Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988)
Drama, Music • 1h 25m
Director: Terence Davies
Cast: Freda Dowie, Pete Postlethwaite, Angela Walsh, Lorraine Ashbourne, Dean Williams, Sally Davies, Susan Flanagan, Nathan Walsh, Michael Starke, Debi Jones, Vincent Maguire, Marie Jelliman, Antonia Mallen, Anne Dyson, Jean Boht, Chris Darwin, Andrew Schofield, Pauline Quirke, Carl Chase, Alan Bird, Matthew Long, Frances Dell, Roy Ford, Terry Melia, John Thomalla, John Carr, John Michie, Jeanette Moseley, Ina Clough, Bill Moores, George Moss
Best English-friendly & video release · updated 1 year ago
Overview
Siblings Maisie and Tony, along with their mother, gather for their sister Eileen's wedding. It is a joyous occasion, but through flashbacks, it becomes clear that the family was not always happy. Their father was physically abusive to his wife and left the children emotionally traumatized. As a result, the children have grown into unhappy adults, looking for love they didn't receive when they were young.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
StudioCanal 4K
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
2012 Criterion Blu-ray is the most accurate
4K Blu-ray unrecommended because of controversial colours, no HDR, minimal resolution uptick, and DNR master
The 4K Blu-ray 5.1 adds additional foley and effects.
Director: John Carpenter
Sources: blog.sporv.com (opens in a new tab)
1997? Signature Collection LD
Good: 2017 Arrow and 2016 Shout! Factory Blu-ray have the original audio options.
the only track on Universal 4K, which is in DTS:X, has a mixing error of around 6dB too low on side channels, otherwise very similar to other 5.1 mixes.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · filmpreserve.org (opens in a new tab)
SFFP new 4K restoration
MoC audio is better https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=225532&page=3
Director: David Lynch
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray in December
Subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking
Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
2014 "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Japan Blu-ray or US Disney Blu-ray
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · lddb.com (opens in a new tab)
2014 "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Japan Blu-ray
2014 "Hayao Miyazaki Collection" Studio Ghibli Japan Blu-ray
Comparisons: https://slow.pics/c/6JWnlfit
All sources are within margin of error. Comparisons: Japanese, English
Alternate Streamline English dub is available only on 1994 Fox LD.
Director: Carol Reed
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray or Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray/Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray (shared encode); slight improvement over the 2015 StudioCanal Blu-ray
StudioCanal/LG UHDs
StudioCanal/LG UHDs port the 1999 Criterion DVD, considered the best source
StudioCanal has a remastered Blu-ray, Lionsgate only a 4K Blu-ray
Director: Martin Scorsese
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook
Sources: blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
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: Terence Davies
Director: William Friedkin
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Plaion have also released a BD sourced from Arrow's recent 4K remaster, holds up strongly in comparison https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?d1=19341&d2=19005&c=5415
Director: Rob Reiner
Arrow 4K Blu-ray releasing December 14 2026
Director: Brian De Palma
Arrow 4K Blu-ray has a better encode than the Kino Lorber and Capelight 4K Blu-rays. Capelight 4K Blu-ray looks low-passed in comparison to the Arrow but is slightly closer to the Arrow in PQ than the Kino Lorber.
Director: Bob Clark
Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray in December
Director: John Woo
> US Shout! Factory, better encoding by Engine House and redone opening credits, errors present in Shout! Factory fixed
Mono is from an alternate higher fidelity source than Shout! Factory.
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray used what was also originally screened theatrically: The Perspecta Stereo 3.0 and a mono option. The Perspecta track sounds best with better dynamic range and was set as default with the mono as optional. The previous releases stereo were downmixes of a now lost original 4-track, and it sounds very thin as a result. See comparison
Director: Tsui Hark
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray or Australia Imprint 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
There is a newer 4K restoration by L’Immagine Ritrovata, which should be of better scan quality. The 4K restoration used on all current 4K disc releases stems from a low-quality Cintel scanner. The newer restoration has yet to be released on home video.
Both the US Arrow 4K Blu-ray and UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray are better than the horrible grade of the France Le Chat Qui Fume which has blacks looking greenish and milky with some yellow push. However, comparing these two, there's significant tradeoffs; Arrow has less black crush and some shots seems to be better graded but it's worse in some shots with a slight magenta grade; the UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray has a better color grading.
UK Shameless 4K Blu-ray and US Arrow 4K Blu-ray have exclusive extras
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Maintained by the community
· last reviewed 1 year ago
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