Scott Seaton
33 films on Best Blurays6 in 4K26 in HD1 with no official release
6 in 4K
UHD Blu-ray or 4K streaming
Small role · Director: Charles Walters
Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray is a remaster from the original VistaVision camera negaitve, FiM encode
The original mono sounds good. The Atmos remix is a mixed bag, music performances are sourced from magnetic stereo recordings and sound great, but mono dialogue/effectshas undergone destructive noise reduction and unnecessary EQ, so the jumps in fidelity are incredibly jarring.
Small role · Director: Billy Wilder
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Capelight/Kino Lorber which has heavy noise reduction and opening snare hit is missing, Capelight is slightly better encoded than Kino Lorber
But still a bit overly noise-managed.
1984 CBS/Fox Hi-Fi VHS maybe better?
Small role · Director: Alfred Hitchcock
WB 4K
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.
Small role · Director: Frank Capra
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
1986 Columbia VHS
Small role · Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.
DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix
Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray
26 in HD
Blu-ray or HD streaming
Small role · Director: Stuart Heisler
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Small role · Director: Josef von Sternberg
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)
Indicator Blu-ray has better encoding than Criterion Blu-ray, both 4K restoration, see DVDBeaver caps
No caps on France Elephant Films Blu-ray
Small role · Director: Mark Sandrich
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · amazon.com (opens in a new tab)
IVC Japan Blu-ray is clearly from a higher generation film element and looks terrible. Comparisons: https://slow.pics/c/XUTwiv7B
Small role · Director: Marion Gering
Small role · Director: Lloyd Bacon
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Small role · Director: Peter Godfrey
Kino Lorber 2024 Reissue Blu-ray
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Kino Lorber 2024 Reissue Blu-ray has much better encoding than previous Kino Lorber Blu-ray, or MoC or Germany Blu-ray see caps
Small role · Director: John Ford
2022 Paramount Presents Blu-ray disc included in 4K Blu-ray set
Sources: x.com (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Same master, but less bitrate starved.
The encode on the BD is preferable to the UHD. Same master, but less bitrate starved: https://x.com/SadHillDevan/status/1530057783885721607?s=20 and see caps
1 with no official release
Unofficial sources only, no home media, or lost
Missing a Scott Seaton film? Suggest it