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Eyes Wide Shut Criterion 4K Restoration revealed
- Thread starter EviLore
- Start date
Open-matte works better for al most all close, personal shots (at least when it's been properly framed as such). It's the sweeping landscapes and large scope action shots that benefit from wide screen IMHO.
All those comparison shots done for Sinner showcases this. The interiors largely look better at 4:3 while the exteriors in 2.39 or whatever he used.
Salz01
Member
That's funny, not sure why I had it mixed up. My bad.
spookyfish
Gold Member
This is one of the 99s that I was waiting for. Need Fight Club and The Ninth Gate next (would also love House on Haunted Hill) to get the 4K treatment and then I'm happy. 1999 movies have something about them—they capture that time from one decade/century/millennium in just a unique way that other years haven't.
Looks great. Can't wait to see it.
Looks great. Can't wait to see it.
DKehoe
Member
This was a great listen, thanks for the suggestion! I'll be checking out their other episodes too.
VaultBoy101
Member
This movie is as old now as American Graffiti, Serpico, and The Exorcist were when it was released, which absolutely blows my mind.
Absolutely adore it. Saw it twice on opening day and a couple more times during its original theatrical run. Most people other than dedicated cinephiles hated it around the time of release. It was nominated for 0 Oscars.
TerribleAtThisGame
Member
Many of those episodes have given me a new point of view and respect even for movies I already loved. It's a great concept for a podcast.
Glad I was able to introduce a fellow film lover to it.
Poppinfresh
Member
It makes me feel really f'ing old.
Senua
Member
Looks less like a soap opera
Chuck Berry
Gold Member
Nah, that was A.I. Artificial Intelligence with Haley Joel and Jude Law
Opening parts of that movie are cool. You can tell Spielberg was trying to channel Stanley with a handful of certain shots.
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SpiceRacz
Member
I like that soap opera look in this movie. It makes it all feel dream like.
Chuck Berry
Gold Member
The Harvey Keitel story about him walking off set because Kubrick was up to the 70th take in his one scene is hilarious.
He was like "You're outta your fucking mind." in true Keitel fashion and bounced
He was like "You're outta your fucking mind." in true Keitel fashion and bounced
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poodaddy
Member
I didn't care for it to be honest, so this is much more my style.
Nocty
Currently Steaming
which scene in particular was it?The Harvey Keitel story about him walking off set because Kubrick was up to the 70th take in his one scene is hilarious.
He was like "You're outta your fucking mind." in true Keitel fashion and bounced
Chuck Berry
Gold Member
I have no idea, but I think it was the character that Sydney Lumet wound up playing.
People in physical media circles are going crazy for this release. Not only because it's a sought-after title, but because it's the first Criterion to use the company Fidelity In Motion for it's disc encoding/compression. That company is the gold standard and the closest you will get to lossless compression on 4k blurays.
Bad compression can lead to stuff like macro-blocking, frozen/sticky grain, and color banding. Criterion's in-house compression isn't terrible, but it's not that good either.
Bad compression can lead to stuff like macro-blocking, frozen/sticky grain, and color banding. Criterion's in-house compression isn't terrible, but it's not that good either.
Dirk Benedict
Gold Member
Criterion versions are second.
Stanley Kubrick
Eyes Wide Shut
Stanley Kubrick's career-capping Eyes Wide Shut unfolds in a dreamscape vision of New York City, where doctor Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) and his wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), confront the unconscious desires, jealousies, and fears threatening their marriage. A Christmastime odyssey into a surreal sexual underworld whose hidden power structures are laid frighteningly bare, the film marks the fulfillment of the director's decades-long desire to adapt Arthur Schnitzler's novella Dream Story and the culmination of his obsessive interest in the relationship between institutional authority and the individual. Released in 1999, the film also serves as a fitting coda to a century of cinema, by one of its greatest visionaries—an endlessly tantalizing labyrinth whose myriad symbols, mysteries, and meanings are still being unraveled.
