The Pianist (2002)
Drama, War • 2h 30m
Overview
The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Adrien Brody, Thomas Kretschmann, Frank Finlay, Maureen Lipman, Emilia Fox, Ed Stoppard, Julia Rayner, Jessica Kate Meyer, Michał Żebrowski, Wanja Mues, Richard Ridings, Nomi Sharron, Anthony Milner, Lucy Skeaping, Roddy Skeaping, Ben Harlan, Thomas Lawinky, Joachim Paul Assböck, Roy Smiles, Daniel Caltagirone, Andrzej Blumenfeld, Zbigniew Zamachowski, Detlev von Wangenheim, Popeck, Zofia Czerwińska, Udo Kroschwald, Uwe Rathsam, Joanna Brodzik, Katarzyna Bargiełowska, Maja Ostaszewska, John Bennett, Cyril Shaps, Wojciech Smolarz, Lech Mackiewicz, Ruth Platt, Peter Rappenglück, Ronan Vibert, Krzysztof Pieczyński, Katarzyna Figura, Valentine Pelka, Andrew Tiernan, Tom Strauss, Cezary Kosiński, Paweł Burczyk, Nina Franoszek, John Keogh, Rafał Mohr, Andrzej Pieczyński, Morgane Polanski, Grzegorz Artman, Adam Bauman, Andrzej Szenajch, Zbigniew Dziduch, Marian Dziędziel, Jerzy Góralczyk, Jarosław Kopaczewski, Patrick Lanagan, Dorota Liliental, Norbert Rakowski, Piotr Siejka, Tomasz Tyndyk, Andrzej Walden, Zbigniew Waleryś, Maciej Winkler, Tadeusz Wojtych, Andrzej Zieliński, Paweł Małaszyński, Axel Prahl, Borys Szyc, Rafał Dajbor, Adrian Hood, Ryszard Kluge, Maciej Kowalewski, Paweł Zdun, Jacek Wolszczak, Malgorzata Trybalska, Dawid Szurmiej, Izabella Szolc
Director: Chen Kaige
Director: Chen Kaige
Director: Robert Altman
Director: Robert Altman
Director: Martin Scorsese
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot from Columbia Classics 4K Blu-ray
Director: Martin Scorsese
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot from Columbia Classics 4K Blu-ray
Director: Quentin Tarantino
2025 Taiwan Deltamac 4K Blu-ray
2025 Taiwan Deltamac 4K Blu-ray > US Paramount 4K Blu-ray (Taiwan 4K Blu-ray is not low passed as the US 4K Blu-ray and has better grain and fine detail retention)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
2025 Taiwan Deltamac 4K Blu-ray
2025 Taiwan Deltamac 4K Blu-ray > US Paramount 4K Blu-ray (Taiwan 4K Blu-ray is not low passed as the US 4K Blu-ray and has better grain and fine detail retention)
Director: Carol Reed
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray or Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray/Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray (shared encode); slight improvement over the 2015 StudioCanal Blu-ray
StudioCanal/LG UHDs port the 1999 Criterion DVD, considered the best source
StudioCanal has a remastered Blu-ray, Lionsgate only a 4K Blu-ray
Director: Carol Reed
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray or Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray/Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray (shared encode); slight improvement over the 2015 StudioCanal Blu-ray
StudioCanal/LG UHDs port the 1999 Criterion DVD, considered the best source
StudioCanal has a remastered Blu-ray, Lionsgate only a 4K Blu-ray
Director: Luis Buñuel
Radiance's audio is ported from the Criterion DVD, see Blah-ray
Director: Luis Buñuel
Radiance's audio is ported from the Criterion DVD, see Blah-ray
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray see caps. Much better contrast and grain exposure but the grade is a bit questionable as it skews heavily towards magenta in some caps and the encode looks low-pass filtered.
Atmos Remix: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Imprint Australia Blu-ray or StudioCanal Germany/France Blu-ray
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray encoded the Original 5.1 as lossy Dolby Digital.
Director: Roman Polanski
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray see caps. Much better contrast and grain exposure but the grade is a bit questionable as it skews heavily towards magenta in some caps and the encode looks low-pass filtered.
Atmos Remix: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Imprint Australia Blu-ray or StudioCanal Germany/France Blu-ray
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray encoded the Original 5.1 as lossy Dolby Digital.
Director: Roman Polanski
Paramount disappointing 4K Blu-ray
Paramount disappointing 4K Blu-ray
Director: Roman Polanski
Paramount disappointing 4K Blu-ray
Paramount disappointing 4K Blu-ray
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
2023 Italy Eagle Pictures Blu-ray
Director: Roman Polanski
2023 Italy Eagle Pictures Blu-ray
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Roman Polanski
Director: Vincent Ward
Director: Vincent Ward
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray > Disk Kino/WCL China import
review: Disk Kino
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray has the original mono
Director: John Woo
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray > Disk Kino/WCL China import
review: Disk Kino
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray has the original mono
Director: Peter Medak
Imprint 4K Blu-ray scheduled for August 2026 release
Director: Peter Medak
Imprint 4K Blu-ray scheduled for August 2026 release
Directors: Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Directors: Jules Bass & Arthur Rankin, Jr.
Director: Gordon Douglas
Director: Gordon Douglas
Director: John Badham
Director: John Badham
Director: George A. Romero
Mono: 35mm scan, old Shout! Factory and Australia Umbrella Blu-ray sounds better than the rest of the discs, but has noise reduction
Stereo: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray has a transfer of the 1986 Japan LaserDisc Stereo
Director: George A. Romero
Mono: 35mm scan, old Shout! Factory and Australia Umbrella Blu-ray sounds better than the rest of the discs, but has noise reduction
Stereo: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray has a transfer of the 1986 Japan LaserDisc Stereo
Edit History
12/1/2025
Additional Info
Added
Shout! Factory Blu-ray is from original DI master. The film was an early DI and film prints also looked poor. Shout! Factory Blu-ray is representative of original release. StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has some new VFX work done along with some plates reshot as well as poorly upscaled original VFX work.
Added
Shout! Factory Blu-ray is from original DI master. The film was an early DI and film prints also looked poor. Shout! Factory Blu-ray is representative of original release. StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has some new VFX work done along with some plates reshot as well as poorly upscaled original VFX work.
12/30/2024
