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The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
The Phoenician Scheme (2025) poster

The Phoenician Scheme (2025)

Adventure, Comedy • 1h 42m

Director: Wes Anderson

Cast: Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe, Alex Jennings, Charlotte Gainsbourg, F. Murray Abraham, Steve Park, Scott Shepherd, Donald Sumpter, Jason Watkins, Stéphane Bak, Antonia Desplat, Tonio Arango, Aysha Joy Samuel, Mohamed Chahrour, Imke Büchel, Anna Bardorf, Imad Mardnli, Jaime Krsto Ferkic, Sabine Hollweck, Volker Michalowski, Mike Maggart, Truman Hanks, Carmen-Maja Antoni, Mattia Moreno Leonidas, Alexandra Wysoczanska, Shabnam Kohestani, Thuli Wolf, Jenny Behnke, Luisa Steimann, Yekta Arman, Giuseppe O'Bruadair, Sanjay Hari, Alexander Kühne, Kim Young-sam, Andreas Krafft, Faysal Omer, Werner Ort, Alexander Yassin, Hans Carl von Werthern, Harry Wiggins, Simon Weisse, Matthew Jordan, Sönke Möhring, Max Mauff, Philipp Droste, Merlin Sandmeyer, Edward Hyland, Kit Rakusen, Milo James, Ogden Dawson, Hector Bateman-Harden, Benjamin Lake, Gunes Taner, Gabriel Ryan, Momo Ramadan, Jonathan Wirtz, Gabriele Pacchia, Mohamad Younes, Daniel Steiner, Benoît Herlin, Tobias Schüler, Simon Baptiste Mayer, Michel Hüttner, Till Sennhenn, Roman Berger, Antonia Schröter, Fuasi Abdul Khaliq, Christian Grabandt, Robert Gutowski, Kelvin Sholar, Erik Unsworth, Eric Vaughan, Anna Henschel, Arsal Jalib, Ashkan Olfati, Emile Buchheister, Nicolas Avinée, Mohamed Belhadjine, Sébastien Fouassier, Eliel Ford, Martin Scali, Aya Nour Ayache, Maksude Cerdik, Sogol Faghani, Michael Maggart, Julian-Andres Arango, Anton Arnold, Carlo Milillo, Bernd Rautenberg, Freya Feyrouz, Karl Markovics, Abdul Aziz Mardini, Adrian Lohnert, Edgars Gluhovs, Eduardo Miranda, Jakob Jaromir Gerhardt, Johannes Löhr, Samuel Gehrke Rios, Johannes Krisch

Best English-friendly & video release

Video notes:

Universal 4K Blu-ray caps. The Blu-ray was clearly low-pass filtered. Luckily, the 4K looks excellent.

Updated 10 months ago


UHD tiers

Excellent
Universal

About the film

Wealthy businessman Zsa-zsa Korda appoints his only daughter, a nun, as sole heir to his estate. As Korda embarks on a new enterprise, they soon become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins.

More from Wes Anderson

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Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Excellent

Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray see Chris's review

It's a conservative regrade over previous Blu-ray https://slow.pics/c/CyqhRf9W

Director: Wes Anderson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray was an upgrade over previous Blu-ray, removed the orientalist yellow tint, but not much besides that https://slow.pics/c/4b9tem5K

Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

2K DI Upscale, see caps. SDR grade in HDR container

Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

2K DI Upscale, see caps

4K Blu-ray is slightly cropped on all sides compared to Blu-ray, but "that appears to be a conscious choice as the compositions don’t seem to suffer. They also slightly expanded the black bars in order to hide the ringing on the borders."

Audio Notes:

Surround levels are 3 dB too high, but the Fox Blu-ray has channel leakage

Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Audio Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray is best, but has surrounds 3 dB too loud

Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray is 2K DI upscale but better encoded than the previous Blu-ray see caps

Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray, 2K DI upscale, see Chris's review

More from Universal

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Director: Alicia MacDonald

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Michael Cimino

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

2020 Shout! Factory 4K

Video Notes:

2020 Shout! Factory 4K slightly better than StudioCanal in HDR10. Similar in DV

Best Audio:

35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc

70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc marginally better than StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is downmix.

70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is remix.