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Film Info
- United Kingdom, United States
- 1999
- 159 minutes
- Color
- 1.85:1
- English
- Spine #1290
4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- New 4K digital restoration of the international version of the film, supervised and approved by director of photography Larry Smith, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack
- One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and two Blu-rays with the film and special features
- New interviews with Smith, photographer and second-unit director Lisa Leone, and Stanley Kubrick archivist Georgina Orgill
- Archival interview with Christiane Kubrick, director Stanley Kubrick's wife
- Never Just a Dream (2019), featuring interviews with producer Jan Harlan; Katharina Kubrick, Stanley Kubrick's daughter; and Anthony Frewin, Kubrick's personal assistant
- Lost Kubrick: The Unfinished Films of Stanley Kubrick (2007)
- Kubrick Remembered (2014), featuring interviews with actors Todd Field and Leelee Sobieski and filmmaker Steven Spielberg
- Kubrick's 1998 acceptance speech for the Directors Guild of America's D. W. Griffith Award
- Press conference from 1999, featuring Harlan and actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
- Teaser and trailers
- English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- PLUS: An essay by author Megan Abbott and a 1999 interview with actor Sydney Pollack
New cover based on an original poster by Katharina Kubrick and Christiane Kubrick
Nicole Kidman's body was peak in this. I've enjoyed the movie. Felt like a dream or a nightmare. Kind of reminiscent of Vanilla Sky. I
wouldn't mind doing this and VS as a cinematic back to back showing in 2k* on a QD-OLED.
NeoIkaruGAF
Gold Member
Not wanting to spoil the party, but is it unquestionably a good thing?
The old BR here looks exactly like I remember pics of the movie looking when EWS released. I think that the old contrast gives the scenes a dream-like quality that looks very good. The frame with Kidman smoking in bed looks too… "real" in the Criterion version. It's very nice how her skin and Cruise's kinda blend together thanks to the low contrast. The next scene also looks a bit harsher with the increased contrast.
s_mirage
Member
Yeah, there seems to be a debate about this. AFAIK this is a regrade assisted by the cinematographer of the movie, but not everyone seems to be in agreement that this is how the 35MM print looked. Honestly, from the clips, I don't particularly like the new colour grade, and grain almost looks boosted.
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NeoIkaruGAF
s_mirage
Yes, there is some controversy about the look. But: Criterion used a Warner 35mm print as reference for the color grading. As for the grain and contrast, this was intended. Kubrick and Smith force-developed the film stock by plus two stops so that Kubrick could shoot at lower light levels, which produced increased grain and a more contrasty look.Here's what I could find:
Criterion's copy with the release:
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Eyes Wide Shut is presented in the aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Supervised and approved by director of photography Larry Smith, this new 4K restoration of the international cut of the film was created from the 35 mm original camera negative. A 35mm print provided by Warner Bros. was used as a color reference. The original theatrical 5.1 surround soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic track. The feature is presented in Dolby Vision HDR (high dynamic range) on the 4K Ultra HD disc.
In order to facilitate director Stanley Kubrick's shooting strategy, which required the picture's film stock to be force-developed by two stops at Deluxe in London, Smith conducted extensive photographic tests at the prep stage. Chester Eyre, director of operations at Deluxe, noted in the October 1999 issue of American Cinematographer that Kubrick never limited himself to standard lab practices, particularly in the case of Eyes Wide Shut. "Stanley had his own ideas about what each picture should look like, and what he was trying to achieve with it. On Eyes Wide Shut, he told me he was going to rate the negative stock faster than the actual recommended speed, and that he wanted us to force-develop it two stops to bring it back to its original exposure level. That created several advantages for him: he could work with less light and obtain a particular mood. Force-developing in that way is very unusual, and it's normally done as a last resort if the filmmakers are losing their light and are desperate to get a shot. On this picture, though, it was a deliberate strategy that was designed to get a special look."
Mastering supervisors: Lee Kline, Giles Sherwood • Colorist: Greg Fisher, Company 3, London • Image restoration: Resillion, New York • Audio restoration: The Criterion Collection • Feature encoding: Fidelity in Motion • Disc authoring: NexSpec
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That all makes sense to me. It would not be Kubrick's vision to DNR it to death after intentionally pushing the film as he did.
