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Primal Fear (1996)
Primal Fear (1996) poster

Primal Fear (1996)

Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller • 2h 9m

Director: Gregory Hoblit

Best available format

UHD Blu-ray

UHD tiers

Overview

An arrogant, high-powered attorney takes on the case of a poor altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who has taken him in. The case gets a lot more complex when the accused reveals that there may or may not have been a third person in the room.

Release details

Best Video Release

Paramount 4K Blu-ray is disappointing review

Length
129 mins
Type
Movie

More from Paramount

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Director: Peter Faiman

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

Upcoming Release:

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

Best Video:

Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD

International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray

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

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

Solid
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray

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

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:

2D version: Paramount Blu-ray

3D version: Paramount 3D Blu-ray

Director: Billy Wilder

Solid
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray or Blu-ray

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

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Paramount Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release

Best Video:

Paramount Blu-ray

Director: Richard Linklater

Solid
1080p Blu-ray
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

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Original AR: Paramount 4K Blu-ray

IMAX AR: Paramount 3D Blu-ray

Best Video:

Original AR: Paramount 4K Blu-ray

IMAX AR: Paramount 3D Blu-ray

Director: Stanley Donen

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Paramount Blu-ray

Best Video:

Paramount Blu-ray

Director: Trey Parker

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Paramount Blu-ray

Best Video:

Paramount Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Paramount Blu-ray

Directors: Arturo Perez Jr. & Samantha Jayne

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray

More Crime on Blu-ray

Director: David Lynch

Solid
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

 Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray in December

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray - subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking

Best Audio:

1993 MGM LaserDisc/2000 Region 1 MGM DVD

Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110

Director: John Woo

Excellent
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > US Shout! Factory, better encoding by Engine House and redone opening credits, errors present in Shout! Factory fixed

Best Audio:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray, mono is from an alternate higher fidelity source than Shout! Factory.

Director: Jerry Schatzberg

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Signal One UK Blu-Ray

Best Video:

Signal One UK Blu-Ray

Additional Info:

Gorgeously filmic 2K remaster supervised and approved by Jerry Schatzberg from Fox and flawlessly encoded by FiM.

Director: Norman Jewison

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1993 MGM LaserDisc

Director: W.S. Van Dyke

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray, 4k scan

Director: Martin Scorsese

Excellent
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook

Best Video:

2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding

Best Audio:

Original mono mix: 1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1991 Columbia LaserDisc
The 4K Blu-ray mono is only minimally worse (see blah-ray).

5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Excellent
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray is slightly better than French 4K Blu-ray see caps

Director: Jacques Tourneur

Solid
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray

Director: David Lynch

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray

Uncensored version: old DVD

Upcoming Release:

2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray, confirmed to be uncut

Best Video:

Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray

Uncensored version: old DVD

Director: Michael Mann

Disappointing
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Theatrical Cut: Old Warner Bros DVD or fan restoration

Revised Cut: 2012 Japan Blu-ray for less revisionist colors, 2022 Disney 4K Blu-ray is controversially regraded and too dark overall.

Best Video:

Theatrical Cut: Old Warner Bros DVD or fan restoration

Revised Cut: 2012 Japan Blu-ray for less revisionist colors, 2022 Disney 4K Blu-ray is controversially regraded and too dark overall.

Best Audio:

LaserDisc 2.0 (restores censored dialog). Comparison of 5.1 mixes
For the 5.1: LaserDisc AC3 vs US DVD AC3 vs Japan DVD DTS

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Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 1 year ago

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