Wake in Fright (1971)
Drama, Thriller • 1h 49m
Overview
A schoolteacher, stuck in a teaching post in an arid backwater, stops off in a mining town on his way home for Christmas. Discovering a local gambling craze that may grant him the money to move back to Sydney for good, he embarks on a five-day nightmarish odyssey of drinking, gambling, and hunting.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Cast: Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay, Jack Thompson, Peter Whittle, Al Thomas, John Meillon, Slim DeGrey, Maggie Dence, Norm Erskine, Buster Fiddess, Tex Foote, Nancy Knudsen, Dawn Lake, Harry Lawrence, Robert McDarra, Owen Moase, John Dalleen, Colin Hughes, Jacko Jackson, Carlo Manchini, Liam Reynolds, Nelson
Director: Frank Capra
Director: Frank Capra
France Rimini 4K Blu-ray see caps vs Artificial Eye Blu-ray
France Rimini 4K Blu-ray see caps vs Artificial Eye Blu-ray
Directors: Alberto Cavalcanti & Charles Crichton & Basil Dearden & Robert Hamer
Directors: Alberto Cavalcanti & Charles Crichton & Basil Dearden & Robert Hamer
Director: Otakar Vávra
Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray see nic review
Restored: Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored: Czech PAL DVD
Preferences will vary, the restored track sounds good, but not necessarily faithful to the original elements.
Director: Otakar Vávra
Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray see nic review
Restored: Deaf Crocodile 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored: Czech PAL DVD
Preferences will vary, the restored track sounds good, but not necessarily faithful to the original elements.
Director: Robert Rossen
Director: Robert Rossen
Director: Anthony Mann
Director: Anthony Mann
Director: Basil Dearden
Indicator 4K Blu-ray. Excellent 4K master and encode, except for opticals grain is very fine, grading is beautifully silvery and luminous, nice HDR re-grade by Fidelity in Motion
Director: Basil Dearden
Indicator 4K Blu-ray. Excellent 4K master and encode, except for opticals grain is very fine, grading is beautifully silvery and luminous, nice HDR re-grade by Fidelity in Motion
Director: Jacques Becker
Director: Jacques Becker
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
caps #1 (with FEL), caps #2
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
The compression is underwhelming on all discs, but despite trading blows in various frames, Lionsgate's re-released 4K disc wins.
The Lionsgate 4K re-release includes original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix, transferred from a LaserDisc, with missing cues at side changeover points corrected, and consistent volume throughout, as well as two remixed variants in 5.1 and 7.1 Atmos. The 5.1 is incorrectly labeled as original on the menu.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
caps #1 (with FEL), caps #2
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (2026 Rambo set)
The compression is underwhelming on all discs, but despite trading blows in various frames, Lionsgate's re-released 4K disc wins.
The Lionsgate 4K re-release includes original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix, transferred from a LaserDisc, with missing cues at side changeover points corrected, and consistent volume throughout, as well as two remixed variants in 5.1 and 7.1 Atmos. The 5.1 is incorrectly labeled as original on the menu.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is disappointing, heavy blockings see caps
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is disappointing, heavy blockings see caps
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: Richard Fleischer
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: Richard Fleischer
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: Brian De Palma
Director: Brian De Palma
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Original: Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs New Line LaserDisc
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Original: Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs New Line LaserDisc
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or New Line LaserDisc for line absent on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or New Line LaserDisc for line absent on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Director: John Frankenheimer
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Director: Fritz Kiersch
Director: Fritz Kiersch
Director: Michael Mann
Arrow 4K Blu-ray is encoded by FiM encode is better than Criterion, see caps https://slow.pics/c/Z2RRQAAT
Criterion 4K Blu-ray vs Blu-ray: caps colors are more different and nuanced than anticipated even in the SDR-converted caps and the usual gain in highlight detail is also apparent. Encode looks excellent except for the brightest areas as usual.
Arrow/Criterion 4K Blu-ray. Only imperceptible differences in bit-depth: 20 vs 24.
Arrow and Criterion 4K Blu-rays have differing extras, Arrow LE has Theatrical cut Blu-ray from older HD master, most likely from a 2K scan of an interpositive.
Director: Michael Mann
Arrow 4K Blu-ray is encoded by FiM encode is better than Criterion, see caps https://slow.pics/c/Z2RRQAAT
Criterion 4K Blu-ray vs Blu-ray: caps colors are more different and nuanced than anticipated even in the SDR-converted caps and the usual gain in highlight detail is also apparent. Encode looks excellent except for the brightest areas as usual.
Arrow/Criterion 4K Blu-ray. Only imperceptible differences in bit-depth: 20 vs 24.
Arrow and Criterion 4K Blu-rays have differing extras, Arrow LE has Theatrical cut Blu-ray from older HD master, most likely from a 2K scan of an interpositive.
Edit History
6/12/2026
blah-ray
From
To
https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/search/label/Wake%20in%20Fright%20%281971%29
From
To
https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/search/label/Wake%20in%20Fright%20%281971%29
DVDBeaver
From
To
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/wake_in_fright_blu-ray.htm
From
To
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/wake_in_fright_blu-ray.htm
6/11/2026
blah-ray
From
https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/search/label/Wake%20in%20Fright%20%281971%29
To
From
https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/search/label/Wake%20in%20Fright%20%281971%29
To
DVDBeaver
From
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/wake_in_fright_blu-ray.htm
To
From
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/wake_in_fright_blu-ray.htm
To
3/28/2026
12/31/2025
Best Video Release
From
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (but shows signs of DNR), all other BDs pretty bad.
To
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.
From
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (but shows signs of DNR), all other BDs pretty bad.
To
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.
12/31/2025
Best English-Friendly Release
From
From
12/24/2025
Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release
From
Umbrella 4K (but shows signs of DNR), all other BDs pretty bad.
To
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (but shows signs of DNR), all other BDs pretty bad.
From
Umbrella 4K (but shows signs of DNR), all other BDs pretty bad.
To
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (but shows signs of DNR), all other BDs pretty bad.
Best Audio Release
From
Umbrella 4K, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
To
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
From
Umbrella 4K, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
To
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
10/11/2025
Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release
From
All BDs pretty bad. New 4K restoration from Umbrella coming soon
To
Umbrella 4K, all other BDs pretty bad.
From
All BDs pretty bad. New 4K restoration from Umbrella coming soon
To
Umbrella 4K, all other BDs pretty bad.
Best Audio Release
From
To
Umbrella 4K, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
From
To
Umbrella 4K, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
blah-ray
Added
https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/search/label/Wake%20in%20Fright%20%281971%29
Added
https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/search/label/Wake%20in%20Fright%20%281971%29
DVDBeaver
From
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/wake_in_fright_blu-ray.htm, http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film7/blu-ray_reviews_83/fright_4K_UHD.htm
To
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/wake_in_fright_blu-ray.htm
From
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/wake_in_fright_blu-ray.htm, http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film7/blu-ray_reviews_83/fright_4K_UHD.htm
To
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/blu-ray_reviews51/wake_in_fright_blu-ray.htm
7/14/2025
12/18/2024
Best Video Release
From
All BDs pretty bad. MoC maybe marginally better? New 4K restoration from Umbrella coming soon
To
All BDs pretty bad. New 4K restoration from Umbrella coming soon
From
All BDs pretty bad. MoC maybe marginally better? New 4K restoration from Umbrella coming soon
To
All BDs pretty bad. New 4K restoration from Umbrella coming soon
