Love Actually (2003)
Comedy, Romance, Drama • 2h 15m
Director: Richard Curtis
Cast: Hugh Grant, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Martine McCutcheon, Colin Firth, Bill Nighy, Laura Linney, Lúcia Moniz, Andrew Lincoln, Keira Knightley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Gregor Fisher, Martin Freeman, Joanna Page, Heike Makatsch, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Kris Marshall, Rodrigo Santoro, Abdul Salis, Rowan Atkinson, Rory MacGregor, Sienna Guillory, Billy Bob Thornton, Lulu Popplewell, Olivia Olson, Nina Sosanya, Frank Moorey, Jill Raymond, Tim Hatwell, Lynden David Hall, Jont Whittington, Dan Fredenburgh, Alan Barnes, Shaughan Seymour, Helen Murton, Edward Hardwicke, Caroline John, Gemma Aston, Matt Harvey, Adrian Preater, Joanna Thaw, Junior Simpson, Brian Bovell, Sarah McDougall, Marcus Brigstocke, Richard Hawley, Wyllie Longmore, Gillian Barge, Richard Cotton, Kate Bowes Renna, Kate Glover, Nicola McRoy, Anthony McPartlin, Declan Donnelly, Elisabeth Margoni, Peter Marinker, Keir Charles, Doraly Rosen, Meg Wynn Owen, Carol Carey, Jo Whiley, Sarah Atkinson, Clare Bennett, Sarah Holland, Vicki Murdoch, Meredith Ostrom, Katherine Poulton, Tuuli Shipster, Michael Parkinson, Michael Fitzgerald, Ciaran O'Driscoll, William Wadham, Catia Duarte, Igor Urdenko, Nat Udom, Ines Boughanmi, Yuk Sim Yau, John Sharian, Glenn Conroy, Ivana Miličević, January Jones, Elisha Cuthbert, Wes Butters, Laura Rees, Emma Buckley, Sheila Allen, Terry Reece, Colin Coull, Margery Mason, Katharine Bailey, Tiffany Boysell, Georgia Flint, Joanna Bacon, Bill Moody, Billy Campbell, Paul Slack, Adam Godley, Ruby Turner, Amanda Garwood, Arturo Venegas, Claudia Schiffer, Patrick Delaney, Helder Costa, Carla Vasconcelos, Stewart Howson, Jamie Edgell, Dave Fisher, Paul Heasman, Tony Lucken, Raul Atalaia, Nancy Sorrell, Shannon Elizabeth, Denise Richards, Richard Curtis, Frances de la Tour, Rebecca Frayn, Kelly Michelle Gray, Nia Jermin, Jeanne Moreau, Deanna Mustard, Anne Reid, Fiona Thompson
Best English-friendly & video release
Universal 4K Blu-ray replacement disc only or AVC encoded StudioCanal Blu-ray?
Updated 6 months ago
Best audio release
UHD tiers
About the film
Eight London couples try to deal with their relationships in different ways. Their tryst with love makes them discover how complicated relationships can be.
Director: Michael Cimino
2020 Shout! Factory 4K
2020 Shout! Factory 4K slightly better than StudioCanal in HDR10. Similar in DV
35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc
70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc marginally better than StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is downmix.
70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is remix.
Director: Doug Liman
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
The Universal Blu-ray is slightly filtered and DNR'd compared to the HD-DVD, and the Universal 4K Blu-ray, on top of being upscaled, adds additional DNR and is softer than both previous HD releases.
Versions:
- The International version contains a short additional scene (part of the "Farmhouse" extended scene from the special features). See additional detail below.
- The US version does not contain this scene during the film. Director Doug Liman confirms in his audio commentary that the scene was cut from the original US theatrical release "for time".
- "The Explosive Extended Edition" found on some DVD releases is not an alternate cut of the film, simply an access mode that plays "The Bookend Scenes" features via non-seamless branching.
Deck the Halls scene:
The U.S. release is 118:17 while the European/Australian/Japanese releases are 118:36. There is no difference between the two running times from the start, but at 81:21, the U.S. version cuts from a kitchen scene of Marie and Eamon washing dishes, to a scene of Eamon bringing blankets to Jason and Marie. On the European/Australian releases, at the same point, there is a scene of Jason, Marie, Eamon and his children eating dinner while "Deck the Halls" plays in the background. There is no dialogue, the characters just each exchange uncomfortable glances. The scene goes to 81:40, then picks up the same scene of Eamon bringing blankets. This scene is included as an extra ("Farmhouse" extended scene) albeit sans the holiday themed music. Many thanks to Rewind user Mark Bowen for comparing these releases and letting us know the difference.
Director: Brian De Palma
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Both come from a 4K scan of a 35mm film out which was made from the original 2K DI but the Lionsgate release has visible dust and damage marks while the Universal release is cleaned up more thoroughly. Both releases suffer from DNR which seems to have been baked into the DI. The colour grade is basically the same for both releases but the Lionsgate has Dolby Vision whereas the Universal is HDR10 only. The compression on the Lionsgate UHD base layer is apparently fine so the FEL doesn't make much of a difference.
The Lionsgate UHD has Dolby Atmos whereas the Universal UHD has DTS:X. Kick-ass was originally released with a 5.1 track which may be on the Universal Blu-ray.
The Lionsgate UHD is on a BD-100, the Universal UHD is on a BD-66.
The Universal UHD has no extras.
Director: Joel Coen
Director's Cut: Disappointing UK StudioCanal/US Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: LaserDisc or 2001 UK Universal DVD
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=21782879#post21782879 - comparison. StudioCanal is a massive improvement to the Criterion but still flawed in some areas (chroma noise)
Director: Leo McCarey
More Comedy on Blu-ray
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: William Dieterle
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
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.
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