Scum (1979) poster

4.0

Scum (1979)

Drama, Crime • 1h 38m

Director: Alan Clarke

4.0

Indicator Blu-ray

Video format

UHD Blu-ray

Best English-friendly & video release · updated 8 days ago

Video notes:

The 88 Films 4K Blu-ray is disappointing. Indicator Blu-ray > 88 Films Blu-ray. From nicolas:

Fine master, solid HDR but very poorly encoded with strong blocking artifacts in normal areas and clipped highlights that bring Criterion’s Walkabout to mind. Their Blu-ray is slightly better overall but then again still not as good as FiM’s encode for Indicator.

UHD tiers

88 Films:

Poor encoding

Compare the discs

Blu-ray.com Criterion ForumPicture 9 · Audio 7 · Extras 10 slow.pics

Overview

Powerful, uncompromising drama about two boys' struggle for survival in the nightmare world of Britain's notorious Borstal Reformatory.

More from Alan Clarke

Elephant (1989)

Director: Alan Clarke

Best English-Friendly:

Best Video:

BFI Alan Clarke Boxset

More from Indicator

Twentieth Century (1934)

Director: Howard Hawks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Affair in Trinidad (1952)

Director: Vincent Sherman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Video Notes:

While no comparison is available Indicator Blu-ray is most likely better than Mill Creek Blu-ray

The Long Gray Line (1955)

Director: John Ford

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

The Heat's On (1943)

Director: Gregory Ratoff

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

The Lady Is Willing (1942)

Director: Mitchell Leisen

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Pastor Hall (1940)

Director: Roy Boulting

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Bluebeard's Eighth Wife (1938)

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

> Kino Lorber see DVDBeaver

Indicator is using a different restoration from earlier Kino Lorber Blu-ray and it has much better contrast and slightly better grain resolution

When Tomorrow Comes (1939)

Director: John M. Stahl

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Indicator Blu-ray is encoded by FiM and likely better than Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Indicator Blu-ray see comparison

You and Me (1938)

Director: Fritz Lang

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Indicator Blu-ray is superior to Kino Lorber transfer see caps. 2K restoration

Thank You, Life (1991)

Director: Bertrand Blier

4K · Excellent

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Indicator 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

The older Studio Canal disc has incorrect pitch - 0.7 semitones lower than it should be. As their PAL DVD release was pitched correctly despite running at 25 FPS, it's likely they just took that master and slowed it down without accounting for that.

More Drama on Blu-ray

Blood Simple (1984)

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)

The Night Porter (1974)

Director: Liliana Cavani

4K · Solid

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Wicked Vision Germany 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Iain Softley

4K · Excellent

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Capelight Germany 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Both 88 Films and Germany Capelight are superior to the Shout! Factory in HDR10 but their FEL layer may even things out. Objectively, the Capelight looks best as they avoided the chroma blocking that’s visible in 88’s disc but they in turn included an Atmos mix. I have the Shout! Factory, love how it looks and the 4K transfer is spectacular. https://slow.pics/c/vPmFQSAH

Best Audio:

88 Films 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Shout! Factory has the exclusive The Beauty of the Baud and the You Can't Stop Us All featurettes.

Director: Akira Kurosawa

4K · Excellent

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

2015 Star Media Blu-ray/2019 BFI Player WEB-DL

Woman in the Dunes (1964)

Director: Hiroshi Teshigahara

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

Withnail & I (1987)

Director: Bruce Robinson

4K · Solid

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray has stronger encode than Criterion

Irma Vep (1996)

Director: Olivier Assayas

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow UK Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Encoding is clunky on both Arrow and Criterion BDs but Arrow at least included the original stereo mix in addition to the 5.1 remix, while Criterion only included the 5.1 remix.

A Better Tomorrow III: Love and Death in Saigon (1989)

Director: Tsui Hark

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Shout! Factory or UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray?

A Better Tomorrow (1986)

Director: John Woo

4K · Excellent

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

US Shout! Factory or UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

> Disk Kino/WCL China import

review: Disk Kino

Both have better encoding than Disk Kino, some shots are better on Shout! Factory, others on Arrow

Shout Factory still has the best video while Arrow did a questionable regrade. Arrow definitely has less grain in most shots, has a worse encode and is cm v2.9 compared to Shout’s cm v4.0.

Audio Notes:

Shout! Factory/Arrow 4K Blu-ray has the original mono

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

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

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· last reviewed 8 days ago

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