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Still Alice (2014)
Still Alice (2014) poster

Still Alice (2014)

Drama • 1h 40m

Directors: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland

Sony 4K Blu-ray

UHD Blu-ray

Best English-friendly release · updated 1 year ago

UHD tiers

Solid
Sony:

currently only available in the Sony Pictures US set

Overview

Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a renowned linguistics professor who starts to forget words. When she receives a devastating diagnosis, Alice and her family find their bonds tested.

Release details

Best Video Release

Sony 4K Blu-ray, currently only available in the Sony Pictures US set

Length
100 mins
Type
Movie

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Taxi Driver (1976)

Director: Martin Scorsese

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

Enough (2002)

Director: Michael Apted

HD Streaming
Best English-Friendly:

Starz is Streaming in HD with OAR

Or Sony Special Edition DVD

Best Video:

Starz is Streaming in HD with OAR

Or Sony Special Edition DVD

The One (2001)

Director: James Wong

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

UK 88 Films Blu-ray

Best Video:

UK 88 Films Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Commentary: 88 Films is at a very low volume level. The other BDs like the Sony do not have this problem.

Godspell (1973)

Director: David Greene

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

Before Midnight (2013)

Director: Richard Linklater

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

Criterion Blu-ray uses the same transfer as Sony but the encoding is slightly worse than Sony and barely noticeable see caps 

Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray in viewing looks very similar to both the Criterion and Sony caps, but no side by side comparison available

Additional Info:

Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray is part of a 3-film box set like the Criterion 

Whiplash (2014)

Director: Damien Chazelle

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

District 9 (2009)

Director: Neill Blomkamp

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

France Metropolitan 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

France Metropolitan 4K Blu-ray, glitch fixed from Sony

The Sony 4K Blu-ray has a glitch around the 40 min mark where a shot is repeated; no word from Sony about a replacement at the time of writing, i.e. 8/1/8/22

The Dark Crystal (1982)

Directors: Frank Oz & Jim Henson

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

LaserDisc, Shout! Factory's 2.0 is a downmix of the 5.1

Additional Info:

Old Sony DVD has an isolated score

Labyrinth (1986)

Director: Jim Henson

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray, Shout! Factory doesn't have the low-pass filter that's on the Sony US 4K Blu-ray from 2021 with Dolby Vision (or the worse HDR10 only release from 2016). Shout! Factory retains more high-frequency grain and detail.

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Director: Luc Besson

UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

2020 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray vs 2017 Sony 4K Blu-ray (20th annivesary) vs 2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray (Luc Besson Box Set). The first two have totally different texture.

  • StudioCanal: More natural looking. Better defined grain. The white balance is rather yellow/orange. Some say it is closer to the original theatrical release.

  • 2017 Sony: More vibrant and impactful. The white balance is rather neutral. While color noise and grain can look busy because it had been sharpened and had micro-contrast boosted.

  • 2025 Sony: Supposedly an improved version of the 2017 release? Shows around 20mbps-higher overall video bitrate. caps

Best Audio:

2025 Sony US 4K Blu-ray has the original 5.1.

The Atmos on the Sony release is reportedly better than StudioCanal's.

Additional Info:

Disc info of the box set discs. This film have recieved multiple encode/versions in different regions over the years. The 2017 Germany4K Blu-ray is encoded differently than the 2017 Sony but not better. Also, the same can be said to 2024 France Gaumont 4K Blu-ray while comparing to the 2020 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. The StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray omits all the extras from previous releases, being barebones.

More Drama on Blu-ray

The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)

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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

Sweet Smell of Success (1957)

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1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion or Arrow Blu-ray

Best Video:

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Best Audio:

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UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Best Video:

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > US Kino Lorber/Germany Capelight - caps and audio comparison on this page. Discussion is still ongoing about the 2.0 but as none of the three 4Ks seem to have the true original mix, I think it's fair to leave them all in the blue tier for now and only note that Kino Lorber has the worst PQ.

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Additional Info:

The initial release of the Capelight 4K mediabook had some playback issues with Dolby Vision on Panasonic devices due to an encoding error, the HDR10 apparently works fine, see Capelight’s official response here.

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Best Video:

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UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray see caps and comparison video

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Director: Billy Wilder

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
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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.

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Director: Ingmar Bergman

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray

Best Video:

BFI Blu-ray > 2018 Boxset Criterion (slightly). 2012 Standalone Criterion significantly worse.

Best Audio:

2004 R2 Tartan DVD

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1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

WB Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB Blu-ray

A Star Is Born (1954)

Director: George Cukor

1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

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Restored cut: WB Blu-ray

Best Video:

Theatrical cut / Roadshow cut: 35mm scans

Restored cut: WB Blu-ray

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UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

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Upcoming Release:

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Best Audio:

1993 CIC Video LaserDisc

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Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 1 year ago

Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.