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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: Teinosuke Kinugasa

Director: Luis Buñuel

Video format: 4K Streaming

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K in November

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi

4K · Solid
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: Henri-Georges Clouzot

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

> BFI 4K Blu-ray. caps Criterion presents the master as originally graded in SDR whereas FiM added HDR / Dolby Vision for the BFI.

Best Audio:

1991 Criterion LaserDisc

Audio Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray's audio mix has more detail than BFI’s and same applies to the subtitles, covering both English and France spoken word

Director: Ingmar Bergman

Director: Federico Fellini

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion Essential Fellini

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Kadokawa Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Kadokawa Blu-ray is new 4K restoration

Best Audio:

1991 Daiei LaserDisc

Director: Kenji Mizoguchi

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

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

Video Notes:

Criterion Blu-ray (caps)

Kadokawa JP Blu-ray has incorrect levels and looks slightly washed out. Criterion has slightly worse encoding, but both are solid in that regard.

Best Audio:

Eureka MoC DVD

Additional Info:

MoC has a different translation from Criterion.

Director: Roberto Rossellini

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion 4k transfer

Best Audio:

2003 BFI DVD

Additional Info:

The audio track on the BFI DVD is less processed than the Criterion Blu-ray.

Director: Federico Fellini

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion

Best Audio:

2017 StudioCanal Blu-ray

Director: Akira Kurosawa

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray or BFI 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

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.

Best Audio:

BFI Streaming

Additional Info:

The subtitles of Criterion  and BFI are translated differently. See BR forum.

Director: Ishirō Honda

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Germany Splendid Entertainment Blu-ray

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Box Set coming October 20th with FiM encode

Director: Max Ophüls

Best English-Friendly:

French version: Criterion Blu-ray (Carlotta has no English subtitles)

German version: Filmmuseum DVD

Sources: cinema-scope.com (opens in a new tab) · fredcamper.com (opens in a new tab) · sensesofcinema.com (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

French version: 2020 Carlotta Blu-ray

German version: Filmmuseum DVD

Additional Info:

Carlotta Films corrects the mistakes of Criterion due to the compression on dark scenes and gives the gorgeous transfer of the restoration a better encode/compression and more bitrate.

The German cut, titled Lola Montez, is considered by Ophüls scholars such as Jonathan Rosenbaum, Dan Sallitt and Tag Gallagher to be superior to the French cut. It has only been reissued on the Filmmuseum DVD.

Director: Robert Aldrich

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Video Notes:

HD transfer slightly better than Carlotta

Director: Federico Fellini

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Essential Fellini Blu-ray

Sources: DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Criterion Essential Fellini Blu-ray is vastly superior to the old MoC Blu-ray see DVDBeaver comparisons

Director: Satyajit Ray

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion Apu Trilogy 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

2003 Artificial Eye DVD

Director: Douglas Sirk

Best English-Friendly & Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Director: Frank Tashlin

Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Best Video:

Criterion Blu-ray HD transfer

Director: Stanley Kubrick

4K · Excellent
Best English-Friendly & Video:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Box Set

Best Audio:

MGM DVD mono

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