Best Blurays IconBest Blurays
Films
/
Cruel Story of Youth (1960)
Cruel Story of Youth (1960) poster
Letterboxd

Cruel Story of Youth (1960)

青春残酷物語

Romance, Drama, Crime • 1h 37m

Overview

A harsh young man seduces a freeloading young woman and eventually takes advantage of her knack for hitchhiking to rob middle-class men.

Director: Nagisa Ōshima

Best English-Friendly Release

Best Video Release

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.

Best Audio Release

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.

Additional Info

Criterion has a different translation to MoC, but both are solid and trade blows, see comparison.

Format

UHD Blu-ray

UHD Tiers

Solid
Criterion:

Solid detail improvement over the standard BD, similar grading with the greenish tint removed

Length

97 mins

Type

Movie

Alternative Titles

Cruel Tales of Youth, A Story of the Cruelties of Youth

Last Updated

a month ago

Contributors

Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release

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.

Best Audio Release

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.

Additional Info

Criterion has a different translation to MoC, but both are solid and trade blows, see comparison.

Format
UHD Blu-ray
UHD Tiers
Solid
Criterion:

Solid detail improvement over the standard BD, similar grading with the greenish tint removed

Length
97 mins
Type
Movie
Alternative Titles
Cruel Tales of Youth, A Story of the Cruelties of Youth
Last Updated
a month ago
Contributors

More from Nagisa Ōshima

See more →
In the Realm of the Senses poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Australia Umbrella Blu-ray. Taiwan iFilm Blu-ray probably better?

Best Video:

Carlotta has 4K Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Australia Umbrella Blu-ray. Taiwan iFilm Blu-ray probably better?

Best Video:

Carlotta has 4K Blu-ray

More from Criterion

See more →
12 Angry Men poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber US / Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

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

Best Audio:

Criterion Blu-ray/4K Blu-ray

Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible

12 Angry Men poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber US / Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

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

Best Audio:

Criterion Blu-ray/4K Blu-ray

Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible

Medea poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion boxset but awful compression

Best Video:

Carlotta FR Blu-ray: FiM encode w/o English subtitles; Criterion boxset one has awful compression. review

Medea poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion boxset but awful compression

Best Video:

Carlotta FR Blu-ray: FiM encode w/o English subtitles; Criterion boxset one has awful compression. review

In the Heat of the Night poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Wicked Vision Germany 4K Blu-ray or US Criterion 4K Blu-ray?

Best Video:

Wicked Vision Germany 4K Blu-ray (LSP encode) or US Criterion 4K Blu-ray?

Best Audio:

Criterion Blu-ray probably better?

Best English-Friendly:

Wicked Vision Germany 4K Blu-ray or US Criterion 4K Blu-ray?

Best Video:

Wicked Vision Germany 4K Blu-ray (LSP encode) or US Criterion 4K Blu-ray?

Best Audio:

Criterion Blu-ray probably better?

Little Odessa poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Little Odessa poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Rome, Open City poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy Blu-ray. BFI Blu-ray slightly better encode but gamma is off

Best Video:

Criterion Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy Blu-ray. BFI Blu-ray slightly better encode but gamma is off

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy Blu-ray. BFI Blu-ray slightly better encode but gamma is off

Best Video:

Criterion Roberto Rossellini’s War Trilogy Blu-ray. BFI Blu-ray slightly better encode but gamma is off

Red River poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion/Capelight. MoC uses older master

Best Audio:

Theatrical Cut: France Wild Side Blu-ray

Pre-release Cut: ?

Red River poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion/Capelight. MoC uses older master

Best Audio:

Theatrical Cut: France Wild Side Blu-ray

Pre-release Cut: ?

Red Desert poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion > BFI. France Carlotta Blu-ray is a new, flawed 4K resto, which has heavy frozen grain

Best Audio:

1999 Image Entertainment DVD

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion > BFI. France Carlotta Blu-ray is a new, flawed 4K resto, which has heavy frozen grain

Best Audio:

1999 Image Entertainment DVD

Rebecca poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

France Carlotta Blu-ray

Best Video:

France Carlotta better encode than Criterion

Best Audio:

2004 Prism Leisure DVD

Rebecca poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

France Carlotta Blu-ray

Best Video:

France Carlotta better encode than Criterion

Best Audio:

2004 Prism Leisure DVD

Real Life poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Real Life poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Raging Bull poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K announced for 2026

Best Video:

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has slightly better compression than Criterion 4K Blu-ray.

The master in DV looks all but identical to the Criterion’s HDR grade. Detail-wise, FiM’s encode looks like it uncovered a tiny bit of extra high-frequency information that got filtered on the Criterion. See nicolas review

Best Audio:

1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1993 MGM LaserDisc/2002 R2 MGM DVD are the best. See blah-ray https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/2018/01/raging-bull-1980.html

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has better audio than Criterion 4K Blu-ray, from nicolas:

I believe that what’s on Imprint’s 4K is one of the good mixes MGM and Criterion released during the LaserDisc days. Music is powerful and detailed, dialogues have excellent fidelity and ambient sounds have perceptible depth. I compared the "new" 2.0 with the anemic 5.1 as well as the Criterion 4K mix and could clearly hear the improvements.

