ACC to be released on Ultra HD Blu-ray this June

[Cloud_S]

Sony also uploaded a promotional video in 1080p.

Ah yes the best way to showcase 4K footage... with 1080p videos on YouTube.

This is the same as Advent Children Complete. Like, this is literally the same as ACC's footage from 2009, there is no fucking improvement here. The same scenes that are at 720p and remastered in the Blu-Ray release look stellar, while the other parts look good but not the same level HD.

Yeah it's like... SE has the opportunity to release a true HD/4K version that ISN'T UPSCALED... but are they? Nope (at least based on these trailers it isn't a true "remaster" just more upscaling, like when they upscaled the AC footage for ACC and it's VERY noticeable).

 

[Tetsujin]

1080p footage for a 4K release, makes sense.

Like, you're just previewing the 4K release in worse quality than the Blu-ray.
This footage does show at least that the blurry-ass 480p upscaled scenes are still exactly that. Sorry, but I consider this a fucking scam.

Oh and I remember the Crisis Core flashbacks in ACC were actually upscaled 272p from the PSP which was ridiculous on the Blu-ray and will be even more so on this.
Honestly, I don't get what the fuck they were thinking when they were making this movie. Absolutely no future-proofing whatsoever.
Maybe they still have the original assets and could render everything at higher res but I also wouldn't be surprised if this is purely SPHE's decision to throw out a quick upscale for a quick buck without involving Square Enix much.

Idk but I'm not buying this shit.

 

[Shademp]

Oh and I remember the Crisis Core flashbacks in ACC were actually upscaled 272p from the PSP which was ridiculous on the Blu-ray and will be even more so on this.

I need somebody to make this comparison for me because I don't know how to extract the PSP FMV files and my emulator comparison may be too misleading.

Spoiler: ACC 720p extraction versus PPSSPP screenshot

ACC


PPSSPP


ACC


PPSSPP

I will be surprised if it turns out that upscaling technology was so good in 2009 that they could improve the native PSP image data that much.

 

[Tetsujin]

Idk but the CC flashback footage was the blurriest in the entire movie even compared to the OG AC stuff so I assumed it was basically PSP res or close to it

 

[The Twilight Mexican]

I just figured that was 'cause flashback.

 

[Wol]

All I can see is that it has some difference... which is so fucking small that it's not worth buying the damn thing again.

 

[Odysseus]

This seems like a quick cash grab to capitalize on the remake. Probably nothing to be excited about here.

 

[Sephiroth Crescent]

SE's Visual Works could've easily remade ACC with new REMAKE CGI quality level assets in around 1.5 years (taking into account they are busy with other stuff).
But maybe SE doesn't really care about it or they're just cheap.

 

[LegendarySaiyan]

Releasing today iirc?

 

[SilverArrow20XX]

Yeah. My copy's arriving today.
I'll watch it tonight and see how it is.
I'm not expecting much though.

 

[LegendarySaiyan]

When you have watched it, tell us if there is anything else new than just 4K HDR. Which I hope there is, but probably not

 

[SilverArrow20XX]

Just finished.
Definitely not re-rendered.
I just watched the bluray 2 months ago, and there did seem to be some image quality improvements over that.
Some of the egregiously blurry scenes seemed to have been cleared up a bit, unless it was just lighting sorcery.
Beyond that, it's much the same as that release. The new scenes added in 2009 hold up quite well, but the original scenes tend to be pixely or blurry.

On the upside, the HDR is quite good. The lighting is a hugely noticeable improvement, and helps mask a lot of the problems that are more apparent in the bluray.
It doesn't look great, but it does look significantly better on my 60" than the bluray did.

 

[Makoeyes987]

Hmmm, I'm tempted. If it is an improvement, I may buy it again.

On the upside, the HDR is quite good. The lighting is a hugely noticeable improvement, and helps mask a lot of the problems that are more apparent in the bluray.
It doesn't look great, but it does look significantly better on my 60" than the bluray did.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "this a fucking rip off, there's no difference" and 10 being "holy shit, it's a brand new movie omg!!11" how would you rate the lighting and HDR improvements compared to the Blu-Ray?

 

[SilverArrow20XX]

Like, a 5 maybe?
It's better, but if I hadn't recently seen the bluray, I don't know how much I would have noticed.
There were a few key scenes I was watching out for, like Cloud's visit to Healen, that looked quite a bit better.

