Founded in 1991 as a family firm in Hertfordshire, Arrow Films started its Arrow Video imprint in 2009 for cult and horror titles and began releasing in North America in 2015. Its catalogue spans genre, world cinema and arthouse, usually with new restorations, commissioned artwork and heavy extras. The Toy Robot Video sub-label, launched in September 2026, handles lower-priced mainstream and cult releases.
Arrow
- Excellent119
- Solid37
- Worse Than BD1
Also known as: Toy Robot
How we pick the best Arrow releases
193 in 4K
Best video release on UHD Blu-ray or 4K streaming
Director: Giuseppe Tornatore
Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: 2020 Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: 2013 Arrow Blu-ray
Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber, see caps https://slow.pics/c/P4E9uTHR
Arrow 4K Blu-ray for English dub, Kino Lorber 2017 Blu-ray for Italy dub
Director: Billy Wilder
Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber > Capelight Germany
(transfer of the 1989 MGM LaserDisc, without problems plaguing Kino Lorber's release)
Arrow UHD is an update of the original 4K scan done for their BD. It is also visually far superior to the Kino version and adds Dolby Vision HDR. The Arrow UHD uses a new LD mono capture and has none of the issues or processing found in the Kino UHD which also used an LD mono capture and somehow mucked it up. Short of a brand new scan, the Arrow UHD is as good as it possibly can be.
Director: Park Chan-wook
Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Neon 4K Blu-ray, Arrow 4K Blu-ray, Umbrella Blu-ray, and Korea Plain Archive Blu-ray all have differing extras
Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray see caps
1991 Orion LaserDisc vs 2024 Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs Criterion
Three masterings of the original Dolby Stereo SR mix exist: the original Orion video releases, the Criterion (which is from their LD) and the Arrow. All three are excellent with slight mastering differences between them. The original Orion still is probably the one with the most fidelity, the Criterion is the cleanest with a kind of warm feel to it and the Arrow has a bit of both aspects. The Arrow mastering has a tiny almost imperceptible bit of audio bleeding into the surround that isn't on the Criterion. Each has their own pluses and minuses but you can't go wrong with any of them. Whatever you do though: DO NOT WATCH WITH THE 5.1 REMIX. It is another MGM botch job that fundamentally alters the impact of many scenes. It is vastly inferior to the original mix in every way.
Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > Kino Lorber, see caps
1984 Key Video Hi-Fi VHS
Director: John Woo
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Correct grade and archival extras missing from the Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray
Both Arrow 4K Blu-ray and Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray are worse.
Criterion USA LaserDisc [CC1397L]: Original Cantonese mono.
Best Cantonese mono still was from Criterion LaserDisc, as the Shout one was boosted with clipping, with some filtering and losing dynamic range over the Criterion LD.
There’s no need for other Cantonese audio, as all 5.1 remixes are extremely bad and not worth including.
For English Dub the Shout offered the best, it was pure mono. All other 5.1 remixed of said dub are also terrible and offer no value, only less fidelity and more echo.
Director: John Sturges
Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Arrow 4K Blu-ray, comparison: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=22712768&postcount=297
Director: John Woo
Arrow 4K Blu-ray or Imprint 4K Blu-ray
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: Joel Coen
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Shout is still very good but Arrow has the edge due to better handling of highlights and less chroma noise, comparison
All the same
Director: John Woo
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray > US Shout! Factory, better encoding by Engine House and redone opening credits, errors present in Shout! Factory fixed
Mono is from an alternate higher fidelity source than Shout! Factory.
75 in HD
Best video release on Blu-ray or HD streaming · by Letterboxd rating
Arrow Blu-ray
Director: Éric Rohmer
Arrow Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Blu-ray suffers from the Quicktime Gamma Bug see caps
Kino Lorber Blu-ray from blah-ray:
Both the Plaion and Arrow audio tracks sound like they received little/any high- or low- frequency attenuation, but the audio on the new Kino Lorber restoration is much more detailed. It's likely that it was transferred from different (superior) analogue elements. It sounds excellent.
Arrow Blu-ray
Arrow
Arrow > Shout! Factory
Director: Krzysztof Kieślowski
1 in SD
Best video release on DVD, SD streaming, LaserDisc or VHS · by Letterboxd rating
1 with a weaker 4K
Best 4K release rated Disappointing or Worse Than BD · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Ron Shelton
Australia Imprint 4K Blu-ray disappointing, nice new master, but poor encode, grain completely crippled in some scenes, artifacts abound, etc, makes Kino Lorber look like FiM.
5 for audio only
The best audio is Arrow's; the video and English-friendly picks are other releases · by Letterboxd rating
Director: John Carpenter
1997? Signature Collection LD
Good: 2017 Arrow and 2016 Shout! Factory Blu-ray have the original audio options.
the only track on Universal 4K, which is in DTS:X, has a mixing error of around 6dB too low on side channels, otherwise very similar to other 5.1 mixes.
Director: Henri-Georges Clouzot
Arrow Blu-ray
Arrow Blu-ray is the less manipulated track, but according to cbc: "I find it sounds a bit shrill at times, and the 4K Blu-ray is not bad at all, it does lose some high freq detail but I would probably prefer it for watching"
France Coin Germany mire Cinema 4K Blu-ray
(not English friendly)
Director: Yojiro Takita
Arrow Blu-ray
The 4K Blu-ray has slightly neutered dynamics
4K Blu-ray is from a 4K restoration, better detail, compresison is passable, grading is a bit of a mixed bag (might have been a regrade from SDR)
Director: Steve De Jarnatt
Either the 2015 Kino Lorber Blu-ray or the Arrow Blu-ray
UK Transmission 4K Blu-ray in January 2027
The 2024 Kino Lorber Blu-ray is botched.
2024 Kino Lorber Blu-ray
Arrow Blu-ray
Arrow Blu-ray has lossless original stereo
Italy Koch Media Blu-ray is not stretched compared to US Shout! Factory and UK Arrow Blu-rays
As for the color grade, unsure whether the Italy or US/UK Blu-ray is more accurate to the theatrical colors.
Shout! Factory Blu-ray has the most extras with a lossless isolated score
16 announced
Arrow's release is announced; until it is out, the picks are other releases · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Rob Reiner
Arrow 4K Blu-ray releasing December 14 2026
Like many of Capelight's other releases, the 4K Blu-ray is low-passed but still looks good.
30th Anniversary Shout! Factory BD has the original stereo mix
Director: David Lynch
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray in December
Subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking
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: Bob Clark
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray in December
Scream Factory 4K Blu-ray
Director: John Carpenter
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray possibly teased?
Director: John Badham
Arrow 4K Blu-ray in November
The 5.1 track sounds very good and is said to be sourced from the original 6-track mix used for 70mm blow-up releases, but there is no conclusive proof of that.
Director: Michael Anderson
Arrow 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release
Director: Rick Rosenthal
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray possibly teased?
UK Toy Robot 4K Blu-ray in October
UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray possibly teased?
Know a film where the Arrow release is the one to buy? Suggest it










































