I believe Conan The Barbarian deserves the first place on any top five 4K Arrow releases countdown. It’s simply astonishing the work and quality of this restoration in audio and video. Definitely the best work Arrow has presented for a 4K release yet in my opinion.
Weird Science is full of optically printed effects done on a limited budget. The higher the resolution the worse those effects are going to look. It's just the nature of the process used at that budget.
Weird Science looks amazing to me! It's brighter, more colorful, and shadow detail is clear. Fidelity in motion authoring house tried to squeeze as much as grain and chroma noise as they could onto a UHD100 and it's impressive. It looks very raw and unfiltered and I love that aesthetic.
I'm amazed at how good Robocop and the Conan movies look. I don't regret buying Weird Science on 4K. It's fine, but it's not going to be anyone's 4K demo disc.
The Weird Science is a weird choice. I think it looks stunning. The film itself is somewhat of a mess. But okay, agree to disagree. I think The Last Starfighter is one of the best looking 4Ks. Maybe my expectations were low, maybe I got lost in the nostalgia, but I was blown away by this 4K
My top 5 favorites of Arrow Video are 1. RoboCop 4k phenomenal release 2. Empire of Screams Robot Jox is a childhood favorite 3. Ringu 4k classic 4. Dark Water 4k amazing storytelling and tension 5. Waterworld 4k excellent transfer, good not really but the concept is cool and Dennis Hopper is so much fun to watch. I need to get the Warriors 4k.
You saved me on that Weird Science 4k edition. I actually had it on pre-order and canceled it after watching your revue of it (still have the blu edition). The only other one I have that you mentioned is The Warriors.
I made the mistake of buying Lovers Lane and was shocked that Arrow would pick such a generic low budget piece of crap to release. Anna Ferris was so stinking adorable though.
Watched the warriors for the first time last week, great movie! I just have a regular bluray release, and that one looks good. I am interested in upgrading for my next view.
Arrow IMO are the best boutique label hands down. Every release has loads of special features, immaculate transfers, awesome artwork etc. I don't think any other label (although many are extremely good) have been as consistent. Every time I hear Arrow is doing a movie I want I an relax knowing it will be amazing.
I think it comes down to this: while there are still some gems in horror that haven't gotten a BD release here and there, for the most part, the cult classics of the genre are pretty well represented in terms of physical releases. So we're in a period where BD releases are 20% good, and 80% bottom of the barrel type stuff.
Bummer about Weird Science. I do have that original 4K-mastered blu-ray and it looks amazing. A massive upgrade from the original. Wonder what happened.
There’s a charm and natural atmosphere to slashers like Death Screams and Deadly Games that is completely missing from some of the big budget junk they seem to be favoring of late. I kinda miss the old Arrow that would take a chance on something less well known.
Hope u get around to reviewing their upcoming release of Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico trilogy.. I just saw it on Amazon n added it to my cart but it’s jumped up in price since and now I’m on the fence on it xD
Im big on the True Romance release. But im biased and my heyday was the 90s. I was so happy to buy multiple versions of that with different artwork. I thought the picture and sound was better than its ever been. I may just pop that in tonight. Cheers folks
I only bought 4 Arrow releases in 2023 😅. The Warriors, Mallrats, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Boyhood. Although I am still tempted to get Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams. I mostly collect films I aleady like so a bunch of them I haven’t even seen.
Unfortunately, I didn't know about the box set of The Lighthouse and got the standard 4K Arrow release (so no book or poster) but the movie and Arrow's presentation blew me away
Couldn't agree with you more about the Warriors that's a definitive release. Definitely one of their best and they have a pretty high standard in general
His anger to the basement dweller Community 😮 ... i dont live in the basement however I do agree Arrow know how do it. JC just too Bitter n Twisted in his DNR AI world to understand or even to just .....listen 🎶 👂
@@midlevelmedia Dollars were done by Kino Lorber and 4Kult (in Europe) and those indeed look nice. Unforgiven I haven’t uograded to 4K as I find that not such a good film as the older Westerns.
