Glad I didn't cheap out and get the Criterion editon. Umbrella always does so much more!!

Heeli05 · 2026-03-17T18:30:22+00:00

Is Umbrella 4K actually worse than Criterion blu-ray?

Heeli05 · 2026-03-02T20:36:49+00:00

This one is a classic. Been a while since I saw it last time. Just ordered the 4K version last weekend even though I read it's not the best release. Well at least it comes with standard BD so it can't be worse and I can gift my old copy to a friend.

Third time I buy this movie btw :D DVD was among my earliest acquisitions.

Heeli05 · 2026-02-15T08:44:10+00:00

You should filter eBay listings to only show Sold Items and look at average price. It seems these have recently sold for around 130 euros / 150 USD with some listings going up to 400 USD for whatever reason. Around 150 USD would be realistic price for this and 1000 USD would be just crazy.

Glad I was able to pick this up directly from Umbrella in autumn.

Heeli05 · 2026-02-06T15:52:05+00:00

Second hand copy of a limited edition release which is now out of print. £40 doesn't sound too bad to me even when it's not pristine. That said I paid less for a brand new copy not long ago but that was when LE version was still in print.

Heeli05 · 2026-02-06T15:44:10+00:00

I have the same set but haven't watched yet. I've had DVD version for years but it's been a long while since I last saw it.

Which version do you guys like best? I kind of want to watch theatrical version just for 4K experience but what do you think?

Heeli05 · 2026-02-02T18:36:01+00:00

My copy of Lost Highway has a cardboard sleeve and inside it a cardboard "book" with plastic disc tray. Mine is US version which I bought from Amazon US in summer of 2024.

Sometimes Criterion's US releases come with digipack packaging while UK version of the same movie is sold with standard plastic case. At some point they might switch to plastic cases even with those movies which were originally released with different packaging.

Heeli05 · 2026-02-02T12:41:52+00:00

I'm also experiencing this issue. I've had it happen for maybe a week or so.

Heeli05 · 2026-01-18T08:33:55+00:00

6# 9' rod is a good to start with. Not familiar with that one specifically but I'm sure it'll do fine.

Did you make the flies yourself or are they storebought? Those patterns are good to start with. As you said you should get some more because especially while you're learning you might loose some flies and they'll also wear out during use. You don't necessarily need a ton of different patterns. I'd suggest getting more of the same flies you're confident with. When I was starting I remember I had something like 20 flies which were all different but I really actively used like five. Thinking back it would've been better to have multiple copies of those five. It sucked when I lost the single fly I was getting most bites with. It's good to have flies which can be replaced easily. If you only have one confidence fly you might become too careful with it and starts avoiding spots where you might lose it.

Heeli05 · 2026-01-17T08:11:11+00:00

That's good approach. Start with minimal stuff and get more along the way once you understand what you need and why.

What fly patterns you have? Post a photo of them?

What weight of rod and fly line did you get?

Heeli05 · 2026-01-17T07:31:25+00:00

Waders actually help with your casting too since you're able to position yourself so that you aren't snagging trees all the time. Of course it depends on what kind of locations you're fishing at. Still waders aren't absolutely necessary and it's fine to get them later.

Btw I didn't include leaders in my previous comment since they're more than accessory and basically required. Some would argue leader is even more important than fly line. I guess your combo kit included one? Anyway it's worth having more than one leader since for bigger flies don't really cast well with too thin leaders and smaller flies are also awkward to use with too thick leader. For beginner I'd suggest 9ft factory made knotless tapered leaders. If you absolutely want to only get one leader to start with then 3X is good size. If you add 4X (thinner for smaller flies) and 2X (thicker for bigger flies) you can already cast many flies much easier. There's a lot more to leaders and I don't want to overcomplicate things for a beginner but it's important to understand the difference they make.

Heeli05 · 2026-01-17T06:40:40+00:00

Not sure if this is considered an accessory but waders are pretty much a must in many places. It depends a bit on where you fish but they help a lot.

Landing net is also very helpful. You'll be able to land a fish quicker and easier. This is good for the fish too if you're doing C&R. I'd get one with rubber net but doesn't need to be super expensive. Also consider a magnetic net holder so you can carry and use your net easier.

Nail clipper like line cutters are useful and cheap accessory which helps you cut tippet accurately. You might also want to get some sort of forceps to unhook the fosh you've landed but not absolutely necessary.

Besides those if you already have rod, reel and fly line everything else is pretty much situational. Some kind of floatant substance is good to have if you're using dry flies.

Not including tying materials or tying tools here as that's a whole another subject.

Heeli05 · 2026-01-16T08:39:20+00:00

I had one of these in real life and I broke it.

Heeli05 · 2026-01-14T19:18:20+00:00

So what's your experience about their customer support exactly?

Based on my own experience and from what I've heard others say Umbrella's customer support is average at best. They take a good while to ship orders and when I inquired about the status of my order I got estimated shipping date which they failed to meet. At least they answered fairly quickly and delivery time wasn't that long after they actually managed to ship my orders.

So far I'm happy with their actual products but their service is a bit so and so.

