IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE
On Digital 4K with High Dynamic Range November 20, 2018
Paramount Pictures proudly presents a brand new 4K digital restoration of one of the most beloved films of all time: It’s A Wonderful Life. Starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, Lionel Barrymore, Thomas Mitchell and Henry Travers, director Frank Capra’s heartwarming classic has made an indelible impact on popular culture and continues to be a cherished part of many families’ holiday traditions.
It’s A Wonderful Life in 4K with High Dynamic Range delivers amazing clarity with sharper and brighter images for a sensational home viewing experience.
The studio spent over a year painstakingly restoring this treasured film, using the original nitrate negative along with two fine grain masters made in the 1940s. Each element was carefully scanned using the very latest technology to both preserve the delicate negative and create the best possible digital image. Fortunately, 13 of the 14 reels of the original negative survived, but portions had begun to deteriorate so the best image was selected from one of the three original sources on a shot-by-shot basis. The result is a more vibrant and detail-rich picture than has ever been available before.
It’s A Wonderful Life will arrive on Digital 4K Ultra High Definition November 20, 2018. The perfect film to enjoy over the holidays, the release will also include new interviews with contemporary filmmakers and restoration experts about the movie’s extraordinary sound, music, cinematography and visual effects, as well as the meticulous process of preserving and revitalizing this iconic masterpiece.
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Will there also be a Blu-ray made from this new scan?
I am in the process of getting cover art from Paramount PR. I will ask them that question and get back to you.
You got to be kidding me! Damn, I can see the video presentation complaints now. Of course I say that based on the last time Paramount released this on Blu-ray. If they did some further restoration work as indicated perhaps it will look great on 4K/UHD disc.
I'm also curious and will be looking forward to the answer.
By the way, the previous bluray release(s) weren't from the negative?
is it the first time now?
Talked to Paramount PR. They are working on obtaining artwork. They also have no information on a Blu-ray release.
I would have thought the last restoration for Blu-ray was done in 4k and this is simply a full release on the new format. However, that's just speculation.
As far as I remember, everyone has always complained about the transfer quality of this movie so I would hope some additional touch-ups were done for the 4k release.
At one point, there's a white line running vertically near one of the sides. If they can't get it out, then at least zoom in a little so that defect is off the screen. It wasn't on the DVD.
Here's the cover. Looks like the same cover that was used on the BD release
View attachment 51603
No 4k label on this.
I got this directly from Paramount PR, but something tells me this box art is going to be revised.
Given their War of the Worlds precedent, what makes you think Paramount will be releasing a disk of any kind?
Shouldn't this be in the streaming forum?
Neither in the video nor in the press release a disc is mentioned. What a shame if this is really released as a streaming file only…
Until it's confirmed that it's only a digital release the thread stays here.
Given a choice between Blu-ray and 4K streaming, I take the latter! I remember the first time I bought this in 1985 as a public domain title. It's come a long way since then.
If I had known this was going to get bumped to 4K, I would have bought it when iTunes had it on sale for $4.99!
Isn’t that what it says in the press release? “On Digital 4K with High Dynamic Range November 20, 2018.” We’ve gotten used to this in studio press releases, with the release going on to say… “and released on 4K UHD Blu-ray and regular Blu-ray two weeks later.” However, that latter part is conspicuously missing here.
This is not a debatable issue, an administrative decision has been stated for the time being.
I'm not optimistic about this or many other older films being released on 4k disc.
As we watch this every Christmas Eve without fail I’ll pick this up again if there’s a 4K derived Blu ray as well. I’ve bought just about every version since the original DVD.
If this is only 4K I’d advise anyone who wants the best Blu ray to pick up the German Studio canal release. The picture quality is an improvement on the Paramount, I certainly don’t remember any damage and the audio is lossless rather than Dolby digital.
Per RAH on another thread, it appears this will be digital release only, no disc. Paramount sucks.
I'd be totally cool with digital only, I no longer use discs and would be nice to have a digital copy since my only version is a copy of an old DVD and the NBC version saved on my DVR.
