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Better Man (2024)
Better Man (2024) poster

Better Man (2024)

Music, Drama • 2h 15m

Director: Michael Gracey

Cast: Robbie Williams, Jonno Davies, Steve Pemberton, Alison Steadman, Kate Mulvany, Frazer Hadfield, Damon Herriman, Raechelle Banno, Tom Budge, Jake Simmance, Liam Head, Chase Vollenweider, Jesse Hyde, Anthony Hayes, Leo Harvey-Elledge, Chris Gun, Carter J. Murphy, Asmara Feik, Rafferty Gleeson, Leatham Blisand, Jasper Hall, Molly Gleeson, Romley Gurr, John Lloyd Fillingham, Rose Flanagan, Jessica Lu, Patrick Harvey, Dailin Gabrielle, Dalip Sondhi, Brigid Zengeni, Milijana Cancar, Karina Banno, Sandra Githinji, Elyssia Koulouris, David Woods, Nick Nicolas, Michelle Brasier, Jack McMinn, Sophia Elliff, Campbell Maccorquodale, John O'May, Joe Ruberto, Yvonne Fix, Sharon Heywood, Vicky Jacobs, Wil King, Ned Zaina, David Wood, Aaron Lynch, Jack Stratton-Smith, Teon Haywood, Laurence Boxhall, Clarisse Bonello, Paul Esmonde, Nadya Nepomnyashaya, Tami Achebe, Jayden Ayodele, Lewis Duffield, Steven Elliot, Adil Akram, Hannan Ahmed, Perry Warner, Sanjay Batra, Ellie Dickens, Oliver Wheeler, Mark Lee, Bella Merrington, Ivy Tucker, Thalía Dudek, Clare Chihambakwe, Paul Warwick, Daisy Bishop, Emma Johnson, Jade Carr, Lizzie Kelly, Jonty Reason, Spencer Susser, Kasia Grabowski, Mia Harangozó, Jordan Holtam, Gaby Seow, Annelise Buttress, Jessica Duncan, Madison Gaze, Emma Monaco, Ross Sands, Oliver Gebhardt, Noam Phillips, Tricia Hennessy, Luke Travers, Liam Baptista, Cully Barnacle, Emily Bedford, Cassius Cole, Yves Cole, Olivia Gurr, Goldie Harris-Currie, Audrey Kambouris, Namitha Nair, Jasper McDonald Parsons, Darcy Montana Sterling-Cox, Sebastian Sero, Liam Smith, Charlotte Anderson, Oliver Andrews, Tyrone Anthony, Jorge Antonio, Chris Arias, Simon Ata, Fatou Bah, Chantal Bala, Charlotte Bazeley, Olivia Beckford, Darren Bennett, Philip Birchall, Courtenay Brady, Amira Walters-Byrne, Beth Cain, Patrick Cain, Samuel Baxter, Dani Cash, Cece, Megan Charles, Tendai Chitate, Vicky Clarke, Elise Clinton, Brie Cohen, Katie Collins, Armando Cruz, Yves Cueni, Che Barrett-Davis, Idney De'Almeida, Robin Dobler, Kieran Donovan, Harrison Dowzell, Lauren Drago, Joy Duckrell, Erin Dusek, Jo Dyce, Carly Mercedes Dyer, David Eap, Austyn Farrell, Mike Fellows, Majella Fitzgerald, Jakub Franasowicz, Melissa Freire, Tom Fryearson, Chanelle George, Darron Gifty, Martha Gimson, Jo Goodwin, Jamie Graham, Jenny Griffin, Lina Gurin, Jared Martyn-Hageman, Ian Harris, Yasmin Harrison, LaShay Harvey, Ryan Hayes, Emily Haygarth, Lisa Herbert, Lili Hodge, India Hope, Kane Horn, Renae Hughes, Samantha Inge, Sammi Lee Jayne, Mira Jebari, Matt Jordan, Konnie Karachaliou, Kate Kelly, Kane Klendjian, Josh Lay, Steph Lee, Jake Leigh, Natalie Lennie, Vicky Leung, Hannah Levitt-Collins, Ashley Lloyd, Lamaar Manning, Christie Lee Manning, Fiona McDonald, Lianne Lee May, Molly McGibbon, Mari Macleod, Hena Memishi, Victoria Mudima, James Mulford, Connor Murray, Carella Mutagubya, Mina Neighbour, Anders Neilsen, Ken Nguyen, Shaun Niles, Josh Nkemdilim, Kelechi Nwanokwu, Lucifer O'Shea, Tom Partridge, Steven Pascau, Elise Pinel, Neal Piron, Josie Pocock, Kyah Purling, Luca Rainbow, Nimmz Riaz, Elliot Richardson, Kailum Richardson, Ben Ritter, Alana Rixon, Harry Robinson, Shani Ross, Carmelle Rudder, Bradley Salter, Hannah Sandilands, Billy Sawyer, Ben Scarmozzino, Marty Sedgefield, Brett Sewell, Aaliyah Sharnell, Kane Silver, Fi Silverthorn, Darcey Simmons, Oliver Smithson, Emma-Louise Stansall, Erica Stubbs, Charlie Tatman, Kim Taylor, Thanh Jason Nguyen, Nicky Treleaven, Sophia Turner, Summer Villiers, Kane Walcott, Nakai Warikandwa, Kieran Daley Ward, Randall Watson, Megan Westpfel, Angel Wharmby, Josh Wharmby, Johnny White, Charlotte Wildrianne, Beth Willetts, Aleshia Willilams, Maisie Wilson, Becky Wong, Devon Young, Michele Zanette, Jordan Elise

