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St. Elmo's Fire (1985)
St. Elmo's Fire (1985) poster
Letterboxd

3.0

Best English-Friendly Release

Best Video Release

Sony 4K Blu-ray looks like a very nice upgrade and is maybe even more but people are debating the addition of a Kieślowski-like yellow color filter they put over a segment in the film at around 16 minutes, on the other hand, this cap of the Blu-ray looks terrible and clearly not right either, so leaning on Sony having reinstated the filter

Format

UHD Blu-ray

UHD Tiers

Solid
Sony

Featured Lists

Length

108 mins

Type

Movie

Last Updated

a year ago

Contributors

Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release

Sony 4K Blu-ray looks like a very nice upgrade and is maybe even more but people are debating the addition of a Kieślowski-like yellow color filter they put over a segment in the film at around 16 minutes, on the other hand, this cap of the Blu-ray looks terrible and clearly not right either, so leaning on Sony having reinstated the filter

Format
UHD Blu-ray
UHD Tiers
Solid
Sony
Featured Lists
Length
108 mins
Type
Movie
Last Updated
a year ago
Contributors

Part of Is this Perfect?

See more →
L'Atalante poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

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
Best English-Friendly:

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

Saraband for Dead Lovers poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

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

Best English-Friendly:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

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

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.

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.

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

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Winchester '73 poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Casque d'Or poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

The Gentle Gunman poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

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

Best English-Friendly:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

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

More from Joel Schumacher

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Veronica Guerin poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

OOP Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Video:

OOP Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

OOP Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Video:

OOP Kino Lorber Blu-ray

The Number 23 poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Bros/New Line Blu-ray

Best Video:

Warner Bros/New Line Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Bros/New Line Blu-ray

Best Video:

Warner Bros/New Line Blu-ray

Tigerland poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Fox Blu-ray

Best Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Tigerland poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Fox Blu-ray

Best Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Phone Booth poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Fox Blu-ray

Best Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The non US DVDs have the Making of for the film.

Phone Booth poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Fox Blu-ray

Best Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The non US DVDs have the Making of for the film.

Falling Down poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

US/UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

US/UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

US/UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray has both the original Dolby Stereo 2.0 mix in its best quailty and the original Dolby Stereo 4-track discrete stems in 4.0.

Best English-Friendly:

US/UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

US/UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

US/UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray has both the original Dolby Stereo 2.0 mix in its best quailty and the original Dolby Stereo 4-track discrete stems in 4.0.

Batman & Robin poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Dolby Stereo SR: WB LaserDisc

Theatrical Dolby Digital 5.1: WB LaserDisc AC3, 1997 WB DVD 5.1

2005 5.1 retransfer: 2005 WB DVD Dolby, DTS. WB Blu-ray TrueHD

Additional Info:

4K Blu-ray has Atmos remixes with new effects and changes. The original matrix surround track is somewhat different in its mix than the 5.1 discrete but relatively the same.

Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Dolby Stereo SR: WB LaserDisc

Theatrical Dolby Digital 5.1: WB LaserDisc AC3, 1997 WB DVD 5.1

2005 5.1 retransfer: 2005 WB DVD Dolby, DTS. WB Blu-ray TrueHD

Additional Info:

4K Blu-ray has Atmos remixes with new effects and changes. The original matrix surround track is somewhat different in its mix than the 5.1 discrete but relatively the same.

Batman Forever poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Dolby Stereo SR: WB LaserDisc (best audio mix of the film)

Dolby 5.1: WB LaserDisc AC3, WB DVD

2005 5.1 retransfer: WB DVD Dolby and DTS, WB Blu-ray TrueHD

Additional Info:

4K Blu-ray has Atmos remixes with new effects and changes. The original matrix surround track is better mixed than the 5.1 discrete with more surround and low end engagement amazingly. It also hides the extensive ADR a bit due to the inherent quality dip comparing matrix to discrete formats.