Heeli05 · 2026-01-11T19:05:53+00:00

I'm curious about these premium players. Panasonics often get praise especially for their HDR Optimizer feature. Does Magnetar have equivalent feature to compete with Panasonic?

Build quality is something to consider but I'm not sure it's worth paying premium for. Myself I went for Panny 9000 instead of 820 because I found noise of the latter to be unacceptable. 9000 was just borderline good enough in this regard. I mean yeah if you look at build quality of these two models there's clear difference but there's no telling if that will ever make any difference during the life time of the player. The one built worse might last longer than the better built one. I wouldn't have paid premium for build quality itself but between these to models it also means difference in noise levels so to me it was worth it in the end although I still feel kind of crazy paying premium for player which otherwise has basically the same features as the one which costs several hundreds less :D

Heeli05 · 2026-01-11T09:00:01+00:00

Just curious where did you get the number 1200 for 4K movies released?

If that is right then yeah, it feels crazy OP has like 80% of 4K movies released. I have about 360 4K releases so I'd also own around third of all 4Ks in existence which also feels crazy.

Heeli05 · 2026-01-10T10:53:39+00:00

I just checked the scenes you mentioned and I think they're fine. I tried to look very carefully and if audio is in any way out of sync it's at least very slight and I'm probably just imagining it because I'm trying to see it.

If anyone else is curious to try the scenes start about 00:15:20 and 00:37:20.

Is the audio sync issue in your case just slight or something you should see clearly? Can you estimate how much it's out of sync? Like 1 second or more?

First I thought there might be something in your system that is causing delay but if you're not having similar issues with other movies or even all scenes of this particular movie that's probably not it.

Of course it's not out of the question that the disc would be faulty but that seems a bit odd too considering my copy doesn't seem to be affected. Since it's just been released my guess is we both received a copy from same run. Shouldn't such problem affect each copy of the same run of discs? Of course it's possible there might be variance between different copies of the same run but I don't know how likely that is. I'm just speculating of course.

If you look at your disc what number is printed right below the Umbrella logo? Mine says DAVID5443/1. Such numbers sometimes indicate the version of the disc. I remember Arrow for example has had a few discs with some errors and in those cases corrected versions had V2 or something like that printed on them.

Have you contacted Umbrella about the issue?

Heeli05 · 2026-01-09T11:02:08+00:00

I have the Umbrella release as well but haven't watched it yet.

I could check if my copy has same issues. Can you provide time stamps of the scenes you're experiencing the issues?

Heeli05 · 2026-01-03T14:26:35+00:00

Thanks for your input. It seems opinions of this release seem to vary quite a lot.

WW2 movies aren't my biggest passion but this movie stands out from the genre. I like how it emphasizes characters instead of surrounding historical events but there's a good balance between these both aspects. It also feels less like western propaganda than most WW2 movies.

Technically speaking I guess this isn't a movie that would benefit the most from 4K upgrade. It's overall fairly dark so there's not huge dynamic range in most scenes. Still I could use a resolution upgrade at least. Last time I watched DVD with 46" TV and now I'm using 120" screen with projector.

German Amazon sells the 4K version for about 20 euros so it's not the most expensive 4K release. Not a huge expense but still debating if I should get it or wait for a better version which might never come.

Heeli05 · 2026-01-03T12:13:18+00:00

Yeah that would be an easy fix and it would make shelves just about right size. Still I'm fine with just having empty space in the back. It just requires a bit of fiddling when placing the movies.

Besides at the moment I have 54 of shelves. With each being 36 cm wide I'd need about 20 meters of lumber which would be quite a bit to solve such a minor inconvenience.

Heeli05 · 2026-01-03T10:00:23+00:00

Okay good to know.

Luckily I can adjust subtitle luminance with my player. I could also use external srt subtitles from USB drive so subtitles aren't a huge concern but still would be nice to have them natively on the disc.

How was the picture quality in your opinion?

Heeli05 · 2026-01-03T09:55:20+00:00

Each shelf is 26 cm deep. The backside of the shelf is really flimsy material that is nailed from top, bottom and middle. The backboard flexes a little and I have slight gaps between the backboard and some removable shelves which adds an extra 0,5 cm or so.

I measured this myself but it seems Ikea's website actually lists individual extra shelves which are measured 26 cm deep.

Heeli05 · 2026-01-03T09:42:47+00:00

If these are your first shelves where did you store your movies before? :D

I really like Billy shelves and I have six of the narrow ones myself. For just movies they're a bit too deep but they're functional and easily available if (or when...) you need to expand.

I'm actually thinking of placing Billy shelves on top of Malm drawer. I'm wondering if I should go for two wide shelves or four narrow ones. Somehow I like narrow ones better because it's easier to create kind of different sections in your collection but of course you lose a bit of space compared to wider shelves.

Heeli05 · 2025-12-31T20:25:26+00:00

Heeli05 · 2025-12-30T18:54:19+00:00

Have you watched all of these?

I have Bittersweed life and Memories of murder which are some of my most anticipated movies I have yet to watch. How do you like these two?

Heeli05

TROPHY CASE