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Backdraft (1991)
Backdraft (1991) poster

Backdraft (1991)

Drama, Thriller, Action, Crime • 2h 17m

Director: Ron Howard

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Best English-friendly & video release · updated 9 months ago

Overview

Two feuding siblings carrying on a heroic family tradition as Chicago firefighters. But when a puzzling series of arson attacks is reported, they are forced to set aside their differences to solve the mystery surrounding these crimes.

Release details

Best Audio Release

1991 Universal LaserDisc [41131]

Length
137 mins
Type
Movie

More from Ron Howard

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Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical: Universal 4K Blu-ray

IMAX Cut: 2005 DVD

Best Audio:

Theatrical: Cinema DTS

Director: Ron Howard

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

2026 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook

Best Video:

2026 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook added Dolby Vision

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1998 Universal DVD

Director: Ron Howard

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Universal 4K Blu-ray - caps. Looks stunning against the horribly neutralized old master. Very glad Deakins supervised the new grade and had Universal restore his color filters.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Universal Blu-ray (included in the 4K edition) has the original 5.1 mix not on the 4K disc 

Additional Info:

The original 5.1 surround mix from the 2011 USA BD was included alongside the new Atmos upmix. The compatibility track is a downmix of the Atmos. The Atmos is overall lightly remixed with noticeably more high frequencies rolled-off relative to the old 5.1. I think the 5.1 sounds better. The 5.1 mix from the USA BD was used as it sounds essentially the same as the EUR BD (with some minor loudness differences) while not featuring the dither noise and low frequency noise that the EUR has. Commentaries between the USA UHD and USA BD are the same, with both featuring Dolby Surround metadata

Audio comparison: 5.1 surround

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical Cut: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Extended Cut: The 30th Anniversary Extended Cut on fanedit.org

Sources: fanedit.org (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Theatrical Cut: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Extended Cut: The 30th Anniversary Extended Cut on fanedit.org has the additional TV footage and is also uncut.

Additional Info:

The TV version is extended but is censored. The Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is restored from an interpositive, no release so far is confirmed to be from the Original Camera Negative.

Director: Ron Howard

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

OOP British Eureka Blu-Ray

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical: Disney Blu-ray
Extended: LaserDisc or fan restoration

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Extended: Old Sony Blu-ray

Director: Ron Howard

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

More from Universal

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Director: H. C. Potter

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: David Butler

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Marion Gering

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

Director: Doug Liman

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Cut: Universal HD-DVD

International Cut: International Universal Blu-ray but slightly filtered and DNR'd

Video Notes:

The Universal Blu-ray is slightly filtered and DNR'd compared to the HD-DVD, and the Universal 4K Blu-ray, on top of being upscaled, adds additional DNR and is softer than both previous HD releases.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray DTS-HD 5.1

Additional Info:

Versions:
- The International version contains a short additional scene (part of the "Farmhouse" extended scene from the special features). See additional detail below.
- The US version does not contain this scene during the film. Director Doug Liman confirms in his audio commentary that the scene was cut from the original US theatrical release "for time".
- "The Explosive Extended Edition" found on some DVD releases is not an alternate cut of the film, simply an access mode that plays "The Bookend Scenes" features via non-seamless branching.

Deck the Halls scene:
The U.S. release is 118:17 while the European/Australian/Japanese releases are 118:36. There is no difference between the two running times from the start, but at 81:21, the U.S. version cuts from a kitchen scene of Marie and Eamon washing dishes, to a scene of Eamon bringing blankets to Jason and Marie. On the European/Australian releases, at the same point, there is a scene of Jason, Marie, Eamon and his children eating dinner while "Deck the Halls" plays in the background. There is no dialogue, the characters just each exchange uncomfortable glances. The scene goes to 81:40, then picks up the same scene of Eamon bringing blankets. This scene is included as an extra ("Farmhouse" extended scene) albeit sans the holiday themed music. Many thanks to Rewind user Mark Bowen for comparing these releases and letting us know the difference.

