Sanjuro (1962)
椿三十郎
Drama, Action, Comedy • 1h 36m
Overview
Toshiro Mifune swaggers and snarls to brilliant comic effect in Kurosawa's tightly paced, beautifully composed "Sanjuro." In this companion piece and sequel to "Yojimbo," jaded samurai Sanjuro helps an idealistic group of young warriors weed out their clan's evil influences, and in the process turns their image of a proper samurai on its ear.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Cast: Toshirō Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yūzō Kayama, Reiko Dan, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari Fujiwara, Takako Irie, Masao Shimizu, Yūnosuke Itō, Akira Kubo, Hiroshi Tachikawa, Yoshio Tsuchiya, Kunie Tanaka, Tatsuyoshi Ehara, Akihiko Hirata, Toranosuke Ogawa, Sachio Sakai, Kenzô Matsui, Toshiko Higuchi, Tatsuhiko Namisato, Yutaka Sada, Gen Shimizu, Shin Ōtomo, Shōichi Hirose, Minoru Itō, Kōji Uruki, Hiroyoshi Yamaguchi, Fuminori Ōhashi
Director: Gordon Douglas
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray see caps
SF is in 1.66 aspect ratio. Whether this is the intended ratio or a compromise isn't clear.
American Film Institute's catalog and Variety's contemporary review list it as 1.66, but other sources disagree.
Exhibitor's contemporary review lists it as 1.85, IMDB and an internal pre-production note from Warner Bros. list it as 1.75.
Director: Gordon Douglas
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray see caps
SF is in 1.66 aspect ratio. Whether this is the intended ratio or a compromise isn't clear.
American Film Institute's catalog and Variety's contemporary review list it as 1.66, but other sources disagree.
Exhibitor's contemporary review lists it as 1.85, IMDB and an internal pre-production note from Warner Bros. list it as 1.75.
Director: Joel Schumacher
US/UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray has both the original Dolby Stereo 2.0 mix in its best quailty and the original Dolby Stereo 4-track discrete stems in 4.0.
Director: Joel Schumacher
US/UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray has both the original Dolby Stereo 2.0 mix in its best quailty and the original Dolby Stereo 4-track discrete stems in 4.0.
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
70mm 6-Track: Paramount US 4K Blu-ray
35mm matrixed Dolby Stereo: 1995 Live Home Video US LaserDisc
Although the provenance of Paramount's 5.1 track is not confirmed, the fidelity is outstanding and speaks for itself.
The 7.1 track on the Capelight/old Lionsgate release is just an upmix with nothing gained over the 5.1.
The original stereo mix is only present on older DVDs and LaserDiscs; all Blu-ray 2.0 tracks are downmixes.
Paramount 4K Blu-ray has no extras, Capelight 4K Blu-ray has most of the extras, Olive Films Blu-ray has a exclusive commentary
70mm 6-Track: Paramount US 4K Blu-ray
35mm matrixed Dolby Stereo: 1995 Live Home Video US LaserDisc
Although the provenance of Paramount's 5.1 track is not confirmed, the fidelity is outstanding and speaks for itself.
The 7.1 track on the Capelight/old Lionsgate release is just an upmix with nothing gained over the 5.1.
The original stereo mix is only present on older DVDs and LaserDiscs; all Blu-ray 2.0 tracks are downmixes.
Paramount 4K Blu-ray has no extras, Capelight 4K Blu-ray has most of the extras, Olive Films Blu-ray has a exclusive commentary
Director: Ken Russell
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Includes original quintaphonic (5.0) mix as well as a modernized 5.1 remix.
Director: Ken Russell
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Includes original quintaphonic (5.0) mix as well as a modernized 5.1 remix.
Director: Arthur Penn
Criterion 4K Blu-ray. caps by BR user Donald McDonald. The encode looks absolutely spotless even in the highlights and without Dolby Vision filling anything in.
Criterion 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray
Criterion is entirely unfiltered and sounds significantly more detailed than previous tracks, see Blah-ray.
Director: Arthur Penn
Criterion 4K Blu-ray. caps by BR user Donald McDonald. The encode looks absolutely spotless even in the highlights and without Dolby Vision filling anything in.
