Labels
/
Criterion

Criterion

699 films on Best Blurays

Based in United StatesFounded 1984criterion.com ↗

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.

Aliases: cc, criterion

Page 19 of 35

Director: Federico Fellini

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion Fellini Set

Director: Djibril Diop Mambéty

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion

Director: Martin Scorsese

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Audio Notes:

(same as all tracks since the DVD)

Best Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray see caps

Video Notes:

Phenomenal disc, and perhaps the single greatest testament to NexSpec's positive 180 this year. Highlights are beautifully handled and grain structure is fully intact in areas where NexSpec's (and Pixelogic's) encodes would frequently fall apart in 2025 and before then. Criterion BD encode also looks to be robust from linked caps, save for this one frame: https://slow.pics/c/cMjMefmi

https://slow.pics/c/qQbJum0H

https://slow.pics/c/C3kJJZg0

Director: Dušan Makavejev

Best English-Friendly:

Transgressive Visions German 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Criterion NTSC DVD

Audio Notes:

The UHD has audible artifacting and sounds metallic.

Director: Bob Fosse

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Peter Davis

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Video Notes:

HD restoration supervised by Peter Davis and Richard Pearce

Director: Martin Scorsese

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray Scorsese Shorts

Director: Jean Eustache

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion coming soon

Sources: filmlinc.org (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

New 4k resto, waiting for Criterion to release https://www.filmlinc.org/films/my-little-loves/ 

Director: Jacques Rivette

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 2k transfer

Director: Jacques Tati

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Best English-Friendly:

TV Cut: Criterion Blu-ray

Theatrical Cut: BFI Blu-ray

Best Video:

TV Cut: Japan Blu-ray

Theatrical Cut: BFI Blu-ray

Best Audio:

?

Director: John Cassavetes

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray or BFI Blu-ray

Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion = BFI, both HD resto: source

Director: Chantal Akerman

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion boxset

Director: John Waters

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4k resto

Director: Luis Buñuel

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion or StudioCanal Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion and StudioCanal very similar

Director: Wim Wenders

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Carlotta > Criterion >> Curzon encoding

Director: Robert Altman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Paramount Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release

Director: Arthur Penn

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Caps by BR user Donald McDonald. The encode looks absolutely spotless even in the highlights and without Dolby Vision filling anything in.

Audio Notes:

Criterion is entirely unfiltered and sounds significantly more detailed than previous tracks, see Blah-ray.

Director: Chantal Akerman

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2025 BFI Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

> Criterion Blu-ray, much better encoding (caps)
Criterion seems to have done additional adjustment to the original grading

Both France Capricci and Japan Blu-ray are worse than Criterion and BFI.

Best Audio:

Criterion Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Criterion Blu-ray largely sounds better, but attentuates away some low-frequency ambient noises.
BFI Blu-ray has hum, dropouts, pops, noticable patching and beeping, but has extra low-end detail in a few spots.

Directors: Terry Jones & Terry Gilliam

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Majority of film (theatrical and extended cuts): 1991 Columbia US VHS (or possibly 1994 Columbia LaserDisc?)

32-second scene (extended cut): 1993 Criterion LaserDisc

Missing a Criterion film? Suggest it