Dancer in the Dark (2000)
Drama, Crime • 2h 20m
Overview
Selma, a Czech immigrant on the verge of blindness, struggles to make ends meet for herself and her son, who has inherited the same genetic disorder and will suffer the same fate without an expensive operation. When life gets too difficult, Selma learns to cope through her love of musicals, escaping life's troubles – even if just for a moment – by dreaming up little numbers to the rhythmic beats of her surroundings.
Director: Lars von Trier
Cast: Björk, Catherine Deneuve, David Morse, Peter Stormare, Joel Grey, Cara Seymour, Vladica Kostic, Jean-Marc Barr, Vincent Paterson, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Zeljko Ivanek, Udo Kier, Jens Albinus, Reathel Bean, Mette Berggreen, Lars Michael Dinesen, Katrine Falkenberg, Michael Flessas, John Randolph Jones, Noah Lazarus, Sheldon Litt, Andrew Lucre, John Martinus, Luke Reilly, T.J. Rizzo, Stellan Skarsgård, Sean-Michael Smith, Paprika Steen, Eric Voge, Nick Wolf, Timm Zimmermann, Al Agami, Alex Mouro, Alexander Arli, Allan Gyldenkærne, Ami Eklöf-Annell, Ana Christine Broström, Anders Tärneberg, Anders Thorhauge, Anders-Peter Torsleff Hansen, Ann Crosset, Anna David, Anna Norberg, Anna Rosenberg, Annette Lindholm, Anthony Ajoise Olufemi Jacob, Birgitte Skands, Bjorn Ahlander, Bo Westerholm, Bobo Eriksson, Britt Bendixen, Carl Johan De Neergaard, Carol Linda Nielsen, Claus Berenhard, Cristian Valle, Diana G.L. Watson, Ed Hickok, Edvin Karsson, Eli Stalhand, Elin Johansson, Emilie Bendz, Erik Dammann, Erik Drugge, Fredrik Börgesson, Frederik Mondrup, Marianne Bengtsson, Karoliina Heiskanen, Troels Asmussen, Caroline Sascha Cogez
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Criterion Blu-ray> Artificial Eye Blu-ray, Korea Nova Media 4K Blu-ray release is AI upscaled
Criterion Blu-ray> Artificial Eye Blu-ray, Korea Nova Media 4K Blu-ray release is AI upscaled
Director: Federico Fellini
2022 Paramount Blu-ray
2014 Criterion Blu-ray is from the same master and has only slightly worse compression. JP/DE/FR releases all have incorrect levels. Caps
2022 Paramount Blu-ray
All Blu-ray releases are from the same mastering, superior to the one on older DVD releases which is sourced from a higher generation source. They all sound about the same, with the exception of Criterion, which sounds worse due to extraneous filtering.
Paramount's disc also includes a contemporary English dub, previously unreleased on home video.
Director: Federico Fellini
2022 Paramount Blu-ray
2014 Criterion Blu-ray is from the same master and has only slightly worse compression. JP/DE/FR releases all have incorrect levels. Caps
2022 Paramount Blu-ray
All Blu-ray releases are from the same mastering, superior to the one on older DVD releases which is sourced from a higher generation source. They all sound about the same, with the exception of Criterion, which sounds worse due to extraneous filtering.
Paramount's disc also includes a contemporary English dub, previously unreleased on home video.
Director: Martin Scorsese
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding
Original mono mix: 1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1991 Columbia LaserDisc
The 4K Blu-ray mono is only minimally worse (see blah-ray).
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: Martin Scorsese
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook
2024 Sony 4K Blu-ray Steelbook fixes duplicate shot seen on the previous Columbia Classics release and has better encoding
Original mono mix: 1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1991 Columbia LaserDisc
The 4K Blu-ray mono is only minimally worse (see blah-ray).
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: Claude Lelouch
Director: Claude Lelouch
Director: Ruben Östlund
Director: Ruben Östlund
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray
Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray or potentially French Intersections Blu-ray but not English-friendly
There are no comparisons, and all releases are likely the same transfer from 2K restoration. However, given that other releases in the Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray are superior to other Polish releases, likely the same conclusion applies here.
Director: Andrzej Wajda
Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray
Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray or potentially French Intersections Blu-ray but not English-friendly
There are no comparisons, and all releases are likely the same transfer from 2K restoration. However, given that other releases in the Martin Scorsese Presents: Masterpieces of Polish Cinema, Volume 1 Blu-ray are superior to other Polish releases, likely the same conclusion applies here.
Director: Chen Kaige
Director: Chen Kaige
Director: Lars von Trier
4K Restoration: Curzon 4K Blu-ray
Director: Lars von Trier
4K Restoration: Curzon 4K Blu-ray
Director: Lars von Trier
Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray or France Potemkine Blu-ray (needs gamma correction)
The movie was shot in HD and France Potemkine Blu-ray (needs gamma correction) has slightly stronger encoding than Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray. Curzon Blu-ray is the worst of all three (not by much) see caps.
Director: Lars von Trier
Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray or France Potemkine Blu-ray (needs gamma correction)
The movie was shot in HD and France Potemkine Blu-ray (needs gamma correction) has slightly stronger encoding than Italy Eagle Pictures 4K Blu-ray. Curzon Blu-ray is the worst of all three (not by much) see caps.
