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Blue Hawaii (1961)
Blue Hawaii (1961) poster

Blue Hawaii (1961)

Comedy, Music • 1h 42m

Director: Norman Taurog

Paramount 4K Blu-ray

UHD Blu-ray

Best English-friendly release · updated 1 year ago

UHD tiers

Excellent
Paramount:

Caveat: audio only includes a 5.1 mix, no OG track

Overview

Chad Gates has just been discharged from the Army, and is happy to be back in Hawaii with his surf-board, his beach buddies and his girlfriend.

Release details

Best Video Release

Same release as the recommendation

Best Audio Release

Mono from DVD

Length
102 mins
Type
Movie

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Director: Norman Taurog

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Universal Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Norman Taurog

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration

Director: Norman Taurog

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray 4K restoration

Director: Norman Taurog

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Universal MOD Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Norman Taurog

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Norman Taurog

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Norman Taurog

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Norman Taurog

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Norman Taurog

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Norman Taurog

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

More from Paramount

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Director: Peter Faiman

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD

International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray

Encore Cut: Germany Winkler Film 4K Blu-ray, censored but good encoding

Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut

Best Video:same release
Best Audio:

Australia Cut: Laserdisc

Additional Info:

The film exists in three versions:
- the original Australian cut (~104 minutes at 24fps/~100 minutes at 25fps);
- the American/international version (~98 minutes at 24fps/~94 minutes at 25fps) trimming some exposition in the Outback first half of the film and some shorter extensions of a few seconds in the New York section, altering some of the dialogue – including censoring a "fuck" to "screw" – but featuring one additional dialogue extension not in the Australian version (a comparison of the two cuts can be found at Movie Censorship);
- the Australian Encore Cut (~95 minutes at 24fps/~91 minutes at 25fps) which uses the international version source so it already has those alterations but also removes approximately three minutes consisting of parts of two scenes featuring Mick grabbing the crotch of a cross-dressing prostitute and a later sequence when he does the same thing at a party to a woman with a deep voice (a comparison of the international version and the Encore Cut can be found at Movie Censorship).

Director: Martin Scorsese

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: capelight.de (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray > Paramount US, same black crush as the US disc but encoded by FiM and very good new supplements

Additional Info:

Paramount US 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision 

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray has MEL Dolby Vision

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

2D version: Paramount Blu-ray

3D version: Paramount 3D Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray on October 26 2026

Best Video:same release

Director: Billy Wilder

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray or Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray. See caps
HDR/grading: nice, but some blown out
Encoding: inconsistent, smeared motion
DNR: inconsistent, frozen
Old Paramount Blu-ray is arguably a solid alternative choice

Best Audio:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono is different version of the Blu-ray mono from the same old 2000 DVD transfer.

Additional Info:

The 5.1 remix on the 4K Blu-ray is an appalling remix done by going wild with artificially generated stems from Park Road Post who were given the surviving mono to separate. The experience is jarring and fidelity to original mix in terms of level balance, directionality and impact is nonexistent. Not only does this sound painfully weird, but the Paramount mixers then did whatever they wanted in terms of LFE, sound pans and effect changes.
The original mono mix was not restored and still needs it badly. The 4K master is filled with frozen grain examples coming and going plus some HDR issues in addition to the usual Paramount problems. It is simultaneously better and worse than the Blu-ray master.

Director: Robert Altman

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Paramount Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release

Best Video:same release

Director: Richard Linklater

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

4K · Solid

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

Additional Info:

Germany Blu-ray has English audio 

Germany Blu-ray is part of a 3-film box set like the Criterion but by StudioCanal 

Director: Michael Bay

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Original AR: Paramount 4K Blu-ray

IMAX AR: Paramount 3D Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Stanley Donen

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Paramount Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Trey Parker

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Paramount Blu-ray

Best Video & Audio:same release

Directors: Arturo Perez Jr. & Samantha Jayne

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:same release

More Comedy on Blu-ray

Director: Rob Reiner

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray releasing December 14 2026

Best Video:same release

Director: Chris Columbus

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

Kaleidescape 4K Streaming

Disney 4K Blu-ray has encoding issues with bitrates dipping into 40mbps, and Kaleidescape has better encoding than Disney see caps 
Old Fox Blu-ray master is stretched and sharpened

Director: Archie Mayo

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

ClassicFlix Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Jūzō Itami

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:same release
Best Audio:

Japan Toho Blu-ray

Director: Tsui Hark

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid

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

Best Video:same release
Additional Info:

There is a newer 4K restoration by L’Immagine Ritrovata, which should be of better scan quality. The 4K restoration used on all current 4K disc releases stems from a low-quality Cintel scanner. The newer restoration has yet to be released on home video.

Director: W.S. Van Dyke

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray, 4k scan

Director: George Stevens

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion Blu-ray, 2K restoration

Director: Victor Schertzinger

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Universal Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Raoul Walsh

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Universal Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Frank Tuttle

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Universal Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Edit history

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Researched and maintained by

M_Avanshady

· last reviewed 1 year ago

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