Films
/
The Illustrated Man (1969)
The Illustrated Man (1969) poster

The Illustrated Man (1969)

Science Fiction, Drama, Horror • 1h 43m

Director: Jack Smight

Cast: Rod Steiger, Claire Bloom, Robert Drivas, Don Dubbins, Jason Evers, Tim Weldon, Christine Matchett

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best English-friendly & video release · updated 11 months ago

Overview

A man who has a body almost completely covered in tattoos is searching for the woman who cursed him with the "skin illustrations". Each tattoo reveals a bizarre story, which is experienced by staring at the scene depicted. When the illustrated man meets a fellow tramp on the road a strange voyage begins.

Release details

Length
103 mins
Type
Movie
Alternative Titles
The Illustrated Man

More from Jack Smight

See more →

Director: Jack Smight

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

More from Warner Archive

See more →

Director: Vincente Minnelli

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1991 MGM LaserDisc

Director: Morton DaCosta

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray Nov 24th

Director: David Lean

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray Dec 1st

TV series

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Complete Series DVD

Director: John Ford

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan IVC Blu-ray

Director: Edgar Selwyn

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration

TV series

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative for all episodes

Director: John Ford

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Sources: ibb.co (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Warner Archive Blu-ray is 4K restoration from nitrate projection elements

Germany Filmjuwelen Blu-ray is AI upscaled https://ibb.co/album/mCJ7RQ

Director: Norman Taurog

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Delbert Mann

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

More Science Fiction on Blu-ray

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering Comparison between the Criterion and WB.

Best Audio:

5.1: WB 4K Blu-ray, a remix but has higher fidelity

Mono: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set)

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering; WB 4K early pressing has errors of a shot, later pressings fixed. Comparison between Criterion and WB.

Best Audio:

6-Track 70mm mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set), 1997 MGM LaserDisc, 1998 MGM DVD
35mm Mono Mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Matrixed Stereo Remix: MGM Japan LaserDisc (1985) [G158F5509]
5.1 Remix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Steve De Jarnatt

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2024 Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

UK Transmission 4K Blu-ray in January 2027

Best Audio:

Either the 2015 Kino Lorber Blu-ray or the Arrow Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

The 2024 Kino Lorber Blu-ray is botched.

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: Steven Spielberg

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Paramount Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray Dec 15th

Video Notes:

US Paramount Blu-ray > International WB Blu-ray

Director: John Milius

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Shout! Factory or Germany/UK Capelight 4K Blu-ray?

Director: James Gunn

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

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Commentary is only on Streaming

Director: Miguel Sapochnik

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Director: Mamoru Oshii

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Audio:

2008 Japan Blu-ray (BCXA-0085)

Audio Notes:

Bandai 4K Blu-ray? vs 2008 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0085): same video but includes Bandai English dub and original mix

Best Video:

2026 Bandai 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Has English subtitles, better than 2015 Maiden Blu-ray which lacks the original mix

But completely DNR'd.

For grain, most release starting from 2007 Japan Bandai Blu-ray (BCXA-0003) are ok.

Director: James Cameron

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Blu-ray

Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Fox Blu-ray for original cuts without the extra scene added in the re-release and AI upscaling

Newer Blu-ray/4K has the extra scene, but is poor and has excessive AI upscaling

Additional Info:

An additional scene was added to the ending of the movie in the 2022 re-release: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=493908

Edit history

1 edit

Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 11 months ago

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