Criterion 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray
Criterion is entirely unfiltered and sounds significantly more detailed than previous tracks, see Blah-ray.
Director: Charles Walters
Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray is a remaster from the original VistaVision camera negaitve, FiM encode
Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray
The original mono sounds good. The Atmos remix is a mixed bag, music performances are sourced from magnetic stereo recordings and sound great, but mono dialogue/effectshas undergone destructive noise reduction and unnecessary EQ, so the jumps in fidelity are incredibly jarring.
Director: Charles Walters
Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray is a remaster from the original VistaVision camera negaitve, FiM encode
Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray
The original mono sounds good. The Atmos remix is a mixed bag, music performances are sourced from magnetic stereo recordings and sound great, but mono dialogue/effectshas undergone destructive noise reduction and unnecessary EQ, so the jumps in fidelity are incredibly jarring.
Director: Mario Bava
Original Italian/English dubs: UK Masters of Cinema 4K Blu-ray
Export English dub: Paramount LaserDisc
MoC ported the export dub from LaserDisc, but used a low quality transfer, with poor lossy encoding.
MST3K version: Vol XXXIX DVD / episode 1013: series finale of the original show.
Director: Mario Bava
Original Italian/English dubs: UK Masters of Cinema 4K Blu-ray
Export English dub: Paramount LaserDisc
MoC ported the export dub from LaserDisc, but used a low quality transfer, with poor lossy encoding.
MST3K version: Vol XXXIX DVD / episode 1013: series finale of the original show.
Director: John Waters
Criterion 4K is in director's preferred aspect ratio of 1.66:1.
Director: John Waters
Criterion 4K is in director's preferred aspect ratio of 1.66:1.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray has excellent master and grade, no DNR and tasteful HDR
Restored original mono mix: Toho Japan 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored original mono: 2014 BFI Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray has OG Perspecta (in 5.1 container) and a stereo downmix of it; no original mono.
The unrestored track on BFI's earlier release appears to be an almost entirely unmanipulated transfer of the original mix. It suffers from a distracting low-frequency hum. The 4K restoration comes with a restored track, which appears to be the same transfer, but which appears to be cleaned up with a moderate amount of noise reduction and some EQ, nicely opening up the high-end, and which is likely to be preferable to most listeners. All earlier releases sound poor.
Perspecta isn't a discrete surround format, instead only relying on manipulating volume and panning of the mono track across L/C/R channels, based on embedded control tones. As such, even the Perspecta track is technically just the mono mix, though the omission of the proper mono on BFI's 4K is still unfortunate.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray has excellent master and grade, no DNR and tasteful HDR
Restored original mono mix: Toho Japan 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored original mono: 2014 BFI Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray has OG Perspecta (in 5.1 container) and a stereo downmix of it; no original mono.
The unrestored track on BFI's earlier release appears to be an almost entirely unmanipulated transfer of the original mix. It suffers from a distracting low-frequency hum. The 4K restoration comes with a restored track, which appears to be the same transfer, but which appears to be cleaned up with a moderate amount of noise reduction and some EQ, nicely opening up the high-end, and which is likely to be preferable to most listeners. All earlier releases sound poor.
Perspecta isn't a discrete surround format, instead only relying on manipulating volume and panning of the mono track across L/C/R channels, based on embedded control tones. As such, even the Perspecta track is technically just the mono mix, though the omission of the proper mono on BFI's 4K is still unfortunate.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Criterion NTSC DVD overall. The 4K restoration's track is denoised and sounds muffled, but has a few of moments where it edges out in detail
Audio analysis between the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, BFI Blu-ray and Toho 4K Blu-ray
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Criterion NTSC DVD overall. The 4K restoration's track is denoised and sounds muffled, but has a few of moments where it edges out in detail
Audio analysis between the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, BFI Blu-ray and Toho 4K Blu-ray
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray >StudioCanal UK (slightly better encoding on Eagle?)
The US Criterion DVD has some unique supplements with 2.0 surround audio - this release contains Japan end titles.
The Japan 4K Restoration Blu-ray has some exclusive features with 4.0 audio (though the release is not English-friendly)- this release contains Japan end titles.