Oh, man do I agree. The 4K transfer brings out the bright sunshine, sinister caverns and dark, violent Bioraptors of M6-117, and the decision to make it a double feature that comes with The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury couldn't have been better. Can't wait to finally get the Arrow for The Chronicles of Riddick weeks after this writing.
@@midlevelmedia that's a bummer because I haven't seen the other films in the collection so I don't really want to pull the trigger on a blind buy that expensive.
Deadly Games and Death Screams are real endurance challenge. It's a shame given Arrow's pedigree in slashers. Mutilator, Slayer, Phantom of the Mall, Burning, Madman are all great.
Ken, not really got a lot of Arrow but some, but Favvourite would be A Fish Called Wanda/with the booklet, may of been UKonly not sure, soon as i heard this was out there and Limited i hunted it down, arrived earlier in 2024 in pristine condition. Hey some of those titles at the beginning were bad, maybe do some research b4 you buy, now they are taking up space!!!
An insight into your television settings would help to provide a baseline for what you're seeing in these disc reviews. Weird Science too grainy? Is your set at all calibrated? If no, what picture mode do you use? What are your sharpness settings? Are all artificial enhancements turned off? If you're watching this ish on vivid, for instance, we'd know to take your reviews with a considerable grain of salt.
@@mv28 I watch on Filmmaker mode and 99% of my 4Ks look either great or amazing on it. I don’t change my sharpness Or vividness as I know that would alter what was on the actual disc. I also don’t think I should have to change the settings everytime I watch a new 4K. That’s where I differ with the A/V crowd. I watch every 4K the exact same way. Take my thoughts with a grain of salt all ya want. At the end of the day, I’m an average guy giving reviews for the average 4K watcher.
@midlevelmedia You're 100% right, anyone who says you need to change your settings for different films doesn't know what they're talking about. That's the whole point of calibration. And filmmaker mode should automatically shut off all artificial enhancements, including over-sharpening, so I've no qualms with that.
Arrow release a lot of crap but with good extras. I find without the extras, a lot of their stuff is rather redundant. It's the extras that give these bad movies an interesting context after watching them
The Bruce Lee 4k set is Arrow's masterpiece. It doesn't get much love as the films have all had multiple releases. But, as someone who'd never really been into Lee's films, it as a real eye opener. On the downside, nearly all Arrow's festival/indy pick ups are god awful. And Deadly Games / Lovers Lane. Lovers Lane is an abomination. I do have a soft spot for Death Screams. The last 15 mins of that film rocks. The only problem is you have to watch 70 mons of people on slides at a funfair to get to it.
@@MarlonBrando-gx9bx Because in addition to being a collector, I’m also a content creator that uses these releases in reference for my videos. Had I of given this away when I first discovered I didn’t like it 3 years ago, you wouldn’t have this video right here. Good or not good. I like to catalog the releases both for myself as an archivist of film and for future potential discussion and content.
@@midlevelmedia Pretty sure you could have easily pulled up photos of the release for the whopping 1 - 2 minutes you trashed it and this video still could have existed, but alright. You talk about preorders at length all the time with only a photo, and you constantly reference other releases without getting up to pull it from the shelf or even showing photos, so why couldn't this video exist without you keeping a Blu-ray you hate? Obviously ownership of movies is more important to you than liking the movies and having a curated collection, simple as that. Also the group of Blu-ray collectors that like to pretend they're film archivists are a pretty hilarious bunch that blatantly ignore what film archiving actually entails. It's just a title they've stolen to feel better about owning crappy movies and stuff they don't need. I'd wager most of them have never handled a rare piece of film and would have no idea what they were supposed to do if they came into possession of rare film. Actual film archivists have the right tools, knowledge, and skills to preserve film, and the group I'm referring to has none of those things. Buying modern mass produced Blu-ray releases of digitally encoded files does not make you a film archivist, it makes you someone who buys mass produced Blu-ray releases of digitally encoded files 😂 The difference is miles apart! Anyway, thanks for the response and open discussion. I enjoy a lot of your content, so I hope you don't take offense that my opinion about collecting movies one considers awful differs greatly from yours. I've seen you get angry towards people who've said you collect a bunch of crap movies, yet you openly admitted you keep them regardless of quality or being able to enjoy them. It seems very strange to get upset over that common and truthful observation. Just own it rather than becoming defensive. Tell them the same thing you told me; you need to own movies you don't like in case you ever feel like trashing them in a video and because you're a film archivist 😂. It may not be a very good, smart, or entirely honest answer, but I understand for a collector of your caliber anything is better than admitting to the dreaded H word! 😅 At the end of the day we all do and view things differently, so carry on.
