5 Of The Worst 4K Blu-Rays That You Should Avoid – BGR

The world of film lovers can be a fickle one. Viewers demand the very best in terms of visual fidelity when a new physical media release is announced. It only makes sense then that when a new medium hits the market, it should be better than what came before. DVD looks better than VHS, Blu-ray outclasses DVD, and free streaming services offer cost-saving convenience. This means that 4K Blu-rays should be the current peak of the home media format, especially if you have the player and TV that can take full advantage. And there exist a number of fantastic 4K Blu-ray releases that should be in every movie lover’s collection. 

The problem arises when movie studios don’t take the care to remaster their films to take advantage of the format. From not working from the original negatives and remastering each frame, to scrubbing away the film grain that gave life and warmth to so many films, studios often seem to care very little for the movies that helped define them. The following 4K Blu-ray releases are considered some of the worst by film buffs across the internet and should be avoided, especially if you already own the movie on another format.

This has been considered one of the most disappointing 4K releases in recent history by many movie lovers. It is a shame as Terminator 2: Judgement Day is easily one of the greatest action movies of all time. The issues with this 4K release have nothing to do with the movie itself as it all comes down to the various issues with the transfer and the implementation of digital noise reduction (DNR). The original film was shot on, well, film. The grain in the film helps to give the movie its overall feel, and when you scrub that inherent grain away you are removing a piece of the original film itself. 

Many feel that you are left with a waxier-looking image, altering the overall look and feel of the film. Other viewers took issue with the upgraded color grading done to this release, claiming that the team behind the project attempted to give the film a more modern look but just ended up taking the life from it. While this is all personal preference and many enjoy the changes, Terminator 2: Judgement Day stands as one of the most divisive 4K releases.

The 4K release of American Graffiti has gone down as one of the worst 4K releases in the history of the format. Many viewers feel that tweaks that were done to this film have left it a shell of its former self. As this is a classic movie shot on film, the grain that’s built into the movie is part of its charm. But thanks to that pesky DNR, any sense of warmth has been removed from the film with the grain having been almost completely softened out, giving this classic a highly digital feel. 

The DNR scrubbing was cranked up to eleven on this release, leading many to claim it’s not even better than the much older DVD release that they own. Because of all of this processing, characters in the film all have a waxy look and feel. This is incredibly apparent in non-action scenes when characters are delivering dialogue. The film now lacks a lot of depth and contains new errors that many say were not in the original. This is because whatever tools were used in the DNR processing missed elements, almost producing a fake film grain effect in many scenes.

The idea of a 4K film restoration is an exciting one. Taking a classic film and working on it frame by frame from the original camera negative can provide an amazing viewing experience. And considering that Planes, Trains & Automobiles is one of the most loved comedies of all time, many were excited about the 4K release. But people were also skeptical of the 4K release because the prior 1080p Blu-ray version was already full of issues and heavy reliance on DNR. 

This 4K release seems to be based on that earlier Blu-ray version as Paramount never stated what master was used for this 4K transfer, only highlighting prior issues even more and making the 4K copy of the film a bad buy. The cast looks like wax replicas of themselves at several points and the DNR kills the warmth of the original. Many even noted that the VHS and 4K releases of the film look very similar, and not in a positive way. Planes, Trains & Automobiles is such a disappointment, because seemingly all versions of the film don’t look great regardless of the format. This is one film that deserves better. 

The idea of 4K is that it’s a step up from Blu-ray in terms of visual quality as it provides four times the resolution. This means viewers should expect that their favorite films will look far better than they have ever had before. Christopher Nolan’s two other Batman titles look incredible because they used IMAX technology in filming. The problem with Batman Begins is that the film wasn’t shot using that technology and thus gives the picture less data to work with. 

Still, there is a lot to like with this release as it is an upgrade from the Blu-ray release that came before, but a lot of people dislike the implementation of Digital Noise Reduction, something that has become common with titles on this list. The DNR was used to help with facial wrinkles, giving a flatter look and the transfer also has issues with fine details becoming less sharp, providing a duller image. This is because the scan didn’t use the original raw camera negative and instead was created from the completed interpositive. All of this helps to give the 4K release of Batman Begins a softer image that many people simply don’t enjoy. 

Iron Man was the film that helped kick off the Marvel Cinematic Universe and is one of the most important Marvel films, the film’s star even returning as Doctor Doom in Avengers Doomsday. Iron Man came out back in 2008, and it was shot on 35mm film, one of only a handful of Marvel movies to ever be shot on traditional film. This provides Iron Man with a much warmer image, the included film grain also adding to the overall experience. The problem is that the 4K release of Iron Man is disliked by fans because of the heavy use of DNR. 

Applying DNR has left the film looking lifeless when compared to the original, a common trend with so many early 4K releases. Film grain has been stripped away and the imperfections that add life were removed, removing a lot of detail in the process. A lot of these issues seem to happen because the film wasn’t scanned from the original camera negative, instead being upscaled from the 2K release and graded for HDR10. When it comes to so many 4K releases, it seems that those with a lot of DNR added are the ones that movie buffs seem to rebuff.