Malcolm X (1992)
Drama, History • 3h 21m
Director: Spike Lee
Cast: Denzel Washington, Angela Bassett, Albert Hall, Al Freeman Jr., Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee, Theresa Randle, Kate Vernon, Lonette McKee, Tommy Hollis, James McDaniel, Ernest Lee Thomas, Jean-Claude La Marre, O.L. Duke, Larry McCoy, Maurice Sneed, Debi Mazar, Phyllis Yvonne Stickney, Scot Anthony Robinson, Sonny Jim Gaines, Joe Seneca, LaTanya Richardson Jackson, Wendell Pierce, Michael Guess, Leland Gantt, Giancarlo Esposito, Leonard L. Thomas, Roger Guenveur Smith, Craig Wasson, Graham Brown, Gerica Cox, Kristan Rai Segure, Lauren Padick, Danielle Fletcher, Frank Adu, Aleta Mitchell, Curt Williams, John Ottavino, John Reidy, Frances Foster, Reggie Montgomery, David Patrick Kelly, Gary L. Catus, Sharon Washington, Shirley Stoler, Oran "Juice" Jones, Ricky Gordon, George Lee Miles, Raye Dowell, Veronica Webb, Abdul Salaam El Razzac, Keith Randolph Smith, George Guidall, James L. Swain, Peewee Love, Lawrence James, Steve White, K. Smith, Christopher Rubin, Matthew Harris, Zakee Howze, Cytia Fontenette, Marlaine Bass, Benjamin Atwell, Peter Dunn, Dion Smack Jr., Darnell Smith, TaiNesha Scott, Chelsea Counts, Chela Counts, Natalie Clanton, Jessica Givens, LaToyah Bigelow, Martaleah Jackson, Tamaraleah Jackson, Jasmine Smith, Valentino Smith, David Thomas Jr., Simon Do-Ley, Bill Goldberg, Jonathan Peck, Leonard Parker, Lennis Washington, Dyan Humes, Lizbeth MacKay, Terry Layman, Terry Sumter, Jasper McGruder, Mary Alice, Wyatt Tee Walker, Hazel Medina, Wendy E. Taylor, Ed Herlihy, Ralph Cooper Sr., Christian J. Dacosta, Karen Duffy, Marc Phillips, Showman Uneke, Theara Ward, Larry M. Cherry, Clebert Ford, Grafton Trew, Rogers Simon, George T. Odom, Vincent Moscaritola, Larry Attile, Brendan Kelly, John Griesemer, Fia Porter, Billy J. Mitchell, Kent C. Jackman, Beatrice Winde, Fracaswell Hyman, Rion Johnson, Charles Weldon, Mike Hodge, Iris Little Thomas, Ilyasah Shabazz, Bahni Turpin, Aaron Blackshear, Nilyne Fields, John David Washington, Rudi Bascomb, Muhammad Parks, Chinere Parry, Ian Quiles, Sharmeek Martinez, Chuck Cooper, Damon Chandler, Shellye Broughton, Nicholas Barnwell, Sam Dixon, Barbara Smith, Rome Neal, Earl Whitted, Michael C. Mahon, Addison Cook, Byron Utley, George Rafferty, Maxwell Sinovoi, Eric Sharp, Stewart J. Zully, Colleen Cowan, Armand Schultz, Reade Kelly, Janet Zarish, Annie Corley, Stephen James, Steven Randazzo, Chris Skutch, William Swinton, Marcus Naylor, Anthony Nocerino, Gareth Williams, Stephen Hanan, Richard Schiff, David Berman, Michael Imperioli, Steve Stapenhorst, Arthur French, Lex Monson, Judd Jones, C.E. Smith, Erika Smith-Brown, Raymond Anthony Thomas, Delilah Picart, Michael Ralph, Monique Cintron, Jake-Ann Jones, Sharon Ferguson, Amelia Mimi Walker, Neisha Folkes-LeMelle, Karen Michaels, Lenore Pemberton, Elise Neal, Felicia Wilson, Yvette Brooks, Teresa Yvon Farley, John Sayles, Martin Donovan, Jay Charbonneau, Joe Pentangelo, Mike Farley, Nick Muglia, David Reilly, Nicholas Turturro, James Murtaugh, William Fichtner, Tim Kelleher, Michael Cullen, Steve Aronson, Bill Anagnos, Don Hewitt Sr., Jery Hewitt, Joe Fitos, Manny Siverio, John P. 