@@MarlonBrando-gx9bx Everybody collects differently and values different things about their collection. None of it’s wrong. Remember that. And if I’m talking about a physical release, I’ll show pictures if I have to, but prefer to have it in hand as I can showcase it much better.
Did not like Weird Science 4k - I know people like lots of film grain for some strange reason but I do not. I was probably one of the grainiest 4ks out there and to me, it's just too much. Tired of people telling me it looks fantastic, because it really doesn't. I don't know why anyone would think it looks great... I don't mind low to moderate levels of grain because most of the time it's still the best a movie has ever looked, but excessive grain sucks, it's distracting, annoying and makes the film look dirty, like lots of digital dirt and artefacting
I believe Conan The Barbarian deserves the first place on any top five 4K Arrow releases countdown. It’s simply astonishing the work and quality of this restoration in audio and video. Definitely the best work Arrow has presented for a 4K release yet in my opinion.
Ditto
Agree 💯!
Yeah some of the scene like with the witch are insanely improved
Weird Science is full of optically printed effects done on a limited budget. The higher the resolution the worse those effects are going to look. It's just the nature of the process used at that budget.
Weird Science looks amazing to me! It's brighter, more colorful, and shadow detail is clear. Fidelity in motion authoring house tried to squeeze as much as grain and chroma noise as they could onto a UHD100 and it's impressive. It looks very raw and unfiltered and I love that aesthetic.
Oh Ken...you broke my heart on that Weird Science 4k...😂
I loved weird science 4K! Barbarella is an all time favorite of mine. Amazing package
What weird science is the best movie on 4k arrow video
@@phillee8262 I mean I love the movie, but the 4K isn’t the best by a mile.
I'm amazed at how good Robocop and the Conan movies look. I don't regret buying Weird Science on 4K. It's fine, but it's not going to be anyone's 4K demo disc.
Thank god they never bought the rights to Showgirls, heap of manure.
The Weird Science is a weird choice. I think it looks stunning. The film itself is somewhat of a mess. But okay, agree to disagree. I think The Last Starfighter is one of the best looking 4Ks. Maybe my expectations were low, maybe I got lost in the nostalgia, but I was blown away by this 4K
Last Starfighter is an amazing 4K I agree.
Loved this video. Please do a top whatever of Arrow Video 2023!
My top 5 favorites of Arrow Video are
1. RoboCop 4k phenomenal release
2. Empire of Screams Robot Jox is a childhood favorite
3. Ringu 4k classic
4. Dark Water 4k amazing storytelling and tension
5. Waterworld 4k excellent transfer, good not really but the concept is cool and Dennis Hopper is so much fun to watch. I need to get the Warriors 4k.
I did really like the Water World 4k
You saved me on that Weird Science 4k edition. I actually had it on pre-order and canceled it after watching your revue of it (still have the blu edition). The only other one I have that you mentioned is The Warriors.
I made the mistake of buying Lovers Lane and was shocked that Arrow would pick such a generic low budget piece of crap to release. Anna Ferris was so stinking adorable though.
Anna FAris
Watched the warriors for the first time last week, great movie! I just have a regular bluray release, and that one looks good. I am interested in upgrading for my next view.
Arrow IMO are the best boutique label hands down. Every release has loads of special features, immaculate transfers, awesome artwork etc. I don't think any other label (although many are extremely good) have been as consistent. Every time I hear Arrow is doing a movie I want I an relax knowing it will be amazing.
