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Sounder (1972)
Sounder (1972) poster

Sounder (1972)

Drama • 1h 45m

Director: Martin Ritt

Best English-friendly & video release

Video notes:

Mill Creek DVD has Original Aspect Ratio while the Germany Plaion DVD doesn't

Updated 6 months ago


About the film

The oldest son of a loving and strong family of black sharecroppers comes of age in the Depression-era South after his father is imprisoned for stealing food.

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National Film Registry

Year of Induction: 2021

Featured in National Film Registry

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Director: Richard Brooks

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Jonathan Demme

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Criterion Blu-ray has exclusive extras

Director: George B. Seitz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: Elaine May

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray > MoC > Olive Films. From nicolas:

The master is good but it’s not that big an upgrade from the Olive Films disc and Vinegar Syndrome’ encode has some blocky highlights. A shame that they didn’t hire David Mackenzie here.

Audio Notes:

Cinématographe has unnecessary noise gating not present on the previous releases.

Director: Sidney Lumet

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber US / Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K

Video Notes:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K but low pass filtered

Comparison between the 4Ks, Criterion on the AR choice

Audio Notes:

Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible

Director: Dennis Hopper

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony UK 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Director: F. W. Murnau

Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

MoC OOP Blu-ray

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

Upcoming Release:

Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1

Director: Stanley Kubrick

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

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.

Audio Notes:

DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix

Additional Info:

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

Director: Sam Peckinpah

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Plaion Germany Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

4K Blu-ray said to be coming from Criterion, per Bill Hunt

Video Notes:

Includes Director's Cut and Roadshow Version

Same master as old WB Blu-ray but better encoding

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB 4K

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.

Best Audio:

1984 MGM Hi-Fi VHS

More from Martin Ritt

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Director: Martin Ritt

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Martin Ritt

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray see caps

Director: Martin Ritt

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Fox Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Fox Blu-ray is markedly better than Germany Concorde Blu-ray which seems to be from a different master see caps

More from Mill Creek

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Director: Roger Christian

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical Version: Mill Creek Blu-ray

Home Video Version: Concorde Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Japan TC Entertainment Blu-ray has exclusive extras

Director: H.B. Halicki

Best English-Friendly & Video:

OOP 2017 US Mill Creek Blu-ray

Video Notes:

It is in MPEG-2, but has a superior restoration that has less errors than the older 2012 Blu-ray.

Best Audio:

1989 US VHS mono

Audio Notes:

The 5.1 remix on the US Blu-ray has poor mixing and heavily revised sound effects.

Director: Antoine Fuqua

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Theatrical: Mill Creek Blu-ray

Extended: Sony Blu-ray

Director: Robert Stevenson

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US AlphaVideo or Film Detective or Mill Creek DVD

Director: John Cassavetes

Director: William Witney

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Shout! Factory/Mill Creek DVD

Director: Robert N. Bradbury

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Film Detective/Mill Creek DVD

Director: Henry Hathaway

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Mill Creek DVD

Director: James Cruze

Best English-Friendly & Video:

AlphaVideo/Film Detective/Mill Creek DVD

Director: Albert Ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

AlphaVideo or Mill Creek DVD

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vanshady

· last reviewed 6 months ago

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