Best Blurays
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William Wyler

William Wyler

20 films on Best Blurays3 in 4K16 in HD1 in SD

Also in the cast: 3 films

William Wyler photo

William Wyler (July 1, 1902 – July 27, 1981) was a German-born film director, producer, and screenwriter. Notable works include Ben-Hur (1959), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and Mrs. Miniver (1942), all which won Wyler Academy Awards for Best Director, and also won Best Picture. He earned his first Oscar nomination for directing Dodsworth in 1936, sparking a 20-year run of almost unbroken greatness. Film historian Ian Freer calls Wyler a "bona fide perfectionist," whose penchant for retakes and an attempt to hone every last nuance "became the stuff of legend." His ability to direct a string of classic literary adaptations into huge box office and critical successes made him one of Hollywood's most bankable moviemakers during the 1930s and 1940s.

Biography from TMDB

The Big Country (1958)

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray/Final Cut Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1996 Image Entertainment LaserDisc

Additional Info:

The Kino BD has additional extras but the Laserdisc still has exclusive extras and commentary not included on the Kino release. AVOID the MGM Blu-ray for the stretched aspect ratio error that was only finally corrected for the Kino Lorber reissue after much fan outcry.

4.0

Ben-Hur (1959)

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1991 MGM LaserDisc

Audio Notes:

The 4K Blu-ray 5.0 is the original mix, but more muffled than LaserDisc and even the previous Blu-ray's gentle remix. The Atmos mix is revisionist.

Additional Info:

The 50th Anniversary box set has some exclusive extras.

1991 LaserDisc is Dolby Stereo matrix encoded from the original six track master and this was later upgraded to a 5.1 Dolby Digital version prepared for the first DVD. The 5.1 version may have had some slight tweaking in the process. This was reused for the DVD CE boxset and then the 5.1 on Blu-ray seems like a slight upgrade of the DVD track. (The first pressing from the UCE boxset had audio defects rampant on the Blu-ray. These were corrected for standalone pressings.) All 5.1s sound roughly the same as the LaserDisc 2.0 in terms of the mix, but the LaserDisc PCM mastering seems like the only one that is direct without any major processing.

4.1

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