Scarface (1983)
Action, Crime, Drama • 2h 50m
Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: Al Pacino, Steven Bauer, Michelle Pfeiffer, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Robert Loggia, Miriam Colon, F. Murray Abraham, Paul Shenar, Harris Yulin, Ángel Salazar, Arnaldo Santana, Pepe Serna, Michael P. Moran, Al Israel, Dennis Holahan, Mark Margolis, Michael Alldredge, Ted Beniades, Richard Belzer, Paul Espel, John Brandon, Garnett Smith, Loren Almaguer, Gil Barreto, Heather Benna, Sue Bowser, Tina Leigh Cameron, Victor Campos, Robert Hammer Cannerday, Rene Carrasco, Albert Carrier, John Carter, Richard Caselnova, Gary Carlos Cervantes, Carlos Augusto Cestero, Johnny Contardo, Roberto Contreras, Caesar Cordova, Gregory Cruz, Dante D'Andre, Richard Delmonte, Wayne Doba, Ben Frommer, Edward R. Frommer, John Gamble, Troy Isaacs, Ronald G. Joseph, Mario Machado, Joe Marmo, Ray Martel, John McCann, Richard Mendez, Victor Millan, Santos Morales, Mike Moroff, Angela Nisi, Manuel Padilla Jr., Tony Pann, Ilka Tanya Payán, Barbra Perez, Michael Rougas, Anthony Saenz, Geno Silva, Arnold Tafolla, Charles A. Tamburro, Jim Towers, Robert Vandenberg, Bob Yanez, Angela Aames, Nancy Lee Andrews, Dona Baldwin, Lee Benton, Cynthia Burr, Lana Clarkson, Karen Criswell, Margo Kelly, Ava Lazar, Emilia Crow, Marii Mak, Shelley Taylor Morgan, Catharine Richardson, Pat Simmons, Terri Taylor, Charlie Adiano, Lisa Katz, Jeanette Linne, Margaret Michaels, Rhonda Sandberg, Katt Shea, Marcia Wolf, Barclay DeVeau, Charles Durning, Dennis Franz, Linda Gillen, Gregg Henry, Kevyn Major Howard, Henry Kingi, Brett Ratner, Marcus Shirock, Maxine Wasa, Tammy Lynn Leppert
About the film
After getting a green card in exchange for assassinating a Cuban government official, Tony Montana stakes a claim on the drug trade in Miami. Viciously murdering anyone who stands in his way, Tony eventually becomes the biggest drug lord in the state, controlling nearly all the cocaine that comes through Miami. But increased pressure from the police, wars with Colombian drug cartels and his own drug-fueled paranoia serve to fuel the flames of his eventual downfall.
- TSPDT
- 2026: #8012025: #8052024: #8432023: #8582022: #858
Director: Brian De Palma
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Brian De Palma
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Arrow 4K Blu-ray has a better encode than the Kino Lorber and Capelight 4K Blu-rays. Capelight 4K Blu-ray looks low-passed in comparison to the Arrow but is slightly closer to the Arrow in PQ than the Kino Lorber.
Director: Brian De Palma
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Radiance 4K Blu-ray see caps vs Arrow
Director: Brian De Palma
2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Director: Brian De Palma
Paramount 4K Blu-ray despite issues
Laserdisc Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0 matrix Dolby Surround, VHS hifi 2.0 Dolby Surround, Cinema DTS
The film was remixed for the first DVD to remove a great deal of the bass and tame the LFE channel. Every version since uses this revised mix. Only the Laserdisc and release prints have the original theatrical 5.1 discrete mix. The 2.0 matrix version also has the low end intact on LD and VHS. Just demo the main title or the aquarium restaurant glass explosion and you’ll note the difference immediately.
The first DVD while porting the LD and vhs master is where the audio remix happened. The remix still sounds good but it was an unnecessary compromise to place on one of the great mixes of all time. The UHD also uses the remix.
The Paramount UHD is ok though it has some frozen grain and some HDR issues as expected of a screwy Paramount master.
Director: Brian De Palma
Director: Brian De Palma
Director: Brian De Palma
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
2022 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Michael Cimino
2020 Shout! Factory 4K
2020 Shout! Factory 4K slightly better than StudioCanal in HDR10. Similar in DV
35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc
70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
35mm mix: 1991 Universal LaserDisc marginally better than StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is downmix.
70mm mix: StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray. Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray is remix.
Director: Doug Liman
Video format: 1080p Blu-ray
The Universal Blu-ray is slightly filtered and DNR'd compared to the HD-DVD, and the Universal 4K Blu-ray, on top of being upscaled, adds additional DNR and is softer than both previous HD releases.
