Lady Oscar (1979)
History, Drama, Romance • 2h 4m
Overview
Oscar François de Jarjayes was born female, but her father insisted she be raised as a boy as he had no sons. She becomes the captain of the guards at Versailles under King Louis XVI and Marie Antonette. Her privileged, noble life comes under fire as she discovers the hard life of the poor people of France. She is caught up in the French Revolution, and must choose between her loyalty and love.
Director: Jacques Demy
Cast: Catriona MacColl, Barry Stokes, Jonas Bergström, Christine Böhm, Terence Budd, Patsy Kensit, Mark Kingston, Georges Wilson, Martin Potter, Sue Lloyd, Anouska Hempel, Mike Marshall, Christopher Ellison, Constance Chapman, Gregory Floy, Shelagh McLeod, Michael Osborne, Angela Thorne, Paul Spurrier, Rose Mary Dunham, Patrick Allen, Nicholas Amer, Jean Boissery, Armelle Bonnot, François Brincourt, Andrew Bagley, Michèle Cahier, Patrick Floersheim, David Gabison, Steve Gadler, Gary Granville, Vincent Grass, Consuelo De Haviland, Jeffrey Kime, Caroline Loeb, Claire Maubert, Jacques Maury, Timothy Morand, Mario Pecqueur, Michael Petrovitch, Dane Porret, John Charles Sabain, James Schuman, John Tordoff, Denis Trindler, Dominique Varda, Monique Vermeer, Robin Whitecross, Sandy Whitelaw, Lambert Wilson, Sylvia Zerbib
Director: Jacques Demy
Kino Lorber OOP Blu-ray or Japan Blu-ray, no comparison available
Director: Jacques Demy
Kino Lorber OOP Blu-ray or Japan Blu-ray, no comparison available
Criterion 4K Blu-ray.
For Blu-ray Criterion Demy Set > StudioCanal
Criterion 4K Blu-ray.
For Blu-ray Criterion Demy Set > StudioCanal
Director: Jacques Demy
Director: Jacques Demy
Director: Jacques Demy
Director: Jacques Demy
Director: Jacques Demy
Director: Jacques Demy
Director: Jacques Demy
Director: Jacques Demy
Director: Jacques Demy
Director: Jacques Demy
More History on Blu-ray
Director: Rob Reiner
Director: Rob Reiner
Director: Rob Reiner
Vertical Blu-ray
Director: Rob Reiner
Vertical Blu-ray
Director: Maurice Cloche
Director: Maurice Cloche
Director: Alan Crosland
Director: Alan Crosland
Director: Sam Wood
Probably Kino Lorber Blu-ray
Probably Kino Lorber Blu-ray
While no comparison is available, this is indeed a new 4K restoration. However it has its problem like not scanned from best surviving prints due to some issues, or technicolor out of alignment but seems to be still better than older releases
Director: Sam Wood
Probably Kino Lorber Blu-ray
Probably Kino Lorber Blu-ray
While no comparison is available, this is indeed a new 4K restoration. However it has its problem like not scanned from best surviving prints due to some issues, or technicolor out of alignment but seems to be still better than older releases
Director: Dwain Esper
Kino Lorber Blu-ray was mastered in 2K and 4K from the original 35mm negatives and several 35mm prints
Director: Dwain Esper
Kino Lorber Blu-ray was mastered in 2K and 4K from the original 35mm negatives and several 35mm prints
Director: Michael Mann
Netherlands Remain in Light or UK Universal 4K Blu-ray
Netherlands Remain in Light or UK Universal 4K Blu-ray, See caps: Ferrari (2023) | Slowpoke Pics
Netherlands Remain in Light
All three discs come from the same master and share the same Dolby Vision grade, with identical dynamic metadata and CMv4.0 on all three. The Eagle Pictures disc is the only Profile 7 FEL, the Remain in Light and Universal UK discs are both MEL. On paper that gives the Italian finer coding precision, but it doesn't buy anything on this film, the grain is heavy enough to hide base layer quantisation on its own and none of the three discs bands. It also costs something, the Eagle Pictures encode noticeably smooths grain in flatter, low contrast areas, so a fair bit of fine texture that both other discs keep is simply gone. Edges and overall definition are fine, but the Dutch and UK discs clearly hold the film's texture better and are the ones to get. Between those two it's very close, with the Dutch keeping slightly more grain across most of the scenes checked. Worth noting as well, the Dutch and UK discs have their title cards in English while the Italian keeps them in Italian.
Caps comp: Ferrari (2023) | Slowpoke Pics
Director: Michael Mann
Netherlands Remain in Light or UK Universal 4K Blu-ray
Netherlands Remain in Light or UK Universal 4K Blu-ray, See caps: Ferrari (2023) | Slowpoke Pics
Netherlands Remain in Light
All three discs come from the same master and share the same Dolby Vision grade, with identical dynamic metadata and CMv4.0 on all three. The Eagle Pictures disc is the only Profile 7 FEL, the Remain in Light and Universal UK discs are both MEL. On paper that gives the Italian finer coding precision, but it doesn't buy anything on this film, the grain is heavy enough to hide base layer quantisation on its own and none of the three discs bands. It also costs something, the Eagle Pictures encode noticeably smooths grain in flatter, low contrast areas, so a fair bit of fine texture that both other discs keep is simply gone. Edges and overall definition are fine, but the Dutch and UK discs clearly hold the film's texture better and are the ones to get. Between those two it's very close, with the Dutch keeping slightly more grain across most of the scenes checked. Worth noting as well, the Dutch and UK discs have their title cards in English while the Italian keeps them in Italian.
Caps comp: Ferrari (2023) | Slowpoke Pics
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.
Director: Roland Emmerich
Sony 4K Blu-ray (theatrical only in 4K)
Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook upcoming with Dolby Vision and both cuts in 4K
Sony 4K Blu-ray (theatrical only in 4K)
The LPCM 5.1 from the old Extended BD and the DTS-HD 5.1 from the new Extended UHD are exactly the same. The DTS-HD tracks on both of the theatrical UHDs are also the same, and in fact appear to be lossless versions of the Superbit DTS mix with no tampering.
Director: Roland Emmerich
Sony 4K Blu-ray (theatrical only in 4K)
Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook upcoming with Dolby Vision and both cuts in 4K
Sony 4K Blu-ray (theatrical only in 4K)
The LPCM 5.1 from the old Extended BD and the DTS-HD 5.1 from the new Extended UHD are exactly the same. The DTS-HD tracks on both of the theatrical UHDs are also the same, and in fact appear to be lossless versions of the Superbit DTS mix with no tampering.
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