Best English-friendly & video release

Video notes:

Paramount US vs Entertainment in Video UK - comparison. From nicolas

I think this film is strikingly ugly and it ultimately doesn't matter much which one to take. Paramount's looks low-pass filtered (as usual) which Entertainment in Video doesn't have but it looks like they did some filtering of the chroma but compression-wise, both could be better.

Updated 10 months ago


UHD tiers

Solid
Paramount

About the film

Follow Robbie Williams' journey from childhood, to being the youngest member of chart-topping boyband Take That, through to his unparalleled achievements as a record-breaking solo artist – all the while confronting the challenges that stratospheric fame and success can bring.

More from Michael Gracey

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Director: Michael Gracey

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox 4K Blu-ray

Caveat: No Dolby Vision metadata from Streaming

Best Audio:

Fox 4K Blu-ray

More from Paramount

See more →

Director: Robert Zemeckis

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray

Director: Martin Scorsese

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray > Paramount US and Capelight DE, same black crush on all three but the Arrow is encoded by FiM and has very good new supplements, the Capelight looks slightly low-passed, but in motion it probably looks about the same as the Paramount, see caps comparison for all three.

Audio Notes:

Arrow and Paramount basically sound the same, the Arrow has a slightly higher bitrate. Capelight is probably the same too but for now it's TBA.

Additional Info:

Paramount US 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision 

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray and Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray have MEL Dolby Vision

Director: Steven Spielberg

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray Purist choice: Blu-ray

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray new improved master with color grading and slight issues. Blu-ray is old master with original color grading

Best Audio:

Blu-ray 5.1

Additional Info:

The Paramount 4K Blu-ray has a much better new scan that removes the original extremely dated color grading. This is an improvement on one hand but a definite revisionist change on the other. There is the expected grain management and slight HDR issues in addition to encoding quirks from Paramount. It is a giant improvement over the original Blu-ray but the color change and other issues means that the Blu-ray is one to keep for purists to have the as-is original iteration of the film's presentation. Audio wise the film has been remixed into Atmos but it merely seems like a slightly tweaked and frankly tamed version of the original 5.1. Of the two I prefer the Blu-ray 5.1. The original Blu-ray was Dolby TrueHD and the reissue Blu-ray in the four film Blu-ray collection boxset was DTS-HDMA.

DFIC extensive review: https://youtu.be/evsrJOTIjdA?si=wtdWGxZBfhPYTIeW

Director: Alex Proyas

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray (30th anniv.)