They suck so much because they’re offering this classic film in 4K/HDR, Probably for $9.99 if you don’t already own it(which I do and will upgraded to 4K free of charge) to anyone that wants it?? And that sucks????
Jeez people.
^^^^
This
Not to get into THAT debate, but you don't OWN it, you license it (read the end user agreement for all the digital services) and they can take it back anytime they want. I don't do digital unless is comes with a disc.
This one makes no sense. This has been a consistent seller for them or else they wouldn't have released it multiple times on every physical format. To now go exclusively digital with the 4k restored release is a puzzler.
But discs are a dying breed and I'm sure the market was saturated already with this particular movie (DVD's) and it's shown in "HD" on NBC every season for people to record. So I'd say it's wise to avoid wasting more money making discs for older movies like these and follow the money which is digital now.
I applaud them for seeing the future, not living in the past.
If the market has already been saturated with discs for this film, why release it in 4K at all? Why would Joe Sixpack pony up ten bucks to stream it in 4K? He won't. Face it, the only people that will buy a 4K release of It's a Wonderful Life in ANY format are either super fans of the film or videophiles, most of whom would probably want a 4K UHD disc. A streaming only 4K release makes little sense for a movie like this.
Thing is many 1000's of homeowners now own at least one 4K smart TV that can stream whatever they want via built in Roku, Google Play Movies and many other smart apps. So now as they browse their movie options from their sofas and they see they can see this (or any other movie) in "4K" for $9.99 vs. going out to Walmart to buy an outdated DVD, odds are better that they will press the "BUY" button on their phone or TV.
It's not really so much that they strive to see it in 4K, heck they probably, as you said, don't really care and resolution, BUT they just see the phrase "4K" and they know they own a "4K" TV, so they just simply put 2 and 2 together and buy into the new digital offer.
Not in my opinion. Chances are most folks either already own it on disc in some form or another, have it recorded on their DVR, or watch each year for free on TV. I doubt they're going to drop ten bucks on a 4K stream of an old B&W Christmas film.
You never know. Could be a giant gamble on the studios part, or be a giant boom for their digital side. I'd say it's gonna fall somewhere in the middle.
I think its numbers are going to be terribly disappointing for Paramount. We'll just have to agree to disagree.
The film should be brilliant as a DCP, where 4k can truly shine.
I don't disagree with that, but I think the same argument could be used against a disc release. And there's probably less risk involved in a digital only release – no replication, packaging, shipping etc.
Less risk certainly, but I still think that It's a Wonderful Life in 4K will mainly appeal to videophiles who would rather have a disk release. IMO there's less of a market out there for a $10 streaming version of this film.
Good idea!:thumbsup:
For the record I would have preferred an actual 4K disc also with the code included.
I don't know — unless in $2-3 I have a hard time paying for a license.
It would have been interesting to see and it would have pushed the envelope back another decade. I think that Kwai is the current oldest film on UHD. Wonder how Wizard of Oz would look?
I would buy this as a disk. As streaming, no. But it's a moot point as my only broadband is Verizon Wireless, which doesn't even stream SD well. HD? Well, if you admire that revolving circle as it buffers, it's great. 4K? I'll probably still be watching it when next Christmas rolls around!
Unless it's on disk, of course. If it isn't, another reason to not bother with a UHD TV.
As someone who purchases both discs and digital, I would have bought this on UHD disc at a price under $20. Since I already own the BD, though, the digital 4K version will need to drop to around $5 before I will bite.
I think Kwai is the oldest film on 4K Blu-ray Disc, but I believe The Day the Earth Stood Still is the oldest film in 4K on digital distribution. IAWL will replace that record.
I hope paramount releases this title and War of the Worlds in UHd blu ray.
I would buy both.
No sale on digital copy only.
Hopefully they reconsider.
Remember that this is Paramount, after all. If they really knew anything about running their business, the studio might have more than a 6% market share, worst of all the major studios.
As digital delivery is here to stay we need the option to download a movie and then watch it in the best possible quality.
You may have to wait though for a week or two until you can actually start watching 😀
It sucks because the majority of film collectors prefer physical media where a UHD film could sit on their shelf with other UHD films in their collection.
