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Panic Room (2002)
Panic Room (2002) poster

Panic Room (2002)

Crime, Drama, Thriller • 1h 51m

Director: David Fincher

Cast: Jodie Foster, Kristen Stewart, Forest Whitaker, Dwight Yoakam, Jared Leto, Patrick Bauchau, Ann Magnuson, Ian Buchanan, Andrew Kevin Walker, Paul Schulze, Mel Rodriguez, Richard Conant, Paul Simon, Victor Thrash, Ken Turner, Nicole Kidman, Ty Copeman

Best English-friendly & video release

Video notes:

HDR caps by fkid. Obviously this is a huge improvement after what was available until now. Still, the early 2000s nature of the film is palpable and more noticeable, f.ex. in the opening scene that looks upscaled but seemingly without AI usage or any egregious tools. No info yet about what Fincher actually changed and where he tinkered around. Also see samlop10's review

Updated 1 year ago


UHD tiers


About the film

Trapped in their New York brownstone's panic room, a hidden chamber built as a sanctuary in the event of break-ins, newly divorced Meg Altman and her young daughter Sarah play a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with three intruders - Burnham, Raoul and Junior - during a brutal home invasion. But the room itself is the focal point because what the intruders really want is inside it.

More from David Fincher

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Director: David Fincher

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

20th Century Studios Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Digipack release includes an Amazing Amy book the standard edition doesn’t have.

Director: David Fincher

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

4K Blu-ray has exclusive “unrated” audio with a small change to one line under the request of David Fincher (removed the poor dub over of frickin’ in the line “Screw it, let’s gut the f**kin’ nerd.”).

Director: David Fincher

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Disney 4K Blu-ray or Fox 2009 Blu-ray or Kinowelt Entertainment 2008 Germany Blu-ray for a purist version

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

Best Video:

Disney 4K Blu-ray or Fox 2009 Blu-ray for a purist version or Kinowelt Entertainment 2008 Germany Blu-ray from the original 1999 telecine transfer

Video Notes:

Disney 4K Blu-ray, while a good release by itself, is very revisionist albeit made by Fincher. It has a huge amount of tinkering, a different grade, and at times uncanny with the sharpening. Caps of just how revisionist the new master is.

Best Audio:

Cinema DTS

Audio Notes:

All Blu-ray tracks have significant limiting.

Disney 4K Blu-ray has some alterations, otherwise similar to the Fox Blu-ray

Additional Info:

A blog article going over the home video history of Fight Club: https://notonbluray.com/blog/fight-club-compared-blu-ray-vs-itunes-vs-d-vhs-vs-dvd-vs-laserdisc/

Director: David Fincher

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

2025 WB 4K Blu-ray or the 1997 New Line DVD (CCE colors)/Netherlands Blu-ray (2000 restoration) for a purist version

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

Best Video:

2025 WB 4K Blu-ray, better detail and everything, or the 1997 New Line DVD (CCE colors)/Netherlands Blu-ray (2000 restoration) for a purist version

Video Notes:
  • 4K caveat: A variety of VFX set pieces and touch-ups were added in scenes throughout the film, probably for continuity or consistency, although they might be unnecessary or revisionist. Clouds are added to clear sky of the last act.

  • AI is used to fix an unwanted camera movement in one scene.

  • some shots had been further stabilized, resulting in strange motion blur.

Best Audio:

Cinema DTS

Audio Notes:

Also has missing dialog intact.
But it can be argued that the Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray 5.1 (remix) is technically a better mix.

Additional Info:

More info on the different color grades over the years: https://notonbluray.com/blog/the-case-of-se7en/

Director: David Fincher

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Director: David Fincher

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Theatrical: Paramount 4K Blu-ray

Director's: US Paramount Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

Theatrical: Paramount 4K Blu-ray, see more in Geoff's review

Director's: US Paramount Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Director's: US Paramount Blu-ray > WB Blu-ray

More from Sony

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Director: Frank Oz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: Dennis Hopper

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Roland Emmerich

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: David Lean

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

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

Additional Info:

The 5.1 on Sony 4K Blu-ray is from the 1989 70mm mix. The original is 4-track. not on the disc.