Arrow confirmed Enter the Video Store vol.2 but it won't be Empire. Maybe Cannon? And you're right, The Warriors is one of Arrow's best releases ever!
I think it comes down to this: while there are still some gems in horror that haven't gotten a BD release here and there, for the most part, the cult classics of the genre are pretty well represented in terms of physical releases. So we're in a period where BD releases are 20% good, and 80% bottom of the barrel type stuff.
Bummer about Weird Science. I do have that original 4K-mastered blu-ray and it looks amazing. A massive upgrade from the original. Wonder what happened.
When is the next arrow video sale
Ken have you checked out the Ranown Westerns set all in 4K not from Arrow but from Criterion.
Haven’t jumped on that one yet, but I definitely plan to.
@midlevelmedia the restorations which were by Sony are stunning.
Be aware that the current release of Django doesn’t have the second film Texas Adios. It was originally only part of the first special edition
Brain damage is a great film! Glad you discovered it.
@@jeffro9252 Ohhh yeah! Loved it and I’m a massive Henenlotter fan now.
There’s a charm and natural atmosphere to slashers like Death Screams and Deadly Games that is completely missing from some of the big budget junk they seem to be favoring of late. I kinda miss the old Arrow that would take a chance on something less well known.
I agree with films like Hell High or Girls Night Out, but those two just didn’t work for me.
Hope u get around to reviewing their upcoming release of Robert Rodriguez’s Mexico trilogy.. I just saw it on Amazon n added it to my cart but it’s jumped up in price since and now I’m on the fence on it xD
Just finished all 3 movies over the weekend. Review coming this week.
Ugh true romance
Such a great film …
I would definitely have to put Bruce Lee at Golden Harvest toward the top of my list. Inside the Mind of Coffin Joe is also somewhere in there.
I was thinking about upgrading Weird Science from my blu ray. Thanks for the heads up.
Im big on the True Romance release. But im biased and my heyday was the 90s. I was so happy to buy multiple versions of that with different artwork. I thought the picture and sound was better than its ever been. I may just pop that in tonight. Cheers folks
Their blu of Dead End Drive-In was so nice I wasn’t even tempted by Umbella’s 4K release.
I only bought 4 Arrow releases in 2023 😅. The Warriors, Mallrats, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and Boyhood. Although I am still tempted to get Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams. I mostly collect films I aleady like so a bunch of them I haven’t even seen.
Deadly games just makes me think of WWF Survivor Series 98 where Shane O Mac screws Stone Cold and Rock wins the world title for the 1st time lmao
@@LAvsMVP Classic
The new Desperado 4K is one of their best this year. I got the Steelbook.
Agreed! fantastic transfer, one of my personal favorites.
I love the Lighthouse film, I don't have the Arrow 4K, just the A24 bluray, but I may buy it now! It is really awesome!
@@sethm.woodiwiss786 I highly recommend it.
I think Flash Gordon is their best job.
Still need to watch that.
Unfortunately, I didn't know about the box set of The Lighthouse and got the standard 4K Arrow release (so no book or poster) but the movie and Arrow's presentation blew me away
I think it’s one of their best for sure. Glad you got it!
Couldn't agree with you more about the Warriors that's a definitive release. Definitely one of their best and they have a pretty high standard in general
My nitpick with arrow 4k they don't also have a Blu Ray I wish and other studios did combo packs
James Cameron is gonna hate this one!
His anger to the basement dweller Community 😮 ... i dont live in the basement however I do agree Arrow know how do it. JC just too Bitter n Twisted in his DNR AI world to understand or even to just .....listen 🎶 👂
Based on your review for Weird Science I grabbed the blu-ray copy instead of the 4K which sucks as one of my fav 80’s comedies.
I literally returned my Weird Science Blu-ray strelbook to buy the 4k lmao
I’m starting to think second sight may be the best label now.
@MidLevelMedia “Westerns generally look great on 4K”…….seen Once Upon a Time in the West?!😩🥴 The Ultimate Western and Paramount (again!) f@cked it up!
Well check out Unforgiven and the Dollars films.
