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Pi (1998)
Pi (1998) poster

Pi (1998)

Mystery, Drama, Thriller • 1h 24m

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Best English-friendly & video release

Updated 8 months ago


Best audio release

NTSC DVD has the best dynamics for the original stereo, France BAC Films Blu-ray has the best original stereo in lossless


About the film

A mathematical genius discovers a link between numbers and reality, and thus believes he can predict the future.

Alternative Titles
π

More from Darren Aronofsky

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Director: Darren Aronofsky

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Italy Eagle Pictures or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray?

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

French Pathe Blu-Ray

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

International Fox Blu-Ray or German Kinowelt Blu-Ray?

Video Notes:

> US WB Blu-Ray

Best Audio:

International Fox Blu-Ray

Director: Darren Aronofsky

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: Darren Aronofsky

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray

Director: Darren Aronofsky

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray

More from A24

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Director: Rose Glass

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

A24 4K Blu-ray

Best Video & Audio:

Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray 

Video Notes:

Markedly better encoding on Plaion than A24 and without any low-pass filtering

Director: Jonathan Demme

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

A24 4K Blu-ray

Director: Kane Parsons

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Canada Elevation 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

> US A24 comparisons

Best Audio:

US A24 4K Blu-ray

TV series

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

A24 Blu-ray

Directors: Daniel Scheinert & Daniel Kwan

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

USA Lionsgate/A24 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

USA Lionsgate/A24 4K Blu-ray for Dolby Atmos mix

Netherlands Remain in Light 4K Blu-ray for the alternate Auro-3D mix

Audio Notes:

(caveat: no English subtitles for Mandarin/Cantonese dialogue)

Director: Jane Schoenbrun

Video format: 4K Streaming

Best English-Friendly & Audio:

A24 US Blu-ray

Best Video:

Netflix 4K Streaming

Director: Spike Lee

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

A24 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

A24 4K Blu-ray see caps

Director: Charlotte Wells

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US A24 or UK/Germany MUBI Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Korea Plain 4K Blu-ray is most likely AI upscale given their track record

Director: Ari Aster

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical Cut: Germany 4K Blu-ray

Director's Cut: A24 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Theatrical Cut: Japan 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Theatrical Cut Blu-ray has extras that the DC 4K Blu-ray lacks

Directors: Ray Mendoza & Alex Garland

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

France/Dutch 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

France/Dutch 4K Blu-ray, see caps

Audio Notes:

Excellent Atmos mix

More Mystery on Blu-ray

Director: David Fincher

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

20th Century Studios Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Digipack release includes an Amazing Amy book the standard edition doesn’t have.

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: 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: Alexandre Aja

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

US Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

US Lionsgate Limited, France ESC, or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray?

Video Notes:

Germany Plaion is reportedly better than UK Second Sight.

Not sure about the US Lionsgate or France ESC.

Director: Ryuhei Kitamura

Best English-Friendly:

Theatrical Cut: Austria NSM Blu-ray
Director's Cut: US Lionsgate Blu-ray

Best Video:

Theatrical Cut: Austria NSM Blu-ray
Director's Cut: France Metropolitan Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Metropolitan got better picture (higher bitrate + better grain + more detail) than Lionsgate

Best Audio:

Director's Cut: US Lionsgate Blu-ray

Director: Glen Morgan

Best English-Friendly:

2008 Canada TVA Films Blu-ray

Best Video:

2022 Germany Nameless Media 3-Disc Edition Blu-ray

Director: Roman Polanski

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray see caps. Much better contrast and grain exposure but the grade is a bit questionable as it skews heavily towards magenta in some caps and the encode looks low-pass filtered.

Lionsgate and the upcoming Imprint have the same discs.

Best Audio:

Atmos Remix: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Imprint Australia Blu-ray or StudioCanal Germany/France Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray encoded the "Original 5.1" as lossy Dolby Digital, which is very different from the AC3 on the original DVD.  This new "Original 5.1" may in fact be a downmix of the Atmos track.  FWIW, the original DVD AC3 still sounds very good.

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

BD LPCM 5.1

Audio Notes:

The DTS-HD on the UHD has been dynamically compressed, has had its center channel boosted, and surrounds lowered (typical modern nearfield mix for soundbars).  Very different from the BD and DVD tracks.  The BD LPCM is basically just a lossless version of the DTS and AC3 from the original DVD (the AC3 actually being the superior mix on that particular release).

Director: Roman Polanski

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

2011/2025 WB Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

2011/2025 WB Blu-ray for correct audio (2010 release has audio issue)

Director: Gus Van Sant

Best English-Friendly:

US Shout! Factory Blu-ray

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

Best Video & Audio:

French Carlotta Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Shout! Factory and Carlotta use the same scan https://slow.pics/c/Wcn5YFlw, the Carlotta has two extra bonus features

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Researched and maintained by

tyyuxvanshadyJojoTheMovieOtter

· last reviewed 8 months ago

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