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H₂O (1929)
H₂O (1929) poster
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H₂O (1929)

Documentary • 12m

Director: Ralph Steiner

Letterboxd
IMDbThe Movie Database (TMDB)

Best English-friendly & video release

HD Streaming

Updated 5 months ago


About the film

A cinematic tone poem, showcasing the dynamic nature of water through its various forms.

Featured Lists
National Film Registry

Year of Induction: 2005

Alternative Titles
H2O

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 Ralph Steiner

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Director: Ralph Steiner

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Silent Avant-Garde Blu-ray

More from Library of Congress

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Director: W.W. Young

Video format: HD Streaming

Best Video:

Library of Congress Streaming

Reconstruction on YouTube better

Video Notes:

Complete 2-hour film is lost, only Wonderland and Looking-Glass reissue prints survive

Director: Frank Tuttle

Video format: Only Unofficial Sources

Best Video:

Unofficial Streaming

Complete copies survive in Library of Congress

Director: William A. Seiter

Video format: Only Unofficial Sources

Best Video:

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)

Best Video:

Only has really bad public domain copies

New restoration done by Library of Congress with DCP has no release yet 

Director: A.C. Abadie

Video format: HD Streaming

Director: Billy Bitzer

Video format: HD Streaming

Directors: William Heise & William K.L. Dickson

Video format: HD Streaming

Director: Enoch J. Rector

Video format: HD Streaming

Best English-Friendly & Video:

3min excerpt available on HD Streaming by Library of Congress https://www.loc.gov/item/2023602024/

Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

No full copy available

Directors: William K.L. Dickson & William Heise

Video format: HD Streaming

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· last reviewed 5 months ago

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