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
- Excellent13
- Solid3
- Disappointing2
Films where BFI's release is the pick. How picks are made
19 of 149 films match
Films where BFI's release is the pick. How picks are made
19 in 4K
Best video release on UHD Blu-ray or 4K streaming
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Criterion 4K Blu-ray or BFI 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
No clear winner, Criterion SDR 4K Blu-ray has better defined grain and is cleaned-up more thoroughly. But looks grayer and flatter in daytime scenes. BFI 4K Blu-ray's HDR/DV is better in contrast but the grading can be debatable.
BFI Streaming
The subtitles of Criterion and BFI are translated differently. See BR forum.
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
BFI 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
> Criterion > StudioCanal
Director: Ingmar Bergman
BFI 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
2015 Star Media Blu-ray/2019 BFI Player WEB-DL
Director: Akira Kurosawa
BFI 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
BFI 4K Blu-ray has excellent master and grade, no DNR and tasteful HDR
Restored original mono mix: Toho Japan 4K Blu-ray
Unrestored original mono: 2014 BFI Blu-ray
BFI 4K Blu-ray has OG Perspecta (in 5.1 container) and a stereo downmix of it; no original mono.
The unrestored track on BFI's earlier release appears to be an almost entirely unmanipulated transfer of the original mix. It suffers from a distracting low-frequency hum. The 4K restoration comes with a restored track, which appears to be the same transfer, but which appears to be cleaned up with a moderate amount of noise reduction and some EQ, nicely opening up the high-end, and which is likely to be preferable to most listeners. All earlier releases sound poor.
Perspecta isn't a discrete surround format, instead only relying on manipulating volume and panning of the mono track across L/C/R channels, based on embedded control tones. As such, even the Perspecta track is technically just the mono mix, though the omission of the proper mono on BFI's 4K is still unfortunate.
Director: Georges Franju
BFI 4K Blu-ray (HDR), Criterion 4K Blu-ray (SDR)
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
BFI 4K Blu-ray, caps
Director: Martin Rosen
BFI 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: John Hillcoat
BFI 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Ken Russell
BFI 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
BFI 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Richard Loncraine
BFI UK 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
1 with a weaker 4K
Best 4K release rated Disappointing or Worse Than BD · by Letterboxd rating
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray or 2018 Olive Films/BFI or 2012 Olive Films/Italy Sinister Films Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
All three are not ideal.
All three are not ideal.
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has frozen grain, sharpening, lots of debris, and handles lesser materials. The supposed non-Superscope version is false advertising. It merely reveals more picture information.
1992 Republic Pictures LaserDisc PCM Mono
Criterion LaserDisc has exclusive commentary. Olive Films Signature Blu-ray and BFI Blu-ray each have exclusive extras. Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has exclusive commentary.
2 announced
BFI's release is announced; until it is out, the picks are other releases · by Letterboxd rating
Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Film Masters youtube (raw scan)
BFI 4K Blu-ray scheduled for October 2026 release
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
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