I just bought a new 4K OLED TV and, of course, I want to get the most out of it, so I’m looking for some recommendations for movies with great and visually stunning 4K HDR (ideally DolbyVision) releases. Bonus points if it’s not just pretty but also generally a good movie.
Oh man you’re going to have a blast.
Dune 1 & 2 are of course superb in 4K HDR+OLED. It was like watching the movie completely differently.
Top Gun Maverick also just absolutely stunning. The camerawork was amazing, and truly shows off how great OLED is.
LoTR in 4K is amazing. They remastered all of it. The Blurays were horrible, they didn’t rerender any of the CGI so it looked like cardboard cutouts of monsters and backgrounds instead of high def. 4Ks they completely rectified it and it looks amazing.
John Wick of course.
Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan works really well with OLED, hard to go wrong there.
Blade Runner 2049 then too. Really sets the ambiance
If you can, make sure you have surround sound. Really enhances all of the above. Have fun!
Just being a nerd but LotR’s 4K release is technically a 2K upscale with a lot of DNR applied to smooth out the grain and make the overall package look more “digital.” Some of the VFX are lower resolution because that’s just what they had to work with, but they blend in better now and it totally makes sense why they did it this way for 4K. I still think it looks really great and I think it’s the best way to watch these movies outside of the theater, but I definitely understand why a lot of people don’t like it, given that the DNR actually removes detail and makes faces look pretty soft. Generally I’m opposed to messing with film grain, but LotR is already a hybrid of visual mediums so it makes sense here, but it also is understandable why it was a bit of a controversial release.
The first Blu-ray release definitely looked like washed-out crap, but there was a later version that rectified it, so I still think there’s some merit to that one. I haven’t seen it myself though.
Nerding aside, I agree with all your suggestions - I own all of these in 4K UHD and all look fantastic. And totally agree with surround sound - even a cheap home theater in a box is a massive upgrade to TV speakers and often better than a pricier soundbar.
I actually knew about lotr being a 2K upscale. But at least it’s a decent one unlike many others.
But generally, all those upscaled 4K releases just make me sad.
Luckily there are some Studios that care enough to create new film scans, new intermediates and proper 4K releases.
For lotr I still love watching the DVDs. Their colours are just beautiful although the resolution will probably not do too well on my new 65“ TV.
Thank you! Wanted to (re-)watch a lot of those anyways. Sounds like a great selection.
And of course I have surround sound. I find that more important than a 4K image. Upgraded to 5.1 years ago and never looked back. The LG C5 is just the next step in my home cinema.
After my own heart :) I’m big on sound too, I think too many people leave it for an after thought. You want both though, great visuals and sound. Have fun watching the movies! They’re all great! (Hint, ebay is a treasure for used 4ks, highly recommend searching there before buying new)
Three of your recommendations are Denis Villeneuve joints. Just sayin’. 👀
Honestly I think OP would do well with a lot of movies that were specifically filmed for IMAX, which means Villeneuve and Chris Nolan are going to be on that list. Not just released in IMAX, but filmed for it. A nice benefit there is that IMAX is a taller aspect ratio, so you don’t get 2.35:1 with letterboxing at top and bottom, but the entirety of your 16:9 screen gets used when it’s an IMAX transfer. For example, put on The Dark Knight and that opening bank robbery scene will pop out to the whole screen and feel like a revelation.