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Sorcerer (1977)
Sorcerer (1977) poster
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4.3

Sorcerer (1977)

Thriller, Adventure, Drama • 2h 1m

Overview

Four men from different parts of the globe, all hiding from their pasts in the same remote South American town, agree to risk their lives transporting several cases of dynamite (which is so old that it is dripping unstable nitroglycerin) across dangerous jungle terrain.

Best English-Friendly Release

Best Video Release

Format

UHD Blu-ray

UHD Tiers

Solid
Criterion

Featured Lists

Criterion Forum

Review

Picture: 9, Audio: 8, Extras: 8

Length

121 mins

Type

Movie

Alternative Titles

The Wages of Fear

Last Updated

a year ago

Contributors

Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release
Format
UHD Blu-ray
UHD Tiers
Solid
Criterion
Featured Lists
Criterion Forum
Review

Picture: 9, Audio: 8, Extras: 8

Length
121 mins
Type
Movie
Alternative Titles
The Wages of Fear
Last Updated
a year ago
Contributors

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Curzon 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Curzon 4K Blu-ray with much better encoding than the Gaumont Blu-ray with the same 4K restoration see caps

Criterion Blu-ray uses an older restoration

L'Atalante poster
UHD Blu-ray
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Best Video:

Curzon 4K Blu-ray with much better encoding than the Gaumont Blu-ray with the same 4K restoration see caps

Criterion Blu-ray uses an older restoration

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Best Audio:

Restored: Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored: Czech PAL DVD

Preferences will vary, the restored track sounds good, but not necessarily faithful to the original elements.

Krakatit poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray see nic review

Best Audio:

Restored: Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored: Czech PAL DVD

Preferences will vary, the restored track sounds good, but not necessarily faithful to the original elements.

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(Indicator 4K Blu-ray, based on review)

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(Indicator 4K Blu-ray, based on review)

All the King's Men poster
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Best English-Friendly:

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Best Video:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray. Excellent 4K master and encode, except for opticals grain is very fine, grading is beautifully silvery and luminous, nice HDR re-grade by Fidelity in Motion

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To Live and Die in L.A. poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

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Best Video:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray >
Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray  Kino Lorber US Blu-ray, see caps

Arrow has done additional cleanup work removing nearly all the damage in the transfer. They have massaged the color timing and HDR to try and improve what they could. The Capelight may have better encoding but it does not have these improvements. The Arrow encoding is solid and in motion there are no issues whatsoever. The Kino release has the damage and other issues plus frequent noise due to the lesser encoding.

Some scenes in the Arrow transfer are better, some better in the Capelight.

Best Audio:

Original matrixed Dolby Stereo: Arrow  4K Blu-ray or Image Entertainment LaserDisc
(Arrow is a port of the LD track, see spectrograms) This track has the best fidelity of any release but does have some channel bleeding baked in. The 2017 2.0 on the Arrow and Shout BDs was the Dolby Stereo original mix without channel bleeding but that had heavy noise reduction resulting in a very flat and underwhelming presentation. The surround winds up being lessened as well due to the processing. It's a tough choice between the two but the Image LD audio wins out because it hasn't been messed with and the impact is so unrestrained that no other version hits in the same way.

Capelight and old Arrow BD included the original stereo mix, but with excessive noise reduction rendering it much less detailed. Kino only included a painfully defective 2.0 track sourced from somewhere with limited fidelity, volume spikes and screechy high end which frequently ruins the music. The 5.1 remix on most modern release is a processed version that does not sound as good as it once did.

The best and most accurate of the 5.1 mixes is the original version from the 2003 Special Edition DVD in lossy AC3 form.

Best English-Friendly:

 Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray (damage removed, improved color/HDR, and best audio) or Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray (best compression but no damage removal and LaserDisc audio from Arrow)

Best Video:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray >
Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray  Kino Lorber US Blu-ray, see caps

Arrow has done additional cleanup work removing nearly all the damage in the transfer. They have massaged the color timing and HDR to try and improve what they could. The Capelight may have better encoding but it does not have these improvements. The Arrow encoding is solid and in motion there are no issues whatsoever. The Kino release has the damage and other issues plus frequent noise due to the lesser encoding.

Some scenes in the Arrow transfer are better, some better in the Capelight.

Best Audio:

Original matrixed Dolby Stereo: Arrow  4K Blu-ray or Image Entertainment LaserDisc
(Arrow is a port of the LD track, see spectrograms) This track has the best fidelity of any release but does have some channel bleeding baked in. The 2017 2.0 on the Arrow and Shout BDs was the Dolby Stereo original mix without channel bleeding but that had heavy noise reduction resulting in a very flat and underwhelming presentation. The surround winds up being lessened as well due to the processing. It's a tough choice between the two but the Image LD audio wins out because it hasn't been messed with and the impact is so unrestrained that no other version hits in the same way.

Capelight and old Arrow BD included the original stereo mix, but with excessive noise reduction rendering it much less detailed. Kino only included a painfully defective 2.0 track sourced from somewhere with limited fidelity, volume spikes and screechy high end which frequently ruins the music. The 5.1 remix on most modern release is a processed version that does not sound as good as it once did.

The best and most accurate of the 5.1 mixes is the original version from the 2003 Special Edition DVD in lossy AC3 form.

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1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

2012 Fox remastered Blu-ray

Best Video:

Fox remastered Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Fox remastered Blu-ray mono track

Additional Info:

This disc defaults to a lossless 5.1 remix, however in the setup menu, the original mono mix is included as a lossy alternative for the first time since the dawn of home video. The film was given a stereo remix very early on and remained stuck that way for decades.

Best English-Friendly:

2012 Fox remastered Blu-ray

Best Video:

Fox remastered Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Fox remastered Blu-ray mono track

Additional Info:

This disc defaults to a lossless 5.1 remix, however in the setup menu, the original mono mix is included as a lossy alternative for the first time since the dawn of home video. The film was given a stereo remix very early on and remained stuck that way for decades.

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Best Video:

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Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray or Paramount Blu-ray

Best Video:

Both Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray and Paramount Blu-ray are problematic. One reel of the Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray looks inferior, and the Paramount Blu-ray has some edge enhancement. Pick your poison between the Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray or the Paramount Blu-ray? Maybe the Kino Lorber Blu-ray included in the 4K Blu-ray is better

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Best Video:

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Best Audio:

Theatrical: 1985 WB LaserDisc (mono). 1997 WB DVD has the 1979 70mm reissue remix.

Best English-Friendly:

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Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray retains the revisionist colors with minor tweaks, has OG mono

Best Audio:

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Additional Info:

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Best Audio:

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1080p Blu-ray
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Best Video:

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Best Audio:

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1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

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UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

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Best Video:

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Best Audio:

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Sanjuro poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

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Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray: intact grain compared to Toho/BFI UHDs' DNR'd master

Best Audio:

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Harlan County U.S.A. poster
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UHD Blu-ray
Best Video:

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Additional Info:

Germany Blu-ray has English audio

Best Video:

Germany Blu-ray and Criterion Paramount no difference, just get Criterion https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=11014&d2=10022&c=4022

Additional Info:

Germany Blu-ray has English audio

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Sorcerer (1977) backdrop