'Jack' McLaughlin, Shawn O'Neil, Andy Duppin, Elmer Licciardello, Matthew Underwood, Renton Kirk, Tim Hutchinson, Andre Blair, Abdul Hakeem Hijrah, Rony Clanton, Scott Whitehurst, Eric Payne, Ali A. Wahhab, Terry Hodges, Kevan Gibbs, Dana S. Hubbard, David Reivers, Robert Jason, Kevin Rock, Mansoor Najee-Ullah, Dion Graham, Zaahir Muhammad, Gregory Bargeman, Lee Summers, Rich Gordon, Larry Rushing, Monty Ross, Eddie Davis, Reggie Pittman, Patrick Rickman, Gerald Brazel, Clack Gaton, Richard Owens, Douglas Purviance, Mark Gross, Cleave Guyton Jr., Javon Jackson, Lance Bryant, Daniel Lemelle, David Fludd, Marcus Lauper, Dwayne Cook Broadnax, Preston Vismale, Miki Howard, Terence Blanchard, Bruce David Barth, Rodney Whitaker, William E. Kilson, Sonny Allen, Vanessa Benton, Cheryl Burr, Leslie Dockery, Cisco Drayton, Byron Easley, John Elejaide, Debra Elkins, Gina Ellis, John Festa, Robert H. Fowler III, Ryan Francois, Phillip Gilmore, Jauquette Green, Wendy King, Jerome Jamal Hardeman, Dawn Hampton, Monique Harcum, Raymond Harris, Delphine T. Mantz, Bernard Marsh, Greta Martin, Norma Miller, Frances Morgan, John Parks, Greg Poland, Judine Hawkins Richard, Eartha Robinson, Michelle Robinson, Tracy Robinson, Ken Leigh Rogers, Eddie Sanabria, Eddie Shellman, Lynn Sterling, Keith Thomas, Charles Young, Anthony Dewitt, Cynthia Thomas, Sharon Brooks, Laurieann Gibson, El Tahara Ibrahim, Keith Lewis, Dereque Whithurs, Kiki Della Vecchia, Bobby Seale, Al Sharpton, Christopher Plummer, Karen Allen, Peter Boyle, William Kunstler, Nelson Mandela, Ossie Davis, Ashanti, Dan Gifford, Mark Gorham, Ralph Hughes, Eddie Kehler, Frankie Manning, Charles Mitchell, Sonya Wallace, Joe James
Best English-friendly & video release
Imprint 4K Blu-ray > UK ICON > Criterion.
Imprint is same master as Criterion but encoded by Fidelity in Motion without Pixelogic’s filtering.
See: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23389310&postcount=10 and https://criterionforum.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=844792#p844792
Updated 10 months ago
UHD tiers
Australian import
if compared to Criterion's own 2022 BD
Better encoding
About the film
A tribute to the controversial black activist and leader of the struggle for black liberation. He hit bottom during his imprisonment in the '50s, he became a Black Muslim and then a leader in the Nation of Islam. His assassination in 1965 left a legacy of self-determination and racial pride.
- Featured Lists
- National Film Registry
Year of Induction: 2010
- TSPDT
- 2026: #6592025: #7242024: #7722023: #808
Director: Richard Brooks
4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
4K restoration from safety preservation elements
Director: Elaine May
Cinématographe 4K Blu-ray > MoC > Olive Films. From nicolas:
The master is good but it’s not that big an upgrade from the Olive Films disc and Vinegar Syndrome’ encode has some blocky highlights. A shame that they didn’t hire David Mackenzie here.