Director: John G. Avildsen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray 

5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray 

Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray 

Director: John G. Avildsen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray 

5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray 

Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray 

Director: Satoshi Kon

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Sony 4K Blu-ray is very smeary with the upscaling but has correct aspect ratio and very good HDR grade.
UK Blu-ray has wrong colors, and Sony 2007 Blu-ray is the worst (encoding and AR)
See professorwho's review

Director: Ben Stiller

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Comparisons

Audio Notes:

Spectrograms

Director: Luc Besson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · fanrestore.com (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

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

Audio Notes:

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.

Director: Frank Capra

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony Frank Capra Boxset Blu-ray

More Crime on Blu-ray

Director: Robert Altman

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Vinegar Syndrome Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Cinematrographe's HDR grading is overcooked, which is a known VinSyn tendency. Additionally, their booklet mis-credits the encode to FiM.

YMMV, but for some, the included BD encoded by Marcus Johnson—ironically may make for a more pleasing experience.

Director: Roy Del Ruth

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration of the original 3D left eye and right eye camera negatives

Director: John Woo

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Imprint 4K Blu-ray

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

Upcoming Release:

Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56

Best Audio:

Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD

Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)

Audio Notes:

Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)

Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD

Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)

Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.

Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.

Additional Info:

Arrow has a much better translation.

Arrow LE has the Taiwan Extended Cut which will not be present on the standard edition. However, Imprint is FiM and has its own archival extras not present on the Arrow.

Director: Richard Brooks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Jonathan Demme

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion Blu-ray has exclusive extras

Director: William Dieterle

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Imprint 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

The 4K discs in both Criterion and Imprint sets are FiM encodes, but low-passed, Imprint minimally less so. Unfortunately, unlike with The Killing, Kino does not hold up at all, the grain is much rougher and the compression visibly struggles making for a much less pleasant watch, even if select stills look better.

Audio Notes:

All discs use the same source transfer. Criterion cleaned up some hums and hiss, but lost a little bit of high-end detail. Unlike The Killing, the difference's relatively mino.

Additional Info:

The Criterion Complete Kubrick and Imprint 1953-1957 sets include remastered BDs. All standalone releases are from an earlier master.
Arrow UK Blu-ray has an exclusive isolated score & effects track. Kino Lorber and Imprint have an exclusive commentary each.

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

The 4K discs in both Criterion and Imprint sets are FiM encodes, but low-passed. The compression is better, but some of the grain is lost. Difference is pronounced in screen caps, but not likely to be noticed during playback, without a reference to compare it to. Comparisons

Best Audio:

Anything other than Criterion 4K/Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

All discs use the same source transfer. It's not of the highest quality, and it includes some slight distortion, looping, clicks, pops, and hum. Criterion cleaned it up for their release, but unfortunately also lost a lot of fidelity in the process.

MGM NTSC DVD doesn't seem to have some of the more prominent distortion and has slightly different EQ but is otherwise the same.

Additional Info:

The Criterion Complete Kubrick and Imprint 1953-1957 sets include remastered BDs. All standalone releases are from an earlier master.
Arrow UK Blu-ray has an exclusive isolated score & effects track. Kino Lorber and Imprint have an exclusive commentary each.

Director: Karel Reisz

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Cinematographe is mis-credited to be an FiM encode. It isn't. Neither the encode nor the color grading are entirely satisfactory.

Director: Frank Darabont

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

2021 WB 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Audio:

2008 US Blu-ray 5.1

Audio Notes:

(the 2021 4K's 5.1 was flawed, with unnecessary bad tweaking)

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vanshady

· last reviewed 1 year ago

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