Red Cliff (2008)
赤壁
Adventure, Drama, History, Action, War • 2h 25m
Director: John Woo
Cast: Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Zhang Fengyi, Chang Chen, Vicky Zhao, Hu Jun, Shido Nakamura, Lin Chi-ling, You Yongzhi, Hou Yong, Tong Dawei, Song Jia, Baasanjav Mijid, Zang Jinsheng, Zhang Shan, Wang Hui, Xie Gang, Shi Xiaohong, Xu Fengnian, Guo Chao, Hu Xiaoguang, Cui Yugui, Jiang Tong, Ma Jing, Yi Zhen, Jia Hongwei, Zhao Chengshun, Wang Zaolai, Wang Ning, Wang Qingxiang, Li Hong, He Yin, Wang Yuzhang, Menghewuliji, Sun Xinyu, Ma Jingwu, Ye Hua, Chen Changhai, Zhang Yi, Wu Qi, Fu Xiangrui, He Feng, Li Hongchen
Best English-friendly & video release
International Cut: US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray
Original Hong Kong Cut (2 parts): US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or Hong Kong Blu-rays?
Updated 4 months ago
About the film
In 208 A.D., in the final days of the Han Dynasty, shrewd Prime Minster Cao convinced the fickle Emperor Han the only way to unite all of China was to declare war on the kingdoms of Xu in the west and East Wu in the south. Thus began a military campaign of unprecedented scale. Left with no other hope for survival, the kingdoms of Xu and East Wu formed an unlikely alliance.
- Alternative Titles
- Red Cliff: Part 1, Red Cliff Part I, Red Cliff I
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.
Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
US Shout! Factory or UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Disk Kino/WCL China import
review: Disk Kino
Both have better encoding than Disk Kino, some shots are better on Shout! Factory, others on Arrow
Shout Factory still has the best video while Arrow did a questionable regrade. Arrow definitely has less grain in most shots, has a worse encode and is cm v2.9 compared to Shout’s cm v4.0.
Shout! Factory/Arrow 4K Blu-ray has the original mono
Director: John Woo
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > US Shout! Factory, better encoding by Engine House and redone opening credits, errors present in Shout! Factory fixed
Mono is from an alternate higher fidelity source than Shout! Factory.
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Correct grade and archival extras missing from the Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Both Arrow 4K Blu-ray and Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray are worse.
Criterion USA LaserDisc [CC1397L]: Original Cantonese mono.
Best Cantonese mono still was from Criterion LaserDisc, as the Shout one was boosted with clipping, with some filtering and losing dynamic range over the Criterion LD.
There’s no need for other Cantonese audio, as all 5.1 remixes are extremely bad and not worth including.
For English Dub the Shout offered the best, it was pure mono. All other 5.1 remixed of said dub are also terrible and offer no value, only less fidelity and more echo.
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray > UK > Netherlands Blu-ray, not sure about the rest https://caps-a-holic.com/c_list.php?c=1387
Director: Nacho Vigalondo
Spain: Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray
English: Magnolia Pictures NTSC DVD
Director: Hirokazu Kore-eda
US Magnolia Pictures Blu-ray or UK Thunderbird Blu-ray
No comparisons
More Adventure on Blu-ray
Director: George Pal
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Dennis Hopper
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
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
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
WB 4K
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.
Director: John Huston
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Eureka Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Older DVD or LaserDisc probably even better
All blu-ray releases so far is from the 2010 scan.
Directors: Ernest B. Schoedsack & Merian C. Cooper
Director: George Lucas
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
OG: "4K77" or "D+77" on high seas.
Special Edition: "4K97_IV" or "D+97_IV" on high seas.
2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed
OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes (and usually included in fan restorations). There are 16mm/TV rips of the mono mixes.
Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.
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.
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