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Brian Cox

Brian Cox

14 films on Best Blurays11 in 4K3 in HD

Brian Cox photo

Brian Denis Cox (born June 1, 1946) is a Scottish actor. A classically trained Shakespearean actor, he is known for his work on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include two Laurence Olivier Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as a nomination for a British Academy Television Award. In 2003, he was appointed to the Order of the British Empire at the rank of Commander. Cox trained at the Dundee Repertory Theatre before becoming a founding member of the Royal Lyceum Theatre. He went on to train as a Shakespearean actor, starring in numerous productions with the Royal National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he gained recognition for his portrayal of King Lear. Cox received two Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Actor for his roles in Rat in the Skull (1984), for Royal Court, and Titus Andronicus (1988). He received two more Olivier Award nominations for Misalliance (1986) and Fashion (1988). Known as a character actor in film, he played Robert McKee in Spike Jonze's Adaptation (2002) and William Stryker in X2 (2003). For his starring role in L.I.E. (2001), he received an Independent Spirit Award nomination. His other notable films include Manhunter (1986), Iron Will (1994), Braveheart (1995), The Boxer (1997), The Rookie (2002), Troy (2004), Match Point (2005), The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007), Coriolanus (2011), Pixels (2015), and Churchill (2017). Cox won the Primetime Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series for his portrayal of Hermann Göring in the television film Nuremberg (2001). The following year, he guest starred on the NBC sitcom Frasier, earning his second Emmy nomination in 2002. He portrayed Jack Langrishe in the HBO series Deadwood. He starred as Logan Roy on the HBO series Succession (2018-2023), for which he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series and was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Drama Series.

Biography from TMDB

Leading role · Director: Bryan Singer

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

4K Blu-ray vs Cinema DTS vs D-Theater DVHS?

Additional Info:

Missing extras on the old Blu-ray trilogy box set

Supporting role · Director: Michael Mann

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical/Director's Cut: Shout! Factory Blu-ray
Hybrid Theatrical Cut: Anchor Bay "Theatrical" DVD
Final Cut: upcoming UK StudioCanal Final Cut 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

UK StudioCanal Final Cut 4K Blu-ray

Supporting role · Director: Wolfgang Petersen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Both cuts are excellent in 4K. See caps

Best Audio:

Director's cut: 2007 WB Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Director's cut: 2007 WB Blu-ray; Arrow is a lossy transcode with dynamics compression.
2007 BD's AC-3 track with dynamic range compression enabled is nearly identical to Arrow's, see comparison

Theatrical cut is fine.

Supporting role · Director: Gore Verbinski

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray encoding is much better caps

Paramount 4K Blu-ray is disappointing capsule review

Best Audio:

4K Blu-ray vs Cinema DTS vs D-Theater DVHS?

Additional Info:

The D-Theater DVHS/DVD has a different color grading compared to the 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray

Supporting role · Director: Rupert Wyatt

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox 4K Blu-ray

Supporting role · Director: Doug Liman

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Cut: US Universal HD-DVD

International Cut: International Universal HD-DVD

Video Notes:

The Universal Blu-ray is slightly filtered and DNR'd compared to the HD-DVD, and the Universal 4K Blu-ray, on top of being upscaled, adds additional DNR and is softer than both previous HD releases.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray DTS-HD 5.1

Additional Info:

Versions:
- The International version contains a short additional scene (part of the "Farmhouse" extended scene from the special features). See additional detail below.
- The US version does not contain this scene during the film. Director Doug Liman confirms in his audio commentary that the scene was cut from the original US theatrical release "for time".
- "The Explosive Extended Edition" found on some DVD releases is not an alternate cut of the film, simply an access mode that plays "The Bookend Scenes" features via non-seamless branching.

Deck the Halls scene:
The U.S. release is 118:17 while the European/Australian/Japanese releases are 118:36. There is no difference between the two running times from the start, but at 81:21, the U.S. version cuts from a kitchen scene of Marie and Eamon washing dishes, to a scene of Eamon bringing blankets to Jason and Marie. On the European/Australian releases, at the same point, there is a scene of Jason, Marie, Eamon and his children eating dinner while "Deck the Halls" plays in the background. There is no dialogue, the characters just each exchange uncomfortable glances. The scene goes to 81:40, then picks up the same scene of Eamon bringing blankets. This scene is included as an extra ("Farmhouse" extended scene) albeit sans the holiday themed music. Many thanks to Rewind user Mark Bowen for comparing these releases and letting us know the difference.

Supporting role · Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Supporting role · Director: Renny Harlin

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Supporting role · Director: David Fincher

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Theatrical: Paramount 4K Blu-ray

Director's: US Paramount Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Theatrical: Paramount 4K Blu-ray, see more in Geoff's review

Director's: US Paramount Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Director's: US Paramount Blu-ray > WB Blu-ray

Supporting role · Director: James Foley

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Toy Robot 4K Blu-ray

Small role · Director: Mel Gibson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Paramount 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

US Paramount 4K Blu-ray has Dolby Vision, while other countries Fox 4K Blu-ray only has HDR

Small role · Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

2K DI Upscale, see caps

4K Blu-ray is slightly cropped on all sides compared to Blu-ray, but "that appears to be a conscious choice as the compositions don’t seem to suffer. They also slightly expanded the black bars in order to hide the ringing on the borders."

Audio Notes:

Surround levels are 3 dB too high, but the Fox Blu-ray has channel leakage

Small role · Director: Spike Jonze

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Small role · Director: Spike Jonze

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros Blu-ray

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