One more parting gift from Lucasfilm apparently
From my review coming later this week:
Regrettably, “American Graffiti” has received shoddy 4K UHD treatment in one of the few outright misfires a catalog release has suffered so far in the format. This HDR10 (2.35) presentation has been doused with significant amounts of noise reduction, eliminating detail from the image throughout and making it look artificially digital at every turn. I could scarcely think of another classic film on UHD that’s been filtered with so much DNR that it no longer looks like a movie, but sadly, that’s the case here. The only consolation is the older Blu-Ray is packaged in this combo pack and this decade-plus older presentation is the far more satisfying one, featuring an aged VC-1 encode that at least displays more detail by comparison.
On the audio side, the UHD does include a 5.1 presentation in addition to the previous 2.0 stereo track (dating from the 1979 theatrical re-issue), plus the same extras: commentary from George Lucas that spans most of the disc with only a few gaps here and there, plus several minutes worth of full screen tests for the cast, presented from their 16mm source origins; the original DVD’s solid Making Of doc; and the trailer.
While maybe still worth a purchase for die-hards (and since the Blu-Ray is included, you can easily shift back to it), one of the finest films about its era – and about growing up regardless of its setting – certainly deserves better.
