Lost Highway (1997)
Drama, Thriller, Mystery • 2h 14m
Overview
A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgängers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.
Director: David Lynch
Cast: Patricia Arquette, Bill Pullman, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Robert Loggia, Michael Massee, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Richard Pryor, Gary Busey, Lucy Butler, Jack Nance, Jack Kehler, Henry Rollins, Giovanni Ribisi, Scott Coffey, John Roselius, Louis Eppolito, Jenna Maetlind, Michael Shamus Wiles, Mink Stole, Leonard Termo, Ivory Ocean, David Byrd, Gene Ross, F. William Parker, Guy Siner, Alexander Folk, Carl Sundstrom, John Solari, Jack, Al Garrett, Heather Stephens, Amanda Anka, Jennifer Syme, Matt Sigloch, Gilbert B. Combs, Greg Travis, Lisa Boyle, Leslie Bega, Marilyn Manson, Jeordie White, Metin Bereketli, Dru Berrymore, Bill McAdams Jr., Lou Slaughter
Director: David Lynch
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Australia Imprint Blu-ray upcoming included in After Dark Neo-Noir Cinema Vol. 4
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Director: David Lynch
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Australia Imprint Blu-ray upcoming included in After Dark Neo-Noir Cinema Vol. 4
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Censored US version: Shout! Factory or Twilight Time Blu-ray
Uncensored version: old DVD
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is SDR
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray is HDR
The DV/HDR grade is tasteful and not overdone. SC has better compression, though not flawless; encoded by FiM, but Criterion also holds up quite well. Both releases claim to be approved by Lynch.
SC has a missing fade that Criterion reinstated.
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix: 2001 R1 Paramount US NTSC DVD/2008 R2 Optimum UK PAL or 1999 Pioneer JP LaserDisc
Restored stereo mix: Criterion / StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
The film was originally mixed in Dolby Stereo (matrixed LCRS). For the 4K restoration, this mix has been transferred from the original magnetic elements and remastered with Lynch's supervision. Unfortunately, the fidelity suffered in the process, with many sections ending up significantly less detailed due to a noise reduction pass. This track has been altered compared to the original, with reverb added to some dialogue, different ambient sound effects, changed panning, and extended bass.
For the unrestored mix, there are two major options, each with its own merits and flaws. The 2001 Paramount DVD, which I would say is the best well-rounded mastering, and the 1999 Japanese LaserDisc, which has noticeably better clarity and high-end detail, as well as better dynamics, but suffers from occasional distortion and has less bass than the DVD.
The LD also has some ambiance buried too low in the mix, and some dialogue panned more to the centre than the DVD. There are no content changes I was able to find. Unfortunately, I don't know what accounts for those differences.
The other available tracks all have more significant flaws. The Italian and Japanese BDs use the same base mastering as the DVD, but with some patching in a few shots. HD-DVD is sourced from an inferior transfer, the same as the Momentum DVD.
The 5.1 remix, originally introduced on the 2002 DVD, and carried over without changes to the 2009 BD is a light and mostly faithful remix, with fairly minimal LFE and surround use, but still potentially worthwhile as the only discrete track.
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is SDR
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray is HDR
The DV/HDR grade is tasteful and not overdone. SC has better compression, though not flawless; encoded by FiM, but Criterion also holds up quite well. Both releases claim to be approved by Lynch.
SC has a missing fade that Criterion reinstated.
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix: 2001 R1 Paramount US NTSC DVD/2008 R2 Optimum UK PAL or 1999 Pioneer JP LaserDisc
Restored stereo mix: Criterion / StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
The film was originally mixed in Dolby Stereo (matrixed LCRS). For the 4K restoration, this mix has been transferred from the original magnetic elements and remastered with Lynch's supervision. Unfortunately, the fidelity suffered in the process, with many sections ending up significantly less detailed due to a noise reduction pass. This track has been altered compared to the original, with reverb added to some dialogue, different ambient sound effects, changed panning, and extended bass.
For the unrestored mix, there are two major options, each with its own merits and flaws. The 2001 Paramount DVD, which I would say is the best well-rounded mastering, and the 1999 Japanese LaserDisc, which has noticeably better clarity and high-end detail, as well as better dynamics, but suffers from occasional distortion and has less bass than the DVD.
