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Cleopatra (1934)
Cleopatra (1934) poster

Cleopatra (1934)

History, Drama, Romance • 1h 40m

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Cast: Claudette Colbert, Warren William, Henry Wilcoxon, Joseph Schildkraut, Ian Keith, Gertrude Michael, C. Aubrey Smith, Irving Pichel, Arthur Hohl, Edwin Maxwell, Ian Maclaren, Eleanor Phelps, Leonard Mudie, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Claudia Dell, Harry Beresford, Jayne Regan, William Farnum, Lionel Belmore, Florence Roberts, Richard Alexander, Celia Ryland, William V. Mong, Robert Warwick, George Walsh, Kenneth Gibson, Wedgwood Nowell, Bruce Warren, Robert Seiter, Edgar Dearing, John Carradine, Wilfred Lucas, David Niven, Olga Celeste, Ynez Seabury, Victor Alexander, Jimmy Aye, Zita Baca, Joe Bacon, Lucille Battle, Leon Beaumon, Martin Beaumon, Carmelita Black, Carlyle Blackwell Jr., Marjorie Bonner, Mildred Boyd, Everett Brown, Lenora Brown, George Bruggeman, Daisy Bufford, Edmund Burns, Horace B. Carpenter, Jack Clisby, Bobbe Cronin, Mae Digges, Elias English, Tom Farrell, Myrtle Fortune, Jerry Frank, Ruth Givens, Catherine Grayson, Lawrence Green, Bob Hall, Edgar Hampton, Neal Hart, Cleo Herndon, Shep Houghton, Patsy Hunter, Julanne Johnston, Darby Jones, Edmund Jones, Lucyle Keeling, Al Knight, Nicholai Konovaloff, Lillian Leighton, Rosalie Lincoln, Timothy J. Lonergan, Mary MacLaren, Henry Martin, Ray Martin, John Merton, Juanita Moore, Charles Morris, Jack Mulhall, Jack O'Connor, Ernestine Porter, A.J. Prather, Hal Price, Harry Raven, Hazel Reese, Gus Robinson, Louise Robinson, Mrs. Tom Rooney, John Roy, Jack Rutherford, Carl Saxe, Rube Schaffer, Phillips Smalley, Ernie Smith, Lawrence Stewart, Marjorie Timm, Alma Travers, Earl Turman, Dale Van Sickel, Paul Venerable, Colleen Ward, Bryant Washburn Jr., Bryant Washburn, Blue Washington, Charles Washington, Henry Washington, Dorothy White, Dot Williams

Best English-friendly & video release

Updated 1 year ago


About the film

The queen of Egypt barges the Nile and flirts with Mark Antony and Julius Caesar.

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Featured in Pre-Code Films

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Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: William Dieterle

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack & Merian C. Cooper

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: Marion Gering

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Leo McCarey

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal DVD

Upcoming Release:

Universal Blu-ray Nov 10th

Directors: Irving Pichel & Ernest B. Schoedsack

Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK MoC Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

MoC Blu-ray offers both restored and an unrestored tracks

Director: Edgar Selwyn

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration

Director: John Ford

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Sources: ibb.co (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Warner Archive Blu-ray is 4K restoration from nitrate projection elements

Germany Filmjuwelen Blu-ray is AI upscaled https://ibb.co/album/mCJ7RQ

Director: Howard Hawks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Frank Capra

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony Frank Capra Boxset Blu-ray

More from Cecil B. DeMille

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Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Best English-Friendly:

Artcraft Blu-ray

Best Video:

Artcraft Blu-ray 4K restoration encoded by FiM

Directors: Cecil B. DeMille & Joseph Levering

Best English-Friendly & Video:

VCI Blu-ray

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray with Photoplay 4K restoration

Best Audio:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray with Carl Davis score

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Flicker Alley Blu-ray

Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Flicker Alley Blu-ray (encoded by FiM) has much better encoding than Lobster Films Blu-ray, see DVDBeaver caps

