The Lives of Others (2006)
Das Leben der Anderen
Drama, Thriller • 2h 18m
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Cast: Martina Gedeck, Ulrich Mühe, Sebastian Koch, Ulrich Tukur, Thomas Thieme, Hans-Uwe Bauer, Volkmar Kleinert, Matthias Brenner, Charly Hübner, Herbert Knaup, Bastian Trost, Marie Gruber, Volker Michalowski, Werner Daehn, Hinnerk Schönemann, Ludwig Blochberger, Martin Brambach, Hubertus Hartmann, Paul Faßnacht, Paul Maximilian Schüller, Susanna Kraus, Michael Gerber, Fabian von Klitzing, Harald Polzin, Sheri Hagen, Gitta Schweighöfer, Hildegard Schroedter, Inga Birkenfeld, Jens Wassermann, Gabi Fleming, Kai Ivo Baulitz, Anabelle D. Munro, Klaus Münster
About the film
In 1983 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.
- TSPDT
- 2026: #5022025: #5312024: #5282023: #5222022: #522
Director: Tom Holland
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
sounds better than the Sony 4K Blu-ray , https://slow.pics/c/pJfES0fl
Twilight Time has an isolated score
TV series
Blu-ray version is an extended cut that has an exclusive scene and turns the 5-episode miniseries into a seamless feature film.
Final episode is age-restricted on YouTube, despite receiving a PG rating in Canada and a 12 rating in Germany.
Director: David Lean
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
The 5.1 on Sony 4K Blu-ray is from the 1989 70mm mix. The original is 4-track. not on the disc.
Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray
Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray
Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: Ben Stiller
More Drama on Blu-ray
Director: David Lean
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
The legacy extras are AI-upscaled
Director: Mike Nichols
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
StudioCanal 4K caps.Criterion Blu-ray better encode than StudioCanal Blu-ray.
Director: Roman Polanski
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
The 4K restoration introduced elevated black levels that Criterion have corrected while BFI left as is. However, the encoding on the Criterion is markedly worse, turning the grain into mush whereas the grain structure on the BFI is largely intact due to the noticeably superior encode. Therefore, the one to seek out is dependent on whether you prefer slightly better black levels or stronger grain retention.
Director: Ridley Scott
Final Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray (Caveat: No Dolby Vision from Streaming)
Workprint: WB 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Set for a better AVC encode
1982 Theatrical Mix: Embassy Video releases, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix
International Cut Dolby Stereo: Criterion Collection LaserDisc, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix
1992 Director's Cut Dolby Stereo: WB CAV LaserDisc 2.0 PCM-best fidelity of any mix, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix
Workprint: WB 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Set DTS-HD MA 5.1
2007 Final Cut remix: Blu-ray Dolby TrueHD 5.1
WB 4K Blu-ray only has Final Cut and contains a bad Atmos remix with new sound effects. Original Final Cut mix was removed.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
US Criterion 4K Blu-ray > UK MoC 4K Blu-ray > Australia Imprint > US Kino Lorber better encoding
The MoC, Criterion and Imprint UHDs were encoded by FiM making all 3 very close. The higher bitrate helped in deciding and some luck; however Criterion is the most consistent one of all 3. Imprint has some scenes with more splotchy grain while MoC is quite close to Criterion but has some more blocking in dark scenes (e.g.: comp #27). With Criterion’s superior audio, it ensures complete consistency.
From cbc: "I'm personally quite fond of the restored track on Eureka's 4K Blu-ray. It does have spots with objectively worse fidelity, but for the most part, it sounds a lot more natural and less shrill, particularly dialogue. It seems to be a new mixdown of stems. Technically a remix, so not everyone's cup of tea, but it's not revisionist like most new movie mixes tend to be"
Both Imprint (included in their set) and Capelight (on its own/individually) offer remastered BDs. All other BDs, including the one included in The Complete Kubrick, are sourced from the same older master from around 2010.
Director: Sofia Coppola
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
See comparison
All sources are almost identical, Criterion has very minor high frequency whine filtering, unlikely to be audible. See spectrograms
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray see caps
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: Hal Ashby
Director: Govindan Aravindan
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Maintained by the community
· last reviewed 1 year ago
Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.