First of all, i am not putting this thread up to knock any of the new releases, i am also NOT referring only the recent new releases, but other items of very recent years.

I have read elsewhere, comment's regarding the colours of some of the newer releases.
bought some trailers in recent times with The Dark Knight in scope and stereo being one such title, this release along Men in Black 2 when i began to realise colours and contrast were being muted and the contrast itself was definatly wrong. They wernt poor, nor were they faulty, it is just the way most of the new releases are and probably will be.
ALL new releases are to be commended, it takes a lot of courage for anyone to release anything today.
It isn't anything to do with the projectors we run, the fact is the modern Andec labs dont produce the real film look of previous release from previous companies in the hey days, its as simple as that. It certainly isn't anything to do with Derann printing from technicolour origin prints as suggested elsewhere
Today, the whites are not as white as they should be, more of a grey, and the Blacks are definatly not as black as they should be. Heres a good example, ( i will add screenshots up when i get them over the coming days), you are all familiar with the American rating on trailers, a nice bright deep green background with white print stating the trailers rating .
Watch an old release trailer against a new release trailer, the difference is huge with the early trailer, (my Ghostbuster trailer is a good example) it has a real bright, deep green background, the new trailer releases of today has the green looking almost grey, it isn't my eyes and isn't my machines, it is either the way its put to film and also what the source
material is. Looking at my new Jurassic Park film, there is nothing stamped on the edge of the film that states the film stock, i find it most odd that if its Kodak, they havnt printed it on the edge, they always have done in the past, so, what is the stock? Can anyone other than Andec prove it? Time will tell however, this release is very good, it still has a different look to what we all know as film, but its very good, no doubt about that.
In over 40 years of collecting, i cant put my finger on it, but the colour saturation doesn't look quite right, but some of the trailer reels are very poor in colour. Again though, one or two people have talked up one or two releases as though they were better than anything before. One i bought was a disappointment, especially for the price. Perhaps reviewers need new glasses when they watch films to grade for reporting. (just a joke).

Heres the trailer screenshots for Dark Knight, one of the new Andec printed releases.

Tom, you've hit the nail exactly on the head there mate. In a home cinema with black masking you should find that the blacks in the print meld in with the masking, but I've found the modern prints to have that grey/black look, like a TV with the contrast turned down too far. I also thought the same about the American ratings, it should be a really eye-catching green, not a wimpy, almost-green colour. Like you I'm delighted we still have new prints struck, but I just want to know why they can't get the colours right on them. Imagine if we could show Andec a Derann Disney from the 90's and say to them 'there - that's what you're aiming for'.

Anyway, again I have to reiterate I'm pleased there's a new generation taking the risks of releasing film for collectors, let's just get Andec to push themselves harder! Hope your T610 is still purring ;)

My take on it is i think the new films are purposely made for the new medium on which you watch them, ie, high definition tv or led style tv's at home. If you watch a old style cowboy film on freeview and then watch a much later cowboy movie, you can immediately see the difference in colour and contrast between both these films, although the new film colour are all there, they seem to be muted some how, difficult to describe, but i think you know what i'm getting at. Sometimes the older movie colour looks overcooked, but still a pleasure to watch. Not sure how andec do there quality control after the process is complete, but when dave baker is doing his own quality control when he receives the prints and then sending half of them back, surely andec have got to up there game, what does not help it, is people taking pictures with there phone camera thinking it may improve things, when the opposite is true..........

I think Tom's comment about others bigging the new releases up is simply to keep them coming, I haven't bought Jurassic Park or Jaws but for the money I would be expecting something nice on screen, maybe Andec don't have the adjustments to vary the colours that the Derann labs used? Saying that I'm not going to pretend to know what I'm talking about regarding the colour correction but as far as I know it could be lightened or made darker, sometimes they made things too blue so it wasn't all good from Derann, maybe a digitally sourced negative has an effect? Whatever it is then it needs addressing if things are out somewhere, the releases I have seen such as the Bond openers and Huey Lewis
Music promo look good, Mark

Stuart, the T610 is still going strong thank you,. A very nice nice machine, im glad i didnt let the one i bought from Van Ek put me off, ive put that down to a one off bad experience, the main thing was i didn't lose out financially, and to be fair, despite my moaning at the time, they did refund with no problems.
The one i have now is purring away.

