Imprint

[andyli]

I guess this is as a good opportunity as any to say this: I've stopped treating Imprint as an honest label (and giving them money) after being repeatedly burnt by their false advertisement of 4K/2K scams. Their The Straight Story release was clearly not from a 4K scan either, or any new scans. And there are other instances. They even called Leap, a 2020 digital film with a regular 2K DI, from a 4K scan. Scan of what? I also don't trust the masters used in the Gong Li/Zhang Yimou set (and The Browning Version) are so-called 2k restorations. A total mess of a label.

EDIT: I only give them credits for the Paramount 4K scans, because those are supplied by a major studio, and have equivalent releases from other territories as corroboration.

[nicolas]

Imprint put out a release in June

thanks. I know this is difficult to judge with a 1080 youtube trailer of the Imprint release but it just looks like in terms of color grading and details and grain the rip of the blu-ray I have just grabbed.
Perhaps both BR German and this AU release are from the same HD master ? the artwork of the keepcase is the same.

but they announce a : 1080p High-definition presentation on Blu-ray from a 4K scan
and I'm interested in the Deleted scenes and B-roll footage even though this could be SD resolution.

Imprint's release is a clear, unmitigated disaster.

The German release by Capelight appears to be from a better quality scan and the final master shows substantial differences. Most importantly, the weird noise that occurs throughout the Imprint release is replaced by something that looks like actual grain in the Capelight master. Framing and grading are subtly different, too.

Some screenshots to compare (grabbed them quickly just now, so not frame-exact - best to open in separate tabs to switch directly):
Imprint: https://i.imgur.com/FYajl4Q.png
Capelight: https://i.imgur.com/SFvObbB.png

Imprint: https://i.imgur.com/1dw8bF1.png
Capelight: https://i.imgur.com/nRzpisc.png

Imprint: https://i.imgur.com/yN6xNet.png
Capelight: https://i.imgur.com/zDNa7Lf.png

Imprint: https://i.imgur.com/tU37C1U.png
Capelight: https://i.imgur.com/lhv2bDV.png

If you buy any release, get the German one. Stay far away from the Imprint release.

Thank you for that fantastic breakdown. At last, we’ll have a decent master to enjoy this film. I tried it a few months ago (obviously having to use that horrid old master) on Apple TV and it was disastrous. I couldn’t finish it. I guess that Capelight edition will remain the definitive release for now.

[a.e]

Usually, when Capelight exclusively uses HDR 10+, it is their own pass. If they have Dolby Vision or just HDR 10, it’s something officially licensed and supplied with the master they got.
If they do their own pass, it’s speculative as to how it turns out.
So generally, I’d wait for reviews or go straight to the Kino releases. This is speaking specifically about their releases of films shot on film. Digital productions look solid to excellent.

Thank you, nicolas, for these insights. Luckily I've only bought solid Capelight releases so far. The Bilitis UHD is indeed notoriously bad. Are KL releases really always better than Capelight's?

[cdnchris]

I guess this is as a good opportunity as any to say this: I've stopped treating Imprint as an honest label (and giving them money) after being repeatedly burnt by their false advertisement of 4K/2K scams. Their The Straight Story release was clearly not from a 4K scan either, or any new scans. And there are other instances. They even called Leap, a 2020 digital film with a regular 2K DI, from a 4K scan. Scan of what? I also don't trust the masters used in the Gong Li/Zhang Yimou set (and The Browning Version) are so-called 2k restorations. A total mess of a label.

EDIT: I only give them credits for the Paramount 4K scans, because those are supplied by a major studio, and have equivalent releases from other territories as corroboration.

Yeah, I'm basically done with them. I will probably only pick up titles if I can get them cheap (Wal-Mart had Alfie for $6 and was able to get the The Odd Couple set cheaper, so why not!?) Their presentations are not good and as you said their specs are questionable. There is no way The Straight Story is a 4K scan unless it was severely manipulated after the fact. Most of their presentations look like DVD-era scans (in fairness, I don't have any Paramount titles sourced from newer restorations). I'm happy I have the Gong Li set but they do not look good. I ended up buying the bundle that included The Straight Story just to give them a shot and every title was a disappointment. It included Double Jeopardy, which my wife loves(!), and it is one of the worst-looking Blu-rays in my collection. The Netflix stream looked far better. They have titles that I'm interested in that I can't get anywhere else that I keep looking at (City of God, Hard Eight, Malena ) but I can't justify it.

