The 4K UHD format is still in its relative infancy compared to other forms of physical media. DVDs have been around for decades, and Blu-ray is also in the same boat. 4K UHD Blu-ray has to earn a piece of that pie, because all three of these formats can still be found in stores today. Of the three, the 4K Blu-ray format is the least popular, but not in this household.
When I can, I pick up anything I’m interested in on a 4K Blu-ray disc. I value having the best sound and picture quality available, and that’s where you find it. Some people look for the lowest price, and that’s typically not going to be a 4K disc. However, there are still many movies out there where I don’t think it’s worth looking at a DVD over a 4K Blu-ray. The limitations are just too great in those scenarios, and if you have a 4K TV, it’s a disservice to not watch some of those reference-quality 4K discs on it. I’m not saying you have to upgrade all of your DVDs to 4K, but I would start with these four.
Batman Returns is Keaton’s Batman looking his best
Gotham City is never a bad pick
Tim Burton’s Batman films are often looked back upon fondly, and that’s because they’re some of the best depictions of the caped crusader we’ve seen. I grew up watching both of these movies on a VHS tape, and I’ve never seen what they look like on DVD or Blu-ray. What I can say is that they look phenomenal on 4K, and I’d say the Returns 4K is a better-looking image than what we see from the 1989 original.
I wouldn’t say Returns is better than its predecessor, but there’s something a bit moodier about its depiction of Gotham City, and that could be down to Burton feeling a bit more comfortable. I love seeing it pop off the screen with a great HDR10 implementation, and the Dolby Atmos track is great. What’s cool about this movie is that it’s dark in many scenes, but there are also opportunities to show off how bright it can get. It’s the best of both worlds, and it’s a great showcase of the 4K UHD format.
The Wolf Man is a must for classic horror fans
It’s old, but it doesn’t look it
The Wolf Man is just one of many Universal Monsters that has been brought to the 4K UHD format. This is a movie from 1941, but this 4K transfer is so clean that you can’t even tell it’s that old. That’s what I love the most about these old black-and-white movies being brought to 4K because it makes them feel as modern as they can. You know right from the first logo that you’re in for a treat when the title card pops off the screen. That alone proves the HDR10 implementation is worth it over any other format of The Wolf Man to date.
Old movies like this clean up very nicely if the grain isn’t scrubbed out completely. I can confidently tell you that it’s a great-looking image, but don’t go into this expecting a bombastic Dolby Atmos soundtrack. This, like many of the Universal Monster films, boasts a mono soundtrack. I don’t think that’s a huge flaw at all, and there are other Wolf Man movies fit for an Atmos track.
Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan is worth the splurge
Revenge never looked better
A lot of Sci-Fi just looks better in the 4K UHD format because it lets you experience all of these fantastic creatures and sets in the best format available. You might be worried that the increased resolution makes the poor effects stand out, but I don’t think that is the case with The Wrath of Khan. It also helps that this is one of my favorite Sci-Fi movies of all time.
This is a great looking movie, and the Dolby Vision scan is a nice inclusion here over the regular HDR10 implementation. I’m always excited to see a Dolby Vision disc, and these Star Trek ones deliver. It’s tough to go wrong with any of these, so if you’re somebody who prefers The Voyage Home, you can opt for that one instead — or you can just get them all like I did.
The Shining is one of the best 4K UHD discs around
You can’t go wrong with this one
The Shining cleans up very nicely, and it’s one of the best-looking 4K UHD discs in my collection. All the film grain is visible here, and if you’re like me and love the look of grain, this is one of the best. I don’t have much at all to complain about here, and I think this is one of the best-looking movies I’ve seen. It helps that the 4K upgrade is based on the 35mm original camera negative, so nothing’s lost in translation here.
I love that so much of the older Warners catalog has been released in 4K, and I hope it continues under Paramount’s leadership. There’s nothing set in stone, but it would be a real bummer to see a studio with a catalog as deep as Warners just stop releasing its older movies.