Yeah I think there's definitely a technical issue at play here; the muted colour and the infamous Andec image stripes surely point to possible machine faults or operator error.

Im sure thats exactly it Stuart. Like you, i dont want anyone thinking i am putting down the new prints, im not. I myself have the Jurassic park release. I wouldn't normally spend this amount of money on a cut down but it is a film i wanted and didn't take advantage when i had the chance to get the feature, it looks very good on the screen but it isn't the film look we are use to if the makes sense? Colours are great and sound really is first class but those image stripes are there but only for one scene on my print and they are virtually invisible, my audience's didn't notice . The rest of the print is fine. While its obvious if you show a film with a much brighter lamp it will be improved, in 40 years of collecting, i have never had a print where i have had to.
The later releases, (as already said, i am not suggesting only the very new releases) are definatly colour and contrast muted, the image above from the Dark Knight are an extreme example but this is the second print i have had and they appear to be all the same from what others have told me.
Aside all this, with the cost of a new print the quality has to be the best, im still not convinced that kodak low fade is being used simply because i cannot, to date, see any markings on the film. Kodak in my mind would almost certainly have markings. Only time will tell, as long as it out lasts me thats all i care.

I see this topic has been put up again on the other channel, Steve Osborne has replied via David, I'm not knocking Steve's reply but he's basically putting it down to not having the right screen and a dirty lens element and not enough light, that might be so in some cases but it still doesn't change the image on screen, now the reason I say that is simply every print viewed will have muted colours which isn't the case to the collectors that have mentioned the issue ,if the equipment faults by Steve are present then we'd all be on the same page, I think it's fair to say all prints would look muted, Mark

yes i saw that, and yes the Dark Knight trailer definatly has muted colour and is isn't any of my equipment, Perhaps the print i have is a faulty one?
I clean the fronts and rears of my lens's and my screens are both highly reflective screens and the i guess the obvious point is, it's only a few prints that i have that look like this, all my other films are absolutely fine including JP. I did also try to make it clear i am not knocking the new prints, anything released is a huge bonus for those who can constantly keep buying. I am not unhappy with what i have, the dark knight was mentioned and put up on here so why not reply here? We dont bite, and the images were NOT taken with a mobile phone either. It is disappointing that members on here dont seem to want to reply on here.
If i do a print review i do an honest one and with over 40 years of film collecting experience behind me, im not going to say stuff just to promote sales, however, in a review i wont knock it either, but i would be honest. Bill Davidson always use to have a criticle eye for the little things because if you dont mention some things, it can be disappointing when a print is purchased and is not quite how it was put over.
Dave, if your looking in, you know me well, we have spoken, please join in here as well.
BTW, Steve's reply is fine, but my own equipment is a good Elmo F1:0 lens as well as the F1:1, and i dont have, nor do i need a xenon lamp although i do not doubt one bit how good these are.

Later on i will do a review of my own JP and another for the DN Trailer. Followed by the other two new trailers i bought, Ghostbusters and Highlander, all the images will come from the same digital camera during projection on the same projector.

Tom,

I have many German releases in my collection I have been buying for years from CHC, no features just shorts. I have to say most if not all have that muted colour look. I just came to accept it from the German lab. I used to think it was because of the Acetate stock used which almost all of mine are on, but last year I bought the Christmas Trailer Reel No.1 which is on Polyester but that too has that muted colour look so maybe its just something about that Lab that they cant get the quality we had from Derann. I would also state most of these prints I have do not have a blue tint that is on many of my Derann prints so it's swings and roundabouts. I'm also not knocking them as I love having the new releases, and still enjoy them just as much.

I did get a nice Christmas present in the post this morning, more of that later .

Graham S

Will look forward to finding out what your xmas pressy is Graham,
I think your right, it probably is now how the labs produce them, plain and simple. I think ive said it enough now, no one is putting the new prints down, quite the opposite, to have any new releases is a great bonus for the hobby, but i suspect somewhere someone is possibly stirring the s*** and mis-reporting what is being said.