The StudioCanal releases contain France end titles - while their 4K Blu-ray releases contain identical features.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray >StudioCanal UK (slightly better encoding on Eagle?)
The US Criterion DVD has some unique supplements with 2.0 surround audio - this release contains Japan end titles.
The Japan 4K Restoration Blu-ray has some exclusive features with 4.0 audio (though the release is not English-friendly)- this release contains Japan end titles.
The StudioCanal releases contain France end titles - while their 4K Blu-ray releases contain identical features.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
No clear winner, Criterion SDR 4K Blu-ray has better defined grain and is cleaned-up more thoroughly. But looks grayer and flatter in daytime scenes. BFI 4K Blu-ray's HDR/DV is better in contrast but the grading can be debatable.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
No clear winner, Criterion SDR 4K Blu-ray has better defined grain and is cleaned-up more thoroughly. But looks grayer and flatter in daytime scenes. BFI 4K Blu-ray's HDR/DV is better in contrast but the grading can be debatable.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Director: Rob Reiner
Director: Rob Reiner
Wicked Vision Germany 4K Blu-ray or US Criterion 4K Blu-ray?
Wicked Vision Germany 4K Blu-ray or US Criterion 4K Blu-ray?
Wicked Vision Germany 4K Blu-ray or US Criterion 4K Blu-ray?
Wicked Vision Germany 4K Blu-ray or US Criterion 4K Blu-ray?
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
2010 US Kino Lorber or 2012 UK Artificial Eye
2017 JP Kadokawa Blu-ray has the best encoding out of all the older discs.
Kino Lorber and Artificial Eye Blu-ray use the same master, between the two the PQ on Kino's release is slightly better, but the difference is negligible.
The 4K restoration (Criterion, 4K etc) are cropped to 2.35:1, have revisionistic colour grading and other changes.
Caps: old master, old master vs 4K restoration
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
2010 US Kino Lorber or 2012 UK Artificial Eye
2017 JP Kadokawa Blu-ray has the best encoding out of all the older discs.
Kino Lorber and Artificial Eye Blu-ray use the same master, between the two the PQ on Kino's release is slightly better, but the difference is negligible.
The 4K restoration (Criterion, 4K etc) are cropped to 2.35:1, have revisionistic colour grading and other changes.
Caps: old master, old master vs 4K restoration
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is SDR
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray is HDR
The DV/HDR grade is tasteful and not overdone. SC has better compression, though not flawless; encoded by FiM, but Criterion also holds up quite well. Both releases claim to be approved by Lynch.
SC has a missing fade that Criterion reinstated.
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix: 2001 R1 Paramount US NTSC DVD/2008 R2 Optimum UK PAL or 1999 Pioneer JP LaserDisc
Restored stereo mix: Criterion / StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
The film was originally mixed in Dolby Stereo (matrixed LCRS). For the 4K restoration, this mix has been transferred from the original magnetic elements and remastered with Lynch's supervision. Unfortunately, the fidelity suffered in the process, with many sections ending up significantly less detailed due to a noise reduction pass. This track has been altered compared to the original, with reverb added to some dialogue, different ambient sound effects, changed panning, and extended bass.
For the unrestored mix, there are two major options, each with its own merits and flaws. The 2001 Paramount DVD, which I would say is the best well-rounded mastering, and the 1999 Japanese LaserDisc, which has noticeably better clarity and high-end detail, as well as better dynamics, but suffers from occasional distortion and has less bass than the DVD.
The LD also has some ambiance buried too low in the mix, and some dialogue panned more to the centre than the DVD. There are no content changes I was able to find. Unfortunately, I don't know what accounts for those differences.
The other available tracks all have more significant flaws. The Italian and Japanese BDs use the same base mastering as the DVD, but with some patching in a few shots. HD-DVD is sourced from an inferior transfer, the same as the Momentum DVD.
The 5.1 remix, originally introduced on the 2002 DVD, and carried over without changes to the 2009 BD is a light and mostly faithful remix, with fairly minimal LFE and surround use, but still potentially worthwhile as the only discrete track.
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is SDR
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray is HDR
The DV/HDR grade is tasteful and not overdone. SC has better compression, though not flawless; encoded by FiM, but Criterion also holds up quite well. Both releases claim to be approved by Lynch.
