Union Pacific (1939)
Drama, Western • 2h 15m
Overview
One of the last bills signed by President Lincoln authorizes pushing the Union Pacific Railroad across the wilderness to California. But financial opportunist Asa Barrows hopes to profit from obstructing it. Chief troubleshooter Jeff Butler has his hands full fighting Barrows' agent, gambler Sid Campeau; Campeau's partner Dick Allen is Jeff's war buddy and rival suitor for engineer's daughter Molly Monahan. Who will survive the effort to push the railroad through at any cost?
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Joel McCrea, Akim Tamiroff, Robert Preston, Lynne Overman, Brian Donlevy, Robert Barrat, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Ridges, Henry Kolker, Francis McDonald, Willard Robertson, Evelyn Keyes, Richard Lane, William Haade, Regis Toomey, J.M. Kerrigan, Fuzzy Knight, Harry Woods, Lon Chaney Jr., Joseph Crehan, Julia Faye, Sheila Darcy, Ernie Adams, Stanley Andrews, Richard Alexander, George Anderson, Sam Ash, Earl Askam, Harry A. Bailey, May Beatty, Don Beddoe, Genevieve Bell, Monte Blue, Ward Bond, Dick Botiller, Ed Brady, Tom Burke, George Burton, A.S. Byron, E.H. Calvert, Steve Carruthers, Nora Cecil, Wheaton Chambers, Lane Chandler, Jack Chapin, Sonny Chorre, Davison Clark, Jack Rube Clifford, David Clyde, Iron Eyes Cody, Allen Connor, Hal Craig, Sidney D'Albrook, Max Davidson, Alfonso De Cruz, Victor De Linsky, Richard Denning, Mike Driscoll, Tex Driscoll, Peter Du Rey, Jimmie Dundee, Paul Everton, Jim Farley, Martin Faust, Maude Fealy, John Fee, Eddie Fetherston, James Flavin, Byron Foulger, J. C. Fowler, George B. French, Will Geer, Kenneth Gibson, Joe Gilbert, William Gillis, Wesley Giraud, Gus Glassmire, Dick Gordon, Douglas Gordon, Wylie Grant, George Guhl, Chuck Hamilton, Pat Hartigan, Beth Hartman, Edward Hearn, Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian, Russell Hicks, Leon Holmes, Robert Homans, Mitchell Ingraham, T.C. Jack, Selmer Jackson, Si Jenks, Noble Johnson, Jack W. Johnston, Edward Keane, Jane Keckley, Jim Kelso, Jack Kennedy, Bob Kortman, Frank Lackteen, Ethan Laidlaw, Florence Lake, Bobby LaSalle, Alexander Leftwich, Edward LeSaint, Elmo Lincoln, Walter Long, Viola Louie, Evelyn Luckey, Hugh MacDonald, Wilbur Mack, Mary MacLaren, George Magrill, Tom Mahoney, Mala, John Marston, Ida May, Charles McAvoy, Sam McDaniel, Charles McMurphy, James McNamara, John Merton, Ray Miller, Frank Mills, Pat Moriarity, Adrian Morris, Horace Murphy, Jack Murphy, Louis Natheaux, Nestor Paiva, Emory Parnell, Doreen Pastor, William Pawley, Edward Peil Sr., Jack Pennick, Albert Petit, James Pierce, Russ Powell, John Power, Hal Price, Frances Rather, George Regas, John J. Richardson, Cyril Ring, Margaret Roach, Buddy Roosevelt, Dick Rush, Joe Sawyer, Francis Sayles, Syd Saylor, Ed Schaefer, Ynez Seabury, Frank Shannon, Michael Slade, Lew Short, James P. Spencer, Edwin Stanley, Robert R. Stephenson, Bert Stevens, Charles Stevens, Mark Strong, John M. Sullivan, Albert Taylor, Nick Thompson, Chief Thundercloud, David Thursby, Archie Twitchell, Tony Urchel, Guy Usher, Morgan Wallace, Calla Waltz, Ruth Warren, Stanhope Wheatcroft, Blackie Whiteford, Greg Whitespear, William Worthington, Frank Yaconelli, Duke York
Director: Roberto Rossellini
Director: Roberto Rossellini
Director: David Lynch
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Australia Imprint Blu-ray upcoming included in After Dark Neo-Noir Cinema Vol. 4
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Director: David Lynch
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Australia Imprint Blu-ray upcoming included in After Dark Neo-Noir Cinema Vol. 4
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Criterion Blu-ray> Artificial Eye Blu-ray, Korea Nova Media 4K Blu-ray release is AI upscaled
Criterion Blu-ray> Artificial Eye Blu-ray, Korea Nova Media 4K Blu-ray release is AI upscaled
Director: Federico Fellini
2022 Paramount Blu-ray
2014 Criterion Blu-ray is from the same master and has only slightly worse compression. JP/DE/FR releases all have incorrect levels. Caps
2022 Paramount Blu-ray
All Blu-ray releases are from the same mastering, superior to the one on older DVD releases which is sourced from a higher generation source. They all sound about the same, with the exception of Criterion, which sounds worse due to extraneous filtering.
