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Comparison between the 4K remastered version (2022), represented by the 2022 Blu-ray/4K Blu-ray and the original version, represented by the 2008 Blu-ray.
Tobe Hooper was officially in the director's chair for 1982's Poltergeist, but fans have been arguing for decades about how much producer Steven Spielberg was actually the one holding the creative reins here. Ultimately, this is certainly secondary, because an excellent fantasy classic has come out of it either way. In any case, the fact is that now for the 40th anniversary of the film, without appropriate advance notice, a few small retouches were made. And these are exactly in the tradition of the already mentioned Spielberg cult titles. In September/October 2022, the 4K Blu-ray and a new Blu-ray was released globally. Here, a few scenes have had goofs corrected that have been listed for a while in, for example, the trivia section of IMDb. As in the other such cases, however, as expected by no means all of the goofs listed by eager fans have been addressed - see also the 3D version of Titanic, where by no means all of the more than 200 known goofs have been addressed. Here too, for example, you can still see a few reflections that look suspiciously like camera equipment, or you can guess the tricks behind some stunts. In two places, visible crew members have been removed from the picture for less than a second each. As expected, this has been done professionally and can only be welcomed. In other scenes, you can see with a very close look that strings used to move objects and a reflection have now disappeared. The latter in particular also overlaps a bit with the generally slightly darker image of the new Blu-ray. Before you get the wrong impression from our compressed screenshot size, we'd just like to comment that the 2022 remaster looks really great and beats the old Blu-ray by far. Especially the 4K version convinces once again with strongly used HDR and should be recommended to every fan. See also e.g. reviews on Blu-ray.com or High-Def Digest. 02:10
When the golden retriever goes into the next bedroom (of Dana), you could see a crew member in the background for less than half a second. If you pay attention to the small gap in the door at the top left of the picture, you can briefly see some hands and a red t-shirt passing by. It seems to be the dog trainer. In the 4K version, the person has now been digitally removed and the background of the room remains static.
Naturally, this is better seen in motion. At least it becomes a bit more noticable in a close-up of the relevant section of the image:
26:09 When Robbie's glass bottom breaks out, you used to see a small string that was obviously used to pull the bottom away to the side. This little string has now been digitally removed.
Here is another close-up of the relevant section of the image:
26:19 On the picture frame on the left (right next to Diane's head) you used to see a small reflection of a boom mic moving from top to bottom. This part is now kept uniformly darker without such an unwanted sign of the equipment.
Here is another close-up of the relevant section of the image:
As a side note it can be mentioned that even in the 4K version you can still see * a reflection on the toaster (top left of the picture) in the 29th minute, probably showing the film crew, and * a reflection on the car window in the 31st minute, probably showing the camera crane and * a fishing line in the 37th minute pulling the children's doll carriage. So by no means all of the mistakes listed in various online sources have been corrected.
101:50 When Diane wanders from right to left in front of the beast, the mouth of the beast (apparently "drawn" into the footage afterwards) was visible above her t-shirt for a brief moment. This grayish bit thus briefly wandered over the numbers on the back of the shirt during her movement to the side. In the 4K version, this has now been eradicated and correctly Diane now briefly covers the mouth for these few frames.
Here is another close-up of the relevant section of the image:
102:03 When Diane gets a shock from the door knob and is thrown back, the camera moves to the side. Under the stairs, you can see the feet of a crew member for a brief moment. The person quickly moves away to the side. In the 4K remastered version, this has now been digitally retouched. A mattress (?) next to it was also removed in the process. The shadow on the wall of the apparatus that Diane's stundouble dragged across the room is still visible in 4K, however.
Here is another close-up of the relevant section of the image:
106:13 The skeleton at the door also had at least one string moving its arm. During the brighter moments of the scene, this was clearly visible - which is now no longer the case in the 4K version.
Here is another close-up of the relevant section of the image:
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