SC has a missing fade that Criterion reinstated.
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix: 2001 R1 Paramount US NTSC DVD/2008 R2 Optimum UK PAL or 1999 Pioneer JP LaserDisc
Restored stereo mix: Criterion / StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
The film was originally mixed in Dolby Stereo (matrixed LCRS). For the 4K restoration, this mix has been transferred from the original magnetic elements and remastered with Lynch's supervision. Unfortunately, the fidelity suffered in the process, with many sections ending up significantly less detailed due to a noise reduction pass. This track has been altered compared to the original, with reverb added to some dialogue, different ambient sound effects, changed panning, and extended bass.
For the unrestored mix, there are two major options, each with its own merits and flaws. The 2001 Paramount DVD, which I would say is the best well-rounded mastering, and the 1999 Japanese LaserDisc, which has noticeably better clarity and high-end detail, as well as better dynamics, but suffers from occasional distortion and has less bass than the DVD.
The LD also has some ambiance buried too low in the mix, and some dialogue panned more to the centre than the DVD. There are no content changes I was able to find. Unfortunately, I don't know what accounts for those differences.
The other available tracks all have more significant flaws. The Italian and Japanese BDs use the same base mastering as the DVD, but with some patching in a few shots. HD-DVD is sourced from an inferior transfer, the same as the Momentum DVD.
The 5.1 remix, originally introduced on the 2002 DVD, and carried over without changes to the 2009 BD is a light and mostly faithful remix, with fairly minimal LFE and surround use, but still potentially worthwhile as the only discrete track.
Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173
The master is heavily DNR'd.
Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173
The master is heavily DNR'd.
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
4K restoration: Koch Media DE 4K Blu-ray
Original digital master: Cannes 2006 Promo HD-DVD
4K remaster is cropped 2.35:1 from the original 2.55:1 presentation, and has significantly different color grading, as is the case with most WKW supervised restorations. Due to DNR the detail is sometimes lacklustre compared to the old master. CGI scenes appear to be rerendered. A sepia tinted scene was altered to be fully black and white.
Caps: Criterion US BD vs Cannes HD-DVD, HD-DVD vs KR BD vs DVDs vs US BD
Remixed 5.1: The Jokers FR 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Cannes 2006 Promo HD-DVD
The remixed track has different front panning and little LFE use compared to the original.
HD-DVD is by far the best option for the original track, as DVDs and Korean BD suffer from noise gating, limiting and duplicated surrounds. Remixed tracks are all similar, but French disc has slightly better dynamics, particularly on the LFE channel.
The 2006 HD-DVD is a promotional release made in only 100 copies, handed out to VIPs at Cannes Film Festival. See this blog post for details. The same master can be found on KR BD, though it suffers from interlacing, blended frames and a gamma bug, as well as older DVD releases.
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
4K restoration: Koch Media DE 4K Blu-ray
Original digital master: Cannes 2006 Promo HD-DVD
4K remaster is cropped 2.35:1 from the original 2.55:1 presentation, and has significantly different color grading, as is the case with most WKW supervised restorations. Due to DNR the detail is sometimes lacklustre compared to the old master. CGI scenes appear to be rerendered. A sepia tinted scene was altered to be fully black and white.
Caps: Criterion US BD vs Cannes HD-DVD, HD-DVD vs KR BD vs DVDs vs US BD
Remixed 5.1: The Jokers FR 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Cannes 2006 Promo HD-DVD
The remixed track has different front panning and little LFE use compared to the original.
HD-DVD is by far the best option for the original track, as DVDs and Korean BD suffer from noise gating, limiting and duplicated surrounds. Remixed tracks are all similar, but French disc has slightly better dynamics, particularly on the LFE channel.
The 2006 HD-DVD is a promotional release made in only 100 copies, handed out to VIPs at Cannes Film Festival. See this blog post for details. The same master can be found on KR BD, though it suffers from interlacing, blended frames and a gamma bug, as well as older DVD releases.
Director: Billy Wilder
Director: Billy Wilder
Director: Martin Ritt
Director: Martin Ritt
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Director: Andrzej Wajda
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