediately after called Vainglorious Monsters.

Actually, that presupposes that anyone involved with the Asylum is smart enough to know the word 'vainglorious' so maybe not.
 
Nice review Cas, enjoyed it mostly but for me has got some faults.
I found it hard to suspend my disbelief after the 'tip tap' Bruce Lee character though and thought this was an easy but stupid way of Tarantino 'bigging up' a certain character. Would have liked more character development and screen time of DiCaprio with Pitt. I'd give it a 7/10.

The Bruce Lee stuff was all in Brad Pitts mind, it was his flashback to the events and how he remembers it with all the embellishments of how he probably told people he beat Bruce Lee in a fight.
 
The Bruce Lee stuff was all in Brad Pitts mind, it was his flashback to the events and how he remembers it with all the embellishments of how he probably told people he beat Bruce Lee in a fight.
Is that made clear? That is the first time I have heard this explanation.
 
Is that made clear? That is the first time I have heard this explanation.

It's not the first time I've heard it and I find it to be a fairly acceptable argument. There are a few scenes where you can suggest he's an unreliable narrator.

It's by no means a "well, obviously" situation, but that ambiguity is purposeful in the presentation, I think.
 

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