People like you are bad for home video and killing physical media quite frankly. Labels like Kino, Shout Factory, and others are keeping physical media alive. No thanks to you of course.
Don't know who that's directed at, but my goodness, such sour grapes. 😮
Stop such accusations right now! Don't be shaming anybody as to why the home video market for physical media is dying. It's dying because all kinds of people across all demographics that like to watch movies, but don't want to collect discs for a good number of reasons. I'm not going to get into those reasons in-depth because we know what they are, but just to name a few. There are income budgets limitations such as fixed incomes or not enough discretionary funding, lack of room for disc storage or simply no desire to re-watch films enough to justify such disc purchases.
It really doesn't matter the reason, but we need to stop the blame game. It's the market place and that's all to it. Frankly, the core principle we all need to remember is the basic economic term of "supply and demand". There is a lack of supply of discs because people/general consumers as a whole are not demanding enough of physical discs. There is no boogeyman or person(s) to blame, there is only the market and the market reacts to our spending habits.
It's times like this I honestly wish the film had stayed public domain.
Guess I'll be watching it on laserdisc this year.
Why Laserdisc? Why not the Blu Ray or at least the DVD?
Or in HD on NBC.
I think most of us agree that we would prefer an actual 4K disc. But for many of us this is the next best thing. Perhaps Paramount will reconsider if digital sales are great. Same for WOTW.
Ultimately, my interest is in the movie, not the platform used to deliver it. I started buying VHS, then shifted over to laserdisc, DVD, blu-ray and now UHD and digital streaming. In the same way I bought machines to play those tapes and discs, I've now upgraded to gigabit internet to take full advantage of streaming. Admittedly, I'm much more likely to rent than buy a digital title, but if the price falls below a certain threshold, I'll bite. Personally, I'd prefer to have the option to buy films I want to own on disc, but if things seem to be moving towards digital only, so be it. I'm not going to cut my nose off to spite my face.
I've moved the thread as there is no indication of any physical media release after consultation with Ron Epstein.
I'm going to play devil's advocate on this issue. Consider the following:
I say this as a physical media collector. I love my discs, but if the price is right on a digital title, I will pull the trigger, since many digital titles replicate the extras contained in physical releases on Google Play and iTunes, for example. OTOH, sometimes, I just want the movie, and if the digital release is $5 or less, I'm in. Similarly, if a film is given a limited release, or is hard to find physically, I weigh the pros and cons of physical vs. digital and act accordingly, which often results in either a digital rental or purchase.
You're not paying to own it. You're paying for an extended rental that they can legally take away at any time.
I gave up the DVD for the Blu-ray (that's how I deal with space considerations), and the Blu-ray is a DNR-riddled mess like a lot of early Paramount Blu-rays, so I decided to go back two formats. And it wasn't just laserdisc, but the Criterion CAV laserdisc. That was the gold standard in the pre-DVD days when the movie's ubiquity on TV became such a punch line that Married With Children did an episode about finding something else to watch during the Christmas season … the same year someone actually claimed the copyright and gave NBC the broadcast rights.
I cannot imagine a mindset where a user of 4k, which is as much a niche now as HD was 15 years ago, would want to stream it but not have at least one means of playing UHD discs. Personally, I feel they are trying to force the issue by making it a self-fulfilling prophesy.
Sumner Redstone = Mr. Potter
Wonder if Paramount will offer a colorized 4K Edition Of IAWL?
Have the color Blu-ray and rather like it.
As much as I love and adore this movie, I'm very content watching the NBC "HD" DVR cut of it I keep and watch only during Xmas time. This isn't one of those movies I pull out multiple times a year. It's a 4:30 black and white movie with mono sound. I can live with what is offered on NBC during the holidays.
While I'd prefer a 4K disc, I hope Paramount will also release their 4K restorations of A Place in the Sun and Romeo and Juliet (1968).
You say that like it’s a bad thing! 😮
Every time it gets bumped up in resolution, they have to re-do the colorization process. It’s already been colorized 3 separate times and I seriously doubt Paramount will spring for yet another pass since the HD color version is there for those who need it.
