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The Golden Coach (1952)
The Golden Coach (1952) poster

The Golden Coach (1952)

Le Carrosse d'or

Comedy, Drama, Romance • 1h 40m

Director: Jean Renoir

Best English-friendly release

Updated 1 year ago

Best video release

Raro (Kino Lorber) and France TF1 Blu-ray are very similar. Unsure on Japan Blu-ray


About the film

A viceroy, a nobleman and a bullfighter court a comedy-troupe actress in 18th-century Peru.

TSPDT
2026: #660
2025: #635
2024: #632
2023: #631
2022: #631

More from Jean Renoir

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Director: Jean Renoir

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Olive Films Blu-ray

Director: Jean Renoir

Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray (flawed restoration)

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

Best Video & Audio:

BFI or Gaumont Blu-ray

Video Notes:

(both from the same flawed restoration)

Additional Info:

The BFI and Gaumont Blu-ray releases are both from the same restoration by Éclair. Although this restoration is much superior in detail to the old Criterion DVD, like many Éclair restorations, it has issues with colour. There is a definite yellow cast to the footage, making skin tones appear sickly and dampening the impact of the colour. The image is also murkier than the Criterion. 

As Renoir scholar Tag Gallagher notes: "I talked a lot toward the end about the light blue walls (Criterion); but when I got the BFI blu I was greatly deflated, because the walls are light gray!"

That said, as visible in the screen caps at DVD Beaver, the Criterion has compromised colour too, and often looks too blue/magenta. There is a regraded edition of the BFI Blu-ray out there on the high seas.

The audio on the Blu-ray releases is slightly compressed, but better than earlier DVD releases and relatively full frequency.

The BFI is most likely the best English-friendly release as it includes English subtitles for the bonus features.

Director: Jean Renoir

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2023 BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

2005 StudioCanal DVD

Audio Notes:

2005 StudioCanal DVD > Criterion

Additional Info:

The 2023 BFI Blu-ray and Criterion Blu-ray are similar, from the same restoration.

The audio on the 2005 StudioCanal DVD is still the best version of the audio.

Director: Jean Renoir

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

The Criterion 4K Blu-ray has marginally better detail and grain structure than ESC 4K Blu-ray

The ESC France 4K Blu-ray is an SDR grade erroneously presented in HDR, but if your player can force the HDR into SDR it looks very good.

Best Audio:

2011 Criterion Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

2011 Criterion Blu-ray has the least tampered with audio of the DVD era, but it's possible the 1993 Criterion LaserDisc or the 1998 Japan LaserDisc are preferable.

Director: Jean Renoir

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion 4k transfer

Best Audio:

France M6 Video Blu-ray

Director: Jean Renoir

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Director: Jean Renoir

Director: Jean Renoir

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2021 StudioCanal Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

2021 StudioCanal Blu-ray has better encode and gamma levels compared to older StudioCanal Blu-ray caps

Director: Jean Renoir

Best English-Friendly:

StudioCanal Blu-ray

Best Video:

StudioCanal 4k transfer

Director: Jean Renoir

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion DVD

Best Video:

StudioCanal France and Spain

Video Notes:

StudioCanal France and Spain have BDs

More from Kino Lorber

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Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

The 4K discs in both Criterion and Imprint sets are FiM encodes, but low-passed. The compression is better, but some of the grain is lost. Difference is pronounced in screen caps, but not likely to be noticed during playback, without a reference to compare it to. Comparisons

Best Audio:

Anything other than Criterion 4K/Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

All discs use the same source transfer. It's not of the highest quality, and it includes some slight distortion, looping, clicks, pops, and hum. Criterion cleaned it up for their release, but unfortunately also lost a lot of fidelity in the process.

MGM NTSC DVD doesn't seem to have some of the more prominent distortion and has slightly different EQ but is otherwise the same.

Additional Info:

The Criterion Complete Kubrick and Imprint 1953-1957 sets include remastered BDs. All standalone releases are from an earlier master.
Arrow UK Blu-ray has an exclusive isolated score & effects track. Kino Lorber and Imprint have an exclusive commentary each.

Director: Sidney Lumet

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber US / Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

1.85:1: Kino Lorber 4K  / Capelight 4K

1.66:1: Criterion 4K

Video Notes:

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

Audio Notes:

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

Director: Buster Keaton

Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber new Seven Chances / Sherlock Jr. Blu-ray?

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

Upcoming Release:

MoC 4K Blu-ray late 2027

Video Notes:

Lobster Films (Kino Lorber?) > Cohen/Eureka https://slow.pics/c/3KWXoMyR The new Kino Lorber's Seven Chances / Sherlock Jr. might be using the same restoration as Lobster Films

Director: Tony Gilroy

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

impressions

Director: Robert Zemeckis

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

caps

Director: George Stevens

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has unusually strong encode but only a minimal upgrade over the excellent Eureka Blu-ray

Director: Steve De Jarnatt

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2024 Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

UK Transmission 4K Blu-ray in January 2027

Best Audio:

Either the 2015 Kino Lorber Blu-ray or the Arrow Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

The 2024 Kino Lorber Blu-ray is botched.

Director: Simon Wincer

4K · Worse Than BD
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

4K is defective with color space issues and poor encoding, UHD replacement disc is also defective with worse encode. The UHD has visible artifacts from the bad encoding. The HDR is overdone and the Paramount 4K master has grain management.
The new Kino Blu-ray has none of the UHD's problems and is superior to the UHD in every way though it still uses the same Paramount master.

Best Audio:

DVD 5.1 or LaserDisc 5.1 AC3, LD PCM 2.0 for the matrix stereo version. The LD and DVD seem to be the theatrical audio mix untouched with plenty of low end. This low end like a number of 90's Paramount titles was mixed out or tamed on subsequent releases. 

Additional Info:

The Lionsgate BD and Paramount BD share the same lackluster HD master with DNR and image distortion. The Lionsgate is much better encoded but has a 7.1 remix which messed up the original mix design by lessening all the great Foley work in favor of the score. The Paramount BD had a 5.1 lossless version of the original mix but it's a new version where the bass has been tamed so the track has lost its punch. The Kino Lorber UHD and Blu-ray recycle this same lesser 5.1 mastering. The original mix can still be heard on LD and DVD. The 2.0 stereo on the Kino is matrixed but also does not sound as good as the 2.0 matrix audio on DVD or LD.
Kino has a replacement program for the defective UHD to fix the color space issue. The new disc is not marked, has a worse encode AND DOES NOT FIX THE COLOR SPACE! Thus it is a worse defective disc version of the original defective disc.
The Billy Zane interview on the Kino BD has technical issues in the editing and clip quality used.

Director: Preston Sturges

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Video Notes:

No information on French Elephant Films Blu-ray

Director: Martin Scorsese

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Other releases have horrendous DNR

More Comedy on Blu-ray

Director: Alan J. Pakula

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Olive Films Blu-ray

Director: Frank Oz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Sony 4K Blu-ray

Director: Steve Gordon

Best English-Friendly & Video:

WB Blu-ray

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Jack Conway

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: George B. Seitz

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: Jack Conway

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from safety preservation elements

Director: William Dieterle

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Video Notes:

4K restoration from Original Camera Negative

Director: Alicia MacDonald

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Universal Blu-ray

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· last reviewed 1 year ago

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