The Phantom (1996) Kino Lorber 4K UHD and Blu-ray Debacle review: Slam Kino!

#thephantom #4k #bluray #kinolorber #physicalmedia I review the Kino Lorber release of one of my favorite films, the 1996 adaptation of the Phantom. The film was dumped by Paramount on the original release and did not get a fair reception from critics at the time. Audiences found the film on home video and it has never had a truly deluxe release. This Kino version uses a new Paramount 4K master which improves on many things but itself has issues. The Kino UHD is a defective piece of crap and was eventually replaced by a second defective UHD. The label claims the errors are fixed and that we are suffering user error. They did this for multiple titles suffering the same issues. The Blu-ray does not have these issues but there is an issue with virtually every aspect of the release. Get the new Blu-ray and pair it with the Laserdisc or dvd for the best audio and that’s the best fans can do. This is a new low even for Kino who have proved to be the worst label in the business. 00:00 Disclaimers and Intro Goof of Phan Fury 08:22 Review Part One Start, Introduction and Personal Connection 10:24 Character History and Background 10:46 Origin Story 14:31 Film Discussion-development process, writer and director 20:12 replicates the spirit of classic serials as well as Falk’s tone 21:31 excellent 1996 production values 23:05 Plot discussion 25:00 THE ZANE-one of the all time great superhero performances 27:47 THE TREAT-Williams having a field day as Drax 29:44 Kristy Swanson as Diana 31:44 Excellent supporting cast-Remar remarkable as quill 32:02 Catherine zeta jones as Sala 32:38 Patrick McGoohan as the ghost of the previous Phantom 33:32 Cary Hiroyuki Tagawa as Kabai Sengh 34:01 Post Production hasty and many scenes trimmed or deleted, rushed marketing resulting in box office failure, indy connections, legacy of the character 39:18 This is a film I’ve always defended 43:21 Home Video History 53:01 2026 Kino Lorber 4K UHD and Blu-ray release: FUBARED SLAM KINO! 54:10 New Paramount 4K master on a DEFECTIVE UHD 56:35 The new Blu-ray DOES NOT HAVE THESE IMAGE PROBLEMS!!! 56:56 The HDR grading is overdone leading to headaches because the image is too dark yet too bright in areas 59:14 The UHD encoding is crap with visible artifacts 59:51 Blu-ray has decent encoding and NO JUNK NOISE! 01:00:06 YET ANOTHER KINO BD BETTER THAN A BAD UHD 01:00:30 DO NOT WATCH OR BUY THE UHD! 01:02:47 That’s why I say SLAM KINO 01:03:06 The Paramount 4K master better but grain managed because ITS PARAMOUNT 01:04:55 light damage in transfer 01:05:05 end credits look rough as if from dupe elements or a print 01:06:06 uhd reveals more bd masks more of this stuff 01:07:07 Fans should be outraged, hopefully another label gets to fix this mess 01:08:06 I’M DONE WITH KINO 01:08:27 Blu-ray picture quality overview-THE ONLY WATCHABLE VERSION TO BUY 01:09:12 UHD gets the Skull Ring, BD gets the Good Mark 01:10:15 Audio Quality-Paramount tamed home video versions 01:14:10 Packaging and Artwork-EVEN THIS HAS PROBLEMS! 01:21:20 Supplemental Features-Lovely but Incomplete AND OF COURSE THESE ALSO HAVE TECHNICAL ISSUES! 01:27:31 Technical problems in Zane interview extra 01:31:11 Composer zoom interview 01:34:09 Low quality teaser trailer only plus usual random kino trailer gallery 01:37:58 Biography episode of The Phantom never included on any release 01:39:12 Final Summary-I’M DONE WITH KINO. END OF PART ONE. 01:52:59 PART TWO-REPLACEMENT DEBACLE BEGINS 01:55:17 waited an extra month no updates, disc shows up unannounced 01:56:19 THEY DIDN’T FIX THE ISSUE AT ALL! IT IS THE SAME!!!! 01:57:53 THE DISC IS NEW AND TECHNICALLY A WORSE ENCODE!!! 01:59:29 Kino’s response and it gets worse 02:02:29 compounding this issue is kino’s obvious disdain towards customers-a new low even for kino no other label would do this 02:04:19 This is where I HAVE HAD IT WITH THE LABEL-only get them when it is THE ONLY OPTION. THIS IS AN INSULT. 02:07:18 Overall Summary of EVERY PROBLEM 02:12:46 EVERY SINGLE ASPECT IS SCREWED UP SOMEHOW 02:13:57 THE WORST DISC OF THE YEAR, KINO IS THE WORST LABEL IN THE BUSINESS 02:17:40 Kino is the worst label, do not support their crap releases. 02:19:22 Updated final summary of this Kino DEBACLE 02:24:01 Ending Goof of Phan Fury (SPOILERS) 35mm trailer scan:    • The Phantom (1996) 35mm film teaser traile...   1996 Biography episode: Making of promo:    • The Making Of 'The Phantom' Movie with Bil...   1994 fifth draft screenplay: https://www.scriptslug.com/script/the...