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Silverado (1985)
Silverado (1985) poster

Silverado (1985)

Western, Action • 2h 13m

Director: Lawrence Kasdan

Best English-friendly & video release

Updated 1 year ago


UHD tiers


About the film

Four unwitting heroes cross paths on their journey to the sleepy town of Silverado. Little do they know the town where their family and friends reside has been taken over by a corrupt sheriff and a murderous posse. It's up to the sharp-shooting foursome to save the day, but first they have to break each other out of jail, and learn who their real friends are.

More from Lawrence Kasdan

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Director: Lawrence Kasdan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

4K restoration

There's also 4K Streaming but no comparison is available

Director: Lawrence Kasdan

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Audio:

Original mono: Warner Bros LaserDisc
Stereo & 5.1 remixes: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Original mono mix was never released after VHS/LD. Warner's DVD and Blu-ray had a 3.0 remix in a 5.1 container. Criterion has new stereo and 5.1 remixes. Stereo is director's current preference.

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23879243&postcount=51

Director: Lawrence Kasdan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

More from Sony

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Director: Frank Oz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: Dennis Hopper

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Roland Emmerich

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

Sony 4K Blu-ray

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.

Director: John G. Avildsen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray 

5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray 

Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray 

Director: John G. Avildsen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray 

5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray 

Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray 

Director: Satoshi Kon

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Sony 4K Blu-ray is very smeary with the upscaling but has correct aspect ratio and very good HDR grade.
UK Blu-ray has wrong colors, and Sony 2007 Blu-ray is the worst (encoding and AR)
See professorwho's review

Director: Ben Stiller

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

Sony 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Comparisons

Audio Notes:

Spectrograms

Director: Luc Besson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · fanrestore.com (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

2020 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray vs 2017 Sony 4K Blu-ray (20th annivesary) vs 2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray (Luc Besson Box Set). The first two have totally different texture.

  • StudioCanal: More natural looking. Better defined grain. The white balance is rather yellow/orange. Some say it is closer to the original theatrical release.

  • 2017 Sony: More vibrant and impactful. The white balance is rather neutral. While color noise and grain can look busy because it had been sharpened and had micro-contrast boosted.

  • 2025 Sony: Supposedly an improved version of the 2017 release? Shows around 20mbps-higher overall video bitrate. caps

Audio Notes:

The Atmos on the Sony release is reportedly better than StudioCanal's.

Additional Info:

Disc info of the box set discs. This film have recieved multiple encode/versions in different regions over the years. The 2017 Germany4K Blu-ray is encoded differently than the 2017 Sony but not better. Also, the same can be said to 2024 France Gaumont 4K Blu-ray while comparing to the 2020 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. The StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray omits all the extras from previous releases, being barebones.

Director: Frank Capra

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony Frank Capra Boxset Blu-ray

More Western on Blu-ray

Director: Sam Peckinpah

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Plaion Germany Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

4K Blu-ray said to be coming from Criterion, per Bill Hunt

Video Notes:

Includes Director's Cut and Roadshow Version

Same master as old WB Blu-ray but better encoding

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:

Director: George Stevens

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has unusually strong encode but only a minimal upgrade over the excellent Eureka Blu-ray

Director: Samuel Fuller

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-Ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: John Ford

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan IVC Blu-ray

TV series

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative for all episodes

TV series

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Director: Anthony Mann

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow Video Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Arrow's deluxe presentation is a fantastic package with great supplements, art and printed materials. Sadly the master is a heavily processed Paramount affair. It has seemingly been severely grain managed and the mono audio is horribly thin when it shouldn't be. Stereo and 5.1 options are also given but they seem to be more of home video remixes. They do not have the fidelity issue of the compromised mono but also show marked differences as if they were remixed from stem sources. This seems to have suffered lesser degrees of the problems that plagued The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance's 4K master. This is the best version to date but one wishes Paramount could leave scans alone.

Director: Anthony Mann

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow Video Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Additional Info:

The Arrow Video Blu-ray is the best iteration so far coming from a new restoration complete with great supplements and package. The original limited edition version included a second disc with the alternate 2.0:1 framed version. The primary disc is 1.85:1. Older releases pre-2008 were all in Academy ratio. 1.85 is the best compromise ratio for the visuals. As good as this release is, the master is showing its age and sadly has a number of frozen grain artifacts.

Director: Anthony Mann

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray reissue (4K restoration)

Video Notes:

Massive picture upgrade as the 4K restoration addresses the massive color fringing that has plagued all previous dated masters. Oddly the titles are a different color now.

Additional Info:

4K restoration is a gigantic and essential picture upgrade but only available on the Kino Blu-ray reissue. No UHD has been made or announced by anyone. 

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Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 1 year ago

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