The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)
Action, Adventure, Fantasy • 2h 24m
Overview
Immediately after the events of The Desolation of Smaug, Bilbo and the dwarves try to defend Erebor's mountain of treasure from others who claim it: the men of the ruined Laketown and the elves of Mirkwood. Meanwhile an army of Orcs led by Azog the Defiler is marching on Erebor, fueled by the rise of the dark lord Sauron. Dwarves, elves and men must unite, and the hope for Middle-Earth falls into Bilbo's hands.
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Lee Pace, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Stott, Aidan Turner, Dean O'Gorman, Billy Connolly, Graham McTavish, James Nesbitt, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Cate Blanchett, Ian Holm, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Mikael Persbrandt, Sylvester McCoy, Peter Hambleton, John Callen, Mark Hadlow, Jed Brophy, William Kircher, Stephen Hunter, John Bell, Manu Bennett, John Tui, Peggy Nesbitt, Mary Nesbitt, Kelly Kilgour, Mark Mitchinson, Sarah Peirse, Nick Blake, Simon London, Conan Stevens, Allan Smith, Miranda Harcourt, Thomasin McKenzie, Erin Banks, Brian Hotter, Timothy Bartlett, Mervyn Smith, Martin Kwok, Dee Bradley Baker, Olof Johnsson, Jon Olson, Otep Shamaya, Debra Wilson, Abraham Wream, Jack Binding, Terry Binding, Stephen Gledhill, Billy Jackson, Katie Jackson, Peter Jackson, Terry Notary, Vanessa Cater, Jacob Tomuri
Director: Peter Jackson
Director: Peter Jackson
Director: Peter Jackson
Arrow 4K Blu-ray teased for many years, will come out once Turbine's exclusivity rights expire
Director: Peter Jackson
Arrow 4K Blu-ray teased for many years, will come out once Turbine's exclusivity rights expire
WB 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 have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
WB 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 have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
WB 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 (the one without the green tint) may be better than the 4K 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.
WB 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 (the one without the green tint) may be better than the 4K 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 have the original 6.1 mixes
4K Blu-ray set is missing extras from the old Blu-ray/DVD releases
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 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
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
Director: Paul King
Director: Paul King
Director: F. Gary Gray
Director: F. Gary Gray
Director: Peter Farrelly
Director: Peter Farrelly
Director: William Dieterle
Director: William Dieterle
Director: Griffin Dunne
Director: Griffin Dunne
Director: Rob Reiner
Director: Rob Reiner
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Director: George Sidney
Director: George Sidney
More Action on Blu-ray
Undercrank Frank Borzage: 1922 Silents Blu-ray
Undercrank Frank Borzage: 1922 Silents Blu-ray
Undercrank Frank Borzage: 1922 Silents Blu-ray
Undercrank Frank Borzage: 1922 Silents Blu-ray
Director: S. S. Rajamouli
Zee5 Streaming has the original Telugu audio and English subtitles (albeit with English portions also overdubbed in Telugu)
Netflix Streaming only has the Hindi dub but better video quality
France Carlotta 4K Blu-ray coming in December
Japan Twin Co. 4K Blu-ray
Japan Twin Co. 4K Blu-ray has original Telugu Atmos audio
Director: S. S. Rajamouli
Zee5 Streaming has the original Telugu audio and English subtitles (albeit with English portions also overdubbed in Telugu)
Netflix Streaming only has the Hindi dub but better video quality
France Carlotta 4K Blu-ray coming in December
Japan Twin Co. 4K Blu-ray
Japan Twin Co. 4K Blu-ray has original Telugu Atmos audio
France M6 4K Blu-ray has Dolby Vision, but is inferior with more washed out colors and inferior encoding plus no hardcoded subtitles for the Portuguese language parts
France M6 4K Blu-ray has Dolby Vision, but is inferior with more washed out colors and inferior encoding plus no hardcoded subtitles for the Portuguese language parts
Director: Luc Besson
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
2025 Sony US 4K Blu-ray has the original 5.1.
The Atmos on the Sony release is reportedly better than StudioCanal's.
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: Luc Besson
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
2025 Sony US 4K Blu-ray has the original 5.1.
The Atmos on the Sony release is reportedly better than StudioCanal's.
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: James Cameron
2013 MGM Blu-ray, or 4K Blu-ray if you MUST have the mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix
2013 MGM Blu-ray for non AI transfer, 2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix
1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix
Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731
The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.
Director: James Cameron
2013 MGM Blu-ray, or 4K Blu-ray if you MUST have the mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix
2013 MGM Blu-ray for non AI transfer, 2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix
1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix
Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731
The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.
Director: Michael Mann
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray upcoming, Director's Final Cut premiering October 3rd; will receive home video release in the future
Director: Michael Mann
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray upcoming, Director's Final Cut premiering October 3rd; will receive home video release in the future
Director: Robert Altman
Paramount Blu-ray
Popeye was mixed for a failed Vistasonic system with 4 discrete tracks (L/C/R/S). That mix has never been released on home video in its original form.
The older 5.1 track appearing on older DVD/BD releases sounds excellent. It appears to be a slight upmix of the original mix, only splitting the surrounds and adding LFE. It sounds close to the old analog LaserDisc, which is likely the original mix in a matrixed form.
The 5.1 included on the UHD is a new remix which significantly differs from previous tracks. There are new foley effects all over the place. Music is jarringly spliced in from different sources. Unlike the old 5.1 which had clearly discrete surrounds, the channels surrounds overlap somewhat with the fronts here.
Details on the new mix from Paramount's former head of restoration: https://youtu.be/P-AmjqViJyE?t=788
The 2.0 tracks on all DVDs/BDs are just downmixes of their respective 5.1 mixes.
Samples
Director: Robert Altman
Paramount Blu-ray
Popeye was mixed for a failed Vistasonic system with 4 discrete tracks (L/C/R/S). That mix has never been released on home video in its original form.
The older 5.1 track appearing on older DVD/BD releases sounds excellent. It appears to be a slight upmix of the original mix, only splitting the surrounds and adding LFE. It sounds close to the old analog LaserDisc, which is likely the original mix in a matrixed form.
The 5.1 included on the UHD is a new remix which significantly differs from previous tracks. There are new foley effects all over the place. Music is jarringly spliced in from different sources. Unlike the old 5.1 which had clearly discrete surrounds, the channels surrounds overlap somewhat with the fronts here.
Details on the new mix from Paramount's former head of restoration: https://youtu.be/P-AmjqViJyE?t=788
The 2.0 tracks on all DVDs/BDs are just downmixes of their respective 5.1 mixes.
Samples
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