The Witches (1990)
Fantasy, Family, Horror • 1h 31m
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Cast: Jasen Fisher, Mai Zetterling, Anjelica Huston, Charlie Potter, Rowan Atkinson, Bill Paterson, Brenda Blethyn, Jane Horrocks, Nora Connolly, Rose English, Jenny Runacre, Angelique Rockas, Rosamund Greenwood, Sukie Smith, Emma Relph, Annabel Brooks, Vincent Marzello, Darcy Flynn, Ola Otnes, Merete Armand, Elsie Eide, Jim Carter, Roberta Taylor, Anne Tirard, Leila Hoffman, Johan Sverre Myhre, Arvid Ones, Sverre Røssummoen, Grete Nordrå, Serena Harragin, Brian Hawksley, Debra Gillett, Anne Lambton, Kristin Steinsland, Michael Palin
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About the film
A young boy named Luke and his grandmother go on vacation only to discover their hotel is hosting an international witch convention, where the Grand High Witch is unveiling her master plan to turn all children into mice. Will Luke fall victim to the witches' plot before he can stop them?
- Alternative Titles
- The Witches
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray poor compression, otherwise Second Sight has best Blu-ray
Director: Nicolas Roeg
2019 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
2019 StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray (same as Optimum Blu-ray)
Directors: Nicolas Roeg & Donald Cammell
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
4K restoration of the original 3D left eye and right eye camera negatives
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Richard Brooks
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Vincent Sherman
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: George Pal
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Compton Bennett
4K restoration from original technicolor negatives
Director: Jack Conway
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
More Fantasy on Blu-ray
Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack & Merian C. Cooper
Directors: David Hand & Ben Sharpsteen & William Cottrell & Larry Morey & Perce Pearce & Wilfred Jackson
Mono track is on the included Blu-ray; 4K Blu-ray missing original mono. LaserDisc probably better
Director: Gary Ross
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film
Warner Bros Blu-ray for the uncut version, but it's an older master.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film. See comparison
Warner Bros Blu-ray for the uncut version, but it's an older master.
Directors: Chris Appelhans & Maggie Kang
"Sing-Along Edition" not included on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray, only available on Netflix Streaming
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Criterion 4K Blu-ray also includes exclusive "Reborn Cut"
Director: Lam Nai-choi
88 Films UK or Vinegar Syndrome US Blu-ray (preference)
Different color gradings, 88 Films disc is encoded by FiM but Vinegar Syndrome encode (by Marcus Johnson) is more than robust
Vinegar Syndrome potentially has better audio than 88 Films, due to VinSyn possibly having EQ'd the audio mix after Fortune Star scanned the track in a way that makes it sound too hot, whereas 88 left it alone without addressing that issue. However, no direct comparisons exist
Director: Masaaki Yuasa
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray and 2011/2013 Optimum Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Cineverse 4K Blu-ray announced with a new 4K restoration from the original negatives
Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray and 2011/2013 Optimum Blu-ray both have issues, up to preference. UK Optimum/Japan Amuse Soft Blu-ray is better, Criterion is worse
Japan Amuse Soft Blu-ray is better encoded than the Optimum, is in the original 1.85 ratio, and has the original colors
Director: John Boorman
Sources: highdefdiscnews.com (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
(Arrow 4K Blu-ray's mono seems to be out of sync, suggested by comparisons. Issue is TBC officially)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray is FiM encoded, see caps
Arrow LE will have an exclusive 3rd disc which will not be on the standard edition
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