I love a good 4K transfer. As a movie fan, there’s nothing more exciting than cracking open an old favorite that’s been restored in a pristine 4K transfer taken straight from the negative. Some movies truly have never looked better. But not all 4K transfers are created equal—some are downright problematic. Why? Mostly due to the use of AI to “enhance” their look, which can make films appear significantly different than they did in theaters. After all, replicating the theatrical experience should be the gold standard.
So, what are the most controversial? Here are five notorious examples:
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
James Cameron’s name dominates this list. Terminator 2 was the first of his films to receive a 4K remaster, and reactions were far from positive. Excessive digital noise reduction removed virtually all grain, leaving characters looking waxy and unlifelike. It’s widely considered a disastrous transfer, and it has yet to be corrected. Even compared to some of Cameron’s other controversial remasters, this is the worst offender.
True Lies
Another Cameron transfer, True Lies doesn’t necessarily look bad—it just looks very different. Shot on Super 35, the film has natural limitations in sharpness. A faithful transfer, like the one done for Point Break (shot on the same format), preserves grain; instead, True Lies now looks like it was shot on 70mm IMAX film. It’s visually impressive—but perhaps too impressive.
Sorcerer
This transfer isn’t bad, but it is different. Criterion, long the standard for high-quality transfers, has recently stirred controversy with its color timing adjustments. Sorcerer has a distinct teal tint that makes it look more modern than older transfers (see examples here). Their recent transfer of Arthur Penn’s Night Moves has also received mixed reactions.
The Terminator
I hate to single out Cameron again, but he seems obsessed with making his older films look “new.” The Terminator, shot on a modest budget in 1984, now looks like it was filmed on 70mm. While the visual upgrade is extreme, Cameron did preserve the original mono track on the latest 4K release—a relief for purists who disliked the 5.1 remix from 2001. To note, Gale Anne Hurd, who produced this and many of Cameron’s movies, vehemently defended his upgraded transfers when we spoke to her recently.
Jaws 3D
No film on this list looks more different from its theatrical version than Jaws 3D. Shot in a cheap 3D format, the 35mm negative was split in two, with each half capturing one eye. As a result, earlier 3D releases effectively used half the negative, making the film look like it was shot on 16mm. Universal applied extensive AI to “upgrade” the image for modern audiences, but they arguably went too far—the coloring now borders on psychedelic, bearing little resemblance to what 1983 audiences saw.
Geologist@lemmy.zip 19 hours ago
I just watched True Lies in 4K and felt the transfer was phenomenal. These cheesy action movies don’t need the preserved grain or whatever, and I’d say it definitely felt true to the original experience that Cameron wanted to create.