Founded in 1933, the British Film Institute is a London charity that runs the BFI National Archive and publishes Blu-rays for the UK market. Releases lean on archive restorations of British cinema, silent film, documentary and world classics, usually with booklets and short films as extras. The BFI Flipside line, launched in 2009, revives overlooked British films, and UHD discs began with The Seventh Seal in 2021.
BFI
149 films on Best BluraysBest video release: 19 in 4K125 in HD4 in SD1 with no official release3 more for audio only2 more announced
Best 4K release by tier:
- Excellent13
- Solid3
- Disappointing2
Films where BFI's release is the pick. How picks are made
125 of 149 films match · Page 2 of 7
Films where BFI's release is the pick. How picks are made
Director: Jean Cocteau
Best English-Friendly:
BFI Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Best Video:
BFI
Video Notes:
BFI > Criterion
Director: Werner Herzog
Best English-Friendly:
Shout! Factory vs BFI?
Best Video:
Shout! Factory US vs BFI UK Herzog collection, no comparison
Best English-Friendly & Video:
2012 BFI Blu-ray
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
The 2025 BFI Blu-ray isn't a new remaster, and itonly has a Pet Shop Boys score. it's somehow more cropped than the 2012 BFI Blu-ray.
See caps https://slow.pics/c/MaYpZjsV 2012 BFI Blu-ray > 2025 BFI Blu-ray (cropping) > 2010 Kino Lorber Blu-ray (worse PQ)
For the length it's also different and not just intros:
BFI 2025: 1:15:06
BFI 2012: 1:08:49
Kino Lorber:
1:12:12the Russian intertitles playlist is 1:11:48
Director: Robert Bresson
Best English-Friendly & Video:
BFI Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)
Best English-Friendly & Video:
BFI Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Yasujirō Ozu
Director: Mike Leigh
Best English-Friendly:
BFI Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Best Video:
BFI new 4k transfer
Video Notes:
BFI new 4k transfer > Criterion
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Best English-Friendly & Video:
BFI Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Best English-Friendly & Video:
No comparison between Milestone (Kino Lorber) and BFI but Milestone has a lot of shorts
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Best English-Friendly & Video:
BFI Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Best Audio:
~2020 WEB-DL
Audio Notes:
~2020 WEB-DL but has some distortion and an annoying 60 Hz hum (+ harmonics). The disc has most of its bass removed though which I find more jarring but ymmv
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Sources: bfi.org.uk (opens in a new tab)
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Sources: bfi.org.uk (opens in a new tab)
Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer
Best English-Friendly:
BFI Blu-ray
Best Video:
BFI Carl Theodor Dreyer Collection
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