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount Presents Blu-ray

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Germany Plaion Media Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Germany Plaion Media Blu-ray is marginally better than Kino Lorber which suffers a little dark crush: https://slow.pics/c/BME05Jlw

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Olive Films Blu-ray OOP

Director: Cecil B. DeMille

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray

More from Universal

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Director: Alicia MacDonald

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Michael Cimino

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

2020 Shout! Factory 4K

Video Notes:

2020 Shout! Factory 4K slightly better than StudioCanal in HDR10. Similar in DV

Best Audio:

35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc

70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc marginally better than StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is downmix.

70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is remix.

Director: Doug Liman

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Cut: US Universal HD-DVD

International Cut: International Universal HD-DVD

Video Notes:

The Universal Blu-ray is slightly filtered and DNR'd compared to the HD-DVD, and the Universal 4K Blu-ray, on top of being upscaled, adds additional DNR and is softer than both previous HD releases.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray DTS-HD 5.1

Additional Info:

Versions:
- The International version contains a short additional scene (part of the "Farmhouse" extended scene from the special features). See additional detail below.
- The US version does not contain this scene during the film. Director Doug Liman confirms in his audio commentary that the scene was cut from the original US theatrical release "for time".
- "The Explosive Extended Edition" found on some DVD releases is not an alternate cut of the film, simply an access mode that plays "The Bookend Scenes" features via non-seamless branching.

Deck the Halls scene:
The U.S. release is 118:17 while the European/Australian/Japanese releases are 118:36. There is no difference between the two running times from the start, but at 81:21, the U.S. version cuts from a kitchen scene of Marie and Eamon washing dishes, to a scene of Eamon bringing blankets to Jason and Marie. On the European/Australian releases, at the same point, there is a scene of Jason, Marie, Eamon and his children eating dinner while "Deck the Halls" plays in the background. There is no dialogue, the characters just each exchange uncomfortable glances. The scene goes to 81:40, then picks up the same scene of Eamon bringing blankets. This scene is included as an extra ("Farmhouse" extended scene) albeit sans the holiday themed music. Many thanks to Rewind user Mark Bowen for comparing these releases and letting us know the difference.

Director: Brian De Palma

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1993 Universal LaserDisc

Additional Info:

Carlito’s Way was released theatrically in both Dolby Stereo and DTS. The 2.0 on the Arrow UHD is the original stereo mix, unknown if the 5.1 mix on the  Arrow disc is the original DTS mix.

Director: H. C. Potter

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: David Butler

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray or Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Both come from a 4K scan of a 35mm film out which was made from the original 2K DI but the Lionsgate release has visible dust and damage marks while the Universal release is cleaned up more thoroughly. Both releases suffer from DNR which seems to have been baked into the DI. The colour grade is basically the same for both releases but the Lionsgate has Dolby Vision whereas the Universal is HDR10 only. The compression on the Lionsgate UHD base layer is apparently fine so the FEL doesn't make much of a difference.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray?

Audio Notes:

The Lionsgate UHD has Dolby Atmos whereas the Universal UHD has DTS:X. Kick-ass was originally released with a 5.1 track which may be on the Universal Blu-ray.

Additional Info:

The Lionsgate UHD is on a BD-100, the Universal UHD is on a BD-66.

The Universal UHD has no extras.

Director: Joel Coen

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Director's Cut: Disappointing UK StudioCanal/US Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: LaserDisc or 2001 UK Universal DVD

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=21782879#post21782879 - comparison. StudioCanal is a massive improvement to the Criterion but still flawed in some areas (chroma noise)

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

2005 Universal DVD

Director: John Carpenter

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Sources: blog.sporv.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:
Audio Notes:
  • the only track on Universal 4K, which is in DTS:X, has a mixing error of around 6dB too low on side channels, otherwise very similar to other 5.1 mixes.

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Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 1 year ago

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