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray or Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Both come from a 4K scan of a 35mm film out which was made from the original 2K DI but the Lionsgate release has visible dust and damage marks while the Universal release is cleaned up more thoroughly. Both releases suffer from DNR which seems to have been baked into the DI. The colour grade is basically the same for both releases but the Lionsgate has Dolby Vision whereas the Universal is HDR10 only. The compression on the Lionsgate UHD base layer is apparently fine so the FEL doesn't make much of a difference.

Best Audio:

Universal Blu-ray?

Audio Notes:

The Lionsgate UHD has Dolby Atmos whereas the Universal UHD has DTS:X. Kick-ass was originally released with a 5.1 track which may be on the Universal Blu-ray.

Additional Info:

The Lionsgate UHD is on a BD-100, the Universal UHD is on a BD-66.

The Universal UHD has no extras.

Director: Joel Coen

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Director's Cut: Disappointing UK StudioCanal/US Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: LaserDisc or 2001 UK Universal DVD

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=21782879#post21782879 - comparison. StudioCanal is a massive improvement to the Criterion but still flawed in some areas (chroma noise)

Director: Leo McCarey

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal DVD

Upcoming Release:

Universal Blu-ray Nov 10th

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

2005 Universal DVD

Director: Stanley Kubrick

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

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Box Set coming on October 20th with FiM encode

Audio Notes:

DTS:X mix most closely approximates original surround mix

Additional Info:

Criterion DVD has additional features not found on the 4K Blu-ray

Director: John Carpenter

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal 4K Blu-ray

Sources: blog.sporv.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:
Audio Notes:
  • 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.

More Drama on Blu-ray

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Japan Blu-ray 2021 reissue

Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Japan Blu-ray has better encode than other BDs.

Additional Info:

US and UK Blu-rays have their framing slightly positioned higher and lower respectively caps. JP BD is closest to center frame.

Directors: Emeric Pressburger & Michael Powell

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Imprint 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · filmalert101.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

FiM encode and none of the low-pass filtering present on the Criterion 4K, resulting in more detail and better handling of highlights on Imprint
Review, comparisons

Best Audio:

ITV UK Blu-ray or Indigo DE Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

All HD and 4K sources use the same 2009 restoration. Criterion's master (also used by Imprint) is a bit more rolled off, though the difference is minor.

Director: Stanley Kubrick

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

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the WB release without the filtering, 1.85 ratio restored

Best Audio:

Mono: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set)/1999 WB R1 DVD
5.1 remix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Michael Mann

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · thedigitalbits.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray is encoded by FiM and is better than Criterion, see caps https://slow.pics/c/Z2RRQAAT

Criterion 4K Blu-ray vs Blu-ray: caps colors are more different and nuanced than anticipated even in the SDR-converted caps and the usual gain in highlight detail is also apparent. Encode looks excellent except for the brightest areas as usual.

Best Audio:

5.1/5.0 mix (essentially a 4-track mix in 5.1 and 5.0 containers respectively)-Arrow/Criterion 4K Blu-ray. Only imperceptible differences in bit-depth: 20 vs 24. 

2.0 mix- Arrow 4K Blu-ray (original stereo)

Additional Info:

Arrow and Criterion 4K Blu-rays have differing extras 

Criterion has FEL Dolby Vision, Arrow has MEL

Arrow Limited Edition includes the Theatrical Cut Blu-ray from an older HD master, most likely from a 2K scan of an interpositive.

Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

UK StudioCanal UHD

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

US Magnolia BD

Audio Notes:

UK Entertainment One release contains directors commentary track

Director: Simon Wells

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Dolby Stereo: THX Certified Laserdisc

Director: Samuel Fuller

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-Ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

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.

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Researched and maintained by

tyyux

· last reviewed 9 months ago

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