@@midlevelmedia Dollars were done by Kino Lorber and 4Kult (in Europe) and those indeed look nice. Unforgiven I haven’t uograded to 4K as I find that not such a good film as the older Westerns.
Any Arrow or Vinegar Syndrome flicks that have less than 1,000 imdb ratings is usually crap. The cover art is nice tho.
I loved Pitch Black on 4k.
Ditto
Oh, man do I agree. The 4K transfer brings out the bright sunshine, sinister caverns and dark, violent Bioraptors of M6-117, and the decision to make it a double feature that comes with The Chronicles of Riddick: Dark Fury couldn't have been better. Can't wait to finally get the Arrow for The Chronicles of Riddick weeks after this writing.
Arrow is soooooooo good, love their packaging
Can you contact warners about doing a 4k with ATMOS of “towering inferno”?! Please. It’s 50 year anniversary.
Man!!! I still have yet to pop in my Django 4k!!! Ok maybe i watch that tonight!!!
I am DYING for them to sell Dolls separately. I'm so bummed the Scream Factory edition is sold out.
I don’t see it happening, but maybe
@@midlevelmedia that's a bummer because I haven't seen the other films in the collection so I don't really want to pull the trigger on a blind buy that expensive.
Ken you should sell Wierd Science on 4k
I was hoping for a best and worst technical episode - you know, quality of encode, extras etc.
Deadly Games and Death Screams are real endurance challenge. It's a shame given Arrow's pedigree in slashers. Mutilator, Slayer, Phantom of the Mall, Burning, Madman are all great.
My favorites Arrow video releases that I own are Psycho Box set and Tremors (Imported from UK)
Ken, not really got a lot of Arrow but some, but Favvourite would be A Fish Called Wanda/with the booklet, may of been UKonly not sure, soon as i heard this was out there and Limited i hunted it down, arrived earlier in 2024 in pristine condition.
Hey some of those titles at the beginning were bad, maybe do some research b4 you buy, now they are taking up space!!!
LOL I have death screams,deadly games and lovers lane as well. I'm a sucker for slashers but these weren't so great.
Arrows best ever release the Mario Bava box-set
An insight into your television settings would help to provide a baseline for what you're seeing in these disc reviews. Weird Science too grainy? Is your set at all calibrated? If no, what picture mode do you use? What are your sharpness settings? Are all artificial enhancements turned off? If you're watching this ish on vivid, for instance, we'd know to take your reviews with a considerable grain of salt.
@@mv28 I watch on Filmmaker mode and 99% of my 4Ks look either great or amazing on it. I don’t change my sharpness Or vividness as I know that would alter what was on the actual disc. I also don’t think I should have to change the settings everytime I watch a new 4K. That’s where I differ with the A/V crowd. I watch every 4K the exact same way. Take my thoughts with a grain of salt all ya want. At the end of the day, I’m an average guy giving reviews for the average 4K watcher.
@midlevelmedia You're 100% right, anyone who says you need to change your settings for different films doesn't know what they're talking about. That's the whole point of calibration. And filmmaker mode should automatically shut off all artificial enhancements, including over-sharpening, so I've no qualms with that.
Aroow WARRIORS is great- but the OG art box is better. Do not like that cartoony green one
Arrow release a lot of crap but with good extras. I find without the extras, a lot of their stuff is rather redundant. It's the extras that give these bad movies an interesting context after watching them
Conan was their best release in years
Just started the video and if Barbarella isn't in your Top 5 I'm unsubscribing... Maybe.... I can't quit you.
I was trying to not make it all Arrow 2023. lol.. I love that release though.
The Bruce Lee 4k set is Arrow's masterpiece. It doesn't get much love as the films have all had multiple releases. But, as someone who'd never really been into Lee's films, it as a real eye opener.
On the downside, nearly all Arrow's festival/indy pick ups are god awful. And Deadly Games / Lovers Lane. Lovers Lane is an abomination.
I do have a soft spot for Death Screams. The last 15 mins of that film rocks. The only problem is you have to watch 70 mons of people on slides at a funfair to get to it.