[nicolas]

Usually, when Capelight exclusively uses HDR 10+, it is their own pass. If they have Dolby Vision or just HDR 10, it’s something officially licensed and supplied with the master they got.
If they do their own pass, it’s speculative as to how it turns out.
So generally, I’d wait for reviews or go straight to the Kino releases. This is speaking specifically about their releases of films shot on film. Digital productions look solid to excellent.

Thank you, nicolas, for these insights. Luckily I've only bought solid Capelight releases so far. The Bilitis UHD is indeed notoriously bad. Are KL releases really always better than Capelight's?

“Always better” is difficult to say because Kino’s releases come with their own problems as well, although to their defense, they’ve improved quite significantly. The biggest problem is without a doubt the audio quality on the Kino discs. There are more botched tracks on their UHDs than good ones as of lately.

Even though that grows more annoying every time it happens, I’d still buy every Kino release in a heartbeat compared to anything by Capelight. I only bought their Misfits UHD because Amazon sold it for 15€ at one point, which clearly was a mistake as the set now costs a staggering 35€ for a vanilla disc.

Don’t get me wrong, not every Capelight release is a disaster but apart from All Quiet on the Western front (2022), it’s been a while since I’ve been truly happy with one of their editions. They’ve carved out a pretty significant space in the German boutique market for themselves in the BD era because of their Mediabooks and especially the comparatively low price point they’ve offered them at compared to other labels. They’d usually sell theirs at 20€ or even below when Mediabooks from competitors usually wouldn’t even start below 30€.

With UHD, they’ve initially started along these lines too and had fairly priced UHDs in the mid-20€ range (which is what you’d pay for Kino releases in the US) but as more and more people bought these, they understood that they can be greedy and also sell people “4K” stuff that clearly isn’t 4K. They likely count on all the collectors who buy their editions for the mediabook packaging in the first place (there are many hardcore mediabook collectors in the German-speaking areas) and because there are shiny “HDR - brilliant colors, amazing contrast…” ads on their J-cards. Seeing releases like Bilitis happening and selling favorably shows me that their strategy unfortunately works.

It does work because there’s too little backlash against their occasional business tactics, especially in Germany. German forum equivalents like this one or BR.com are obsessed with packaging and limited special editions but way too rarely scrutinize the actual disc content. Many reviews praise DNR-affected UHDs for “clarity” and less “obtrusive” film grain.

It’s all this that makes me as a German not too happy buying from these companies. Plaion is a truly notable outlier in every possible way. So, long story short, I’ll take Kino’s equivalents over Capelight any day when they’re more or less equal. Even if the HDR 10+ mastering in their new discs actually yields something significantly “better” (which I don’t believe), I wouldn’t buy them again. Harry & Sally hopefully is in the works from Shout simultaneously.

[mhofmann]

Thank you for that fantastic breakdown. At last, we’ll have a decent master to enjoy this film. I tried it a few months ago (obviously having to use that horrid old master) on Apple TV and it was disastrous. I couldn’t finish it. I guess that Capelight edition will remain the definitive release for now.

Yep, indeed. I pointed out the Imprint issues on the BR.com forum and immediately got someone argue with me that I didn't know what '4K scan' means. D'oh. Glad that sanity prevails here.

[MichaelB]

Well, a 4K scan of a crap print will by definition look crap as well, which I think is the rather gormless point that he was making - but it's completely irrelevant in this context as it's clearly not reasonable to expect a 4K scan of a film less than two decades old (and whose elements have presumably been preserved correctly) to look anything other than state of the art.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Thanks a lot mhofmann; actually the BR German was in the basket ready for order at amazon.de; then I was fooled by the "4K scan" "new, exclusive on blu-ray" from Inprint announcement. Since there is also an audio commentary of Paweł Pawlikowski on this release, I thought that it was a kind of "Criterion approved" quality release (but they probably grabbed this commentary from the DVD release ?)

So perhaps the German Blu-Ray is more accurate (so far I have seen a rip (certainly from this blu-ray and a WEB 1080 release); so this was shot on DV ? so probably some close-ups have some deliberate fine grain, whilst other shots are different; but it's hard to tell.

In the meantime, I have rewatched yesterday "Cold War" which is superb, especially the jazz sequences with the camera rotating traveling. I remember a 2160 stream/WEB release was around; do Criterion plan to upgrade it to UHD ?

