The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
Fantasy, Adventure, Action • 2h 41m
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Benedict Cumberbatch, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ken Stott, James Nesbitt, Mikael Persbrandt, Sylvester McCoy, Aidan Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Graham McTavish, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, William Kircher, Stephen Hunter, Ryan Gage, John Bell, Manu Bennett, Lawrence Makoare, Peggy Nesbitt, Mary Nesbitt, Cate Blanchett, Ben Mitchell, Stephen Ure, Craig Hall, Robin Kerr, Eli Kent, Simon London, Brian Sergent, Peter Vere-Jones, Mark Mitchinson, Kelly Kilgour, Sarah Peirse, Nick Blake, Dallas Barnett, Katie Jackson, Richard Whiteside, Greg Ellis, Ray Henwood, Tim Gordon, Jabez Olssen, Stephen Colbert, Evelyn McGee-Colbert, Peter Colbert, John Colbert, Norman Kali, Carter Nixon, Zane Weiner, Allan Smith, Jack Binding, Terry Binding, Frank Edwards, Peter Jackson, Terry Notary, Emma Smith, Phoebe Gittins, Alaina Wilks
Best English-friendly & video release
WB 4K Blu-ray is significant upgrades compared to the BDs, but has noticeable artificial sharpening
Updated 1 year ago
UHD tiers
Significant upgrades compared to the BDs, but has noticeable artificial sharpening
About the film
The Dwarves, Bilbo and Gandalf have successfully escaped the Misty Mountains, and Bilbo has gained the One Ring. They all continue their journey to get their gold back from the Dragon, Smaug.
- Alternative Titles
- The Hobbit II: The Desolation of Smaug, The Hobbit II: The Desolation of Smaug 3D
Director: Peter Jackson
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Both will look identical in motion but the Turbine looks marginally better due to a higher bitrate allocation by each cut being given its own disc, whereas Arrow had FiM seamlessly branch the two onto one. However, Arrow has both cuts in Open Matte (on Blu-Ray) and corrected the opening Universal logo's aspect ratio. https://slow.pics/c/McvVcYDG
Director: Peter Jackson
Caveat: mostly great video but the 4K Blu-rays have had additional DNR applied in some scenes on top of the DNR that had been applied in post-production and was already present on the DVDs & Blu-rays
The 2020 Blu-ray may be better than the 4K Blu-ray?
New Line Blu-ray
New Line Blu-ray have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
Caveat: mostly great video but the 4K Blu-rays have had additional DNR applied in some scenes on top of the DNR that had been applied in post-production and was already present on the DVDs & Blu-rays
The 2020 Blu-ray (the one without the green tint) may be better than the 4K Blu-ray?
New Line Blu-ray
New Line Blu-ray have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
The 2011 Blu-ray notoriously had a green tint, the 2020 one removes it.
4K Blu-ray caveat: mostly great video but the 4K Blu-rays have had additional DNR applied in some scenes on top of the DNR that had been applied in post-production and was already present on the DVDs & Blu-rays
The 2020 Blu-ray may be better than the 4K Blu-ray?
New Line Blu-ray
New Line Blu-ray have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
WB 4K Blu-ray is significant upgrades compared to the BDs, but has noticeable artificial sharpening
WB 4K Blu-ray is significant upgrades compared to the BDs, but has noticeable artificial sharpening
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
WB 4K
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.
Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack & Merian C. Cooper
Director: Orson Welles
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
WB Europe 4K Blu-ray
WB Europe 4K Blu-ray slightly better encoding than Criterion (caveat: missing Criterion extras)
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)
All foreign language tracks were pitched too low, replacement disc and Ultimate Knockout Collection disc fixed the error.
The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.
Director: Sylvester Stallone
2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray Box Set
2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray Box Set > 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray
2023 disc has a brief moment where the aspect ratio changes from 1.85:1 to 1.78:1, 2024 release fixed the error
Both cuts of the movie are on the same disc and don’t appear to be seamlessly branched.
The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.
Director: John G. Avildsen
Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)
Original Mono: Ultimate Knockout Collection/Knockout Collection replacement disc
Original Mono: Ultimate Knockout Collection/Knockout Collection replacement disc > Knockout collection original.
The Mono mix on the initial release of the Knockout Collection is a stereo fold-down of the 5.1, it also has a missing piano cue. The replacement disc and the ultimate knockout version fixed the error.
The Steelbook and UK standard edition is the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.
Director: Sylvester Stallone
Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)
Original Knockout Collection release had its 5.1 mix pitched too low, replacement disc and Ultimate Knockout Collection fixed the error.
The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.
More Fantasy on Blu-ray
Director: George Pal
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Directors: David Hand & Ben Sharpsteen & William Cottrell & Larry Morey & Perce Pearce & Wilfred Jackson
Mono track is on the included Blu-ray; 4K Blu-ray missing original mono. LaserDisc probably better
Director: Gary Ross
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film
Warner Bros Blu-ray for the uncut version, but it's an older master.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film. See comparison
Warner Bros Blu-ray for the uncut version, but it's an older master.
Directors: Chris Appelhans & Maggie Kang
"Sing-Along Edition" not included on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, only available on Netflix Streaming
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Criterion 4K Blu-ray also includes exclusive "Reborn Cut"
Director: Lam Nai-choi
88 Films UK or Vinegar Syndrome US Blu-ray (preference)
Different color gradings, 88 Films disc is encoded by FiM but Vinegar Syndrome encode (by Marcus Johnson) is more than robust
Vinegar Syndrome potentially has better audio than 88 Films, due to VinSyn possibly having EQ'd the audio mix after Fortune Star scanned the track in a way that makes it sound too hot, whereas 88 left it alone without addressing that issue. However, no direct comparisons exist
Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray and 2011/2013 Optimum Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Cineverse 4K Blu-ray announced with a new 4K restoration from the original negatives
Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray and 2011/2013 Optimum Blu-ray both have issues, up to preference. UK Optimum/Japan Amuse Soft Blu-ray is better, Criterion is worse
Japan Amuse Soft Blu-ray is better encoded than the Optimum, is in the original 1.85 ratio, and has the original colors
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