Shanghai Express (1932)
Drama, Romance, War, Crime, History • 1h 22m
Overview
A beautiful temptress re-kindles an old romance while trying to escape her past during a tension-packed train journey.
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Cast: Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook, Anna May Wong, Warner Oland, Eugene Pallette, Lawrence Grant, Louise Closser Hale, Gustav von Seyffertitz, Émile Chautard, George Blagoi, Leonard Carey, George Chung, Wong Chung, Jack Deery, Herbert Evans, Willie Fung, Tom Gubbins, Forrester Harvey, Claude King, James B. Leong, Miki Morita, Minoru Nishida, Victor Wong, Ura Mita
Director: Alfred E. Green
Director: Alfred E. Green
Directors: Louis J. Gasnier & Max Marcin
Directors: Louis J. Gasnier & Max Marcin
Director: Frank Tuttle
Director: Frank Tuttle
Director: Clarence Brown
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Clarence Brown
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: John Ford
Warner Archive Blu-ray new restoration by Library of Congress and the Film Foundation
Director: John Ford
Warner Archive Blu-ray new restoration by Library of Congress and the Film Foundation
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Mark Sandrich
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Mark Sandrich
Warner Archive Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Director: Josef von Sternberg
All very old restoration, but Kino Lorber > Germany Universum > MoC. Kino Lorber Germany Blu-ray has more noise reduction while English version's noise reduction is kept at minimum. MoC has very week encoding and crushed blacks.
Sources:
caps-a-holic on MoC vs Germany
DVDBeaver on Kino Lorber vs MoC
2001 Kino Lorber DVD or 2003 Eureka DVD
Director: Josef von Sternberg
All very old restoration, but Kino Lorber > Germany Universum > MoC. Kino Lorber Germany Blu-ray has more noise reduction while English version's noise reduction is kept at minimum. MoC has very week encoding and crushed blacks.
Sources:
caps-a-holic on MoC vs Germany
DVDBeaver on Kino Lorber vs MoC
2001 Kino Lorber DVD or 2003 Eureka DVD
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Indicator Blu-ray has better encoding than Criterion Blu-ray, both 4K restoration, see DVDBeaver caps
No caps on France Elephant Films Blu-ray
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Indicator Blu-ray has better encoding than Criterion Blu-ray, both 4K restoration, see DVDBeaver caps
No caps on France Elephant Films Blu-ray
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Director: Josef von Sternberg
Director: Jean Renoir
The Criterion 4K Blu-ray has marginally better detail and grain structure than ESC 4K Blu-ray
The ESC France 4K Blu-ray is an SDR grade erroneously presented in HDR, but if your player can force the HDR into SDR it looks very good.
Director: Jean Renoir
The Criterion 4K Blu-ray has marginally better detail and grain structure than ESC 4K Blu-ray
The ESC France 4K Blu-ray is an SDR grade erroneously presented in HDR, but if your player can force the HDR into SDR it looks very good.
Director: John Waters
Director: John Waters
Director: Sidney Lumet
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
2011 Criterion Blu-ray is the best. Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has heavily filtered audio
Director: Sidney Lumet
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
2011 Criterion Blu-ray is the best. Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has heavily filtered audio
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: John Waters
Director: John Waters
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: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is closer to the original DVDs than the 2015 Criterion release, not sure about whether the StudioCanal 4K is like the Criterion 4K/original DVD
Criterion 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision, StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has MEL
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is closer to the original DVDs than the 2015 Criterion release, not sure about whether the StudioCanal 4K is like the Criterion 4K/original DVD
Criterion 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision, StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has MEL
Director: Ridley Scott
Capelight 4K Blu-ray has better encode than Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Ridley Scott
Capelight 4K Blu-ray has better encode than Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Jean Vigo
Director: Jean Vigo
Edit History
6/12/2026
Best Video Release
6/12/2026
Best English-Friendly Release
Best Video Release
From
Criterion Dietrich & von Sternberg boxset, Indicator UK has better extras but same A/V http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews19/shanghai_express_blu-ray.ht
12/24/2025
Best Video Release
From
To
Criterion Dietrich & von Sternberg boxset, Indicator UK has better extras but same A/V http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews19/shanghai_express_blu-ray.ht
From
To
Criterion Dietrich & von Sternberg boxset, Indicator UK has better extras but same A/V http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews19/shanghai_express_blu-ray.ht
12/12/2024
Best Video Release
From
CC Dietrich & von Sternberg boxset, Indicator UK has better extras but same A/V http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews19/shanghai_express_blu-ray.htm
From
CC Dietrich & von Sternberg boxset, Indicator UK has better extras but same A/V http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDReviews19/shanghai_express_blu-ray.htm