[mhofmann]

so this was shot on DV ?

According to IMDb, it was shot on 16mm film, more specifically Super 16.

[a.e]

So, long story short, I’ll take Kino’s equivalents over Capelight any day when they’re more or less equal.

Thank you once again for this valuable info. I have only started collecting this year, and was not aware of Capelight's "breaking bad"-journey. I got into collecting because I finally felt that the quality we've reached is one I would not feel the urge to upgrade from (may anything like "8K media" be reality someday - highly doubt that), so picture quality is especially important for me. I also learned to love the additional features of mediabooks or the premium feel of steelbooks. Sometimes I'd combine releases (e.g. getting Leonine's Drive 4K mediabook and the Second Sight UHD). I also got that Misfits UHD for 15 € on amazon btw.
I'll be comparing releases even more in future. Until now I'd only get US releases when there is no adequate EU equivalent (like that Starship Troopers steelbook).
Since you're experienced with importing US releases, is there a better place than amazon for German buyers?

[M Sanderson]

Anyone got hold of their Hill? box as I was sceptical about all of the new scans.

Been enjoying the Furie box, with solid transfers so far (The Lawyer, Little Fauss & Big Halsy & Hit!). Fauss looking the best. Certainly enjoyed the use of depth in The Lawyer - few directors partition space like Furie and he makes an asset of settings such as courtrooms and the police desk/jail to create a dynamic stage of tension and conflict. Even if the transfers aren't knockouts, I can appreciate Furie's visuals (not actually seen a GREAT blu ray of a Furie film yet, apart from The Leather Boys).

[Finch]

With all the not unexpected reports of lousy PQ on supposed 2k and 4k transfers and the generally high costs of Imprint discs, I'm going to wait and see if Lionsgate releases Bug themselves in the US or gives it to Arrow or another boutique label. Scarface 32 and The Winslow Boy were the only Imprint titles I've gone for so far, and only then at heavily discounted rates.

[swo17]

November releases:

ESSENTIAL FILM NOIR 5: Island of Doomed Men (1940), The Red Menace (1949), The Burglar (1957), 13 West Street (1962)
TALES OF ADVENTURE 2: Angel on the Amazon (1948), Daughter of the Jungle (1949), Fair Wind to Java (1953), Elephant Walk (1954), Safari (1956)
ASSIGNMENT K (1968)
DEAD HEAT ON A MERRY-GO-ROUND (1966)
DIAMOND HEAD (1963)
THE MAN IN HALF MOON STREET (1945)

[mteller]

Hey, my review of The Burglar got quoted in the press release!

[PfR73]

Anyone got hold of their Hill? box as I was sceptical about all of the new scans.

Arrived this week and am going through it. Johnny Handsome is missing 15 seconds near the end of the film. After Morgan Freeman says "Doctor didn't understand this part, did he?" there should be a shot of Elizabeth McGovern, then another shot of Morgan Freeman, and then a shot of Mickey Rourke that dissolves to the end credits. The Imprint disc cuts right from Morgan Freeman's line to Mickey Rourke and the credits. The US Blu-ray has this footage, which looks like it comes from a lower-quality source.
Other than that Johnny Handsome looks pretty much like the US disc, although maybe a little sharper. It's definitely not a brand new scan though.

EDIT: While making a comparison video, I noticed that the shot of Morgan Freeman that is included on both discs is different on both discs. The rest of the movie is near identical on both discs, but that shot has very different colors and contrast.

[Aunt Peg]

Hints for Imprint December releases from Facebook:

We’re rounding out 2023 with fifteen films across five releases in December. ��
A jam-packed FILM FOCUS set for one of the greatest actors of the 20th century, our next DIRECTED BY box loaded with 60’s and 70’s gems, a whirlwind biopic, an Oscar nominated 70’s drama on Blu-ray for the first time worldwide, and a star-studded look at tradition and legacy.

Me thinks the Oscar nominated 70's drama will be Bang the Drum Slowly (Paramount film, never released on Blu Ray anywhere and one Oscar nomination - supporting actor);

My hope for a whirlwind bio-pic is The Music Lovers.

[M Sanderson]

Anyone got hold of their Hill? box as I was sceptical about all of the new scans.

