Star Wars (1977)
Adventure, Action, Science Fiction • 2h 1m
Director: George Lucas
Cast: Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Cushing, Alec Guinness, Anthony Daniels, Kenny Baker, Peter Mayhew, David Prowse, James Earl Jones, Phil Brown, Shelagh Fraser, Jack Purvis, Alex McCrindle, Eddie Byrne, Drewe Henley, Denis Lawson, Garrick Hagon, Jack Klaff, William Hootkins, Angus MacInnes, Jeremy Sinden, Graham Ashley, Don Henderson, Richard LeParmentier, Leslie Schofield, Michael Leader, David Ankrum, Scott Beach, Lightning Bear, Jon Berg, Doug Beswick, Paul Blake, Janice Burchette, Ted Burnett, John Chapman, Gilda Cohen, Tim Condren, Barry Copping, Alfie Curtis, Robert Davies, Maria De Aragon, Robert A. Denham, Frazer Diamond, Peter Diamond, Warwick Diamond, Sadie Eden, Kim Falkinburg, Harry Fielder, Ted Gagliano, Salo Gardner, Steve Gawley, Barry Gnome, Rusty Goffe, Isaac Grand, Reg Harding, Alan Harris, Frank Henson, Arthur Howell, Tommy Ilsley, Joe Johnston, Linda Jones, Joe Kaye, Colin Michael Kitchens, Melissa Kurtz, Tiffany Hillkurtz, Al Lampert, Anthony Lang, Derek Lyons, Mahjoub, Alf Mangan, Grant McCune, Geoffrey Moon, Mandy Morton, Lorne Peterson, Marcus Powell, Shane Rimmer, Pam Rose, George Roubicek, Erica Simmons, Angela Staines, George Stock, Roy Straite, Peter Sturgeon, Peter Sumner, John Sylla, Tom Sylla, Malcolm Tierney, Phil Tippett, Burnell Tucker, Morgan Upton, Jerry Walter, Hal Wamsley, Diana Sadley Way, Bill Weston, Fred Wood, Colin Higgins, Ron Tarr, Anthony Forrest, John Cannon, Larry Ward, Eddie Eddon
OG: "4K77" or "D+77" on high seas.
Special Edition: "4K97_IV" or "D+97_IV" on high seas.
Video format
Best English-friendly & video release · updated 2 months ago
Upcoming
2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed
Overview
Princess Leia is captured and held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the galactic Empire. Venturesome Luke Skywalker and dashing captain Han Solo team together with the loveable robot duo R2-D2 and C-3PO to rescue the beautiful princess and restore peace and justice in the Empire.
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
High seas for the recreated Theatrical Cut
Disney 4K Blu-ray is disappointing
OG: "4K80" or "D+80" on the high seas. If not, Disney 4K Blu-ray
Special Edition: "4K97_V" or "D+97_V" on high seas.
2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed
OG: "4K80" or "D+80" on the high seas
Special Edition: "4K97_V" or "D_97_VI" on the high seas.
If not, the 4K Blu-rays are generally considered an improvement over the 2011 Blu-rays. (although both restorations are DNR'ed and have issues).
OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes. 70mm six-track mix is included in 4K80 (taken from an actual 70mm print). There are 16mm rips of the mono mix.
Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.
2D version: Disney 4K Blu-ray
3D version: Disney 3D Blu-ray or Disney+/Apple TV Vision Pro Streaming
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
OG: "4K83" or "OTD83" on the high seas
Special Edition: "4K97_VI" or "D+97_VI" on the high seas
2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed
OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes (and usually included in fan restorations). There are 16mm/TV rips of the mono mixes.
Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
High seas for recreated Theatrical Cut or HDTV rip
Disney 4K Blu-ray is a mediocre upscale.
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
High seas for recreated Theatrical Cut or HDTV rip
Disney 4K Blu-ray is a mediocre upscale.
Director: Terrence Malick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Lovely underlying remaster by Criterion and Resillion but encode is sadly low-pass filtered by Pixelogic, and even then, the encode is still less than ideal. Still easily obliterates any prior disc release, but certainly wouldn't hurt to have a UK or German label take a crack at this same master.
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.
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, work done to un-Nolan the 4K master, the first ever appearance of the 35mm mono track on physical media and a new restoration/remastering of the 70mm 6-track mix.
(early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Criterion Box Set coming on October 20th with FiM encode
DTS:X mix most closely approximates original surround mix
Criterion DVD has additional features not found on the 4K Blu-ray
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, new restoration of mono mix which should be better than what was on the WB 4K Blu-ray and 1999 DVD and revised colour timing to make the film look more like it did in 1971.
WB 4K 5.1: a remix but has higher fidelity
Mono: 4K Blu-ray/1999 DVD
Director: Stanley Kubrick
US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray
Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode, both the US and the International Cut, new restoration/remastering of the mono mix which should be better than the 1999 WB DVD, revised colour timing to make the film look more like it did in 1980 and for the first time ever on physical media, the film will be in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
No Blu-ray or DVD release has presented the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for the US cut or 1.66:1 for the International cut.
The packaging on the back of the 4K Blu-ray incorrectly states it as 1.85:1 when the movie is actually 1.78:1 as is the original Blu-ray.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
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: George Lucas
Director: George Lucas
Original US cut, European cut, and Italian cut: 35mm scans
1977 reissue cut: Warner Bros LaserDisc
2004 George Lucas director's cut: Warner Bros Blu-ray
Original US cut, European cut, and Italian cut: 35mm scans
1977 reissue cut: Warner Bros LaserDisc
2004 George Lucas director's cut: Warner Bros DVD
Edit history
Researched and maintained by
M_A,vanshady,JojoTheMovieOtter,DISKANBGR8,Hydra Spectre,reubenward895· last reviewed 2 months ago
Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.