Best English-Friendly:

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K announced for 2026

Best Video:

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has slightly better compression than Criterion 4K Blu-ray.

The master in DV looks all but identical to the Criterion’s HDR grade. Detail-wise, FiM’s encode looks like it uncovered a tiny bit of extra high-frequency information that got filtered on the Criterion. See nicolas review

Best Audio:

1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1993 MGM LaserDisc/2002 R2 MGM DVD are the best. See blah-ray https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/2018/01/raging-bull-1980.html

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has better audio than Criterion 4K Blu-ray, from nicolas:

I believe that what’s on Imprint’s 4K is one of the good mixes MGM and Criterion released during the LaserDisc days. Music is powerful and detailed, dialogues have excellent fidelity and ambient sounds have perceptible depth. I compared the "new" 2.0 with the anemic 5.1 as well as the Criterion 4K mix and could clearly hear the improvements.

More Romance on Blu-ray

Edward Scissorhands poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Fox/Disney 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

-

Best Video:

Fox/Disney 4K Blu-ray, the compression is poor, but it still beats the previous Blu-ray. (Luminance plot)

Best Audio:

1991 Fox Video LaserDisc?

The 4K Blu-ray only has Atmos which is possibly the original mix, but the previous Blu-ray’s 4.0 sounds good too.

Additional Info:

More Chroma artifacts

Best English-Friendly:

Fox/Disney 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

-

Best Video:

Fox/Disney 4K Blu-ray, the compression is poor, but it still beats the previous Blu-ray. (Luminance plot)

Best Audio:

1991 Fox Video LaserDisc?

The 4K Blu-ray only has Atmos which is possibly the original mix, but the previous Blu-ray’s 4.0 sounds good too.

Additional Info:

More Chroma artifacts

Falling Leaves poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Carlotta FR Blu-ray box set

Best Video:

Carlotta FR Blu-ray box set: 2K restoration of 4K scan. This 2K restoration’s detail level is quite good, although its highlights are somewhat blown out. On the other hand, the newer 4K restoration (on DCP only as of Aug 2026) exhibits severe black crush.

Best Audio:

TBD. Carlotta sounds muffled.

Additional Info:

Carlotta’s English subtitles omit quite a bit of dialog. This was improved upon in the subs accompanying the newer 4K restoration DCP.

Best English-Friendly:

Carlotta FR Blu-ray box set

Best Video:

Carlotta FR Blu-ray box set: 2K restoration of 4K scan. This 2K restoration’s detail level is quite good, although its highlights are somewhat blown out. On the other hand, the newer 4K restoration (on DCP only as of Aug 2026) exhibits severe black crush.

Best Audio:

TBD. Carlotta sounds muffled.

Additional Info:

Carlotta’s English subtitles omit quite a bit of dialog. This was improved upon in the subs accompanying the newer 4K restoration DCP.

Roman Holiday poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Italy Plaion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Italy Plaion 4K Blu-ray > Paramount 4K Blu-ray (marginally)

Best English-Friendly:

Italy Plaion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Italy Plaion 4K Blu-ray > Paramount 4K Blu-ray (marginally)

New York, New York poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

MVD 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

MVD 4K Blu-ray see caps but it has the encoding error with the dropped frames 

Best English-Friendly:

MVD 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

MVD 4K Blu-ray see caps but it has the encoding error with the dropped frames 

The Hot Spot poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best Video:

2026 Radiance 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

2026 Radiance 4K Blu-ray

The Princess Bride poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion US 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Turbine Germany 4K Blu-ray has a few exclusive extras

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion US 4K Blu-ray

Additional Info:

Turbine Germany 4K Blu-ray has a few exclusive extras

The Affairs of Anatol poster
1080p Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

Artcraft Blu-ray

Best Video:

Artcraft Blu-ray 4K restoration encoded by FiM

Best English-Friendly:

Artcraft Blu-ray

Best Video:

Artcraft Blu-ray 4K restoration encoded by FiM

Strictly Ballroom poster
UHD Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly:

UK Visions Home Video 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

UK Visions Home Video 4K Blu-ray caps & impressions

Best Audio:

The Visions Home Video 4K Blu-ray 5.1 is worse than the previous 5.1, and original stereo is only on LaserDisc or some PAL DVDs (and sounds much better)

Best English-Friendly:

UK Visions Home Video 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

UK Visions Home Video 4K Blu-ray caps & impressions

Best Audio:

The Visions Home Video 4K Blu-ray 5.1 is worse than the previous 5.1, and original stereo is only on LaserDisc or some PAL DVDs (and sounds much better)

Edit History

3 edits
Cruel Story of Youth (1960) backdrop