Cast
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Udo Kier

Udo Kier

14 films on Best Blurays10 in 4K4 in HD

Udo Kier photo

Udo Kierspe (October 14, 1944 – November 23, 2025), known professionally as Udo Kier, was a German actor. Known primarily as a cult character actor who portrayed eccentric and deviant figures, he appeared in more than 220 films in both leading and supporting roles throughout Europe and the Americas. He collaborated with acclaimed filmmakers such as Lars von Trier, Gus Van Sant, Werner Herzog, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Walerian Borowczyk, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Dario Argento, Tom Shadyac, Charles Matton, Guy Maddin, Alexander Payne, and Paul Morrissey.

Biography from TMDB

Leading role · Director: Paul Morrissey

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Severin 4K Blu-ray

Leading role · Director: Paul Morrissey

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray second pressing only

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray applies to second pressing only which fixes the oversaturated skin tones, the replacement disc has the 4K Blu-ray logo on a yellow background instead of white

Supporting role · Director: David Hogan

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Disappointing

Supporting role · Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

4K · Excellent
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:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray is slightly better than French 4K Blu-ray see caps

Supporting role · Director: Stephen Norrington

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

(France 4K Blu-ray has Dolby Vision, but removes the theatrical forced subtitles, also has some shots worse than the Warner Bros 4K)

Best Audio:

DTS-HD 6.1 from the Blu-ray?

Supporting role · Director: Lars von Trier

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

4K Restoration: Curzon 4K Blu-ray

Theatrical Presentation: 2013 Japan King Records Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Curzon 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion  Blu-ray contains exclusive interviews.

The 2013 King Records Blu-ray is the only Blu-Ray release with the video processed look that appeared theatrically, all following Blu-Ray releases use an restoration straight from the original camera negative.

Supporting role · Director: Dario Argento

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Synapse 4K Blu-ray or UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

(some may prefer Synapse's grading, while some prefer Shameless's grading)

Best Audio:

4.0 track on the Synapse 4K Blu-ray

Supporting role · Director: Tom Shadyac

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

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

Upcoming Release:

Via Vision 4K

Video Notes:

(caveat: missing extras present on the Germany NSM Blu-ray mediabook)

Best Audio:

WB Home Video US LaserDisc [23000]

Audio Notes:

WB Home Video US LaserDisc [23000] for the OG stereo

Supporting role · Director: Peter Hyams

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Audio Notes:

's audio is also better than most previous releases as their 5.1 isn't clipped

Small role · Director: Lars von Trier

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

No disc has correct frame rate (25fps) and English subtitles

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

Best Audio:

Nordisk NOR Blu-ray / Potemkine France Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

About the same

Small role · Director: Lars von Trier

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Curzon Blu-ray

Small role · Director: Gus Van Sant

Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK/Germany/Spain/Japan WB Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

UK/Germany/Spain/Japan WB Blu-ray > Criterion on encoding

Small role · Director: Lars von Trier

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray or France Potemkine Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

(needs gamma correction)

The movie was shot in HD and  France Potemkine Blu-ray (needs gamma correction) has slightly stronger encoding than Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray. Curzon Blu-ray is the worst of all three (not by much) see caps.

Small role · Director: Michael Bay

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical: Disney Blu-ray

Extended: UK/Australia Disney Collector's Edition DVD

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

Upcoming Release:

(A 4K version was possibly restored in 2025)

Video Notes:

Alleycat's extended restoration better

Best Audio:

Cinema DTS

Additional Info:

Extended Cut DVD has extras not on Blu-ray

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