Not bad at all. It's a piece of history, I have no beefs with the way it's presented. I just don't feel any need to pay a premium to own a disc that will sit on a shelf 99% of the year. Streaming or OTA is perfectly fine for me,
Agreed!!
It’s almost like Paramount has been taken over by Henry F. Potter!!
Or aliens…..
Or both….
We may need a Star Trek captain on this!!
Every year I watch the Criterion CAV box Laserdisc. Why? Because it was done right from the fine grain and looks 100% identical to the 35mm prints that still play in repertory theaters every year right down to the same damage marks in instances. It’s a gorgeous LD with a great exclusive commentary. The only downside is that it doesn’t have digital audio which came later on the Republic LDs which IMO aren’t as good for picture quality.
I have the DVDs and the Blu-ray and none come close to matching the filmic quality of the old Criterion release. if you have a good CRT and good player many old titles, B&W especially, can look incredible. The old Criterion Casablanca CAV release was the best looking version to my eyes until the new 4K mastered Blu-ray because only those two seem to get the gray scale and shadow detail just right. When MGM started doing the cleaned up versions instantly the contrast went up and it no longer felt as vintage.
Completely agreed, the very people that would buy a movie like It's a Wonderful World will not be able to buy it in their preferred formats.
Or maybe Paramount is testing the waters to see how many units they sell via digital delivery when they give customer the impression that it is the only available version and then they release it on disc at a later point to see how many additional sales they can get.
While I do not think that this was directed at me I would still think that you are making this way too personal.
Still I would like to ask that itunes and other streaming news and deals get posted in the appropriate forum as I would hope that the Blu-ray subforum will remain dedicated to promoting releases on (UHD) Blu-ray discs and as you can see that has been done already, so it's all where it belongs.
This thread is in the appropriate forum once it was established no disc release is coming.
I have amended my post accordingly as I was not aware of the thread having been moved when I posted my reply.
I hope that paramount will reconsider and offer consumers a choice on these films.
Both formats are needed.
The studio has pressed so many reissues of the film on the same discs to flaunt during the holiday season at inflated prices that you'd think one more reissue wouldn't be too demanding. Every time a new packaging appeared I'd fall for it maybe being a new transfer finally until seeing that it again wasn't.
As long as this finally hits disc it will be all right. It would be extremely frustrating to not be able to view the results of the restored version at its best on disc with the new extras but it is very common these days for restorations to be shown on DCPs for months if not years before ever hitting disc. 20,000 Leagues is still not available for example.
But hopefully this means that awful colorized variant will no longer be available.
This title is a must purchase for me but not digital, but on 4K blu-ray or at least a new blu-ray transfer from 4K. Will not be buying if digital only! Hate to not have the movie but it is what it is.
I just don’t trust streaming. I think the studios will be fine with revoking and having control over their titles’ visibility or lack thereof, depending on what they want to promote.
I suppose we should consider ourselves lucky that they still want to tinker with this film, but unlucky that possession of it will be solely at the whim and discretion of whichever bean counters and suits are in charge.
I keep hearing that same line from the streaming naysayers. Yet, I have not experienced one title that I bought that still wasn't available to me to stream and watch. I'm not going to allow fear of what they might do interfere in my pleasure of watching my favorite films via streaming.
I have one question. Assuming that Paramount will continue to crank out the current Blu-ray, why wouldn't they just slipstream this master when they manufacture the next batch? If they want, slap a sticker on the outside saying "New Scan!" to bump sales. Other than loading a different data file into the disk-making machine, I don't see the extra expense. They're still making disks, still putting them in cases, still shrink-wrapping them and still shipping them out — and those costs won't change whether they print using the old data file or a new one. To help sell the old stock, bump the new ones by a buck or two.
You still can't get true native 4K from a stream. A disc release in 4K would look better.