Director: Steven Spielberg

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Paramount Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray Dec 15th

Video Notes:

US Paramount Blu-ray > International WB Blu-ray

Director: Tony Scott

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

70mm 6-track mix in 5.1: Paramount THX LaserDisc

Dolby Stereo mix in 2.0: Paramount THX LaserDisc

Additional Info:

The 70mm 6-track mix has a higher bitrate on the Paramount 1998 DVD, but is more limited than on the THX LaserDisc The Paramount 1998 DVD also has open matte versions in fullscreen 1.33:1 and widescreen 2.00:1 instead of the theatrical aspect ratio of 2.39:1, but the 2.00:1 widescreen presentation is non-anamorphic. The THX LaserDisc is available in both fullscreen 1.33:1 and widescreen 2.00:1 variants.

Director: Terrence Malick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Lovely underlying remaster by Criterion and Resillion but encode is sadly low-pass filtered by Pixelogic, and even then, the encode is still less than ideal. Still easily obliterates any prior disc release, but certainly wouldn't hurt to have a UK or German label take a crack at this same master.

Best Audio:

1999 Paramount DVD

Director: Peter Faiman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD

International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray

Encore Cut: Germany Winkler Film 4K Blu-ray, censored but good encoding

Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut

Best Audio:

Australia Cut: Laserdisc

Additional Info:

The film exists in three versions:
- the original Australian cut (~104 minutes at 24fps/~100 minutes at 25fps);
- the American/international version (~98 minutes at 24fps/~94 minutes at 25fps) trimming some exposition in the Outback first half of the film and some shorter extensions of a few seconds in the New York section, altering some of the dialogue – including censoring a "fuck" to "screw" – but featuring one additional dialogue extension not in the Australian version (a comparison of the two cuts can be found at Movie Censorship);
- the Australian Encore Cut (~95 minutes at 24fps/~91 minutes at 25fps) which uses the international version source so it already has those alterations but also removes approximately three minutes consisting of parts of two scenes featuring Mick grabbing the crotch of a cross-dressing prostitute and a later sequence when he does the same thing at a party to a woman with a deep voice (a comparison of the international version and the Encore Cut can be found at Movie Censorship).

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2D version: Paramount Blu-ray

3D version: Paramount 3D Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray on October 26 2026

Director: Billy Wilder

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray or Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray. See caps
HDR/grading: nice, but some blown out
Encoding: inconsistent, smeared motion
DNR: inconsistent, frozen
Old Paramount Blu-ray is arguably a solid alternative choice

Best Audio:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono

Audio Notes:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono is different version of the Blu-ray mono from the same old 2000 DVD transfer.

Additional Info:

The 5.1 remix on the 4K Blu-ray is an appalling remix done by going wild with artificially generated stems from Park Road Post who were given the surviving mono to separate. The experience is jarring and fidelity to original mix in terms of level balance, directionality and impact is nonexistent. Not only does this sound painfully weird, but the Paramount mixers then did whatever they wanted in terms of LFE, sound pans and effect changes.
The original mono mix was not restored and still needs it badly. The 4K master is filled with frozen grain examples coming and going plus some HDR issues in addition to the usual Paramount problems. It is simultaneously better and worse than the Blu-ray master.

More Music on Blu-ray

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: George Pal

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Directors: Chris Appelhans & Maggie Kang

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

"Sing-Along Edition" not included on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, only available on Netflix Streaming

Director: Masaaki Yuasa

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US GKIDS Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Japan Aniplex Blu-ray is severely lowpassed, which is not an issue on the US release

Director: Damien Chazelle

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Upcoming Release:

US Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray re-release announced with Dolby Vision, a new exclusive bonus, and the previously retailer pre-order bonus-exclusive/Hong Kong-exclusive bonus interviews in HD

Video Notes:

Italy Eagle Pictures has DV, better encode, and no brightness shifts compared to Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray for the original Dolby Atmos mix

Additional Info:

Hong Kong Panorama 4K Blu-ray has two interviews available in HD that are SD everywhere else and only included as retailer-exclusive pre-order bonus DVDs with the US Blu-ray

Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK StudioCanal UHD

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1991 MGM LaserDisc

Director: Morton DaCosta

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray Nov 24th

Director: Julien Duvivier

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration

Director: Sofia Coppola

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

MUBI UK 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Lionsgate US release has incorrect gamma

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Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 10 months ago

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