Born on the Fourth of July (1989)
Drama, War • 2h 25m
Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Tom Cruise, Raymond J. Barry, Caroline Kava, Kyra Sedgwick, Willem Dafoe, Jerry Levine, Stephen Baldwin, Josh Evans, Rob Camilletti, Vivica A. Fox, Lili Taylor, Tony Frank, Holly Marie Combs, Tom Berenger, Frank Whaley, Mark Moses, Bob Gunton, Cordelia González, Jayne Haynes, Anne Bobby, Richard Panebianco, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Mike Starr, Ed Lauter, Daniel Baldwin, Brian Tarantina, Dale Dye, Norma Moore, Stacey Moseley, Oliver Stone, Sean Stone, Jenna Von Oÿ, Ellen Pasternack, Joy Zapata, John Getz, David Warshofsky, Jason Gedrick, Bill Allen, William Baldwin, Claude Brooks, James LeGros, William Mapother, Byron Minns, Markus Flanagan, R. D. Call, Corkey Ford, Rocky Carroll, Chris Pedersen, David Herman, Bruce MacVittie, Damien Leake, David Neidorf, Paul Sanchez, Billie Neal, Richard Poe, Jake Weber, Reg E. Cathey, Edie Brickell, Joseph P. Reidy, Beau Starr, Rick Masters, John Del Regno, Melinda Renna, Andrew Lauer, Ivan Kane, J.R. Nutt, Begonya Plaza, Edith Diaz, Anthony Pena, Peter Crombie, Ken Osborne, Alan Toy, Chuck Pfeiffer, William Wallace, Eagle-Eye Cherry, Frank Cavestani, John William Galt, Jack McGee, Jodi Long, Michelle Hurst, John C. McGinley, Wayne Knight, Elizabeth Hoffman, Lucinda Jenney, Annie McEnroe, Réal Andrews, Theresa Bell, Dean Denton, Ron Kovic, Delia Sheppard, Nick Nicholson, Henry Strzalkowski, Norman D. Wilson, Frank Girardeau, Donald Wilson, Craig T. Nelson, Jessica Prunell, Michael Guess, Gale Mayron, Bryan Larkin, Seth Allen, Erika Geminder, Samantha Larkin
Best English-friendly release · updated 1 year ago
UHD tiers
Overview
Paralyzed in the Vietnam war, Ron Kovic becomes an anti-war and pro-human rights political activist after feeling betrayed by the country he fought for.
Director: Jean Vigo
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
France Rimini 4K Blu-ray see caps vs Artificial Eye Blu-ray
Directors: Alberto Cavalcanti & Charles Crichton & Basil Dearden & Robert Hamer
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
Director: Otakar Vávra
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray see nic review
Restored: Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored: Czech PAL DVD
Preferences will vary, the restored track sounds good, but not necessarily faithful to the original elements.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
(Indicator 4K Blu-ray, based on review)
Director: Anthony Mann
Director: Basil Dearden
Excellent 4K master and encode, except for opticals grain is very fine, grading is beautifully silvery and luminous, nice HDR re-grade by Fidelity in Motion
Director: Oliver Stone
Theatrical Cut 4K Blu-ray in August
Director's Cut: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: Shout! Factory Blu-ray (included with collector's edition)
Theatrical Cut: The Shout UHD DTS-HD 2.0
Theatrical Cut: The Shout UHD DTS-HD 2.0 seems to be the same mix overall as the 1992 laserdisc PCM 2.0 but its not a straight port. Even though there are some minor differences, it does not seem to be a downmix of the 5.1. It could possibly be a new mastering. It has just a tiny bit more dynamic range than the laserdisc, but the laserdisc has a bit more presence in the lower and midrange frequencies.
Director: Oliver Stone
Sources: hometheaterforum.com (opens in a new tab) · x.com (opens in a new tab)
A improved Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray teased by Oliver Stone
Better than 2022 Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray due to poor encode and heavy DNR (review)
Director: Oliver Stone
2025 Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Atmos remix: 2025 Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1 surround mix: 2007 Paramount Blu-ray (lossy AC-3 640k)
The original mix has better dynamics range. The 5.1 tracks on the SF release are downmixes.
Target exclusive 3 disc DVD have extras omitted from the Shout! Factory release
Director: Oliver Stone
Sources: lddb.com (opens in a new tab)
Twilight Time Blu-ray or MGM NTSC DVD for the original mono mix
Shout! Factory 4K only has a stereo downmix (which sounds muffled, as do the surround tracks)
Twilight Time Blu-ray has the mono track with seemingly the best fidelity, but its dynamic range has been heavily compressed
MoC UK Blu-ray has a proper dynamics and good fidelity, but bizzarely, everything is repeated after a few miliseconds, rendering echoey and metallic
MGM NTSC DVD has been denoised and has had a strong EQ applied and sounds muffled as a result, but it retains proper dynamics
Koch Media DE BD had poor dynamics and wrong pitch
Perhaps the digital JP LD would be better.
Director: Oliver Stone
Director: Oliver Stone
Director's Cut: WB Director's Cut DVD
Final Cut: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Director: John Carpenter
Sources: blog.sporv.com (opens in a new tab)
1997? Signature Collection LD
Good: 2017 Arrow and 2016 Shout! Factory Blu-ray have the original audio options.
the only track on Universal 4K, which is in DTS:X, has a mixing error of around 6dB too low on side channels, otherwise very similar to other 5.1 mixes.
Director: Henry Selick
2D Version: Laika/Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
3D Version: 2011 3D Blu-ray
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
2D Version: Laika/Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
3D Version: 2011 3D Blu-ray caps
Director: Tsui Hark
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray or Australia Imprint 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
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: David Lynch
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray, confirmed to be uncut
Directors: Frank Oz & Jim Henson
Shout! Factory's 2.0 is a downmix of the 5.1
Director: Jim Henson
Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray
Sources: lddb.com (opens in a new tab)
Shout! Factory doesn't have the low-pass filter that's on the Sony US 4K Blu-ray from 2021 with Dolby Vision (or the worse HDR10 only release from 2016). Shout! Factory retains more high-frequency grain and detail.
Embassy Home Entertainment JPN LaserDisc or 1999 Sony US DVD 2.0
Director: Michael Mann
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray upcoming, Director's Final Cut premiering October 3rd; will receive home video release in the future
Director: Joel Coen
Arrow 4K Blu-ray scheduled for November 2026 release
All the same
Director: Takashi Miike
2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Original matrixed DTS Stereo mix: 2026 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
5.0 surround remix: 2009 Shout! Factory US Blu-ray
Arrow includes three audio tracks, matrixed stereo, discrete 4.0, and a 5.0 surround remix. Unfortunately, only the first one is usable. The 4.0 desyncs partway through. The 5.0 has incorrect (lower) pitch. Fortunately, the matrixed stereo track sounds great, but it is still a major disappointment.
There has been no replacement disc announced. See nicwood's BR post.
Director: Mike Flanagan
US Shout! Factory or UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray (similar encoding)
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