The French Dispatch (2021)
Drama, Comedy • 1h 48m
Director: Wes Anderson
Cast: Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Steve Park, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Bob Balaban, Henry Winkler, Lois Smith, Tony Revolori, Denis Ménochet, Larry Pine, Morgane Polanski, Félix Moati, Mohamed Belhadjine, Nicolas Avinée, Christoph Waltz, Cécile de France, Guillaume Gallienne, Rupert Friend, Alex Lawther, Tom Hudson, Lily Taïeb, Stéphane Bak, Hippolyte Girardot, Liev Schreiber, Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Saoirse Ronan, Winsen Ait Hellal, Mauricette Coudivat, Damien Bonnard, Rodolphe Pauly, Antonia Desplat, Elisabeth Moss, Jason Schwartzman, Fisher Stevens, Griffin Dunne, Pablo Pauly, Wallace Wolodarsky, Anjelica Bette Fellini, Anjelica Huston, Krishna Bagadiya, Julien Lecat, Gaelle Puimaly, Leo Jennings, Alexandre Steiger, Philippe Peyraud, Gérard Merle, Jean Pierre Grasset, Yannick Begoin, Yves Gaillard, Jerome Caminotti, Pierre-Yves Martron, Philippe Pelletier, Landry Marinette, Natal Koli, Côme Loury, Victor Piechaud, Charlie Rosser, Mathys Raynaud, Thomas Poirson, Gabriel Mesnard, Raphael Delage, Briac Aubin, Raphael Bancarel, Tiago Allaire, Martin Frappier, Raphael Dias, Victorien Belly, Samuel Amblard, Sam Poupart, Milo Bancarel, Charles Audry, Francois Boussiron, Jean-Pierre Coudert, Patrick Morcelli, Bernard Richefort, Djemal Saidoun, Vincent Griere, Arthur Guillebaud, Mehdy Hassani, Jérémy Martincourt, Nicolas Pasciani, Eutrope Roger, Marti Torrens, Pierre Cantaral, Louis Changeur, Denis Havard, Halbo Kool, Pascal Lefort, Jean-Benoit Pinot, Gregory Sacriste, Antonio Terroso, Marc Tournier, Jean Marie Camps, Dominique Donnary, Claude Gaume, Jacques Grattepanch, Damien Nadaud, Gilbert Papponnaud, Robert Rabouin, Willem Rompen, Jacky Souchet, Malik Tati, Jean-Claude Audouin, Alban Ploix, Laurent Bauer, Fanny Taccoen, Tahnee Peterson Stuart, Maud Brethenoux, Anna Budanova, Audrey Chemin, Guillaume Ferrant, Nisrine Mofaraj, Polina Glangetat, Fabien Marcadet, Luc Louis, Karim Youssouf, Rudy Chaperon, Quentin Fournier, Orguiene Corniere, Manon Talandier, Lucas Bascans, Alexis Vignaud, Paul Raymond, Gilles Gauthier, Nahel Bahnas, Akim Bahnas, Antoine Foo Cheung, Francois Foo Cheung, Samy Guerry Ghindri, Felicien Marais, Nathanael Marfin, Basile Vinueas, Evelyne Chapeau, Paula Kvasnikoff, Vallier Vaudin, André Coussy, Hassane Haimoud, Pauline Chadanson, Carlotta Costanzi, Mauricette Genon, Christelle Grelier, Rachel Merabet Hrdy, Sara Lacroix, Delphine Landrieau, Louise Laveuve, Kylian Freslon, Meermout Didier, Nicolas Saada, Yannik Mazzilli, Guillaume Mailland, Victor Nicolas, Jean Delabre, François-Pierre Fol, Bruno Torres, Jean-Louis Verdier, Grégory Trouvé, Loic Baxas, Eliel Ford, Mathéo Sallat Desvard, Dominique Barrier, Pascal Champareau, Sacha Seguin, Jacky Vallantin, Domingos Enrico, Abdel Nour Bouaza, Fanny Rebuffic, Juliette Raffray, Lou Lampros, Odile Fougère, Sandro Kopp, Pedro Firmino Cunha Da Souza, Pascal Battelier, Lionel Lassuderie, Duc Minh, Cyril Morandiere, Benoit Nacaud, Jean Jacques Peyraud, Lubna Playoust, Patricia Richefort, Owen Nsimba Soba, Adrien Yeung, Jean-Michel Audoual, Félix Bouin, Patrick Brousse, Raynald Caraguel, Lhoussine Chinkir, Xavier Dupin, Eric Garaud, Morgan Lorca, Laurent Pizzolato, Romuald Cormeunier, Didier Da Costa, Antonio Da Silva, Charlie Defraine, Erick Dues, Jacques Fauvel, Yoann Gaillard, Anthony Poupart, Thierry Gonzalez, Sébastien Guignard, Raphael Lagrue, Simon Malyon, David Robles, Sharif Andoura, Gilles Gaston-Dreyfus, Laureen Perrocheau, Mallaury Reby Perrocheau, Sophie Fougère, Genevieve Brillet, Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet, Jarvis Cocker, Bruno Delbonnel, Bérénice Bernard, Jean Bourdet, Antoine Bourgeais, Lou Salomé Brizard, Zoé Delisle, Julies Desrosiers, Simon Ecary, Ida Fermaud, Hugo Fontaine, Raphael Gallego, Tom Grandadam, Adrien Hans, Adèle Herisson, Antoine Jové, Pierre Lamoureux, Quentin Ledru, Salomé Lesaffre, Rémi Larcher, Hugo Leonard, Elliot Lienard, Sybil Marzin, Thy-Lane Monnet, Munik Neth, Florine Paulius, Emeline Penet, Coline Peron, Constantin Rytz, Bertille Rondard, Alice Sarrauste, Igor Secherre, Laura Studden, Emilien Wiss, Boris Zanni, Angus Henderson, Gaëtan Billères, Sally Bruice, George Smith Burgess, Marie Derambure, Alix Champy, Victor Chevalarias, Lise Cordellier, Arthur Dalle, Lola Degove, Sean Delaunay, Michael Didier, Juliane Fath, Julie Gervaos, Rachel Guerineau, Guillaume Laverdant, Théo Malet, Titouan Maret, Stephen Martin, Nathan Mazeau, Lucas Nativel, Théo Navas, Marie Lucie Parisot, Émile Pélissier, Constance Prost, Matéo Salanave, Théo Hollando Sigot, Manon Taccoli, Gauthier Rigaud Perut, Raphael Coutant, Émilie Tronche, Toheeb Jimoh, Nick Croucher, Sam Haygarth, Samuel Blenkin, Jake Gorridge, Calvin Williams, Pierre Aloui, Louis Blanchard, Hugo Bony, Adrien Brault, Alex Chadeffaud, Matisse Croizard-Niveau, Alfie Flight, Théo Fibaque, Mathieu Grattard, Paul Lafon, Elie Mazalrey, Samuel Montgomery, Florian Salasse, Quentin Veillon, Benjamin Lavernhe, Gabriel Ryan, Léo Gack, Cécilia Anseeuw, Gilberto Fallat Valle, Monique Lapeyre, Christian 'Kiki' Delpey, Cyril Sierk, Jean-Claude Loulmet, Jean-Pierre Chabernaud, Olivier Lecossois, Philippe Szezepanski, Noël Wojcik, Gontran Bisserier, Christian Cordoba, Thibault Descamps, Jonathan Herbon, Marceau Jarrossay, Tiburce Oger, Noé Richefeux, Gilles Verdegay, Kublah Diezi, Stéphane Le Bras, Armand Pierdon, Gilles Frougier, Yann Hedan
