Random Harvest (1942)
Romance, Drama • 2h 5m
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Cast: Ronald Colman, Greer Garson, Philip Dorn, Susan Peters, Henry Travers, Reginald Owen, Bramwell Fletcher, Rhys Williams, Una O'Connor, Aubrey Mather, Margaret Wycherly, Arthur Margetson, Melville Cooper, Alan Napier, Jill Esmond, Marta Linden, Ann Richards, Norma Varden, David Cavendish, Ivan F. Simpson, Marie De Becker, Charles Waldron, Elisabeth Risdon, John Burton, William Ripley Dorr, Ian Wolfe, Winifred Harris
Best English-friendly & video release · updated 1 month ago
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Overview
Wandered away from his asylum, an amnesiac World War I veteran falls in love with a music hall star but his amnesia makes it difficult to last.
Director: Mervyn LeRoy
Sources: mega.nz (opens in a new tab)
Warner Bros 2011 Blu-ray
The older track sounds significantly more natural. The WAC BD uses a new mastering which sounds much worse. A lot of the dialogue sounds off, sort of echoey, garbled or even artifacted. Its overzealous click removal also erased some sounds. Its only positive is a new EQ that brings out the bass more making some of the score more effective.
It seems that the new mastering likely uses AI "enhancement" or some other form of aggressive filtering, resulting in extended peaks despite losing real high end detail (most pronounced on sample 3).
Samples (WAC is mislabeled as UHD)
Commentary is mono on the Blu-rays and panned stereo on NTSC DVD (different channels for each speaker).
Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release
Warner Archive Blu-ray in October
More Romance on Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
(same as all tracks since the DVD)
Criterion 4K Blu-ray see caps
Phenomenal disc, and perhaps the single greatest testament to NexSpec's positive 180 this year. Highlights are beautifully handled and grain structure is fully intact in areas where NexSpec's (and Pixelogic's) encodes would frequently fall apart in 2025 and before then. Criterion BD encode also looks to be robust from linked caps, save for this one frame: https://slow.pics/c/cMjMefmi
Kino BD has original stereo mix.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Flicker Alley 4K confirmed for 2027 https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24404584&postcount=1
MoC audio is better https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=225532&page=3
Directors: Emeric Pressburger & Michael Powell
Imprint 4K Blu-ray
Sources: filmalert101.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)
FiM encode and none of the low-pass filtering present on the Criterion 4K, resulting in more detail and better handling of highlights on Imprint https://filmalert101.blogspot.com/2026/09/on-4k-uhd-david-hare-rhapsodizes-over.html?m=1
Director: Sian Heder
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Has full and forced English subtitles
Apple TV 4K Blu-ray with Atmos
(Eagle Pictures is 5.1)
Director: Celine Song
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
UK StudioCanal Blu-ray is the better release. Plaion Italy 4K Blu-ray has macroblocking and chroma noise issues, and the US Lionsgate Blu-ray has elevated gamma levels and macroblocking https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=22310555&postcount=31
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