Discs are not going away any time soon. This myth has been predicted for the last 10 years and we're still seeing an abundance of disc releases, albeit from third-party distributors releasing studio-sanctioned content. If the studios themselves have lost interest in maintaining their own home video apparatuses (and they have) they have not lost sight of the fact there is still money to be made by licensing their content out to other distributors who want to cash on their glorious past also.
Disc content will remain a part of home video's foreseeable future as well as its past. Satisfying both interests would be the most prudent. Also, currently, you cannot stream native 4K. You can, however, get native 4K on a properly authored disc. But again, we are speaking of Paramount…the studio that still hasn't come around to releasing Audrey Hepburn's Oscar-winning performance in Roman Holiday on Blu; neither, Oscar-winners, Ordinary People, or The Greatest Show on Earth, or Grace Kelly's Oscar-winning performance in The Country Girl, or, A Place in the Sun (to name but a handful of iconic studio product still MIA anywhere except on DVD!!!).
So, you know. What can I say? Shortsightedness can take on many forms.
The only problem with this philosophy, and it has already been pointed out already, but deserves repeating, is that 'buying digital' does not mean you OWN digital. You never do, and the thought of a studio yanking a beloved treasure out of my hands when they choose not to renew the copyright until such time as it suits them again to make it available – and thus, force me to buy it again, and again, and again – if ever – makes me ill.
Where you get that from?
That’s all the “disc only” crowd does in these streaming threads by repeating it over and over again.
And all the other crowd says is that disks will go away and streaming is the sole future of homevideo. Neither is correct. Both will survive, though streaming will take a serious hit when ISPs start charging premium prices to big data users who need high-speed throughput, which streamers will definitely be. My suspicion is that it will be charged basically as wireless is now (by the amount of data used, and if you have "unlimited service" and exceed a certain amount, the speed is throttled), with a surcharge for faster speed necessary for 4K or even Blu-ray resolution.
I don’t say that and I have one of the largest streaming and disc libraries on the forum. Furthermore, there are several of us on this forum that stream a lot, but still support disc collection and think it will remain viable unless it becomes unprofitable for the studios.
I’ve never said that either and continue to support both with physical copies being my primary choice.
If by "true native" you mean uncompressed then you are still wrong, because even a 4K Blu-ray disc has some compression. For example a DCP would be even less compressed than a 4K Blu-ray disc.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnar…counts-and-dont-expect-a-refund/#1d90bb8f5f74
Yeah, we already discussed that situation "ad nauseam" in other threads back in September/October in which a consumer left one country for another and lost his access to some movies.
…which strikes me as being the digital equivalent of building a library of DVDs that are region 1/NTSC and then moving to a place where Region 2/PAL is the standard.
Digital has some drawbacks. Physical has some drawbacks. There is not one single method of collecting movies that will guarantee permanent, infallible access to a title in perpetuity for all time. I think maybe the bigger point that sometimes gets missed is that for many regular consumers, that wasn’t really their goal to begin with.
I just streamed for the first time to see Orson Welles's The Other Side of the Wind (and the documentaries on the film) on Netflix and had a nice experience. It's great to have that option but will continue to buy discs for movies I like and want on my shelf.
It would be equivalent if the Studio/Retailer you bought them from forced you to return them (Stole them, confiscated them) at the border and threw them in the dumpster. All possibly without telling you and you didn't find out about it until 4 months later. At least in the defense of Itunes — the region/country restriction are in their Terms of Use so the person who is complaining about losing access isn't 100% in the right and Itunes isn't doing something unexpected. The fact the person who lost his Digital copies just didn't understand his legal rights or know this isn't exactly Itunes fault nor responsibility
At worst — they at least remain your property, playable in UK/AUS with a $20 legal solution (or free with a PC with DVD player), recoverable when you move back to the US, and salable in all situations. Having access to a functioning DVD player for the next 50 years is far more predictable than predicting what will happen to your digital content even 5 years down the line. I still full access to my Laserdiscs from 1985 in unchanged form and no loss or edited without my permission content — I may or may not want to watch anything from then, but it's my choice and not someone else's
I'm not sure if there is a solution at any price for the Itunes issue. I'm not sure what would happen if he returned to the US — are they still in that account waiting for him or are they gone forever unless he repurchases? Are they viewable or still there by using a VPN with a US address?
