High Noon (1952)
Western, Drama • 1h 24m
Overview
Will Kane, the sheriff of a small town in New Mexico, learns a notorious outlaw he put in jail has been freed, and will be arriving on the noon train. Knowing the outlaw and his gang are coming to kill him, Kane is determined to stand his ground, so he attempts to gather a posse from among the local townspeople.
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Cast: Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell, Lloyd Bridges, Katy Jurado, Grace Kelly, Otto Kruger, Lon Chaney Jr., Harry Morgan, Ian MacDonald, Eve McVeagh, Morgan Farley, Harry Shannon, Lee Van Cleef, Robert J. Wilke, Sheb Wooley, Lee Aaker, Ernest Baldwin, Benjie Bancroft, Guy Beach, George Bell, Jeanne Blackford, Larry J. Blake, John Breen, Roy Bucko, Nora Bush, Robert Carson, John Cason, Howland Chamberlain, Virginia Christine, Cliff Clark, Ben Corbett, Russell Custer, John Doucette, Tex Driscoll, Paul Dubov, Jack Elam, Dick Elliott, Virginia Farmer, Joe Garcio, Rudy Germane, Herschel Graham, Tim Graham, Tom Greenway, Harry Harvey, Chuck Hayward, Tex Holden, Michael Jeffers, Kay Koury, Paul Kruger, Ann Kunde, Nolan Leary, Tom London, Merrill McCormick, Billy McCoy, James Millican, Kansas Moehring, Jack Montgomery, William Newell, William H. O'Brien, Artie Ortego, William Phillips, Lucien Prival, Ralph Reed, Orie Robertson, Buddy Roosevelt, Allen D. Sewall, Lucile Sewall, Charles Soldani, Ted Stanhope, Steve Stephens, Slim Talbot, Jack Tornek
Director: Orson Welles
MoC 4K Blu-ray and Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray are similar
Director: Orson Welles
MoC 4K Blu-ray and Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray are similar
Director: Robert Wise
Disney 4K Blu-ray, see caps https://slow.pics/c/hE3HUCdj
Disney 4K Atmos is great, a reference quality track. It's a very slight remix (music seems to be from a better source), but it's completely seamless and faithful to the original, better fidelity than anything since the 1994 30th Anniversary Edition LaserDisc.
All DVDs (and 2010 Blu-ray) sound far worse than the 4K Blu-ray/LaserDisc and have various missing sound cues.
Director: Robert Wise
Disney 4K Blu-ray, see caps https://slow.pics/c/hE3HUCdj
Disney 4K Atmos is great, a reference quality track. It's a very slight remix (music seems to be from a better source), but it's completely seamless and faithful to the original, better fidelity than anything since the 1994 30th Anniversary Edition LaserDisc.
All DVDs (and 2010 Blu-ray) sound far worse than the 4K Blu-ray/LaserDisc and have various missing sound cues.
Director: André de Toth
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
Director: André de Toth
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
Director: Sidney Lumet
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
2011 Criterion Blu-ray is the best. Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has heavily filtered audio
Director: Sidney Lumet
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
2011 Criterion Blu-ray is the best. Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has heavily filtered audio
Director: John McTiernan
Director: John McTiernan
Director: John Ford
Director: John Ford
1991 Warner Bros LaserDisc (for original mono track)
1996 Warner Bros 25th Anniversary LaserDisc has isolated music and effects track (incorrectly labeled "music minus vocals") not present on any other release
1991 Warner Bros LaserDisc (for original mono track)
1996 Warner Bros 25th Anniversary LaserDisc has isolated music and effects track (incorrectly labeled "music minus vocals") not present on any other release
Director: Alfred E. Green
Director: Alfred E. Green
Director: John Waters
Director: John Waters
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Sony Columbia Classics Vol 3 4K Blu-ray
Sony Columbia Classics Vol 3 4K Blu-ray
Sony Columbia Classics Vol 3 4K Blu-ray
Sony Columbia Classics Vol 3 4K Blu-ray
Sony Columbia Classics Vol 5 4K Blu-ray
Sony Columbia Classics Vol 5 4K Blu-ray
Sony Columbia Classics Vol 5 4K Blu-ray
Sony Columbia Classics Vol 5 4K Blu-ray
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Kino Lorber 4k resto
The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Kino Lorber 4k resto
The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.
Director: Ridley Scott
UK Universal 4K Blu-ray is missing Kino Lorber extras
Director: Ridley Scott
UK Universal 4K Blu-ray is missing Kino Lorber extras
Kino Lorber Blu-ray or Germany Blu-ray but no comparison available
Germany Blu-ray lacks English subtitles. Kino Lorber Blu-ray has English subtitles but is OOP
Kino Lorber Blu-ray or Germany Blu-ray but no comparison available
Germany Blu-ray lacks English subtitles. Kino Lorber Blu-ray has English subtitles but is OOP
Director: John Ford
Director: John Ford
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: Howard Deutch
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray vs Kino Lorber Blu-ray, but the compression on the 4K is bad.
Director: Howard Deutch
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray vs Kino Lorber Blu-ray, but the compression on the 4K is bad.
