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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

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Director: Jacques Audiard

4K · Excellent

Director: Alfonso Cuarón

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4k resto

Director: Lucrecia Martel

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion, 4k transfer

Directors: Alan Mak Siu-Fai & Andrew Lau Wai-Keung

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion US Blu-ray or Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173

The master is heavily DNR'd.

Best Audio:

Original 5.1 from Jokers France 4K Blu-ray or Criterion US Blu-ray or older Blu-rays

Director: Godfrey Reggio

Best English-Friendly & Video:

US Criterion or UK Miramax Blu-ray

English-Friendly Notes:

US Criterion or UK Miramax Blu-ray (UK has the OAR of 1.85)?

Additional Info:

Criterion has more extras

Director: Michael Moore

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

> Sony 4K Blu-ray (better encoding on the Criterion) see caps https://slow.pics/c/fbftSpZF

Directors: Alan Mak Siu-Fai & Andrew Lau Wai-Keung

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion US Blu-ray or Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173

The master is heavily DNR'd.

Best Audio:

Original 5.1 from Jokers France 4K Blu-ray or Criterion US Blu-ray or older Blu-rays

Directors: Alan Mak Siu-Fai & Andrew Lau Wai-Keung

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion US Blu-ray or Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray

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

Best Video:

Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173

Best Audio:

Original 5.1 from Jokers France 4K Blu-ray or Criterion US Blu-ray or older Blu-rays

Directors: Tatti Sanguineti & Federico Fellini

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Intervista Blu-ray extras

Director: Richard Linklater

4K · Solid
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray/ Germany Warner Bros Blu-ray

Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Criterion Blu-ray/Germany Warner Bros Blu-ray both basically the same see caps

Additional Info:

Germany Blu-ray has English audio 

Germany Blu-ray is part of a 3-film box set like the Criterion but by StudioCanal 

Director: Wong Kar-Wai

Video format: UHD Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion US Blu-ray

Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · hd-dvd.over-blog.fr (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

4K restoration: Koch Media DE 4K Blu-ray
Original digital master: Cannes 2006 Promo HD-DVD

Video Notes:

4K remaster is cropped 2.35:1 from the original 2.55:1 presentation, and has significantly different color grading, as is the case with most WKW supervised restorations. Due to DNR the detail is sometimes lacklustre compared to the old master. CGI scenes appear to be rerendered. A sepia tinted scene was altered to be fully black and white.

Caps: Criterion US BD vs Cannes HD-DVD, HD-DVD vs KR BD vs DVDs vs US BD

Best Audio:

Remixed 5.1: The Jokers FR 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Cannes 2006 Promo HD-DVD

Audio Notes:

The remixed track has different front panning and little LFE use compared to the original.

HD-DVD is by far the best option for the original track, as DVDs and Korean BD suffer from noise gating, limiting and duplicated surrounds. Remixed tracks are all similar, but French disc has slightly better dynamics, particularly on the LFE channel.

Additional Info:

The 2006 HD-DVD is a promotional release made in only 100 copies, handed out to VIPs at Cannes Film Festival. See this blog post for details. The same master can be found on KR BD, though it suffers from interlacing, blended frames and a gamma bug, as well as older DVD releases.

Director: Wes Anderson

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray is best, but has surrounds 3 dB too loud

Director: Alice Wu

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Director: Werner Herzog

Best English-Friendly:

UK Lionsgate Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release

Best Video:

2015 UK Lionsgate Blu-ray

Director: David Cronenberg

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray caps and HDR analysis video by The HDR Dissector.

Director: Terrence Malick

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4K transfer

Director: David Lynch

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray or Optimum/Kadokawa Blu-rays

Sources: Reddit (opens in a new tab) · dvdexotica.com (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Director: Sofia Coppola

Best English-Friendly & Video:

2016 Sony US Blu-ray

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

Upcoming Release:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray announced

Video Notes:

2016 Sony US Blu-ray (caps)

The US disc has a better encode and original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. French disc is flawed, with chroma bleed and blocking throughout.

Best Audio:

2016 Sony US Blu-ray / 2012 Pathé FR Blu-ray

Audio Notes:

2016 Sony US Blu-ray / 2012 Pathé FR Blu-ray (identical)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

4K · Disappointing
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray and 2011/2013 Optimum Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

New 4K restoration sourced from the original camera negatives to be shown in theatres in October

Video Notes:

Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray and 2011/2013 Optimum Blu-ray both have issues, up to preference. UK Optimum/Japan Amuse Soft Blu-ray is better, Criterion is worse

Japan Amuse Soft Blu-ray is better encoded than the Optimum, is in the original 1.85 ratio, and has the original colors

Best Audio:

2011 Optimum Blu-ray has audio in wrong pitch, fixed in 2013 reissue in the Zavvi exclusive Steelbook. Criterion has correct 5.1 and a 7.1 mix.

Additional Info:

Criterion and Optimum Blu-rays have exclusive extras

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