Kokuho (2025)
国宝
Drama, Music • 2h 54m
Overview
Nagasaki, 1964: Following the death of his Yakuza father, 15-year-old Kikuo is taken under the wings of a famous Kabuki actor. Alongside Shunsuke, the actor’s only son, he decides to dedicate himself to this traditional form of theatre. For decades, the two young men grow and evolve together – and one will become the greatest Japanese master of the art of Kabuki.
Director: Sang-il Lee
More Drama on Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray is significantly better than older Blu-ray however the HDR grade is questionable as it introduces black crushes, see nic's review and caps
For Blu-rays, Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray > MoC Blu-ray see caps
BFI 4K Blu-ray
All disc sourced from the 4K restoration use the same solid audio track. Older DVD releases are from a higher generation source with less detail and more hiss.
BFI 4K Blu-ray is significantly better than older Blu-ray however the HDR grade is questionable as it introduces black crushes, see nic's review and caps
For Blu-rays, Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray > MoC Blu-ray see caps
BFI 4K Blu-ray
All disc sourced from the 4K restoration use the same solid audio track. Older DVD releases are from a higher generation source with less detail and more hiss.
Criterion 4K Blu-ray see caps
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (same as all tracks since the DVD)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray see caps
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (same as all tracks since the DVD)
Director: Neil Jordan
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (caps)
Criterion is a new restoration from the original camera negative, supervised and approved by director Neil Jordan, graded using a 35mm print from the Academy Film Archive as a color reference.
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Criterion is a new transfer from the magnetic track and sounds better than previous releases. The 5.1 track on the NTSC DVD is a poor quality upmix.
Director: Neil Jordan
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (caps)
Criterion is a new restoration from the original camera negative, supervised and approved by director Neil Jordan, graded using a 35mm print from the Academy Film Archive as a color reference.
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Criterion is a new transfer from the magnetic track and sounds better than previous releases. The 5.1 track on the NTSC DVD is a poor quality upmix.
Director: Michael Haneke
2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray or 2013 TF1 FR Blu-ray (caps)
Curzon has a slightly better encode and preserves all the noise of the digital source, but ends up obscuring actual detail in some shots. Both are quite good, only caveat being that the TF1 disc is slightly cropped and has a black bar on top.
2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray
2008 Artificial Eye UK and 2025 Umbrella AU discs have incorrect pitch. TF1 FR disc is missing 7 minutes of audio in the left channel. See spectrograms.
Director: Michael Haneke
2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray or 2013 TF1 FR Blu-ray (caps)
Curzon has a slightly better encode and preserves all the noise of the digital source, but ends up obscuring actual detail in some shots. Both are quite good, only caveat being that the TF1 disc is slightly cropped and has a black bar on top.
2025 Curzon UK Blu-ray
2008 Artificial Eye UK and 2025 Umbrella AU discs have incorrect pitch. TF1 FR disc is missing 7 minutes of audio in the left channel. See spectrograms.
Director: Nagisa Ōshima
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (caps)
Criterion is a very nice uptick in detail and resolution. The color grade is very similar, but leans more neutral, reducing the greenish/blueish hues seen on the MoC disc.
Unrestored: Shochiku JP NTSC DVD
Restored: Masters of Cinema UK Blu-ray
The JP DVD track is unfiltered and sounds much more natural and detailed, but suffers from a strong CRT whine and an intermittent low-end hum. The track used on all later restorations is a bit muffled and has overemphasized bass.
Criterion applied additional EQ and roll-off to the restored track, but the audible difference is minimal.
Criterion has a different translation to MoC, but both are solid and trade blows, see comparison.
Director: Nagisa Ōshima
Criterion 4K Blu-ray (caps)
Criterion is a very nice uptick in detail and resolution. The color grade is very similar, but leans more neutral, reducing the greenish/blueish hues seen on the MoC disc.
Unrestored: Shochiku JP NTSC DVD
Restored: Masters of Cinema UK Blu-ray
The JP DVD track is unfiltered and sounds much more natural and detailed, but suffers from a strong CRT whine and an intermittent low-end hum. The track used on all later restorations is a bit muffled and has overemphasized bass.
Criterion applied additional EQ and roll-off to the restored track, but the audible difference is minimal.
Criterion has a different translation to MoC, but both are solid and trade blows, see comparison.
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Jan de Bont
DE Turbine is similar in quality, US Warner Bros is worse (caps: EU vs US, EU vs DE)
The 4K discs have different color timing to the older master, see caps.
The 2012 DE Turbine disc is the master as the 2008 US Warner Bros, only with some sharpening and a layer of added grain.
2008 Warner Bros US Blu-ray, the EU disc from Universal has neutered bass.
4K Blu-ray Atmos track is much more compressed in all channels.
Director: Jan de Bont
DE Turbine is similar in quality, US Warner Bros is worse (caps: EU vs US, EU vs DE)
The 4K discs have different color timing to the older master, see caps.
The 2012 DE Turbine disc is the master as the 2008 US Warner Bros, only with some sharpening and a layer of added grain.
2008 Warner Bros US Blu-ray, the EU disc from Universal has neutered bass.
4K Blu-ray Atmos track is much more compressed in all channels.
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Makoto Shinkai
Director: Jacques Audiard
France Pathé 4K Blu-ray has Dolby Atmos audio
Director: Jacques Audiard
France Pathé 4K Blu-ray has Dolby Atmos audio
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