Films

Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion Blu-ray

Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray is a remaster from the original VistaVision camera negaitve, FiM encode

The original mono sounds good. The Atmos remix is a mixed bag, music performances are sourced from magnetic stereo recordings and sound great, but mono dialogue/effectshas undergone destructive noise reduction and unnecessary EQ, so the jumps in fidelity are incredibly jarring.

The lossless version of the original 6.1 mix is only available on the 2009 ultimate edition blu-ray, not to be confused with the 2011 ultimate collectors edition blu-ray.

Japan SD Blu-ray (bonus on the International Edition of 5 Centimeters per Second) has English dub and subtitles

Japan SD Blu-ray (bonus on the International Edition of 5 Centimeters per Second) is the native SD transfer in a superior MPEG-4 AVC encode. GKIDS Blu-ray is upscaled.

Japan SD Blu-ray (bonus on the International Edition of 5 Centimeters per Second) has English subtitles

Japan SD Blu-ray (bonus on the International Edition of 5 Centimeters per Second) is the native SD transfer in a superior MPEG-4 AVC encode. GKIDS Blu-ray is upscaled.

Sony Global 4K Blu-ray > WB US 4K Blu-ray

Sony Blu-ray only has 5.1, not Atmos

Caveat: both releases do not contain their natively shot expanded IMAX aspect ratios

Caveat: both releases do not contain their natively shot expanded IMAX aspect ratios

MoC ported the export dub from LaserDisc, but used a low quality transfer, with poor lossy encoding.

MST3K version: Vol XXXIX DVD / episode 1013: series finale of the original show.

Criterion 4K is in director's preferred aspect ratio of 1.66:1.

Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray has terrible compression, but still beats out the old disc which was sourced from a mediocre old scan with edge enhancement, and which has compression issues of its own.

The film originally premiered with two mixes, a 5.1 for upgraded theaters, and a distinct matrixed Dolby Stereo mix for older venues. The original 5.1 mix can only be found on the earliest LD/DVD releases, as all later releases replace it with a mediocre 7.1 mix with reduced dynamic range.

The Atmos mix is based off of the previous 7.1 remix, but with futher alterations as per director's wishes. One scene intentionally drops out into silence, see this post for details.

BFI 4K Blu-ray is significantly better than older Blu-ray however the HDR grade is questionable as it introduces black crushes, see nic's review and caps

For Blu-rays, Germany StudioCanal Blu-ray > MoC Blu-ray see caps

All disc sourced from the 4K restoration use the same solid audio track. Older DVD releases are from a higher generation source with less detail and more hiss.

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (caps)

Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.

The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.

Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.

Criterion 4K Blu-ray (caps)

Criterion is a new restoration from the original camera negative, supervised and approved by director Neil Jordan, graded using a 35mm print from the Academy Film Archive as a color reference.

Criterion is a new transfer from the magnetic track and sounds better than previous releases. The 5.1 track on the NTSC DVD is a poor quality upmix.