Jack Elam

Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray > Paramount 4K Blu-ray

The Universal HD master is appalling. This is a large format early Technirama film that has been hit with a massive amount of DNR resulting in a smeary appearance throughout with little detail. On one hand it is still a better scan than the old DVD with better color and element issues addressed. On the other it is barely above the DVD upscaled in other moments. The mono audio has been horribly processed to sound thin, canned and lacking in overall fidelity. The DVD clearly uses the same source element for picture and sound and here the sound is left alone. It sounds miles better. The Kino BD is technically the best US release but this master has been released in Europe where it likely has better encoding. The Kino BD adds a basic commentary. This film needs a proper transfer and audio presentation desperately. The HD master is so lackluster that the DVD despite its age is arguably preferable in visuals and certainly far superior in audio.

HD transfer slightly better than Carlotta

The Arrow Video Blu-ray is the best iteration so far coming from a new restoration complete with great supplements and package. The original limited edition version included a second disc with the alternate 2.0:1 framed version. The primary disc is 1.85:1. Older releases pre-2008 were all in Academy ratio. 1.85 is the best compromise ratio for the visuals. As good as this release is, the master is showing its age and sadly has a number of frozen grain artifacts.

• First Preview (Turner): Germany Plaion Blu-ray

• Second Preview (Final Preview): Germany Plaion Blu-ray > Criterion Blu-ray

• Theatrical: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

• 2005 Cut: WB DVD

• 2024 Cut: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is disappointing (review)

BFI significantly better than Kino Lorber even though same restoration http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-ray_reviews_64/pocketful_of_miracles_blu-ray.htm

Both Kino Lorber and Germany Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode. See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the Original Camera Negative footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray: It seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.

Eureka 4K Blu-ray (BD-100): Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.

I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K Blu-ray as the Original Camera Negative shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K Blu-ray for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.

Eureka 4K UHD image is frequently stunning and far better than the Kino UHD using the same master. (no surprise) However there is frozen grain throughout baked into the Paramount master, some shots are soft due to management (some are inherently soft) and the HDR is questionable in areas. In some areas the old Eureka BD using the same scan in SDR is preferable. As usual, the issues are Paramount's doing and the only way to escape them would be starting from scratch.

Kino and Eureka UHDs have a mix of new and legacy extras. To have every supplement you will need both UHDs and the original Criterion Laserdisc for the exclusive commentary.