Director: Bryan Gordon
Director: Bryan Gordon
Director: John Waters
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor encoding see caps but still a huge improvement over the 2014 Universal Blu-ray
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray Both the 2.0 and 5.1 tracks are improvements over the 2014 Universal Blu-ray
Theatrical cut is on the 4K disc, but the restored Director's Cut is only on the Blu-Ray disc. Director's Cut utilizes the same 4K transfer as the theatrical cut for 86 minutes, but the 6 minutes of restored footage could only be salvaged from a standard definition source and are thus needed to be upscaled.
Director: John Waters
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor encoding see caps but still a huge improvement over the 2014 Universal Blu-ray
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray Both the 2.0 and 5.1 tracks are improvements over the 2014 Universal Blu-ray
Theatrical cut is on the 4K disc, but the restored Director's Cut is only on the Blu-Ray disc. Director's Cut utilizes the same 4K transfer as the theatrical cut for 86 minutes, but the 6 minutes of restored footage could only be salvaged from a standard definition source and are thus needed to be upscaled.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
MoC OOP Blu-ray is likely to have better encoding than Kino Lorber Blu-ray judging from other movies in the boxset
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
MoC OOP Blu-ray is likely to have better encoding than Kino Lorber Blu-ray judging from other movies in the boxset
Edit History
5/28/2026
blah-ray
Added
https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/search/label/High%20Noon%20%281952%29
Added
https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/search/label/High%20Noon%20%281952%29
DVDBeaver
From
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film11/4K_UHD_review_10/high_noon_4K_UHD.htm
To
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film11/4K_UHD_review_10/high_noon_4K_UHD.htm, http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-ray_reviews_73/high_noon_blu-ray.htm
From
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film11/4K_UHD_review_10/high_noon_4K_UHD.htm
To
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film11/4K_UHD_review_10/high_noon_4K_UHD.htm, http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-ray_reviews_73/high_noon_blu-ray.htm
3/29/2026
Best Video Release
From
MoC 4K Blu-ray, both Kino Lorber and Germany Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode.
See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray: It seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.
Eureka 4K Blu-ray (BD-100): Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.
I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K Blu-ray as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K Blu-ray for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
To
MoC 4K Blu-ray, both Kino Lorber and Germany Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode.
See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the Original Camera Negative footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray: It seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.
Eureka 4K Blu-ray (BD-100): Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.
I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K Blu-ray as the Original Camera Negative shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K Blu-ray for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
Eureka 4K UHD image is frequently stunning and far better than the Kino UHD using the same master. (no surprise) However there is frozen grain throughout baked into the Paramount master, some shots are soft due to management (some are inherently soft) and the HDR is questionable in areas. In some areas the old Eureka BD using the same scan in SDR is preferable. As usual, the issues are Paramount's doing and the only way to escape them would be starting from scratch.
From
MoC 4K Blu-ray, both Kino Lorber and Germany Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode.
See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray: It seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.
Eureka 4K Blu-ray (BD-100): Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.
I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K Blu-ray as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K Blu-ray for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
To
MoC 4K Blu-ray, both Kino Lorber and Germany Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode.
See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the Original Camera Negative footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray: It seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.
Eureka 4K Blu-ray (BD-100): Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.
I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K Blu-ray as the Original Camera Negative shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K Blu-ray for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
Eureka 4K UHD image is frequently stunning and far better than the Kino UHD using the same master. (no surprise) However there is frozen grain throughout baked into the Paramount master, some shots are soft due to management (some are inherently soft) and the HDR is questionable in areas. In some areas the old Eureka BD using the same scan in SDR is preferable. As usual, the issues are Paramount's doing and the only way to escape them would be starting from scratch.
Additional Info
Added
Kino and Eureka UHDs have a mix of new and legacy extras. To have every supplement you will need both UHDs and the original Criterion Laserdisc for the exclusive commentary.
Added
Kino and Eureka UHDs have a mix of new and legacy extras. To have every supplement you will need both UHDs and the original Criterion Laserdisc for the exclusive commentary.
12/24/2025
Best Video Release
From
MoC 4K Blu-ray, both Kino Lorber and German Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode.
See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. Italian seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and Italian shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.
Kino Lorber’s 4K. Italian seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and Italian’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.
Eureka 4K (BD-100). Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.
I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
To
MoC 4K Blu-ray, both Kino Lorber and Germany Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode.
See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray: It seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.
Eureka 4K Blu-ray (BD-100): Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.
I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K Blu-ray as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K Blu-ray for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
From
MoC 4K Blu-ray, both Kino Lorber and German Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode.
See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. Italian seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and Italian shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.
Kino Lorber’s 4K. Italian seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and Italian’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.
Eureka 4K (BD-100). Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.
I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
To
MoC 4K Blu-ray, both Kino Lorber and Germany Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode.
See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray: It seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.
Eureka 4K Blu-ray (BD-100): Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.
