HBO Max's 4K Release of Mad Men is a Disaster, Not a Remaster
The highly anticipated 4K release of HBO Max's popular period drama series Mad Men has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Instead of a carefully crafted remaster, the streamer's 4K versions are riddled with errors that should have been caught in post-production.
When subscribers fired up the app yesterday expecting to see Don Draper and his cohorts in glorious 4K, many were dismayed to find episodes bearing incorrect titles. But the most egregious issue is the presence of a production crew member in the infamous vomiting scene from the episode "Red in the Face." This glaring mistake suggests that a crucial step was skipped during the updating process.
While these mistakes don't alter the show's narrative beyond recognition, they do undermine the fantasy and make HBO Max appear to have dropped the ball. According to Vulture, the errors are attributed to HBO Max receiving incorrect files from Lionsgate Television. One would expect someone to rewatch all episodes before uploading them onto HBO Max's servers; in this instance, it seems no one bothered.
The timing of these mistakes couldn't be worse for HBO Max. The streamer recently raised its prices for the third year in a row, and its parent company is attempting to secure a major acquisition deal. A botched release like this only adds to the perception that the platform is struggling to maintain quality standards.
In the hopes of rectifying the situation, HBO Max should fix these errors as soon as possible. With its prices already on the rise, any further blunders will only serve to erode subscriber trust and loyalty.
The highly anticipated 4K release of HBO Max's popular period drama series Mad Men has turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. Instead of a carefully crafted remaster, the streamer's 4K versions are riddled with errors that should have been caught in post-production.
When subscribers fired up the app yesterday expecting to see Don Draper and his cohorts in glorious 4K, many were dismayed to find episodes bearing incorrect titles. But the most egregious issue is the presence of a production crew member in the infamous vomiting scene from the episode "Red in the Face." This glaring mistake suggests that a crucial step was skipped during the updating process.
While these mistakes don't alter the show's narrative beyond recognition, they do undermine the fantasy and make HBO Max appear to have dropped the ball. According to Vulture, the errors are attributed to HBO Max receiving incorrect files from Lionsgate Television. One would expect someone to rewatch all episodes before uploading them onto HBO Max's servers; in this instance, it seems no one bothered.
The timing of these mistakes couldn't be worse for HBO Max. The streamer recently raised its prices for the third year in a row, and its parent company is attempting to secure a major acquisition deal. A botched release like this only adds to the perception that the platform is struggling to maintain quality standards.
In the hopes of rectifying the situation, HBO Max should fix these errors as soon as possible. With its prices already on the rise, any further blunders will only serve to erode subscriber trust and loyalty.