Versions:
- The International version contains a short additional scene (part of the "Farmhouse" extended scene from the special features). See additional detail below.
- The US version does not contain this scene during the film. Director Doug Liman confirms in his audio commentary that the scene was cut from the original US theatrical release "for time".
- "The Explosive Extended Edition" found on some DVD releases is not an alternate cut of the film, simply an access mode that plays "The Bookend Scenes" features via non-seamless branching.
Deck the Halls scene:
The U.S. release is 118:17 while the European/Australian/Japanese releases are 118:36. There is no difference between the two running times from the start, but at 81:21, the U.S. version cuts from a kitchen scene of Marie and Eamon washing dishes, to a scene of Eamon bringing blankets to Jason and Marie. On the European/Australian releases, at the same point, there is a scene of Jason, Marie, Eamon and his children eating dinner while "Deck the Halls" plays in the background. There is no dialogue, the characters just each exchange uncomfortable glances. The scene goes to 81:40, then picks up the same scene of Eamon bringing blankets. This scene is included as an extra ("Farmhouse" extended scene) albeit sans the holiday themed music. Many thanks to Rewind user Mark Bowen for comparing these releases and letting us know the difference.
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Both come from a 4K scan of a 35mm film out which was made from the original 2K DI but the Lionsgate release has visible dust and damage marks while the Universal release is cleaned up more thoroughly. Both releases suffer from DNR which seems to have been baked into the DI. The colour grade is basically the same for both releases but the Lionsgate has Dolby Vision whereas the Universal is HDR10 only. The compression on the Lionsgate UHD base layer is apparently fine so the FEL doesn't make much of a difference.
The Lionsgate UHD has Dolby Atmos whereas the Universal UHD has DTS:X. Kick-ass was originally released with a 5.1 track which may be on the Universal Blu-ray.
The Lionsgate UHD is on a BD-100, the Universal UHD is on a BD-66.
The Universal UHD has no extras.
Director: Joel Coen
Director's Cut: Disappointing UK StudioCanal/US Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: LaserDisc or 2001 UK Universal DVD
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=21782879#post21782879 - comparison. StudioCanal is a massive improvement to the Criterion but still flawed in some areas (chroma noise)
Director: Leo McCarey
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
More Action on Blu-ray
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: Buster Keaton
Kino Lorber new Seven Chances / Sherlock Jr. Blu-ray?
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
MoC 4K Blu-ray late 2027
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: George Lucas
Video format: UHD Blu-ray
OG: "4K77" or "D+77" on high seas.
Special Edition: "4K97_IV" or "D+97_IV" on high seas.
2027 Original Trilogy restoration/50th anniversary rerelease clips leaked plus release confirmed
OG: LaserDisc audio is the best option for the Dolby Stereo mixes (and usually included in fan restorations). There are 16mm/TV rips of the mono mixes.
Special Edition: Cinema DTS or 1997 LaserDisc for the Special Edition.
Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray
Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Original Stereo mix: Columbia Pictures LaserDisc, Sony 4K Blu-ray
5.1 remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray, Sony Blu-ray
Dolby Atmos remix: Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: Michael Anderson
Arrow 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release
Paramount 4K Blu-ray Purist choice: Blu-ray
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Paramount 4K Blu-ray new improved master with color grading and slight issues. Blu-ray is old master with original color grading
Blu-ray 5.1
The Paramount 4K Blu-ray has a much better new scan that removes the original extremely dated color grading. This is an improvement on one hand but a definite revisionist change on the other. There is the expected grain management and slight HDR issues in addition to encoding quirks from Paramount. It is a giant improvement over the original Blu-ray but the color change and other issues means that the Blu-ray is one to keep for purists to have the as-is original iteration of the film's presentation. Audio wise the film has been remixed into Atmos but it merely seems like a slightly tweaked and frankly tamed version of the original 5.1. Of the two I prefer the Blu-ray 5.1. The original Blu-ray was Dolby TrueHD and the reissue Blu-ray in the four film Blu-ray collection boxset was DTS-HDMA.
DFIC extensive review: https://youtu.be/evsrJOTIjdA?si=wtdWGxZBfhPYTIeW
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
StudioCanal's 4K release is similar in encode quality, but has significant glitches in multiple frames. See comparisons 9-16 here: https://slow.pics/c/YkSVb3Ey
The pitch of the StudioCanal 4K's English audio is too high
Criterion has more extras than StudioCanal.
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