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Dolby Stereo SR: WB LaserDisc (best audio mix of the film)

Dolby 5.1: WB LaserDisc AC3, WB DVD

2005 5.1 retransfer: WB DVD Dolby and DTS, WB Blu-ray TrueHD

Additional Info:

4K Blu-ray has Atmos remixes with new effects and changes. The original matrix surround track is better mixed than the 5.1 discrete with more surround and low end engagement amazingly. It also hides the extensive ADR a bit due to the inherent quality dip comparing matrix to discrete formats.

8MM poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

2019 Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Best Video:

2019 Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Additional Info:

BD 1080p Comparison: https://slow.pics/c/6hg4Y5fB (USA-Shout! vs AUS-Imprint vs GER-NamelessMedia vs AUS-Shock)

8MM poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

2019 Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Best Video:

2019 Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Additional Info:

BD 1080p Comparison: https://slow.pics/c/6hg4Y5fB (USA-Shout! vs AUS-Imprint vs GER-NamelessMedia vs AUS-Shock)

The Lost Boys poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

More from Sony

See more →
The Dark Crystal poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

LaserDisc, Shout! Factory's 2.0 is a downmix of the 5.1

Additional Info:

Old Sony DVD has an isolated score

Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

LaserDisc, Shout! Factory's 2.0 is a downmix of the 5.1

Additional Info:

Old Sony DVD has an isolated score

Labyrinth poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray, Shout! Factory doesn't have the low-pass filter that's on the Sony US 4K Blu-ray from 2021 with Dolby Vision (or the worse HDR10 only release from 2016). Shout! Factory retains more high-frequency grain and detail.

Labyrinth poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray, Shout! Factory doesn't have the low-pass filter that's on the Sony US 4K Blu-ray from 2021 with Dolby Vision (or the worse HDR10 only release from 2016). Shout! Factory retains more high-frequency grain and detail.

The Fifth Element poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Audio:

2025 Sony US 4K Blu-ray has the original 5.1.

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.

Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Audio:

2025 Sony US 4K Blu-ray has the original 5.1.

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.

Easy A poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

Easy A poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

Bye Bye Birdie poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

While no comparison available, Twilight Time Blu-ray is OOP and reviewers say the transfer is likely the same

Bye Bye Birdie poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

While no comparison available, Twilight Time Blu-ray is OOP and reviewers say the transfer is likely the same

A Night to Remember poster
DVD
Best English-Friendly:

Sony DVD

Best Video:

Sony DVD

Best English-Friendly:

Sony DVD

Best Video:

Sony DVD

Disorder in the Court poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray in Columbia Classics vol 2

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray in Columbia Classics vol 2

Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray in Columbia Classics vol 2

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray in Columbia Classics vol 2

Anyone but You poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray see comparison

The 4K Blu-ray is low-passed, Sony Pictures Core Streaming is heavily DNR

Anyone but You poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray see comparison

The 4K Blu-ray is low-passed, Sony Pictures Core Streaming is heavily DNR

Before Midnight poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

Criterion Blu-ray uses the same transfer as Sony but the encoding is slightly worse than Sony and barely noticeable see caps

Best English-Friendly:

Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony Blu-ray

Criterion Blu-ray uses the same transfer as Sony but the encoding is slightly worse than Sony and barely noticeable see caps

28 Days Later poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray see caps

Recovers quite a bit of highlight detail, looks less harsh and clipped in the video footage than the old BD.

Best Audio:

Dolby Atmos Remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1 mix: old OOP Fox Blu-ray

5.1 on the 4K is a downmix of the Atmos remix.

28 Days Later poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray see caps

Recovers quite a bit of highlight detail, looks less harsh and clipped in the video footage than the old BD.

Best Audio:

Dolby Atmos Remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1 mix: old OOP Fox Blu-ray

5.1 on the 4K is a downmix of the Atmos remix.

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St. Elmo's Fire (1985) backdrop