Director: Lars von Trier
Director: Lars von Trier
Director: Lars von Trier
Director: Lars von Trier
Director: Lars von Trier
Director: Lars von Trier
Director: Enzo G. Castellari
German Plaion 4K Blu-ray see caps but doesn't have EN subtitles
Director: Enzo G. Castellari
German Plaion 4K Blu-ray see caps but doesn't have EN subtitles
Director: Jim Henson
Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray
Plaion 4K Blu-ray available in June
Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray, Shout! Factory doesn't have the low-pass filter that's on the Sony US 4K Blu-ray from 2021 with Dolby Vision (or the worse HDR10 only release from 2016). Shout! Factory retains more high-frequency grain and detail.
Embassy Home Entertainment JPN LaserDisc or 1999 Sony US DVD 2.0
Director: Jim Henson
Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray
Plaion 4K Blu-ray available in June
Shout! Factory replacement 4K Blu-ray, Shout! Factory doesn't have the low-pass filter that's on the Sony US 4K Blu-ray from 2021 with Dolby Vision (or the worse HDR10 only release from 2016). Shout! Factory retains more high-frequency grain and detail.
Embassy Home Entertainment JPN LaserDisc or 1999 Sony US DVD 2.0
Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173
The master is heavily DNR'd.
Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173
The master is heavily DNR'd.
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
4K restoration: Koch Media DE 4K Blu-ray
Original digital master: Cannes 2006 Promo HD-DVD
4K remaster is cropped 2.35:1 from the original 2.55:1 presentation, and has significantly different color grading, as is the case with most WKW supervised restorations. Due to DNR the detail is sometimes lacklustre compared to the old master. CGI scenes appear to be rerendered. A sepia tinted scene was altered to be fully black and white.
Caps: Criterion US BD vs Cannes HD-DVD, HD-DVD vs KR BD vs DVDs vs US BD
Remixed 5.1: The Jokers FR 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Cannes 2006 Promo HD-DVD
The remixed track has different front panning and little LFE use compared to the original.
HD-DVD is by far the best option for the original track, as DVDs and Korean BD suffer from noise gating, limiting and duplicated surrounds. Remixed tracks are all similar, but French disc has slightly better dynamics, particularly on the LFE channel.
The 2006 HD-DVD is a promotional release made in only 100 copies, handed out to VIPs at Cannes Film Festival. See this blog post for details. The same master can be found on KR BD, though it suffers from interlacing, blended frames and a gamma bug, as well as older DVD releases.
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
4K restoration: Koch Media DE 4K Blu-ray
Original digital master: Cannes 2006 Promo HD-DVD
4K remaster is cropped 2.35:1 from the original 2.55:1 presentation, and has significantly different color grading, as is the case with most WKW supervised restorations. Due to DNR the detail is sometimes lacklustre compared to the old master. CGI scenes appear to be rerendered. A sepia tinted scene was altered to be fully black and white.
Caps: Criterion US BD vs Cannes HD-DVD, HD-DVD vs KR BD vs DVDs vs US BD
Remixed 5.1: The Jokers FR 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Cannes 2006 Promo HD-DVD
The remixed track has different front panning and little LFE use compared to the original.
HD-DVD is by far the best option for the original track, as DVDs and Korean BD suffer from noise gating, limiting and duplicated surrounds. Remixed tracks are all similar, but French disc has slightly better dynamics, particularly on the LFE channel.
The 2006 HD-DVD is a promotional release made in only 100 copies, handed out to VIPs at Cannes Film Festival. See this blog post for details. The same master can be found on KR BD, though it suffers from interlacing, blended frames and a gamma bug, as well as older DVD releases.
German release from Plaion has better grading and encode than the US Vinegar Syndrome releases.
Both UHDs come with Italian and English audio, as well as English subtitles.
German release from Plaion has better grading and encode than the US Vinegar Syndrome releases.
Both UHDs come with Italian and English audio, as well as English subtitles.
Director: Moritz Mohr
Italy Plaion has Dolby Vision, but the metadata is static: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=22742198&postcount=92
Director: Moritz Mohr
Italy Plaion has Dolby Vision, but the metadata is static: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=22742198&postcount=92
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray - subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking
1993 MGM LaserDisc/2000 Region 1 MGM DVD
Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray - subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking
1993 MGM LaserDisc/2000 Region 1 MGM DVD
Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110
Director: Peter Weir
Director: Peter Weir
Director: Park Chan-wook
AUS Madman 4K Blu-ray
Decal Releasing USA 4K Blu-ray - October 2026
HDR: GER Plaion 4K Blu-ray
SDR: AUS Madman 4K Blu-ray
Italy/Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray for Atmos
Director: Park Chan-wook
AUS Madman 4K Blu-ray
Decal Releasing USA 4K Blu-ray - October 2026
HDR: GER Plaion 4K Blu-ray
SDR: AUS Madman 4K Blu-ray
Italy/Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray for Atmos
Director: Park Chan-wook
Stereo mix: Tartan DVD
5.1 mix: France The Jokers 4K Blu-ray
Atmos: Japan Amuse Soft Blu-ray
Comparison between different extras: https://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=56142
Director: Park Chan-wook
Stereo mix: Tartan DVD
5.1 mix: France The Jokers 4K Blu-ray
Atmos: Japan Amuse Soft Blu-ray
Comparison between different extras: https://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=56142
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