Even the copy of Rupert and the Frog chorus has a similar look as that was produced in Germany, all be it, it looks good, but the colours are not as prominent as what collectors have been use to. Its sound is ok but not a patch on the latest releases.
If i didnt enjoy the few new releases i have i would have ebayed them, but they are staying put in my collection.
What i dont like is the nonsense being said about how everything before looks poor in comparison, perhaps some peoples collections have a lot of second rate prints? All reviews must be honest , and with comments like, "Old Uni8 is so old now and although good in its day unbearable to watch up against the new print". Why would you even project it when you got the new one? There would be something seriously wrong if the new one wasn't better for the costs, and is everyone on those threads forgetting that those U8 prints are actually the best part of 40 years old?
Enjoy the new releases, but accept the fact the labs in Germany dont appear to be a patch on those used in the UK in their prime, look at the 80s feature releases like predator, Die Hard 1,2, and 3 among others, and Disney prints.
Please understand, i dont think anyone's complaining, simply making an observation, good job Walton, Derann, Mountain and all the other distributors didn't get upset

All valid points and not complaining about the new releases, as we all think it's fantastic that these things even exist in 2021, a very visual hobby and high prices then its open to a bit of criticism surely, if you think the colours muted then what's wrong with saying, Mark

It does make me wonder about new Vinyl releases and if there are any complaints about them, with anyone saying there they are not as good as they used to be. I think all new releases are 180g Vinyl which I suppose is an improvement but I don't collect these myself so don't know. In any case there are many more companies pressing the new Vinyl releases which is why you see them in every large supermarket which is the problem with Super 8 which has become a one man's band which is why most collectors are afraid to criticize them as these people will just stop. As for the cost I take it that film has always been expensive so not much we could do there unless they produced a lot more to bring the cost down but film has never sold in the quantities that Vinyl has sold. At least with any new prints if they are kept in good condition you could get your money back on Ebay which is an advantage of having low numbers produced of it. DVD's I've wanted to sell I almost have to give them away now as people wont pay more than £1 each for them if you're lucky. VHS's I've often dumped as no one wants them at all, even if free.

Graham S

Its a difficult one to call i think Graham, personally, a good review must give marks for the editing, the sound and print quality as most reviews do, but i think some sensible, constructive criticism in the correct way, (if it is needed) is also good without being too picky.
Referring to some of the comments made on the other channel by someone who appears to have a vested/profit interest, and appears to either have an unlimited bank account to buy every new release and be first in the que, or is simply sent copies for review, you would believe that these are 100% better than anything before them, therefore, you may spend your dosh and once recieved, certain things, (already talked about) may actually go the other way and put you off any other purchases, i always prefer to know any minor defects or print problems. I'll go so far as to say i would prefer to see Greg's reviews than those read elsewhere, It was after reading Greg's that i decided to buy as some of the embarrassing additions in the review thread on the other channel, clearly designed to chum up the creators of the new releases, were simply over the top and read a bit false for my liking.
Greg has tried to point very minor glitches after all the positives and THAT, is an honest review. .

While i understand the idea that being too critical or negative may prevent further sales/releases, no one is saying anything bad about any of the new films, indeed quite the opposite, the Jaws thing on the other channel appears to be down to Andec, that being the case, Dave and Steve O must speak to them and kick them up the arse, they charge enough for their services so every print should be quality checked, its not like they produce thousands of prints for several distributors like the days gone by , they are ordered as and when so there is simply no excuse to have that many faulty prints in one batch. Its OK Lee pointing out that Derann use to sell sub standard prints as white box specials, but as i said they were having tens of thousands of feet done at a time, not hundred's. That was again another excuse to make it sound acceptable. It isn't, not with the high value of each print.

As an interesting footnote to this thread, i have read to basic reviews by the same person again, one for TOKYO MATER and one for PLUTO SHEEP DOG. someone has asked for screenshots and the reply was "I'd love to see some screen shots of all the new prints you have purchased in 2021". I ask you, what sort of a reply is that?
Does anyone think this help's the cause? That reply was aimed at the second person who asked to see screen shots but not the first, i wonder why? I think reviews like this, with replies like that only makes me hold off until i hear several other peoples versions.