Why Older Movies Look Better in 4K UHD (2023 Update)

4K UHD is a newer technology, so why would you want to watch older movies with new tech? Well there’s a quite a few reasons why, so let’s break down why these older movies look awesome in 4K UHD, and why you should be buying more of these classic films on 4K Blu-ray for your collection.

Want some recommendations? Here are some great 4K movies of classic films.

Follow me on social media!

My Home Theater:

Sign-up For A FREE Amazon Prime Trial:

**As stated in the video, I will earn a small commission from any purchases made through my affiliate links.**

#Bluray
#4K
#film

[JeffRauseo]

Want some recommendations? Here are some great 4K movies of classic films.

[OMFGitsWALLY]

out of my small collection. Alien (1979) on 4k is the one that absolutely blows my mind of how good it looks. It looks better than the other 4ks I own today that was shot modernly.

[Eva-jyqupur]

Old movies on 4K really are the true demonstrations of how good 4K is in general. Buying a 4K digital movie won't give you the same experience because the differences just aren't present enough.

[kthx]

Resolution aside, film's exposure lattitude is incredible. HDR finally captures this lattitude.

[jonkeller]

You are so right. I’m way more excited to see older films on 4K then the current crop. Movies like Jaws, the Thing, the Shining, Lost boys, Blade Runner just made me so happy. Finally getting to show my kids why these are classics. Presentation matters.

[herooftheday]

I just watched Apocalypse Now for the first time ever last week on 4K. Outside of it being a great movie, I was blown away with how it looked. Absolutely stunning.

[RinkelJeroen]

Just imagine how these directors would feel about shooting a movie in 4K or 8K resolution on film back in the day, only for the end product to be distributed on VHS tape. Back in the day you really had to watch a movie in a theatre for the best experience, but now we can enjoy this at home as well. Home technology has finally caught up!

[jacobneumann]

My greatest 4k restoration experience has to be 'An American Werewolf In London' from the 80's. I'd never watched it (I'm more of an Evil Dead guy) my wife bought the Arrow release for me (she's a massive fan of the film) and damn watching it for the 1st time was an amazing experience. The story, tone, characters, soundtrack and the high res image was just something else. Amazing!

[SamLovesMovies]

For me, some of the most INCREDIBLE-looking 4K discs I have ever seen include Blade Runner 4K, 2001: A Space Odyssey 4K, and Apocalypse Now 4K. I would VERY highly recommend those as being among some of the best-looking 4K discs on the market.

[bangslamwham]

This is why film can't die. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, beats the look of film.

[FriendlyNeighborhoodSatanist]

Getting older movies in 4K is hands down the best thing about the format. Seeing these old films with so much more detail and color is astounding. Getting The Shining on 4K blew me away when I first saw it and still does today. I recently got Dragonheart on 4K. It's one of my childhood favorites and it looks gorgeous! I love hearing when my favorites are finally coming out on 4K. Right now I'm super hyped for the release of 12 Angry Men in a few weeks. It's one of my favorite dramas since I was in drama class. I can't wait to see how good it looks. Black and white films are very underrated when it comes to the 4K format as well. The detail we get out of them can be pretty spectacular.

[TomlinsonHolman]

65mm has far greater resolution than 8K. 65mm = 12K. 65mm IMAX = 18K. When a 65mm print is scanned at 8K, the digital file size can be 30 terabytes or more.

[JimLeonard]

Love your channel, but want to make two corrections (Disclaimer: I have produced commercial Blu-rays): "Fully uncompressed blu-ray discs" aren't a thing. 1080p Blu-rays use either MPEG-2, H.264, or VC-1 compression; there is no way to make one uncompressed (unless you were talking about the audio, which can be uncompressed). Also, removing film grain is not as cut and dry as "it's been scrubbed clean of detail"; like any restoration process, there are adjustments for the film material. If done properly, you can reduce grain without losing detail. It may surprise you to learn that some transfers remove all grain because the source was 16mm, then *add synthesized grain back in* to try to make the film look more like film. (Noise removal is actually a part of the next-generation AV1 codec we will see used in 8K transfers, which removes it for better encoding, then adds it back in on playback.) Every transfer is different and grain removal is not always a bad thing.

[vinvanveen]

AFAIK, the oldest film that's been released on 4k is "Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari" (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari) from 1920--it's 103 years old. It looks gorgeous.

[rsolsjo]

Classics (circa 1920's to 80's/90's) are definitely the way to go with 4K:
• Shot on physical film so no hard resolution "limit", meaning insane detail
• Restored meticulously so they look better than ever
• HDR is literally like seeing them "for the first time" (yes, even B&W movies)
• A lot of cult/low budget films getting the love they deserve right out of the gate (slashers, gialli, horror, old sci-fi, etc)
• Many classics already have 4K scans so bringing them to disc is a bit less complicated and time consuming

[Decadent]

Ugh, I wish somebody would release Zulu (1964) in 4K. One of my favorite movies of all times and it deserves it.

[chroma]

4k UHD is a godsend for classic film lovers. The most impressive 4k I've seen is large format 65mm and anything shot on real 3 strip technicolor. They are rare though

[metalgrinch]

Regardless of transfer, people who deny older films just bc they're older are not people I take seriously about ANYTHING, absolutely ANYTHING at all.

[Jared_Wignall]

I have Jaws, Casablanca, Apocalypse Now and Double Indemnity and they all look phenomenal! Probably the best these films have looked outside of the big screen. Let’s hope other older films get great 4K transfers as well, keep up the great work Jeff, take care!

[EricMalette]

This is such a timely upload. I watched Schindler's List and All Quiet on the Western Front back to back and List looked just so much better