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The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959)
The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959) poster

The Tiger of Eschnapur (1959)

Der Tiger von Eschnapur

Adventure, Drama, Romance • 1h 41m

Director: Fritz Lang

Cast: Debra Paget, Paul Hubschmid, Walther Reyer, Claus Holm, Sabine Bethmann, Luciana Paluzzi, René Deltgen, Valéry Inkijinoff, Jochen Brockmann, Richard Lauffen, Jochen Blume, Helmut Hildebrand

US Film Movement Blu-ray

1080p Blu-ray

Best English-friendly release · updated 1 year ago

Overview

In Eschnapur, a German architect saves the life of the Maharajah's favorite temple dancer and becomes Maharajah's friend but their friendship is tested when the architect and the dancer fall in-love, triggering the Maharajah's vengeful ire.

Release details

Best Video Release

Same release as the recommendation

TSPDT
2026: #757
2025: #744
2024: #727
2023: #703
2022: #703
Length
101 mins
Type
Movie

More from Fritz Lang

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Director: Fritz Lang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Indicator Blu-ray

Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Indicator Blu-ray is superior to Kino Lorber transfer see caps. 2K restoration

Director: Fritz Lang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Eureka MoC Blu-ray

Best Video:

1984 Giorgio Moroder restoration: MoC Blu-ray or Kino Lorber Blu-ray

2001 Murnau restoration: MoC 2-disc DVD set > Kino Lorber 1-disc Restored Authorized Edition DVD

2010 Murnau complete restoration: MoC Blu-ray > Kino Lorber Blu-ray

Director: Fritz Lang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Germany Universum Blu-ray

Sources: hometheaterforum.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:same release

Director: Fritz Lang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Eureka MoC Blu-ray

Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Additional Info:

MoC > Kino Lorber, former has correct aspect ratio (and higher bitrate and looks better/less compressed) while the latter has a squished aspect ratio, see DVDBeaver for comparison

Director: Fritz Lang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

WB Blu-ray

Best Video:same release
Best Audio:

1993 MGM LaserDisc

Director: Fritz Lang

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray. See nicolas review: https://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=841703#p841703 "The new master is simply gorgeous. Beautifully fine-grained, even the opticals don’t look that much less defined than the OCN-shots. Highlights are very nicely graded and the encode preserves them virtually flawlessly. The HDR / DV grade itself is tasteful and makes the film look tasteful. Velvety, silvery and just satisfying to look at. Furthermore, I don’t think NexSpec applied any filtering"

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Audio:

Twilight Time Blu-ray slightly better than Criterion 4K Blu-ray. Columbia Hi-Fi VHS probably significantly better (not been checked)

Director: Fritz Lang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

MoC vs Kino Lorber Blu-ray?

Best Video:same release

Director: Fritz Lang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber vs MoC?

Best Video:

Kino Lorber and MoC same resto, no comparison

Director: Fritz Lang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Imprint Blu-ray

Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Imprint Blu-ray not only has the best encoding, but also has the "correct" aspect ratio compared to ClassicFlix which is horizontally stretched or Eagle Pictures which is squished see DVDBeaver caps

Director: Fritz Lang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Warner Archive Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

More from Film Movement

See more →

Director: Shōhei Imamura

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

US Film Movement Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

UK Radiance Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Stanley Kwan Kam-Pang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Pick your poison: USA Film Movement Blu-ray (two scenes cut / censored & slight Ritrovata yellow tint) or UK 88 Films Blu-ray (DNR)

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

Best Video:

Pick your poison: USA Film Movement Blu-ray (two scenes cut / censored & slight Ritrovata yellow tint) or UK 88 Films Blu-ray (DNR). nic’s review

Director: Ang Lee

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

US Film Movement Blu-ray or Australia Imprint Blu-ray?

