Citizen Kane (1941)
Mystery, Drama • 1h 59m
Director: Orson Welles
Cast: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Ray Collins, George Coulouris, Agnes Moorehead, Paul Stewart, Ruth Warrick, Erskine Sanford, William Alland, Everett Sloane, Fortunio Bonanova, Gus Schilling, Philip Van Zandt, Georgia Backus, Harry Shannon, Sonny Bupp, Buddy Swan, Gregg Toland, Don Ackerman, Gino Corrado, Maurice Costello, Demetrius Alexis, Gene Coogan, Art Dupuis, Rudy Germane, Mike Lally, Walter Lawrence, John Northpole, Victor Romito, Bob Terry, William Alston, Jack Gargan, Bert Moorhouse, Carmen Laroux, Sam Ash, Buddy Messinger, Terrance Ray, Sally Corner, Walter Bacon, Herbert Corthell, Harry A. Bailey, Danny Borzage, Tom Coleman, Carl Deloro, Jack Egan, Robert Haines, Ludwig Lowry, John McCormack, Hercules Mendez, Paddy O'Flynn, Sam Rice, Don Roberts, Larry Wheat, Morgan Brown, Harry Burkhardt, Edmund Cobb, Eddie Coke, Louis Natheaux, Arthur O'Connell, Guy Repp, Tom Steele, Richard Wilson, Louise Currie, Walter Sande, Jan Wiley, Milton Kibbee, Buck Mack, Alan Ladd, Thomas A. Curran, Jack Curtis, George Noisom, Gerald Pierce, Dona Dax, George DeNormand, Bud Geary, Bert LeBaron, Clyde McAtee, Cyril Ring, Roland Winters, Lew Harvey, Herman J. Mankiewicz, Eddie Dew, Perc Launders, John Dilson, Walter James, Robert Dudley, Suzanne Dulier, Al Eben, Johnny Eckert, Carl Ekberg, Edith Evanson, Carl Faulkner, Juanita Fields, Edna Mae Jones, Leda Nicova, Jolane Reynolds, Suzanne Ridgway, Olin Francis, Louise Franklin, Renee Godfrey, Peter Gowland, Jimmy Grant, Jesse Graves, Ernest Grooney, Jack Gwynne, Teddy Mangean, Henry Hebert, Bryan 'Slim' Hightower, Mitchell Ingraham, Philip Morris, Francis Sayles, George W. Jimenez, Ellen Lowe, James T. Mack, Mickey Martin, Bruce Sidney, Major McBride, Frank McLure, Charles Meakin, Edward Peil Jr., Irving Mitchell, Frances E. Neal, Lillian Nicholson, Joseph North, William H. O'Brien, Field Norton, Dick Scott, Frank O'Connor, Russ Powell, Bert Stevens, Thomas Pogue, Lillian O'Malley, Jack Raymond, Gohr Van Vleck, Myrtle Rishell, Benny Rubin, Shimen Ruskin, George Sherwood, Edward Ryan, Landers Stevens, Harry J. Vejar, Tudor Williams, Arthur Yeoman, Tim Davis, Arthur Kay, John Alban, Finn Zirzow, Sam Harris, Dorothy Cleveland
Best video release
WB Europe 4K Blu-ray
WB Europe 4K Blu-ray slightly better encoding than Criterion (caveat: missing Criterion extras)
Best audio release
UHD tiers
fewer extras but superior compression and grain on the film itself
About the film
Newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane is taken from his mother as a boy and made the ward of a rich industrialist. As a result, every well-meaning, tyrannical or self-destructive move he makes for the rest of his life appears in some way to be a reaction to that deeply wounding event.
- Featured Lists
- National Film Registry
Year of Induction: 1989
- TSPDT
- 2026: #12025: #12024: #12023: #12022: #1
Director: Anthony Mann
Criterion 4K Blu-ray, Universal 2008 DVD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
2008 Universal DVD mono
The mono on the Criterion is severely filtered resulting in it sounding incredibly muffled. It is nearly as filtered as the 2003 original Universal DVD which had extreme filtering and sounds horribly thin. The 2008 DVD remaster and original LaserDisc analog mastering are mostly left alone. The original LD master is from a worn element but otherwise sounds very natural. The 2008 DVD is the highest quality version we have without the heavy filtering and the defects of the LD master. It isn't perfect but easily the best of the main four sources by a dramatic margin.
The existing 4K SDR restoration looks excellent, but the Criterion extras are limited and disappointing. The classic Stewart interview commentary from the LD is ported over but given a new mastering. Compared to past releases it has been very slightly noise reduced.
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs Criterion
Three masterings of the original Dolby Stereo SR mix exist: the original Orion video releases, the Criterion (which is from their LD) and the Arrow. All three are excellent with slight mastering differences between them. The original Orion still is probably the one with the most fidelity, the Criterion is the cleanest with a kind of warm feel to it and the Arrow has a bit of both aspects. The Arrow mastering has a tiny almost imperceptible bit of audio bleeding into the surround that isn't on the Criterion. Each has their own pluses and minuses but you can't go wrong with any of them. Whatever you do though: DO NOT WATCH WITH THE 5.1 REMIX. It is another MGM botch job that fundamentally alters the impact of many scenes. It is vastly inferior to the original mix in every way.
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Elaine May
Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray > MoC > Olive Films. From nicolas:
The master is good but it’s not that big an upgrade from the Olive Films disc and Vinegar Syndrome’ encode has some blocky highlights. A shame that they didn’t hire David Mackenzie here.
Cinématographe has unnecessary noise gating not present on the previous releases.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K / Capelight 4K
1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered
Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice
Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1
MoC audio is better https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=225532&page=3
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
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Director: Orson Welles
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal: Although Criterion is low-pass filtered, StudioCanal exhibits very clear and distracting macroblocking.
Director: Orson Welles
MoC 4K Blu-ray and Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray are similar
Director: Orson Welles
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
WB 4K
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)
All foreign language tracks were pitched too low, replacement disc and Ultimate Knockout Collection disc fixed the error.
The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.
Director: Sylvester Stallone
2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray Box Set
2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray Box Set > 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray
2023 disc has a brief moment where the aspect ratio changes from 1.85:1 to 1.78:1, 2024 release fixed the error
Both cuts of the movie are on the same disc and don’t appear to be seamlessly branched.
The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.
Director: John G. Avildsen
Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)
Original Mono: Ultimate Knockout Collection/Knockout Collection replacement disc
Original Mono: Ultimate Knockout Collection/Knockout Collection replacement disc > Knockout collection original.
The Mono mix on the initial release of the Knockout Collection is a stereo fold-down of the 5.1, it also has a missing piano cue. The replacement disc and the ultimate knockout version fixed the error.
The Steelbook and UK standard edition is the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)
Original Knockout Collection release had its 5.1 mix pitched too low, replacement disc and Ultimate Knockout Collection fixed the error.
The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.
Director: Michael Anderson
Arrow 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release
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Researched and maintained by
tyyux,vanshady.test,vanshady,JojoTheMovieOtter,cbc,AdamA· last reviewed 7 days ago
Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.