As for the color grading, here are some quotes from the blu-ray.com forums:
Article: Originally Posted by VickPS
On EWS in particular we had countless discussions on a local film community back when the original Blu-Ray released, precisely because of how all the "blue" shots looked nothing like the cyan present in the print a member personally owned and screened countless times.
Personally, this appears to be the very best home-video version of a Kubrick film that has ever been released. A real event, worthy of celebration.
Haven't been lucky enough to see or study the entirety of his filmography in 35mm, but none of those I had the fortune of handling is accurately represented in BD or UHD.
Very, very glad EWS is a favorite of mine.
Article: Originally Posted by VickPS
Post just found with a quick search, dated 2013, from an Italian collector:
The Blu-ray is not made to the best of today's standards and, more importantly, it's not worthy of such a masterpiece. Unlike other films on Blu-ray, this one was a real disappointment — it actually made me regret no longer having my 35mm prints.
The master is old and dark, and the colors are often dull, especially on large screens. The cyan tint blended into the blues that was present on film is missing (something Warner usually preserves perfectly in its best transfers).
For example, the scene where Kidman walks away toward the blue-lit room during the argument — the color there is that typical "electric violet-blue" you see in video-style transfers.
Compression also seems poorly handled (take a look at 2:19:42 in the film — the background and the lamp behind Tom Cruise "sizzle" unnaturally). Scenes like the ballroom at the beginning, during the Ziegler party, should have a yellowish-golden light. On the Blu-ray, they look reddish instead.
It's true that grain is present in the negative and quite heavy by stylistic choice — even creating "interference" of blue specks in the blacks and darker areas, very visible in theaters — but on the prints I saw, it never muddied the image this way.
For instance, when Cruise walks through the dim corridors with the two models at Ziegler's, or in the mysterious mansion he sneaks into — the grain becomes clumpy, detail drops noticeably, and overall sharpness suffers. The film prints were indeed grainy, but also much crisper.
No doubt, it's a difficult film to transfer, especially with older technology — but today it could easily be digitized properly, ideally with a brand-new 4K scan and optimized compression. It's a film where cinematography plays a crucial role, even more than in most others.
https://www.avmagazine.it/forum/thre...e-shut.229842/
Seems clear that the old blu-ray's color grading was not accurate and that Criterion handled this one with utmost care.
DragoonKain
Neighbours from Hell
I love this movie and watch it every Christmas Eve. It's my favorite Kubrick movie. One thing I always laugh at every time I watch is how many times in the movie Tom Cruise repeats back a line in the form of a question. Once you notice it, you can't unnotice it. I've heard several podcasts and discussions about the movie and I've never heard anyone bring it up. It happens so many times in the movie and it's like this extra thing that entertains me when I watch aside from the movie itself.
Senua
Member
What's your favourite podcast on the film?
kruis
Exposing the sinister cartel of retailers who allow companies to pay for advertising space.
Here's a comparison with a 35mm scan. The saturation and contrast in the Criterion version looks too much, but it's actually less pronounced than that of the 35mm scan.
?? I can't seem to link the twitter message with that comparison .. ?
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BigDeadFreak
Member
I started watching this but it just seemed so boring and flat. I love a lot Kubrick movies but I just couldn't get into this.
Am I missing something or is it just a bit overhyped?
Am I missing something or is it just a bit overhyped?
DragoonKain
Neighbours from Hell
The Rewatchables did an episode on it some years back that I enjoyed. I like that podcast.
Nearly 30 Years Later, Stanley Kubrick's Final Movie Is Finally, Actually Finished [Exclusive] - SlashFilm
Almost 30 years after it hit theaters, Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut has a new 4K restoration from Criterion and cinematographer Larry Smith.
www.slashfilm.com
Article: When Stanley Kubrick died in 1999, he left behind a final film: "Eyes Wide Shut." While Kubrick had finished shooting the movie (after an astoundingly long 400 day production) and delivered a cut, a question lingered: How final was this cut, exactly? The honest answer is we will never know. We can take guesses, though, and Kubrick, who was an obsessive perfectionist, had a reputation for tinkering with his films right up until release — and sometimes even after, as both "2001" and "The Shining" were recut following initial screenings. Kubrick fans and obsessives are all but certain that had he lived, his version of "Eyes Wide Shut" would probably not be the same version that's available today.