Director: Bille August

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

US Film Movement Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

US Film Movement > Germany Plaion Blu-ray, better encoding: caps

Director: Zhang Yimou

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Korea Nova Media Blu-ray, or Imprint Boxset Blu-ray

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

Upcoming Release:

Film Movement Blu-ray release soon

Best Video:

No comparisons, but Korea Nova Media caps
DVDBeaver's Imprint Blu-ray caps

Director: Takeshi Kitano

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Film Movement Blu-ray vs Third Window Blu-ray?

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

Best Video:

Not sure about US Film Movement Blu-ray The Germany Capelight and UK Third Window releases both use the same transfer. The Japan Bandai Visual release appears to be the same transfer but has more information on the sides. https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0&d1=16038&d2=7573&s1=170548&s2=71994&i=0&l=0

Director: Bille August

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Film Movement Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Nanni Moretti

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

US Film Movement Blu-ray

Best Video:

US Film Movement

Director: Tsai Ming-liang

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Film Movement Blu-ray

Best Video:

US Film Movement new 2k restoration

More Adventure on Blu-ray

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Japan Studio Ghibli RM4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Japan Studio Ghibli 4K Blu-ray

UK StudioCanal Blu-ray for the English dub

Additional Info:

4K Blu-ray includes the original 5.1 mix in its unaltered form, all other releases after the LaserDisc had its dynamic range lowered.

US Disney Blu-ray has dubtitles.

For the English dub, the UK StudioCanal Blu-ray is the least limited mix.

Director: Fred M. Wilcox

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray see comparison video 

Best Audio:

Arrow 4K Blu-ray  used what was also originally screened theatrically: The Perspecta Stereo 3.0 and a mono option. The Perspecta track sounds best with better dynamic range and was set as default with the mono as optional. The previous releases stereo were downmixes of a now lost original 4-track, and it sounds very thin as a result. See comparison

Director: Peter Faiman

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Australia Cut: Australia Fox DVD

International Cut: Paramount Blu-ray

Encore Cut: Germany Winkler Film 4K Blu-ray, censored but good encoding

Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

US Paramount 4K Blu-ray, is the International US Cut and not the Encore Cut

Best Video:same release
Best Audio:

Australia Cut: Laserdisc

Additional Info:

The film exists in three versions:
- the original Australian cut (~104 minutes at 24fps/~100 minutes at 25fps);
- the American/international version (~98 minutes at 24fps/~94 minutes at 25fps) trimming some exposition in the Outback first half of the film and some shorter extensions of a few seconds in the New York section, altering some of the dialogue – including censoring a "fuck" to "screw" – but featuring one additional dialogue extension not in the Australian version (a comparison of the two cuts can be found at Movie Censorship);
- the Australian Encore Cut (~95 minutes at 24fps/~91 minutes at 25fps) which uses the international version source so it already has those alterations but also removes approximately three minutes consisting of parts of two scenes featuring Mick grabbing the crotch of a cross-dressing prostitute and a later sequence when he does the same thing at a party to a woman with a deep voice (a comparison of the international version and the Encore Cut can be found at Movie Censorship).

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

2D version: Paramount Blu-ray

3D version: Paramount 3D Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Paramount 4K Blu-ray on October 26 2026

Best Video:same release

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

2D: Spain Emon Blu-ray
3D: US Lionsgate, Germany StudioCanal, or Netherlands Entertainment One 3D Blu-ray?

Best Video:same release
Best Audio:

US Lionsgate Blu-ray

Director: Robert Rodriguez

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Lionsgate Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: Peter Weir

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly:

Disney 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:same release
Best Audio:

Disney 4K Blu-ray has neutered audio compared to OG home video release

Cinema DTS or DVD DTS 5.1 is better and has more bass.

Additional Info:

The 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray lack the bonus features found in the old Collector's Edition DVD release. The France Blu-ray has all extras plus an isolated score.

Director: Marcell Jankovics

Best format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

US Arbelos Blu-ray

Best Video:

US Arbelos Blu-ray, encoded by FiM

Director: David Yates

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

Director: David Yates

Best format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:same release

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Researched and maintained by

vanshady

· last reviewed 1 year ago

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