I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K Blu-ray as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K Blu-ray for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
12/2/2025
Best Video Release
From
MoC UHD, both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode. See nicolas review: https://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=842780#p842780 Eureka BD. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka BD release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the BD and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade. Kino’s 4K. It seems that Kino commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps: https://slow.pics/c/JbRj2HYU. Eureka 4K (BD-100). Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka BD, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding. I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
To
MoC 4K Blu-ray, both Kino Lorber and German Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode.
See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. Italian seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and Italian shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.
Kino Lorber’s 4K. Italian seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and Italian’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.
Eureka 4K (BD-100). Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.
I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
From
MoC UHD, both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode. See nicolas review: https://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=842780#p842780 Eureka BD. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka BD release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the BD and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade. Kino’s 4K. It seems that Kino commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps: https://slow.pics/c/JbRj2HYU. Eureka 4K (BD-100). Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka BD, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding. I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
To
MoC 4K Blu-ray, both Kino Lorber and German Filmjuwelen 4K Blu-ray have poor encode.
See nicolas review on Eureka Blu-ray. Italian seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Films Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino Lorber commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka Blu-ray release wasn’t encoded by FiM and Italian shows. For those with the Blu-ray and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade.
Kino Lorber’s 4K. Italian seems that Kino Lorber commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and Italian’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino Lorber’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps.
Eureka 4K (BD-100). Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino Lorber 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka Blu-ray, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding.
I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
7/24/2025
Best Video Release
From
MoC UHD, both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode
To
MoC UHD, both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode. See nicolas review: https://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=842780#p842780 Eureka BD. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka BD release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the BD and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade. Kino’s 4K. It seems that Kino commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps: https://slow.pics/c/JbRj2HYU. Eureka 4K (BD-100). Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka BD, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding. I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
From
MoC UHD, both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode
To
MoC UHD, both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode. See nicolas review: https://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=842780#p842780 Eureka BD. It seems the 4K restoration on that disc and the Olive Signature US release served as the basis for the HDR master Kino commissioned. There are the same traces of grain management in the opticals and the small number of shots from a lower quality source that were spliced in between the OCN footage. The SDR grayscale looks great though and after having compared everything, I would’ve preferred a 4K SDR release. The Eureka BD release wasn’t encoded by FiM and it shows. For those with the BD and an appreciation for optimal encoding, consider an upgrade. Kino’s 4K. It seems that Kino commissioned the HDR/DV grade and some additional cosmetic work on the master. They used to mention "… brand new master by studio X" on their back covers when they were supplied with ready-made materials. This isn’t the case here but maybe someone’s in the know and things are different. The HDR grade is darker than the SDR one and flattened the grayscale quite significantly. I mentioned this in the Sabrina and Sunset Boulevard thread as well but I’m not really a fan of these grades and doubt that they’re enhancing the grayscales to make them appear more film-like. I’ve seen worse and it’s not the end of the world when the film is viewed in a dark environment but don’t expect anything as luminous and sparkly as The Big Heat. Kino’s encoding can be seen here via ko8ebryant’s caps: https://slow.pics/c/JbRj2HYU. Eureka 4K (BD-100). Same 4K master and same HDR grade as on the Kino 4K but now expertly encoded. Thanks to no compression anomalies standing in the way, we can now scrutinize the master much better. In comparison with the SDR master, I noticed that there are opticals that got hit with further noise reduction and sometimes egregiously so, such as in the scene with Grace Kelly at the train station at roughly 18 minutes into the film. Parts of that scene were sourced from a lower-quality source. In the HDR master, grain was practically erased altogether whereas in the 4K SDR master on the Eureka BD, grain is visible in the same shot despite the iffy encoding. I’d still recommend the Eureka 4K as the OCN shots and scenes are frequently gorgeous, beautifully detailed and at most only minimally tampered with. The imperfect HDR grade bugs me but I’ll still use Eureka’s 4K for my future viewings due to the FiM encode.
7/24/2025
7/24/2025
Best Video Release
From
Both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode
To
MoC UHD, both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode
From
Both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode
To
MoC UHD, both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode
7/18/2025
Best English-Friendly Release
From
Kino UHD or upcoming DE Filmjuwelen UHD?
To
Kino UHD
From
Kino UHD or upcoming DE Filmjuwelen UHD?
To
Kino UHD
Best Video Release
From
Kino UHD poor encode. Upcoming DE Filmjuwelen UHD may be better?
To
Both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode
From
Kino UHD poor encode. Upcoming DE Filmjuwelen UHD may be better?
To
Both Kino and DE Filmjuwelen UHD have poor encode
1/8/2025
Best English-Friendly Release
From
Kino UHD
To
Kino UHD or upcoming DE Filmjuwelen UHD?
From
Kino UHD
To
Kino UHD or upcoming DE Filmjuwelen UHD?
Best Video Release
From
Kino UHD
To
Kino UHD poor encode. Upcoming DE Filmjuwelen UHD may be better?
From
Kino UHD
To
Kino UHD poor encode. Upcoming DE Filmjuwelen UHD may be better?


























