Kindergarten Cop (1990)
Comedy • 1h 51m
Director: Ivan Reitman
Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Penelope Ann Miller, Pamela Reed, Linda Hunt, Richard Tyson, Carroll Baker, Joseph Cousins, Christian Cousins, Cathy Moriarty, Park Overall, Jayne Brook, Richard Portnow, Tom Kurlander, Alix Koromzay, Betty Lou Henson, Heidi Swedberg, Bob Nelson, Molly Cleator, Eugene Elman, Susan Burns, Tom Dugan, Roma, Jason Stuart, Kim Delgado, Ray Glanzmann, Ed Crick, Angela Bassett, Chi Muoi Lo, John Hammil, Steve Park, John Steinkamp, Charlie Holliday, Lee Forest, Judy Wix, Galen Yuen, Frankie Avina, Terry Golden, Lee Dupree, Michael Chapman, Trevor James Reeder, Travis Whitney Reeder, Jason Howard, Debra Casey, Peter Vasquez, Jacques Apollo Bolton, Leo Lee, Kenneth Chapman, Rick Jones, Mimi J. Kauffman, Catherine Reitman, Tiffany Reaves, Jason Reitman, Anne Merrem, Arlene J. Phalon, Justin Page, Peter Rakow, Sarah Rose Karr, Marissa Rosen, Ben McCreary, Miko Hughes, Robert Cave, Ben Diskin, Tameka Runnels, Medha Garg, Brian Wagner, John Christian Graas, Jimmy Darrin Jackson III, Ian Baumer, Amy Wald, Tiffany Mataras, Krystle Mataras, James Chance, Adam Wylie, Nicole Nagorsky, Ross Malinger, Amber Reaves, Odette Annable, Emily Ann Lloyd, Haley Hileman, Bethany Allyn, Zachary Marsh, Anthony Wong, Remone Bradley, Sandy Berumen, Brian Bruney, Max Delgado, Christopher Doyle, Sam Haggin, Jeff Imada, Alex Landi, Jaime Lucero Jr., Laura Rae, Kyle Pittman, Denise Lynne Roberts, Gary Rodriguez, Thomas Rosales Jr., William Rossman, George Sasaki, John Bear Staible, Roberta Storm, Adrian Tafoya, Carlos Tappin, Bruno Van Zeebroeck, Richard Wakasa, Rob Wegner, Branscombe Richmond
Best video release
Plaion German 4K Blu-ray > US Kino Lorber see comparison and caps
Kino Lorber has an exceedingly poor encode, only slightly improved by the DV layer.
Updated 1 month ago
Best audio release
Universal's BD uses the same transfer as the old LaserDisc and sounds a bit better than Plaion's, which has worse dynamics.
Plaion's Atmos remix is tastefully done and preserves the original mix's characteristics, the 5.1 track on Kino's release is overly aggressive and unbalanced.
UHD tiers
better encode and audio than Kino Lorber
better encode and audio than Kino Lorber
HDR10 encode and audio tracks are poor, looks a bit better in Dolby Vision
About the film
Hard-edged cop John Kimble gets more than he bargained for when he goes undercover as a kindergarten teacher to get the goods on a brutal drug lord while at the same time protecting the man's young son. Pitted against a class of boisterous moppets whose antics try his patience and test his mettle, Kimble may have met his match … in more ways than one.
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.
Director: James Neilson
The Universal HD master is appalling. This is a large format early Technirama film that has been hit with a massive amount of DNR resulting in a smeary appearance throughout with little detail. On one hand it is still a better scan than the old DVD with better color and element issues addressed. On the other it is barely above the DVD upscaled in other moments. The mono audio has been horribly processed to sound thin, canned and lacking in overall fidelity. The DVD clearly uses the same source element for picture and sound and here the sound is left alone. It sounds miles better. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is technically the best US release but this master has been released in Europe where it likely has better encoding. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray adds a basic commentary. This film needs a proper transfer and audio presentation desperately. The HD master is so lackluster that the DVD despite its age is arguably preferable in visuals and certainly far superior in audio.
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: 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.
More Comedy on Blu-ray
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.
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