City of God (2002)
Cidade de Deus
Drama, Crime • 2h 9m
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen, Matheus Nachtergaele, Seu Jorge, Jefechander Suplino, Alice Braga, Emerson Gomes, Edson Oliveira, Michel Gomes, Roberta Rodrigues, Luis Otávio, Kiko Marques, Gustavo Engracia, Darlan Cunha, Robson Rocha, Thiago Martins, Leandra Miranda, Graziella Moretto, Renato de Souza, Karina Falcão, Sabrina Rosa, Rubens Sabino, Kikito Junqueira, Edson Montenegro, Gero Camilo, Felipe Paulino, Daniel Zettel, Charles Paraventi, Luiz Carlos Ribeiro Seixas, Paulo 'Jacaré' César, Dani Ornellas, Bernardo Santos, Diego Batista, Diego Ferreira, Marcio Vinicios, Micael Borges, Rafael de Castro, Ramon Francisco, Thiago Wallace, Alexander Cerqueira, Alexandre 'China' Tavares, André Pires Martins, António Rodrigues, Bartolomeu Braga, Carlos Henrique Avernas, Cláudio César, Cleiton Ventura, Damião Firmino, Euclides Garcia, Fábio Castor Conceição, Felipe Nogueira, Ivan Martins, John Lima, Jonas Michel, Leandro Lucas, Leandro Dias Batista, Lúcio Andrey, Luis Carlos Rodrigues Oliveira, Luís Nascimento, Marcelo Mello Jr., Márcio Costa, Mário Luiz Costa Oliveira, Nelson Amaral, Omar 'Mazinho' Barcelos, Otto Amorim, Peter Soares, Rafael de Souza, Roberto Miguez, Rómulo 'Guinomo' Sech, Ruy Vitório, Sérgio Bispo, Alex dos Santos, Anderson Bruno Marques, Anderson Lugão, André Luiz Mendes, Antoni Guedes, Bruno Ricardo, Charles Samuel, Éder Júlio Martins, Eduardo 'BR' Piranha, Erick Maximiano Oliveira, Fábio 'Dog' da Cunha, Felipe Villela Mendonça, Frederico Lins, Guilherme Estevam, Guilherme William, Harlem Teixeira, Leandro Gonçalves, Leandro Lima, Leiz Moreira, Leonardo Melo, Luis Carlos Oliveira, Marcello Melo, Marcello 'Máscara' Alves, Wallace Araújo, Wallace Nascimento, Wanderson 'Petão' Lopes, Wellington Costa Ricardo, Wemerson Gonçalves, Wendel Barros, Yuri Krushewsky, Anderson Faria, Arlindo Lopes, Carol Meirelles, Carlos 'Lencinho' Smith, Christiano, Diego Mendes, Jéssica Santos, Lorena Da Silva, Luciana Roque, Marina Mandonça Pinheiro, Michele Gonçalves, Pierre dos Santos, Renan Monteiro, Vinicius Faria, Delano Valentim, Ed Money, Fabiano Gonçalves, Felipe Porto, Francisco Marcos, Leo Generoso, Marcelo António Santos, Marcelo Araújo, Marcos Viana, Maurício Figueiras, Ricardo Lira, Ricardo Rocha da Silva, Wagner Mello, Waldeck Roque, Júlio César Siqueira, Denise Fonseca, Adão Xalebaradã, Edward Boggis, Guti Fraga, Babu Santana, Marcello Costa, Marcos Coutinho, João Soares, Rafael Fontenele, Rosangela Rodrigues, Jota Farias, Mary Sheila, Gil Torres, Paulo Lins, Christian Duurvoort, Olivia Araújo, Tulé Peak
Best English-friendly release · updated 5 months ago
Overview
In the poverty-stricken favelas of Rio de Janeiro in the 1970s, two young men choose different paths. Rocket is a budding photographer who documents the increasing drug-related violence of his neighborhood, while José “Zé” Pequeno is an ambitious drug dealer diving into a dangerous life of crime.