 

[Cloud_S]

Definitely not re-rendered..

Damn. I knew it was 95% unlikely but I guess I still had some hope that they wouldn't just fucking upscale it twice-over.

 

[Tetsujin]

I'm not surprised. I haven't seen anything about ACC in 4K in Japan so I think this is just Sony Pictures publishing this on their own. No involvement from Square Enix.

 

[SomethingWithTheR]

Comparison for the Japanese release. Releasing in September 15th

 

[Strangelove]

granted, i am looking at it on my laptop monitor which doesn't do 4k

the most i can see is that it looks a bit brighter?

 

[SomethingWithTheR]

It really just does look brighter. It really is a shame this is just put out for a quick buck

 

[Eerie]

My monitor doesn't do 4K either, but I can see a sharp difference between PS4 and PS5 Remake (pictures and videos). Here there is no difference lol.

 

[Makoeyes987]

There is a difference but it barely passes the "minimal" threshold of difference.

The scenes from the DVD release that were really poor compared to the rest of the film look the most improved. The rest get a touch up and brighter look with a more crisp appearance.

 

[Tetsujin]

Well I give them props for being sensible and actually uploading this in 4K+HDR unlike Sony Pictures' 1080p uploads.

HDR is basically the only improvement with better contrast and higher peak brightness. Looks less dull than the SDR version. You won't really see the difference properly on an SDR display, it just looks slightly brighter in comparison and that's it.
Outside of that though...at first look it seems like the 1080p scenes are a bit more detailed in that Midgar shot but looking closer I believe they probably just threw a sharpening filter on everything, so it's just the illusion of more detail and the potential for introducing ugly sharpening artifacts depending on how high they cranked the filter although it's hard to tell with Youtube's own compression artifacts on top of everything

It's notable that there's barely any of the upscaled 480p scenes in there because yeah...won't be a great showcase lol

Yeah this is still a hard pass for me.

Upscaling from 2K to 4K isn't that much of an issue since 4K production pipelines in CG and VFX still aren't really a thing but I'm not triple-dipping until the 480p stuff is at least re-rendered to 1080p.

 

[ForceStealer]

Upscaling from 2K to 4K isn't that much of an issue since 4K production pipelines in CG and VFX still aren't really a thing but I'm not triple-dipping until the 480p stuff is at least re-rendered to 1080p.

Is there any reason to ever expect this to happen? They'd have to have all the original stuff, right? I dunno if we can expect them to still have it all, ha.

(This is not an argument for you to triple dip, merely a side question.)

 

[Tetsujin]

I expect this to never happen

 

[Shademp]

Apparently you can now order a "4K HDR Remaster Box" over at Japanese Amazon

In addition to the 4K ULTRA HD Blu-ray and Blu-ray Disc set containing the full length of FINAL FANTASY VII ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE, a pamphlet distributed at the screening of FINAL FANTASY VII ADVENT CHILDREN which was distributed at the screening of FINAL FANTASY VII ADVENT CHILDREN.

The three-sided back is decorated with a foil-stamped Claudie Wolf.

Limited bonus video for purchasers
　- FINAL FANTASY VII ADVENT CHILDREN COMPLETE" Nobuya Kiyotsuka Studio Live
　- Nobuo Uematsu x Shinya Kiyotsuka Special Talk

(How to watch the bonus video)
All purchasers of this product will receive a "digital viewing code" for the unreleased video by e-mail.
The "digital viewing code" will be sent to you by e-mail after the product has been shipped.
The "digital viewing code" will be sent by e-mail after the product has been shipped.


(Privilege video distribution period)
September 15, 2021, 12:00 - October 14, 2021, 23:59


Profile of Shinya Kiyotsuka
Nobuya Kiyotsuka received a gifted education in classical piano from the age of five. He studied under Hiroko Nakamura, Nobuyoshi Kato, and Sergei Dolensky. He graduated first in his class from Toho Girls' High School (co-educational), and has won numerous prizes at competitions in Japan and abroad.

He is also a member of the Japanese Society of Musicians. On August 16, 2019, he will be the first Japanese male classical pianist ever to give a solo performance at the Nippon Budokan. In recent years, he has been active as a multi-pianist, appearing in TV variety shows and radio programs.

...This all feels so random.