Director: Doug Liman

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Cut: US Universal HD-DVD

International Cut: International Universal HD-DVD

Video Notes:

The Universal Blu-ray is slightly filtered and DNR'd compared to the HD-DVD, and the Universal 4K Blu-ray, on top of being upscaled, adds additional DNR and is softer than both previous HD releases.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray DTS-HD 5.1

Additional Info:

Versions:
- The International version contains a short additional scene (part of the "Farmhouse" extended scene from the special features). See additional detail below.
- The US version does not contain this scene during the film. Director Doug Liman confirms in his audio commentary that the scene was cut from the original US theatrical release "for time".
- "The Explosive Extended Edition" found on some DVD releases is not an alternate cut of the film, simply an access mode that plays "The Bookend Scenes" features via non-seamless branching.

Deck the Halls scene:
The U.S. release is 118:17 while the European/Australian/Japanese releases are 118:36. There is no difference between the two running times from the start, but at 81:21, the U.S. version cuts from a kitchen scene of Marie and Eamon washing dishes, to a scene of Eamon bringing blankets to Jason and Marie. On the European/Australian releases, at the same point, there is a scene of Jason, Marie, Eamon and his children eating dinner while "Deck the Halls" plays in the background. There is no dialogue, the characters just each exchange uncomfortable glances. The scene goes to 81:40, then picks up the same scene of Eamon bringing blankets. This scene is included as an extra ("Farmhouse" extended scene) albeit sans the holiday themed music. Many thanks to Rewind user Mark Bowen for comparing these releases and letting us know the difference.

Director: Brian De Palma

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1993 Universal LaserDisc

Additional Info:

Carlito’s Way was released theatrically in both Dolby Stereo and DTS. The 2.0 on the Arrow UHD is the original stereo mix, unknown if the 5.1 mix on the  Arrow disc is the original DTS mix.

Director: H. C. Potter

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: David Butler

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Marion Gering

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray or Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Both come from a 4K scan of a 35mm film out which was made from the original 2K DI but the Lionsgate release has visible dust and damage marks while the Universal release is cleaned up more thoroughly. Both releases suffer from DNR which seems to have been baked into the DI. The colour grade is basically the same for both releases but the Lionsgate has Dolby Vision whereas the Universal is HDR10 only. The compression on the Lionsgate UHD base layer is apparently fine so the FEL doesn't make much of a difference.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray?

Audio Notes:

The Lionsgate UHD has Dolby Atmos whereas the Universal UHD has DTS:X. Kick-ass was originally released with a 5.1 track which may be on the Universal Blu-ray.

Additional Info:

The Lionsgate UHD is on a BD-100, the Universal UHD is on a BD-66.

The Universal UHD has no extras.

Director: Joel Coen

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Director's Cut: Disappointing UK StudioCanal/US Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: LaserDisc or 2001 UK Universal DVD

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=21782879#post21782879 - comparison. StudioCanal is a massive improvement to the Criterion but still flawed in some areas (chroma noise)

Director: Leo McCarey

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal DVD

Upcoming Release:

Universal Blu-ray Nov 10th

More Adventure on Blu-ray

Director: George Pal

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Dennis Hopper

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.

Audio Notes:

DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix

Additional Info:

Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.

Best Audio:

1984 MGM Hi-Fi VHS

Director: John Huston

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

Eureka Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Eureka Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Older DVD or LaserDisc probably even better

Additional Info:

All blu-ray releases so far is from the 2010 scan.

Director: Sam Peckinpah

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion Blu-ray or WB DVD depending on the cut.

Best Video:

First Preview (Turner): Germany Plaion Blu-ray

Second Preview (Final Preview): Germany Plaion Blu-ray

Theatrical: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

2005 Cut: WB DVD

2024 Cut: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack & Merian C. Cooper

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: Roland Emmerich

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: George Lucas

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

OG: "4K77" or "D+77" on high seas.

Special Edition: "4K97_IV" or "D+97_IV" on high seas.

Upcoming Release:

2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed

Best Audio:

OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes (and usually included in fan restorations). There are 16mm/TV rips of the mono mixes.

Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.

Director: David Lean

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Additional Info:

The 5.1 on Sony 4K Blu-ray is from the 1989 70mm mix. The original is 4-track. not on the disc.

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Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 10 months ago

Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.