The second paragraph I pretty much agree with, but people still have functioning 78rpm acrylic records, 8mm films, reel to reel tapes, VHS, and functioning Victrolas
Old news. Explained. Hyperbolic.
Equineomous Beatem Mortus:razz:
It is a great time to be a home theater enthusiast. I watched a couple of fine movies from KINO on BD a couple nights ago, and yesterday streamed a marathon of Kung Fu (in HD!) on Amazon Prime.
The key difference being that you can bring your region 1/NTSC DVD player with you when you move.
Yes, but people also probably own media of those types which they can no longer play for various reasons – – the media has deteriorated, been damaged, no longer own a device to play it with, etc.
I have owned a BD disc that would no longer play due to damage, but have yet to lose access to any digital content in my library (although I recognize it could happen). As Josh said, there is no 100% foolproof solution – – everything has pros and cons.
No, there is no foolproof situation. But I have used streaming in classrooms, only to find that the film's won't load, stop during play, or break up and accelerate. BDs have been consistently reliable for me…and dvds when BDs were not available for the title.
Sounds like you have a crappy Internet connection in your classroom. I have experienced none of those issues in my home.
Which is why I agreed with the 2nd paragraph. There are people who do have functioning media , there are people who don't.
The real different is digital is approx 5 years old and I'm unaware of any of my similar aged physcical media that isn't working, My LD are 25-35 years, I have some playable VHS a little older (if I wanted), I certainly have some LP's from teh 50's and not trouble playing media that has been cared for.
In 20-40years will Digital be just as useful (or un-useful) depending on your bent. I suspect in 25-30years I will be far, far less useful other than either a houseplant or fertilizer as the situation unfolds
OK, here's a dumb question: how will one buy this digital-only release? The only such thing I've ever bought is from Amazon Prime. Will this one be available that way?
Earlier in this thread someone posted that if you already own the movie it will be upgraded for free. Does that mean if you've bought an earlier streaming version of this movie, or any disk version?
(Told you it's a dumb question.)
…And I hope the irreverent and offensive 'colorized version' is NOT included. It deserves to go the way of button-shoes and fake Picassos.
Free upgrades to 4K only applies to HD titles previously purchased from iTunes. If you bought it anywhere else you will have to re-buy it to get it in 4K. You need to wait and see which digital retailers are going to carry the new 4K version. I would be surprised if Amazon Prime gets this in 4K. Their selection of 4K streaming titles is very limited compared to Vudu and iTunes.
I don’t mind the colorized version as long as the original is available too. It’s actually very well done. Not like earlier colorized films.
I can't even get the computer I'm typing this message on to stream anything on YouTube higher than 1440p!
As soon as the 4K went live, I hit the buy button. It looks fantastic. I think you guys are going to marvel at what HDR can do for Black & White. Very nuanced grayscale with ultra deep blacks.
I checked a couple times earlier this morning, but my iTunes download/digital was still HD. However, it’s now Dolby Vision and it looks beautiful compared to HD. 😀
It’s still only HD on Vudu and Amazon Video. Also, the bonus material is still the same on iTunes with the colorized version.
Is there supposed to be new bonus material? Btw my copy has upgraded to 4K/Dolby Vision:thumbsup:
I thought I read that in the press release that Ron posted.
You’re right. From the Press release:
, the release will also include new interviews with contemporary filmmakers and restoration experts about the movie’s extraordinary sound, music, cinematography and visual effects, as well as the meticulous process of preserving and revitalizing this iconic masterpiece.
I’m hoping a blu ray release will materialize in the future.
It’s time to start watching Christmas movies!!!
Though if Paramount is going to continue their focus on streaming over disc they need to join in on Movies Anywhere.
Agreed!!!
Some of you might be interested in this article from the LA Times on the film's restoration:
http://www.latimes.com/entertainme…onderful-life-restoration-20181121-story.html
Not such a wonderful life when the mountain keeps blocking our view.:angry:
Ha!!!!