Best English-friendly & video release · updated 9 months ago
Criterion 4K Blu-ray see Chris's review
It's a conservative regrade over previous Blu-ray https://slow.pics/c/CyqhRf9W
UHD tiers
Overview
The staff of an American magazine based in France puts out its last issue, with stories featuring an artist sentenced to life imprisonment, student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.
Director: Wes Anderson
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray see caps and Chris's review
Director: Wes Anderson
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Universal 4K Blu-ray caps. The Blu-ray was clearly low-pass filtered. Luckily, the 4K looks excellent.
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
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
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
2K DI Upscale, see caps. SDR grade in HDR container
Director: Wes Anderson
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
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."
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is best, but has surrounds 3 dB too loud
Director: Wes Anderson
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Wes Anderson
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Wes Anderson
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is 2K DI upscale but better encoded than the previous Blu-ray see caps
Director: Wes Anderson
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray, 2K DI upscale, see Chris's review
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering, 1.85 ratio restored for US Cut; both US and International Cuts are 4K.
1999 WB DVD/Criterion 4K Blu-ray
No Blu-ray or DVD release until the Criterion 4K Blu-ray has presented the US in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The International Cut has never been presented in it's OAR of 1.66:1 in any home video releases.
The packaging on the back of the WB 4K Blu-ray incorrectly states it as 1.85:1 when the movie is actually 1.78:1 as is the original Blu-ray.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering, 1.85 ratio restored
Mono: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set)/1999 WB R1 DVD
5.1 remix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Sony release without the filtering; Comparison between Sony and Criterion.
Mono: 1994 LaserDisc (marginally, unfiltered) or Criterion 4K Blu-ray (filtered)
5.1 Remix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering Comparison between the Criterion and WB.
5.1: WB 4K Blu-ray, a remix but has higher fidelity
Mono: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set)
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering; WB 4K early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed. Comparison between Criterion and WB.
6-Track 70mm mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set), 1997 MGM LaserDisc, 1998 MGM DVD
35mm Mono Mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Matrixed Stereo Remix: MGM Japan LaserDisc (1985) [G158F5509]
5.1 Remix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Michael Mann
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · thedigitalbits.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray is encoded by FiM and is better than Criterion, see caps https://slow.pics/c/Z2RRQAAT
Criterion 4K Blu-ray vs Blu-ray: caps colors are more different and nuanced than anticipated even in the SDR-converted caps and the usual gain in highlight detail is also apparent. Encode looks excellent except for the brightest areas as usual.
5.1/5.0 mix (essentially a 4-track mix in 5.1 and 5.0 containers respectively)-Arrow/Criterion 4K Blu-ray. Only imperceptible differences in bit-depth: 20 vs 24.
2.0 mix- Arrow 4K Blu-ray (original stereo)
Director: Steve James
Director: Joel Coen
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)
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)
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
More Drama on Blu-ray
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Directors: Emeric Pressburger & Michael Powell
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · filmalert101.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
FiM encode and none of the low-pass filtering present on the Criterion 4K, resulting in more detail and better handling of highlights on Imprint
Review, comparisons
All HD and 4K sources use the same 2009 restoration. Criterion's master (also used by Imprint) is a bit more rolled off, though the difference is minor.
Director: Doug Liman
International Cut: International Universal Blu-ray but slightly filtered and DNR'd
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.
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.
Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
UK StudioCanal UHD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
US Magnolia BD
UK Entertainment One release contains directors commentary track
Director: Simon Wells
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Dolby Stereo: THX Certified Laserdisc
Director: Samuel Fuller
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Criterion Blu-Ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Steve De Jarnatt
2024 Kino Lorber Blu-ray
UK Transmission 4K Blu-ray in January 2027
Either the 2015 Kino Lorber Blu-ray or the Arrow Blu-ray
The 2024 Kino Lorber Blu-ray is botched.
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
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