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Serpico (1973)
Serpico (1973) poster
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3.9

Serpico (1973)

Crime, Drama • 2h 10m

Overview

Frank Serpico is an idealistic New York City cop who refuses to take bribes, unlike the rest of the force. Frank's actions get him shunned by the other officers, and often placed in dangerous situations by his partners. When his superiors ignore his accusations of corruption, Frank decides to go public with the allegations. Although this causes the Knapp Commission to investigate his claims, Frank has also placed a target on himself.

Director: Sidney Lumet

Cast: Al Pacino, John Randolph, Jack Kehoe, Biff McGuire, Barbara Eda-Young, Cornelia Sharpe, Tony Roberts, John Medici, Allan Rich, Norman Ornellas, Edward Grover, Albert Henderson, Hank Garrett, Damien Leake, Joseph Bova, Gene Gross, John Stewart, Woodie King Jr., James Tolkan, Ed Crowley, Bernard Barrow, Sal Carollo, Mildred Clinton, Nathan George, Gus Fleming, Richard Foronjy, Alan North, Lewis J. Stadlen, John McQuade, Ted Beniades, John Lehne, M. Emmet Walsh, George Ede, Charles White, F. Murray Abraham, P.J. Benjamin, Don Billett, Val Bisoglio, John Brandon, James Bulleit, Roy Cheverie, Sam Coppola, Marjorie Eliot, René Enríquez, Conard Fowkes, Frank Gio, Trent Gough, Paul E. Guskin, Nick Hardin, Judd Hirsch, Richard Kuss, Tony Lo Bianco, George Loros, Kenneth McMillan, Stephen Pearlman, Tim Pelt, William Pelt, Jay Rasumny, Franklin Scott, Tom Signorelli, Ben Slack, Jaime Sánchez, Tracey Walter, Mary Louise Weller, Judd Omen

Best English-Friendly Release

Best Video Release

StudioCanal EU has elevated blacks and inaccurate colors, Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor encode.

Best Audio Release

Format

UHD Blu-ray

UHD Tiers

Disappointing
Studio Canal:

(European discs) elevated blacks and inaccurate colors

Length

130 mins

Type

Movie

Last Updated

a year ago

Contributors

Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release

StudioCanal EU has elevated blacks and inaccurate colors, Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor encode.

Best Audio Release
Format
UHD Blu-ray
UHD Tiers
Disappointing
Studio Canal:

(European discs) elevated blacks and inaccurate colors

Length
130 mins
Type
Movie
Last Updated
a year ago
Contributors

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Kino Lorber US / Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered

Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice

Best Audio:

Criterion Blu-ray/4K Blu-ray

Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible

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UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber US / Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered

Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice

Best Audio:

Criterion Blu-ray/4K Blu-ray

Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible

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Best Video:

StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray, original aspect ratio and much better encoding; caps

Best Audio:

Paramount JP LaserDisc. Both UHDs only have 5.1 and a downmix. Paramount US Blu-ray sounds okay, close to the LaserDisc.

Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

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Best Audio:

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Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray replacement disc for fixed audio (there were some dialogues missing)

Best Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

While the video on the replacement disc is exactly the same as the original release, the Atmos with missing lines has been corrected as it was also corrected on the Criterion commentary. Criterion also included the 6-track which is almost identical to the PAL track; It’s 4.0 in a 5.1 container. This 6-track is slightly better than the PAL DVD track as the PAL has some flutter on some parts that Criterion doesn’t have.

The Atmos on the replacement is identical to the Imprint AUS Blu-ray track which also has all the lines. The compatibility track is also the same,

It is worth mentioning the Imprint only has the Atmos and no 6-track. The 5.1 surround is with LFE and split surrounds and it’s just a downmix of the Atmos. Ditto for the LPCM 2.0 on said Blu-ray.

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UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray replacement disc for fixed audio (there were some dialogues missing)

Best Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

While the video on the replacement disc is exactly the same as the original release, the Atmos with missing lines has been corrected as it was also corrected on the Criterion commentary. Criterion also included the 6-track which is almost identical to the PAL track; It’s 4.0 in a 5.1 container. This 6-track is slightly better than the PAL DVD track as the PAL has some flutter on some parts that Criterion doesn’t have.

The Atmos on the replacement is identical to the Imprint AUS Blu-ray track which also has all the lines. The compatibility track is also the same,

It is worth mentioning the Imprint only has the Atmos and no 6-track. The 5.1 surround is with LFE and split surrounds and it’s just a downmix of the Atmos. Ditto for the LPCM 2.0 on said Blu-ray.

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1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

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Kino Lorber Blu-ray

The Group poster
1080p Blu-ray
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Kino Lorber Blu-ray

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Kino Lorber Blu-ray

The Pawnbroker poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

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Best Video:

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1080p Blu-ray
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BFI Blu-ray

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Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

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Best Video:

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Best English-Friendly:

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Upcoming Release:

Best Audio:

Nelson Entertainment USA LaserDisc

Additional Info:

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Additional Info:

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Best English-Friendly:

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Best Video:

Arrow UK /Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray  > Kino Lorber US 4K Blu-ray, see caps

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Some scenes in the Arrow transfer are better, some are better in the Capelight.

Best Audio:

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(Arrow is a port of the LaserDisc track, see spectrograms) This track has the best fidelity of any release but does have some channel bleeding baked in. The 2017 2.0 on the Arrow and Shout! Factory Blu-rays was the Dolby Stereo original mix without channel bleeding but that had heavy noise reduction resulting in a very flat and underwhelming presentation. The surround winds up being lessened as well due to the processing. It's a tough choice between the two but the Image LaserDisc audio wins out because it hasn't been messed with and the impact is so unrestrained that no other version hits in the same way.

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The best and most accurate of the 5.1 mixes is the original version from the 2003 Special Edition DVD in lossy AC3 form.

The best source for the commentaries are from the 2003 Special Edition DVD.

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Additional Info:

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Additional Info:

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1080p Blu-ray
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Additional Info:

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Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray has MEL Dolby Vision

Best English-Friendly:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

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Additional Info:

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Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray has MEL Dolby Vision

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1080p Blu-ray
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Serpico (1973) backdrop