Films
/
Betty Blue (1986)
Betty Blue (1986) poster

Betty Blue (1986)

37°2 le matin

Drama, Romance • 2h

Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix

Best English-friendly & video release


About the film

A lackadaisical handyman and aspiring novelist tries to support his younger girlfriend as she slowly succumbs to madness.

Alternative Titles
37.2 Degrees in the Morning

More from Jean-Jacques Beineix

See more →

Director: Jean-Jacques Beineix

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray maybe better than StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray?

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray maybe better than StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray?

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray from nicolas:
The restoration is excellent and looks magnificent in 4K HDR. It’s a tasteful grade that comes across very naturally film-like. Couldn’t be much happier about that aspect of the release.Have to be the bearer of bad news though as the encode is bad. We’re almost back in the early 4K era with those terrible, bit-starved StudioCanal encodes that came out of France and brought us Total Recall, Basic Instinct etc. While they’ve done worse, this definitely isn’t FiM or VDMS. Highlights are terrible and essentially devoid of any detail, mushy grain also creeps into normal shots here and there, particularly walls or clothing. Essentially areas that are slightly larger and have similar colors and textures.

More from Second Sight

See more →

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK Second Sight Trilogy Boxset 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

US Magnolia Pictures 4K Blu-ray uses the same source but with worse encoding

Director: Phil Joanou

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK Second Sight Blu-ray?

Video Notes:

UK Second Sight Blu-ray maybe better than all the other Blu-rays?

Australia Imprint 4K Blu-ray is disappointing with DNR and poor compression

Additional Info:

US Twilight Time and Germany NSM Blu-rays have exclusive extras

Director: Andrzej Żuławski

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Second Sight 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Second Sight 4K Blu-ray > Le Chat Qui Fume 4K Blu-ray > Umbrella 4K Blu-ray see caps

Second Sight uses the same Le Chat Qui Fume master, but encoded by FiM and applied Dolby Vision. Umbrella's encoding is visibly worse than Le Chat Qui Fume.

Additional Info:

Mondo Vision Blu-ray and Anchor Bay DVD have an alternate audio track with an unauthorized soundtrack.

Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK Second Sight 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

UK Second Sight 4K Blu-ray is FiM encoded and superior to French Severin or German 4K Blu-ray: see comparison

Directors: Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sánchez

Best English-Friendly:

Second Sight UK Blu-ray for restored versions of both theatrical cut and festival cut

Upcoming Release:

Lionsgate Limited US Blu-ray available for pre-order

Best Audio:

Second Sight UK Blu-ray replacement disc

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Second Sight 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Atmos on the Sony 4K Blu-ray maybe better?

Regarding the "original theatrical audio" 5.1 mixes:

The Sony UHD and the BD DTS-HD 5.1 mixes are the same but the UHD has been pushed slightly harder and has a lot of clipping. The UHD is 16 bit vs the BD's 24 bits.

The Second Sight UHD DTS-HD 5.1 is a downmix of its respective Atmos track. Definitely different from the Sony UHD/BD mix plus a little less dynamic. Whether or not that's representative of the theatrical Dolby Digital mix is anyone's guess.

So, if you want the best version of the original 5.1, the 2012 BD is the winner.

Directors: Danny Philippou & Michael Philippou

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray/Second Sight 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Lionsgate retains more detail, but Second Sight might be better in motion. Both are very close. Caps

Director: Martin Scorsese

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

2024 Second Sight 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1991 WB LaserDisc

Director: Erik Skjoldbjærg

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

Second Sight 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Second Sight 4K Blu-ray is a Criterion SDR master with a HDR grade. Caps & comparison

Director: George A. Romero

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Second Sight 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

2020 Second Sight 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Theatrical: 2017 Midnight Factory Blu-ray or 2013 Japan Happinet Blu-ray

European: 5.1 remix on 2016 Midnight Factory and 2021 ESC 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Theatrical: 2017 Midnight Factory Blu-ray or 2013 Japan Happinet Blu-ray

European: 5.1 remix on 2016 Midnight Factory and 2021 ESC 4K Blu-ray much more detailed than all mono mixes

More Drama on Blu-ray

Director: Robert Altman

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Vinegar Syndrome Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Cinematrographe's HDR grading is overcooked, which is a known VinSyn tendency. Additionally, their booklet mis-credits the encode to FiM.

YMMV, but for some, the included BD encoded by Marcus Johnson—ironically may make for a more pleasing experience.

Director: Roman Polanski

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray

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

Upcoming Release:

UK 4K teased by 88 Films https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=24252379

Video Notes:

Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray > Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray (better encode on Carlotta without any low-pass filtering, more extras and English subtitles on Vinegar Syndrome)

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Olive Films Blu-ray

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

MGM Blu-ray

Director: Steve Gordon

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: John Woo

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Imprint 4K Blu-ray

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

Upcoming Release:

Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56

Best Audio:

Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD

Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)

Audio Notes:

Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)

Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD

Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)

Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.

Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.

Additional Info:

Arrow has a much better translation.

Arrow LE has the Taiwan Extended Cut which will not be present on the standard edition. However, Imprint is FiM and has its own archival extras not present on the Arrow.

Director: Richard Brooks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Vincent Sherman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Jonathan Demme

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion Blu-ray has exclusive extras

Edit history

4 edits

Researched and maintained by

sgramvanshady

· last reviewed 10 months ago

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