The LD also has some ambiance buried too low in the mix, and some dialogue panned more to the centre than the DVD. There are no content changes I was able to find. Unfortunately, I don't know what accounts for those differences.
The other available tracks all have more significant flaws. The Italian and Japanese BDs use the same base mastering as the DVD, but with some patching in a few shots. HD-DVD is sourced from an inferior transfer, the same as the Momentum DVD.
The 5.1 remix, originally introduced on the 2002 DVD, and carried over without changes to the 2009 BD is a light and mostly faithful remix, with fairly minimal LFE and surround use, but still potentially worthwhile as the only discrete track.
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray - subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking
1993 MGM LaserDisc/2000 Region 1 MGM DVD
Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray - subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking
1993 MGM LaserDisc/2000 Region 1 MGM DVD
Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is closer to the original DVDs than the 2015 Criterion release, not sure about whether the StudioCanal 4K is like the Criterion 4K/original DVD
Criterion 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision, StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has MEL
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is closer to the original DVDs than the 2015 Criterion release, not sure about whether the StudioCanal 4K is like the Criterion 4K/original DVD
Criterion 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision, StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has MEL
Director: David Lynch
Theatrical: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Australia Imprint 4K Blu-ray?
TV Cut: Australia Imprint Blu-ray included in their 4K Blu-ray set?
Spicediver Cut: Germany Plaion Blu-ray included in their Ultimate Edition release
Theatrical: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Australian Imprint 4K Blu-ray?
TV Cut: Australia Imprint Blu-ray included in their 4K Blu-ray set?
Spicediver Cut: Germany Plaion Blu-ray included in their Ultimate Edition release
Universal 1998 DVD has the original 70mm 6-track mix in Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray (5.1 mix is an inferior remix)
Director: David Lynch
Theatrical: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Australia Imprint 4K Blu-ray?
TV Cut: Australia Imprint Blu-ray included in their 4K Blu-ray set?
Spicediver Cut: Germany Plaion Blu-ray included in their Ultimate Edition release
Theatrical: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Australian Imprint 4K Blu-ray?
TV Cut: Australia Imprint Blu-ray included in their 4K Blu-ray set?
Spicediver Cut: Germany Plaion Blu-ray included in their Ultimate Edition release
Universal 1998 DVD has the original 70mm 6-track mix in Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray (5.1 mix is an inferior remix)
Director: David Lynch
British StudioCanal 4K Blu-Ray upcoming
5.1 on 4K Blu-ray is a remix. Original 5.1 is best on 2012 Japan Paramount Blu-ray
Director: David Lynch
British StudioCanal 4K Blu-Ray upcoming
5.1 on 4K Blu-ray is a remix. Original 5.1 is best on 2012 Japan Paramount Blu-ray
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > France Potemkine 4K Blu-ray > Germany StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray see caps. Criterion has the best encode.
While the framing of Criterion is different, they are actually both faithful to the original theatrical versions see post1 and post2 by b0b.
1993 New Line LaserDisc
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > France Potemkine 4K Blu-ray > Germany StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray see caps. Criterion has the best encode.
While the framing of Criterion is different, they are actually both faithful to the original theatrical versions see post1 and post2 by b0b.
