Best English-friendly & video release
Updated 5 months ago
About the film
On the eve of Columbus Day, Mateo, a boxer who has served time in prison for assault, returns to his New York City neighborhood, where he receives shocking news.
- Featured Lists
- National Film Registry
Year of Induction: 1996
- Alternative Titles
- Block Party, Tragic Festival
Director: Anthony Mann
Criterion 4K Blu-ray, Universal 2008 DVD
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
2008 Universal DVD mono
The mono on the Criterion is severely filtered resulting in it sounding incredibly muffled. It is nearly as filtered as the 2003 original Universal DVD which had extreme filtering and sounds horribly thin. The 2008 DVD remaster and original LaserDisc analog mastering are mostly left alone. The original LD master is from a worn element but otherwise sounds very natural. The 2008 DVD is the highest quality version we have without the heavy filtering and the defects of the LD master. It isn't perfect but easily the best of the main four sources by a dramatic margin.
The existing 4K SDR restoration looks excellent, but the Criterion extras are limited and disappointing. The classic Stewart interview commentary from the LD is ported over but given a new mastering. Compared to past releases it has been very slightly noise reduced.
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs Criterion
Three masterings of the original Dolby Stereo SR mix exist: the original Orion video releases, the Criterion (which is from their LD) and the Arrow. All three are excellent with slight mastering differences between them. The original Orion still is probably the one with the most fidelity, the Criterion is the cleanest with a kind of warm feel to it and the Arrow has a bit of both aspects. The Arrow mastering has a tiny almost imperceptible bit of audio bleeding into the surround that isn't on the Criterion. Each has their own pluses and minuses but you can't go wrong with any of them. Whatever you do though: DO NOT WATCH WITH THE 5.1 REMIX. It is another MGM botch job that fundamentally alters the impact of many scenes. It is vastly inferior to the original mix in every way.
Director: Richard Brooks
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Elaine May
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.
Cinématographe has unnecessary noise gating not present on the previous releases.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
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
Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible
Director: Dennis Hopper
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1
MoC audio is better https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=225532&page=3
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.
DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix
Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Director: W.W. Young
Video format: HD Streaming
Reconstruction on YouTube better
Complete 2-hour film is lost, only Wonderland and Looking-Glass reissue prints survive
Video format: Only Unofficial Sources
Unofficial Streaming
Complete copies survive in Library of Congress
Director: William A. Seiter
Video format: Only Unofficial Sources
Unofficial sources ripped from TCM
Library of Congress has completed a digital restoration around 2018 but no release yet
Director: Frank Borzage
Video format: Only Unofficial Sources
Sources: moma.org (opens in a new tab)
Only has really bad public domain copies
New restoration done by Library of Congress with DCP has no release yet
Video format: HD Streaming
Library of Congress official HD Streaming https://www.loc.gov/item/00694367/
Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)
Director: Billy Bitzer
Video format: HD Streaming
Library of Congress official HD Streaming https://www.loc.gov/item/00694394/
Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)
Video format: HD Streaming
Library of Congress official HD Streaming https://www.loc.gov/item/00694192/
Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)
Video format: HD Streaming
3min excerpt available on HD Streaming by Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/2023602024/
Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)
No full copy available
Video format: HD Streaming
Library of Congress HD Streaming https://www.loc.gov/item/2023600536/
Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)
Directors: William K.L. Dickson & William Heise
Video format: HD Streaming
Library of Congress HD Streaming https://www.loc.gov/item/00694133/
Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)
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