@@bestofboastworlds1883 I honestly regret not getting the Bruce set. Looked fantastic.
Are you saying there’s going to be a 4k of brain damage ken??!
Wouldn’t surprise me.
I must not have the keen eye of others. Thought Weird Science looked pretty good, not as good as Conan the Barbarian that looked fantastic.
Part 2!!!!
Yo, can I buy that Death Screams slipcover off you tho...? :-)
I’m sorry, but it is staying in my collection.
@midlevelmedia genuinely curious why you would trash a movie so hard, put it in your worst list, but still refuse to purge it from your collection 🤔
@@MarlonBrando-gx9bx Because in addition to being a collector, I’m also a content creator that uses these releases in reference for my videos. Had I of given this away when I first discovered I didn’t like it 3 years ago, you wouldn’t have this video right here. Good or not good. I like to catalog the releases both for myself as an archivist of film and for future potential discussion and content.
@@midlevelmedia Pretty sure you could have easily pulled up photos of the release for the whopping 1 - 2 minutes you trashed it and this video still could have existed, but alright. You talk about preorders at length all the time with only a photo, and you constantly reference other releases without getting up to pull it from the shelf or even showing photos, so why couldn't this video exist without you keeping a Blu-ray you hate? Obviously ownership of movies is more important to you than liking the movies and having a curated collection, simple as that. Also the group of Blu-ray collectors that like to pretend they're film archivists are a pretty hilarious bunch that blatantly ignore what film archiving actually entails. It's just a title they've stolen to feel better about owning crappy movies and stuff they don't need. I'd wager most of them have never handled a rare piece of film and would have no idea what they were supposed to do if they came into possession of rare film. Actual film archivists have the right tools, knowledge, and skills to preserve film, and the group I'm referring to has none of those things. Buying modern mass produced Blu-ray releases of digitally encoded files does not make you a film archivist, it makes you someone who buys mass produced Blu-ray releases of digitally encoded files 😂 The difference is miles apart!
Anyway, thanks for the response and open discussion. I enjoy a lot of your content, so I hope you don't take offense that my opinion about collecting movies one considers awful differs greatly from yours. I've seen you get angry towards people who've said you collect a bunch of crap movies, yet you openly admitted you keep them regardless of quality or being able to enjoy them. It seems very strange to get upset over that common and truthful observation. Just own it rather than becoming defensive. Tell them the same thing you told me; you need to own movies you don't like in case you ever feel like trashing them in a video and because you're a film archivist 😂. It may not be a very good, smart, or entirely honest answer, but I understand for a collector of your caliber anything is better than admitting to the dreaded H word! 😅
At the end of the day we all do and view things differently, so carry on.
@@MarlonBrando-gx9bx Everybody collects differently and values different things about their collection. None of it’s wrong. Remember that. And if I’m talking about a physical release, I’ll show pictures if I have to, but prefer to have it in hand as I can showcase it much better.
Weird Science Blu Ray is great. I never upgraded to 4k…so many people were disappointed on the Weird Science 4k release
Agreed about weird science average release. We all miss you from yesterday also 😉
Dude keeps using “low budget,” as a pejorative and collects boutique. 😑
You liked the lighthouse but not weird science? That’s why I don’t follow you 😂
Don’t comment either.
Everyone take a shot when Ken says "like".
PS. I'm now dead....
Did not like Weird Science 4k - I know people like lots of film grain for some strange reason but I do not. I was probably one of the grainiest 4ks out there and to me, it's just too much.
Tired of people telling me it looks fantastic, because it really doesn't. I don't know why anyone would think it looks great... I don't mind low to moderate levels of grain because most of the time it's still the best a movie has ever looked, but excessive grain sucks, it's distracting, annoying and makes the film look dirty, like lots of digital dirt and artefacting
I'm just not a fan of Arrow due to their boring artwork and lack of titles. *Looks around and hides*
Man i hated Death Screams and Girls Night Out. I blind-bought them both and regret it.
I'm with you on Weird Science. Have the blu ray and decided not to upgrade to the 4K.