Based in New York, Criterion has released classic and contemporary films since 1984, giving each title a spine number and adding commentaries, essays and supplements. Many discs use new restorations it supervises, and 4K UHD releases began in November 2021. North American Blu-rays are Region A locked, with a smaller Region B UK line since 2016; Janus Films is a sister company, and Steven Rales has owned both since 2024.
Criterion
636 films on Best BluraysBest video release: 222 in 4K405 in HD9 in SD38 more for audio only19 more announced
Best 4K release by tier:
- Excellent141
- Solid55
- Superior Imports1
- Good Imports1
- Good in DV Only1
- Disappointing3
- Worse Than BD1
Films where Criterion's release is the pick. How picks are made
222 of 636 films match · Page 8 of 12
Films where Criterion's release is the pick. How picks are made
Director: Leos Carax
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Upcoming Release:
Eureka UK are considering doing a 4K and actively exploring the possibility: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=24363810&postcount=264
Video Notes:
Wonderful underlying remaster by Criterion and Resillion, but NexSpec encode has clipped highlights with the occasional blockiness. The Criterion Blu-Ray, sourced from their 4K remaster, ironically makes for a more consistent and overall pleasing experience.
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
See Chris's review
Best Audio:
Criterion Blu-ray
Audio Notes:
Their 4K Blu-ray has minor additional filtering.
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
See chris's review
Best Audio:
1991 Daiei LaserDisc
Director: Wong Kar-Wai
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray has original SDR master while Plaion Germany and France has a subtle additional HDR-regrade. Either one is good depending on user preference.
Important to note, Criterion 4K Blu-ray still has different color timing from 2008 Criterion Blu-ray see https://caps-a-holic.com/c.php?go=1&a=0&d1=15680&d2=15679&s1=165346&s2=165329&i=10&l=0
Best Audio:
Original mono is on the 1996 Japan DVD and 2005 Spain Boxset DVD. But 2008 Criterion Blu-ray’s 5.1 remix at least is in the correct pitch. All 5.1 tracks on later 4K-resto BDs have a raised pitch. Furthermore, the 2008 5.1 and 4K-resto 5.1 differ in content in the scene where Tony Leung drinks coffee in slow-mo, with the 2008 version having only background / ambient sound, while the 4K-resto version plays Faye Wong’s song. Note that it's quite easy to pitch correct the 4K-resto 5.1 to match the original pitch and only a delay adjustment is needed to sync.
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Best English-Friendly & Video:
BFI 4K Blu-ray for video or Criterion Blu-ray for subtitles
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
See detailed review However Criterion has better subtitles
Audio Notes:
> Criterion Blu-ray > BFI 4K Blu-ray > Toho Blu-ray See DonaldMcDonald's post
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
> France Potemkine 4K Blu-ray > Germany StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray see caps. Criterion has the best encode.
While the framing of Criterion is different, they are actually both faithful to the original theatrical versions see post1 and post2 by b0b.
Best Audio:
1993 New Line LaserDisc
Director: Martin Scorsese
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: William Friedkin
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
See Chris's review
Director: Wes Anderson
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
2K DI Upscale, see caps
4K Blu-ray is slightly cropped on all sides compared to Blu-ray, but "that appears to be a conscious choice as the compositions don’t seem to suffer. They also slightly expanded the black bars in order to hide the ringing on the borders."
Best Audio:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray
Director: Jacques Tati
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Upcoming Release:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray (part of Jacques Tati boxset releasing December 2026)
Video Notes:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray https://slow.pics/c/086ANjCg
Best Audio:
2014 StudioCanal Blu-ray
Additional Info:
The UHD is slightly cropped in.
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Best Audio:
Audio Notes:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray marginally better
Director: Darius Marder
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
2K DI Upscale, see caps. SDR grade in HDR container
Director: Luis Buñuel
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Orson Welles
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · YouTube (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
> StudioCanal: Although Criterion is low-pass filtered, StudioCanal exhibits very clear and distracting macroblocking.
Director: Michael Curtiz
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Kon Ichikawa
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
Japan 4K Blu-ray not EN friendly
Director: Vittorio De Sica
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Director: Wes Anderson
Best English-Friendly:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Best Video:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray, 2K DI upscale, see Chris's review
Know a film where the Criterion release is the one to buy? Suggest it