Arrived this week and am going through it. Johnny Handsome is missing 15 seconds near the end of the film. After Morgan Freeman says "Doctor didn't understand this part, did he?" there should be a shot of Elizabeth McGovern, then another shot of Morgan Freeman, and then a shot of Mickey Rourke that dissolves to the end credits. The Imprint disc cuts right from Morgan Freeman's line to Mickey Rourke and the credits. The US Blu-ray has this footage, which looks like it comes from a lower-quality source.
Other than that Johnny Handsome looks pretty much like the US disc, although maybe a little sharper. It's definitely not a brand new scan though.

EDIT: While making a comparison video, I noticed that the shot of Morgan Freeman that is included on both discs is different on both discs. The rest of the movie is near identical on both discs, but that shot has very different colors and contrast.

thanks for confirming. I have most of the others in the set already, and an amazing new scan of Johnny Handsome would've been a temptation. But with the additional cost of The Driver in 4k etc, and my scepticism about Imprint's fresh scans, led me to settle for the old Koch Media blu ray. A very basic, off the shelf master which seems to be the same as the Imprint, despite how it's advertised.

Strangely, not seen any reviews online for the Hill set.

I'll check my Johnny Handsome blu ray to see if the German release is missing the footage.

[dwk]

December's two boxsets:
FILM FOCUS: MARLON BRANDO - VOLUME ONE
Sayonara (1957),
The Fugitive Kind (1960)
One-Eyed Jacks (1961)
The Ugly American (1963)
Bedtime Story (1964)
A Countess From Hong Kong (1967).

DIRECTED BY… SIDNEY LUMET – VOLUME ONE
The Pawnbroker (1964),
The Group (1966),
The Deadly Affair (1967)
Child's Play (1972),
The Offence (1973)
Serpico (1973)

And December's three solo titles:
LENNY (1974)
ISLANDS IN THE STREAM (1977)
KING OF THE GYPSIES (1978)

[fdm]

Interesting fun fact(?) from a post at blu-ray.com: apparently Imprint has moved their manufacturing to Mexico (you know, where all those scratched discs come from). Can anyone confirm (and know when that might have started)?

[TBickle020776]

I never picked up Lenny when Twilight distributed it. So, I’m glad Imprint picked it up because I really enjoyed their work on The Straight Story.

I asked editor Alan Heim on social media last year if he knew when Lenny was being released again on any physical media format and he did not know. So, I’m happy to see there is a new interview with him included in the supplement material because I enjoyed his interview and commentary on Criterion’s All That Jazz.

Also, it will be interesting to see if the Sidney Lumet Vol. 2 will include classics such as 12 Angry Men, Dog Day Afternoon (rumored to becoming out on Criterion), and a much needed upgrade for Network. One can hope for a 4K release in the near future.

[black&huge]

Any word on their Cross of Iron 4k pq wise? If the same as the studio canal?

[ChunkyLover]

Like Kino Lorber before, Imprint's "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" release is reported to be from the older, pre-Arrow, master.

[M Sanderson]

anyone know if their Blu ray of Friedkin's Bug looks any good? or is it the same as the old German blu ray which has been criticised.

[domino harvey]

Imprint broke Beware My Lovely out of the Noir box into an individual release (as a double feature w/Jennifer)

[swo17]

Via Vision Entertainment is excited to announce its newest media distribution expansion with the launch of Imprint Asia.

Imprint Asia will deliver ongoing releases of contemporary & classic Asian cinema across film festival, multi digital platforms, and physical media including 4K & Blu-ray for Australia and New Zealand.

Already working with some of the biggest Asian licencing partners in the market, the new brand will be launching with a host of key properties including Rui Cui’s 2023 box office megahit ‘Lost In The Stars’, Larry Yang’s 2023 action comedy ‘Ride On’ starring Jackie Chan and the 2023 Sci-Fi epic ‘The Wandering Earth II‘ starring Andy Lau.

In addition to the new release slate there will be ongoing classic releases with new restorations and extras produced for physical media collectors including Chen Kaige’s ‘The Emperor and The Assassin’ (1998) & ‘Farewell My Concubine’ (1992), Tsui Hark’s ‘The Legend of Zu’ (2001), Kei Kumai's ‘The Sea is Watching’ (2002) (co-written by Akira Kurosawa), and many more.

This latest branded arm of Via Vision will no doubt capture the hearts and minds of Asian cinema lovers across all genres.

Operating for over 15 years, Via Vision Entertainment is one of the largest independent distributors of film & TV content in Australia and New Zealand.

Stay tuned for pre-orders and further release information!