1993 New Line LaserDisc
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4k resto, but it was AI upscaled although supervised and approved by Lynch https://www.reddit.com/r/davidlynch/comments/12klbw9/inland_empire_and_ai_upscaling/
See another detailed review: https://www.dvdexotica.com/2015/05/lets-get-serious-about-inland-empire.html
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4k resto, but it was AI upscaled although supervised and approved by Lynch https://www.reddit.com/r/davidlynch/comments/12klbw9/inland_empire_and_ai_upscaling/
See another detailed review: https://www.dvdexotica.com/2015/05/lets-get-serious-about-inland-empire.html
Director: David Lynch
Director: David Lynch
Director: Noah Baumbach
Director: Noah Baumbach
Director: Leo McCarey
Director: Leo McCarey
Director: Billy Wilder
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Capelight/Kino Lorber which has heavy noise reduction and opening snare hit is missing, Capelight is slightly better encoded than Kino Lorber
Director: Billy Wilder
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Capelight/Kino Lorber which has heavy noise reduction and opening snare hit is missing, Capelight is slightly better encoded than Kino Lorber
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Mosfilm official 4K Youtube Streaming
See comparison vs German Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray which is a 2K upscale of the previous restoration
Criterion/Artificial Eye Blu-ray are even older restoration than the Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray
Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray has incorrect pitch on the Russian audio see thread
Director: Andrei Tarkovsky
Mosfilm official 4K Youtube Streaming
See comparison vs German Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray which is a 2K upscale of the previous restoration
Criterion/Artificial Eye Blu-ray are even older restoration than the Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray
Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray has incorrect pitch on the Russian audio see thread
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Director: Stanley Kubrick
US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray
Criterion Box Set
US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray
No Blu-ray or DVD release has presented the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for the US cut or 1.66:1 for the International cut.
The packaging on the back of the 4K Blu-ray incorrectly states it as 1.85:1 when the movie is actually 1.78:1 as is the original Blu-ray.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray
Criterion Box Set
US Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray
International Cut: Old 2007 Europe Blu-ray
No Blu-ray or DVD release has presented the movie in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 for the US cut or 1.66:1 for the International cut.
The packaging on the back of the 4K Blu-ray incorrectly states it as 1.85:1 when the movie is actually 1.78:1 as is the original Blu-ray.
More Drama on Blu-ray
Director: S. S. Rajamouli
Zee5 Streaming has the original Telugu audio and English subtitles (albeit with English portions also overdubbed in Telugu)
Netflix Streaming only has the Hindi dub but better video quality
France Carlotta 4K Blu-ray coming in December
Japan Twin Co. 4K Blu-ray
Japan Twin Co. 4K Blu-ray has original Telugu Atmos audio
Director: S. S. Rajamouli
Zee5 Streaming has the original Telugu audio and English subtitles (albeit with English portions also overdubbed in Telugu)
Netflix Streaming only has the Hindi dub but better video quality
France Carlotta 4K Blu-ray coming in December
Japan Twin Co. 4K Blu-ray
Japan Twin Co. 4K Blu-ray has original Telugu Atmos audio
Director: Ivan Passer
Radiance 4K Blu-ray, though note its different color grading from the IP-sourced but poorly compressed Fun City Editions US Blu-ray (caps)
Judging from spectrograms at https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23933756&postcount=57, Fun City Editions US Blu-ray appears to have marginally less filtering than Radiance 4K Blu-ray (whose padded 16-bit depth is a non-issue). There are also loudness differences, though it's unclear whether dynamic range also differs. Caveat: need to A/B both tracks to confirm, but no one has posted actual A/B impressions.
Director: Ivan Passer
Radiance 4K Blu-ray, though note its different color grading from the IP-sourced but poorly compressed Fun City Editions US Blu-ray (caps)
Judging from spectrograms at https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23933756&postcount=57, Fun City Editions US Blu-ray appears to have marginally less filtering than Radiance 4K Blu-ray (whose padded 16-bit depth is a non-issue). There are also loudness differences, though it's unclear whether dynamic range also differs. Caveat: need to A/B both tracks to confirm, but no one has posted actual A/B impressions.
Director: Rob Reiner
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray release date September 21 2026
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray or Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray no comparison available
Shout! Factory Blu-ray has exclusive extras the Kino Lorber/ Capelight release doesn't
The initial release of the Capelight 4K mediabook had some playback issues with Dolby Vision on Panasonic devices due to an encoding error, the HDR10 apparently works fine, see Capelight’s official response here.
Director: Rob Reiner
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray release date September 21 2026
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray or Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray no comparison available
Shout! Factory Blu-ray has exclusive extras the Kino Lorber/ Capelight release doesn't
The initial release of the Capelight 4K mediabook had some playback issues with Dolby Vision on Panasonic devices due to an encoding error, the HDR10 apparently works fine, see Capelight’s official response here.
Director: Joe Wright
Director: Joe Wright
Director: Rob Reiner
Director: Rob Reiner
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Director: Vincente Minnelli
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