According to Nathan Abrams and Robert P. Kolker's book "Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of His Final Film," Kubrick, who spent the last years of his life in the UK, shipped a copy of the film to America for Warner Bros. and stars to screen, which they did on March 2, 1999. On March 5, the film was screened again at Kubrick's estate with another Warner Bros. executive in attendance.
But that was the end of Kubrick's involvement in the film, as he died during the evening of March 7 from a massive heart attack. After Kubrick's death, his assistant Leon Vitali (who also has a small role in "Eyes Wide Shut") took it upon himself to oversee whatever post-production work needed to be done. But the question remains: Was "Eyes Wide Shut" really ever finished? It depends on who you ask.
One person who felt the film was never quite done was Larry Smith, who worked as a cinematographer on the picture. Smith actually left the film two weeks before production wrapped, with Kubrick shooting the remaining footage himself (according to Abrams & Kolker). From there, Smith had no more direct involvement with the film — until now. Nearly 30 years later, Smith has overseen a new 4K restoration of "Eyes Wide Shut" for the Criterion Collection.
This restoration is not without controversy. Some chatter on Film Twitter and physical media forums has claimed that the 4K Criterion "Eyes Wide Shut" changes the look of the film significantly. I don't quite agree. Yes, some shots are a bit darker than the previous DVD and Blu-ray release of the film, but I didn't find the differences to be distracting or detrimental.
As for Smith, he feels like this is more or less how he would've made the film look had he been brought in to grade the picture before release back in 1999. "The tragedy of that was, that after [Kubrick] delivered the final cut, the film wasn't completely finished in terms of color grading," Smith told me in an exclusive interview. "So you could arguably say the film was always going to be 70-odd-percent, 80% in the area that it should have been, but it wasn't finished, and it got finished by other people in the chaos after he died."
Smith added that he "wasn't too pleased with" the version of the film he saw at the premiere in 1999, stating that he wished he had been brought in back then to work on the color grading. "So the film was never finished," Smith said. "I would say definitely not to [Kubrick's] standard, and certainly not the way I would've finished it."
For the new 4K, Smith said he worked with Criterion and performed a "whole grading session based on how I felt it should be." As an example of some changes, Smith mentioned that he was able to remove the reflection of an assistant camera person who could be glimpsed during a bathroom scene. Knowing the way film fans think, I'm sure this will open up a new question: Is this new 4K version really what Kubrick would have wanted, or is this instead Smith's interpretation?
Again, we can never know for sure. But I think Kolker and Abrams sum things up nicely in their book, writing: "[W]hat we see of 'Eyes Wide Shut' is what we will always see. Whether it might have been different in some small way is ultimately irrelevant and certainly counterproductive to our understanding of the film and the pleasure we take from it."
Probably the controversy will remain in some capacity, since we've all been used to the previous home releases for decades, but it seems the only "revisionism" intended here is to fix whatever was botched by Warner Bros after Kubrick's death, rather than straying from Kubrick's vision. Some of it will be a matter of taste since Kubrick didn't have a chance to grade it properly, but Larry Smith worked with him on it very closely.
spookyfish
Gold Member
Got Amazon'd, although I ordered in August. "By Nov. 20th" now.
We'll see. EDIT: Funny how this always to seems to happen with items I buy that are on sale.
We'll see. EDIT: Funny how this always to seems to happen with items I buy that are on sale.
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WoodyStare
Member
Just watched it and the 4K transfer is one of the best I've ever seen. I also hadn't watched this in a long time and forgot how creepy it is. Hell of a last film for Kubrick to go out on.
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spookyfish
Gold Member
This is possibly the most 1999 of all the 1999 films. Just a very unique story -- is it a huge conspiracy? Or was it just a rich person's party? Was everything coincidence? Or orchestrated?
Who knows?
Fight Club next, please.
If you think it was just nothing, then watch the very end of the film, where Bill's daughter basically gets abducted right in front under his nose by the men who were in Ziegler's apartment at the Christmas party.
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Grildon Tundy
Member
Roger Avary talks about how Eyes Wide Shut was re-cut without Kubrick, with EWS story details I hadn't heard before, such as intending to have narration:
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