Paramount's disc also includes a contemporary English dub, previously unreleased on home video.
Director: Federico Fellini
2022 Paramount Blu-ray
2014 Criterion Blu-ray is from the same master and has only slightly worse compression. JP/DE/FR releases all have incorrect levels. Caps
2022 Paramount Blu-ray
All Blu-ray releases are from the same mastering, superior to the one on older DVD releases which is sourced from a higher generation source. They all sound about the same, with the exception of Criterion, which sounds worse due to extraneous filtering.
Paramount's disc also includes a contemporary English dub, previously unreleased on home video.
Director: Martin Scorsese
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding
Original mono mix: 1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1991 Columbia LaserDisc
The 4K Blu-ray mono is only minimally worse (see blah-ray).
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: Martin Scorsese
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding
Original mono mix: 1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1991 Columbia LaserDisc
The 4K Blu-ray mono is only minimally worse (see blah-ray).
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: Claude Lelouch
Director: Claude Lelouch
Director: Ruben Östlund
Director: Ruben Östlund
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray
Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray or potentially French Intersections Blu-ray but not English-friendly
There are no comparisons, and all releases are likely the same transfer from 2K restoration. However, given that other releases in the Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray are superior to other Polish releases, likely the same conclusion applies here.
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray
Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray or potentially French Intersections Blu-ray but not English-friendly
There are no comparisons, and all releases are likely the same transfer from 2K restoration. However, given that other releases in the Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray are superior to other Polish releases, likely the same conclusion applies here.
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Kino Lorber Blu-ray with Photoplay 4K restoration
Kino Lorber Blu-ray with Carl Davis score
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Kino Lorber Blu-ray with Photoplay 4K restoration
Kino Lorber Blu-ray with Carl Davis score
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Flicker Alley Blu-ray (encoded by FiM) has much better encoding than Lobster Films Blu-ray, see DVDBeaver caps
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Flicker Alley Blu-ray (encoded by FiM) has much better encoding than Lobster Films Blu-ray, see DVDBeaver caps
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Director: Rob Reiner
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray release date September 21 2026
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray or Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray no comparison available
Shout! Factory Blu-ray has exclusive extras the Kino Lorber/ Capelight release doesn't
The initial release of the Capelight 4K mediabook had some playback issues with Dolby Vision on Panasonic devices due to an encoding error, the HDR10 apparently works fine, see Capelight’s official response here.
Director: Rob Reiner
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray release date September 21 2026
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray or Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray no comparison available
Shout! Factory Blu-ray has exclusive extras the Kino Lorber/ Capelight release doesn't
The initial release of the Capelight 4K mediabook had some playback issues with Dolby Vision on Panasonic devices due to an encoding error, the HDR10 apparently works fine, see Capelight’s official response here.
Director: Lou Breslow
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: Lou Breslow
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: Howard Hughes
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: Howard Hughes
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: Stuart Heisler
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Director: Stuart Heisler
Kino Lorber Blu-ray 2K restoration
Indicator Blu-ray > 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
Indicator Blu-ray > 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
Director: Frank Borzage
While Indicator Blu-ray used a newer 4K restoration from 2022 instead of the older 2K restoration, Kino Lorber has the original aspect ratio, and the Indicator Blu-ray looks very soft in comparison see comparison
Director: Frank Borzage
While Indicator Blu-ray used a newer 4K restoration from 2022 instead of the older 2K restoration, Kino Lorber has the original aspect ratio, and the Indicator Blu-ray looks very soft in comparison see comparison
Kino Lorber Blu-ray, new 2K master
No caps available for French Elephant Films Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Blu-ray, new 2K master
No caps available for French Elephant Films Blu-ray
Director: Billy Wilder
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Capelight/Kino Lorber which has heavy noise reduction and opening snare hit is missing, Capelight is slightly better encoded than Kino Lorber
Director: Billy Wilder
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Capelight/Kino Lorber which has heavy noise reduction and opening snare hit is missing, Capelight is slightly better encoded than Kino Lorber
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
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