Films
/
Gonza the Spearman (1986)
Gonza the Spearman (1986) poster
Letterboxd

Gonza the Spearman (1986)

鑓の権三

Drama • 2h 6m

Director: Masahiro Shinoda

Letterboxd
IMDbThe Movie Database (TMDB)

Best English-friendly release

Criterion Channel Streaming

Updated 3 months ago

Best video release


Best audio release

2009 Shochiku JP NTSC DVD

The audio track on the new 4K restoration sounds flat and lifeless, both its low and high frequencies were significantly attentuated.


About the film

The tragic story of Gonza, a handsome ladies man, set in the Tokugawa Period, a time in which appearances are very important. Gonza competes with Bannojō for the honor to perform the tea ceremony to celebrate the birth of an heir to the lord of their clan. To see the sacred tea scrolls Gonza promises to marry the daughter of the family which possesses them, even though he is unofficially engaged to another. When studying the scrolls with Osai, the mother of the house, Bannojō sneaks into the house and steals their obis and runs through the town proclaiming the two as adulterers.

More from Masahiro Shinoda

See more →

Director: Masahiro Shinoda

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

2024 France Carlotta Blu-ray

Video Notes:

2024 France Carlotta Blu-ray is newer restoration than Criterion. Germany Rapid Eye Movies Blu-ray probably the same.

Director: Masahiro Shinoda

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

More from Carlotta

See more →

Director: Claire Denis

Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

2027 Criterion Blu-ray

Video Notes:

FiM encode; BFI shows noticeable macroblocking

Best Audio:

MGM DVD

Audio Notes:

No dip around 10 kHz, wider dynamic range, more natural EQ; BFI & Carlotta BDs are identically worse; HMAX Streaming is similar to the BDs but has worse dynamics

Director: Toshiharu Ikeda

Best English-Friendly:

UK Third Window Blu-ray and US Error 4444 Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

FRA Carlotta Blu-ray

Video Notes:

caps; UK and US Blu-rays share the encode

Director: Gus Van Sant

Best English-Friendly:

US Shout! Factory Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Best Video & Audio:

French Carlotta Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Shout! Factory and Carlotta use the same scan https://slow.pics/c/Wcn5YFlw, the Carlotta has two extra bonus features

Director: Roman Polanski

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

> Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray (better encode on Carlotta without any low-pass filtering, more extras and English subtitles on Vinegar Syndrome)

Director: Hou Hsiao-hsien

Best English-Friendly:

Taiwan Sony Blu-ray

Best Video:

Carlotta Blu-ray, HD transfer, also available in a set

Best Audio:

2006 Japan Kinokuniya DVD

Director: John Carpenter

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray or Carlotta 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode)

Video Notes:

Sony 4K Blu-ray and France Carlotta 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode) are similar

Director: S. S. Rajamouli

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Zee5 Streaming

Upcoming Release:

France Carlotta 4K Blu-ray coming in December

Best Video & Audio:

Japan Twin Co. 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Zee5 Streaming has the original Telugu audio and English subtitles (albeit with English portions also overdubbed in Telugu)
Netflix Streaming only has the Hindi dub but better video quality

Audio Notes:

Japan Twin Co. 4K Blu-ray has original Telugu Atmos audio

Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion boxset

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Carlotta FR Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Criterion boxset but awful compression

FiM encode w/o English subtitles; Criterion boxset one has awful compression. review

Director: Otar Iosseliani

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Carlotta FR Blu-ray box set

Video Notes:

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.

Director: Otar Iosseliani

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Carlotta FR Blu-ray box set

Video Notes:

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.

More Drama on Blu-ray

Director: Sylvester Stallone

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)

Additional Info:

All foreign language tracks were pitched too low, replacement disc and Ultimate Knockout Collection disc fixed the error. 

The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection. 

Director: John G. Avildsen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

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: John G. Avildsen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

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: Sylvester Stallone

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray Box Set 

Video Notes:

> 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray

2023 disc has a brief moment where the aspect ratio changes from 1.85:1 to 1.78:1, 2024 release fixed the error

Additional Info:

Both cuts of the movie are on the same disc and don’t appear to be seamlessly branched. 

The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.

Director: John G. Avildsen

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Original Mono: Ultimate Knockout Collection/Knockout Collection replacement disc

Audio Notes:

> Knockout collection original.

The Mono mix on the initial release of the Knockout Collection is a stereo fold-down of the 5.1, it also has a missing piano cue. The replacement disc and the ultimate knockout version fixed the error. 

Additional Info:

The Steelbook and UK standard edition is the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.

Director: Sylvester Stallone

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros 2024 Ultimate Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray/ Warner Bros 2023 Knockout Collection 4K Blu-ray (replacement disc)

Additional Info:

Original Knockout Collection release had its 5.1 mix pitched too low, replacement disc and Ultimate Knockout Collection fixed the error. 

The Steelbook and UK standard edition are the same disc as the 2023 knockout collection.

Director: Rob Reiner

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Germany Capelight 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray releasing December 14 2026

Video Notes:

Like many of Capelight's other releases, the 4K Blu-ray is low-passed but still looks good.

Best Audio:

30th Anniversary Shout! Factory BD has the original stereo mix

Director: Ben Stiller

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Comparisons

Audio Notes:

Spectrograms

Director: Gary Ross

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film

Warner Bros Blu-ray for the uncut version, but it's an older master.

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray, but a shot was cut from the film. See comparison

Warner Bros Blu-ray for the uncut version, but it's an older master.

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

US Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

> 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.

Audio Notes:

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"

Additional Info:

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.

Edit history

2 edits

Researched and maintained by

cbc

· last reviewed 3 months ago

Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.