Director: Peter Faiman
Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD
International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray
Encore Cut: Germany Winkler Film 4K Blu-ray, censored but good encoding
Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)
US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut
Australia Cut: Laserdisc
The film exists in three versions:
- the original Australian cut (~104 minutes at 24fps/~100 minutes at 25fps);
- the American/international version (~98 minutes at 24fps/~94 minutes at 25fps) trimming some exposition in the Outback first half of the film and some shorter extensions of a few seconds in the New York section, altering some of the dialogue – including censoring a "fuck" to "screw" – but featuring one additional dialogue extension not in the Australian version (a comparison of the two cuts can be found at Movie Censorship);
- the Australian Encore Cut (~95 minutes at 24fps/~91 minutes at 25fps) which uses the international version source so it already has those alterations but also removes approximately three minutes consisting of parts of two scenes featuring Mick grabbing the crotch of a cross-dressing prostitute and a later sequence when he does the same thing at a party to a woman with a deep voice (a comparison of the international version and the Encore Cut can be found at Movie Censorship).
3D version: Paramount 3D Blu-ray
Paramount 4K Blu-ray on October 26 2026
Director: Billy Wilder
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Paramount 4K Blu-ray. See caps
HDR/grading: nice, but some blown out
Encoding: inconsistent, smeared motion
DNR: inconsistent, frozen
Old Paramount Blu-ray is arguably a solid alternative choice
Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono
Paramount 4K Blu-ray mono is different version of the Blu-ray mono from the same old 2000 DVD transfer.
The 5.1 remix on the 4K Blu-ray is an appalling remix done by going wild with artificially generated stems from Park Road Post who were given the surviving mono to separate. The experience is jarring and fidelity to original mix in terms of level balance, directionality and impact is nonexistent. Not only does this sound painfully weird, but the Paramount mixers then did whatever they wanted in terms of LFE, sound pans and effect changes.
The original mono mix was not restored and still needs it badly. The 4K master is filled with frozen grain examples coming and going plus some HDR issues in addition to the usual Paramount problems. It is simultaneously better and worse than the Blu-ray master.
Director: Robert Altman
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release
Director: Richard Linklater
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Original AR: Paramount 4K Blu-ray
IMAX AR: Paramount 3D Blu-ray
Directors: Arturo Perez Jr. & Samantha Jayne
Director: Robert Altman
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab) · mega.nz (opens in a new tab)
Popeye was mixed for a failed Vistasonic system with 4 discrete tracks (L/C/R/S). That mix has never been released on home video in its original form.
The older 5.1 track appearing on older DVD/BD releases sounds excellent. It appears to be a slight upmix of the original mix, only splitting the surrounds and adding LFE. It sounds close to the old analog LaserDisc, which is likely the original mix in a matrixed form.
The 5.1 included on the UHD is a new remix which significantly differs from previous tracks. There are new foley effects all over the place. Music is jarringly spliced in from different sources. Unlike the old 5.1 which had clearly discrete surrounds, the channels surrounds overlap somewhat with the fronts here.
Details on the new mix from Paramount's former head of restoration: https://youtu.be/P-AmjqViJyE?t=788
The 2.0 tracks on all DVDs/BDs are just downmixes of their respective 5.1 mixes.
Samples
More Drama on Blu-ray
Director: Alan Clarke
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
The 88 Films 4K Blu-ray is disappointing. Indicator Blu-ray > 88 Films Blu-ray. From nicolas:
Fine master, solid HDR but very poorly encoded with strong blocking artifacts in normal areas and clipped highlights that bring Criterion’s Walkabout to mind. Their Blu-ray is slightly better overall but then again still not as good as FiM’s encode for Indicator.
Germany Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray is disappointing with AI upscaling
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Eureka UK are considering doing a 4K and actively exploring the possibility: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24363810&postcount=264
Wonderful underlying remaster by Criterion and Resillion, but NexSpec encode has clipped highlights with the occasional blockiness. The Criterion Blu-Ray, sourced from their 4K remaster, ironically makes for a more consistent and overall pleasing experience.
Director: Luis Buñuel
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
For Blu-ray Criterion Demy Set > StudioCanal
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
See chris's review
1991 Daiei LaserDisc
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
review: Disk Kino
better encoding, some shots are better on Shout! Factory, others on Arrow
Shout! Factory/Arrow 4K Blu-ray has the original mono
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
(same as all tracks since the DVD)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray see caps
Phenomenal disc, and perhaps the single greatest testament to NexSpec's positive 180 this year. Highlights are beautifully handled and grain structure is fully intact in areas where NexSpec's (and Pixelogic's) encodes would frequently fall apart in 2025 and before then. Criterion BD encode also looks to be robust from linked caps, save for this one frame: https://slow.pics/c/cMjMefmi
Edit history

Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.




