Cinématographe has unnecessary noise gating not present on the previous releases.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
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
Other discs have unnecessary filtering and sound worse, the difference isn't substantial but audible
Director: Dennis Hopper
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · 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
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Included in the Complete Kubrick box set with FiM encode of the same master from the Universal release without the filtering.
DTS:X mix on Universal 4K Blu-ray most closely approximates original surround mix
Criterion DVD and Universal 4K Blu-ray has additional features not found on the Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Sam Peckinpah
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
WB 4K
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.
Director: Spike Lee
Director: Spike Lee
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: John Woo
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Arrow has a different grade and a better encode than the Shout! Factory, though the difference in either is not major. Imprint release, which leaves Shout! Factory's master and subtitles as is, is encoded by FiM. https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24473097&postcount=56
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Original mix: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (similar to Criterion LaserDisc, but less distorted)
Alternate mix: Scanbox Nordic PAL DVD
Surround remix: HK Video France 4K Blu-ray (5.0)
Arrow used the alternate mix, but with extra filtering and lowered dynamic range. The alternate mix has much better fidelity.
Imprint presumably used the Shout! Factory original mix and left it as is, though no official confirmation.
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
The 4K discs in both Criterion and Imprint sets are FiM encodes, but low-passed, Imprint minimally less so. Unfortunately, unlike with The Killing, Kino does not hold up at all, the grain is much rougher and the compression visibly struggles making for a much less pleasant watch, even if select stills look better.
All discs use the same source transfer. Criterion cleaned up some hums and hiss, but lost a little bit of high-end detail. Unlike The Killing, the difference's relatively mino.
Director: John Schlesinger
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
2027 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Included Imprint Blu-Ray also has markedly better image compression than the Criterion Blu-Ray, though do note the Imprint has some adjusted color grading within roughly the first five minutes of the film
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=16775595&postcount=450
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24237074&postcount=73
Directors: Emeric Pressburger & Michael Powell
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · filmalert101.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (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
Review, comparisons
All HD and 4K sources use the same 2009 restoration. Criterion's master (also used by Imprint) is a bit more rolled off, though the difference is minor.
Director: Roman Polanski
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray see caps. Much better contrast and grain exposure but the grade is a bit questionable as it skews heavily towards magenta in some caps and the encode looks low-pass filtered.
Atmos Remix: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Imprint Australia Blu-ray or StudioCanal Germany/France Blu-ray
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray encoded the "Original 5.1" as lossy Dolby Digital, which is very different from the AC3 on the original DVD. This new "Original 5.1" may in fact be a downmix of the Atmos track. FWIW, the original DVD AC3 still sounds very good.
Director: Martin Scorsese
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) · facebook.com (opens in a new tab)
Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has slightly better compression than Criterion 4K Blu-ray.
The master in DV looks all but identical to the Criterion’s HDR grade. Detail-wise, FiM’s encode looks like it uncovered a tiny bit of extra high-frequency information that got filtered on the Criterion. See nicolas review
1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1993 MGM LaserDisc/2002 R2 MGM DVD are the best. See blah-ray https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/2018/01/raging-bull-1980.html
Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has better audio than Criterion 4K Blu-ray, from nicolas:
I believe that what’s on Imprint’s 4K is one of the good mixes MGM and Criterion released during the LaserDisc days. Music is powerful and detailed, dialogues have excellent fidelity and ambient sounds have perceptible depth. I compared the "new" 2.0 with the anemic 5.1 as well as the Criterion 4K mix and could clearly hear the improvements.
Director: Jack Cardiff
Video format: HD Streaming
HD Streaming
Director: Iain Softley
Director: Steven Shainberg
Edit history
Every recommendation follows the same method — how these calls are made.