A Star Is Born (1937)
Drama, Romance • 1h 51m
Director: William A. Wellman
Cast: Janet Gaynor, Fredric March, Adolphe Menjou, May Robson, Andy Devine, Lionel Stander, Owen Moore, Peggy Wood, Elizabeth Jenns, Edgar Kennedy, J. C. Nugent, Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, Irving Bacon, Jane Barnes, Clara Blandick, Wade Boteler, Sidney Bracey, Harry C. Bradley, George Chandler, Pat Flaherty, Francis Ford, Joe Gray, Jonathan Hale, Chuck Hamilton, Lillian Harmer, Edward Hearn, I. Stanford Jolley, Carole Landis, Chris-Pin Martin, Edwin Maxwell, Marshall Neilan, Robert Emmett O'Connor, Dennis O'Keefe, Franklin Pangborn, Jed Prouty, Tom Ricketts, Paul Stanton, Fred 'Snowflake' Toones, Clarence Wilson, A.W. Sweatt
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About the film
Esther Blodgett is just another starry-eyed farm kid trying to break into the movies. Waitressing at a Hollywood party, she catches the eye of her idol Norman Maine, is sent for a screen test, and before long attains stardom as newly minted Vicki Lester. She and Norman marry, though his career soon dwindles to nothing due to his chronic alcoholism.
- Alternative Titles
- A Star Is Born
Director: William A. Wellman
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Kino Lorber Blu-ray suffers from the Quicktime Gamma Bug see caps
Kino Lorber Blu-ray from blah-ray:
Both the Plaion and Arrow audio tracks sound like they received little/any high- or low- frequency attenuation, but the audio on the new Kino Lorber restoration is much more detailed. It's likely that it was transferred from different (superior) analogue elements. It sounds excellent.
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Film Masters Blu-ray not a good encoding, but at least it's from a 4K scan of Original Camera Negative see caps
Director: William A. Wellman
2018 Kino Lorber Remastered Blu-ray
Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)
New 2k scan with very different color http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews55/nothing_sacred_blu-ray.htm but overall much better compared to the older Kino Lorber Blu-ray
MoMA has just scanned from the original separations, and it's the only version of this classic with accurate Technicolor. This new restoration is now streaming on Criterion Channel
Kino Lorber Barbara Stanwyck Collection Blu-ray
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 Drama on Blu-ray
Director: Robert Altman
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Cinematrographe's HDR grading is overcooked, which is a known VinSyn tendency. Additionally, their booklet mis-credits the encode to FiM.
YMMV, but for some, the included BD encoded by Marcus Johnson—ironically may make for a more pleasing experience.
Director: Roman Polanski
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
UK 4K teased by 88 Films https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=24252379
Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray > Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray (better encode on Carlotta without any low-pass filtering, more extras and English subtitles on Vinegar Syndrome)
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.
Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Director: Sidney Lumet
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
The 4K discs in both Criterion and Imprint sets are FiM encodes, but low-passed, Imprint minimally less so. Unfortunately, unlike with The Killing, Kino does not hold up at all, the grain is much rougher and the compression visibly struggles making for a much less pleasant watch, even if select stills look better.
All discs use the same source transfer. Criterion cleaned up some hums and hiss, but lost a little bit of high-end detail. Unlike The Killing, the difference's relatively mino.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Cinematographe is an FiM encode
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