London independent Eureka Entertainment runs the spine-numbered Masters of Cinema series (since 2004, wholly owned since 2008) alongside Eureka Classics and Montage Pictures. Its catalogue leans on silent and early cinema, classic Hollywood, world cinema and Hong Kong martial arts, usually with booklets and new commentaries. Discs are aimed at the UK market and are generally Region B.
Eureka
37 films on Best BluraysBest video release: 8 in 4K29 in HD10 more for audio only
Best 4K release by tier:
- Excellent3
- Solid2
Based in United Kingdomeurekavideo.co.uk (opens in a new tab)
Films where Eureka's release is the pick. How picks are made
29 of 37 films match · Page 1 of 2
Films where Eureka's release is the pick. How picks are made
Video Notes:
Eureka Blu-ray has better encode than Flicker Alley Blu-ray. Kino Lorber/BFI are older restoration and are worse.
Director: Fritz Lang
Best Video:
1984 Giorgio Moroder restoration: MoC Blu-ray or Kino Lorber Blu-ray
Video Notes:
2001 Murnau restoration: MoC 2-disc DVD set > Kino Lorber 1-disc Restored Authorized Edition DVD
2010 Murnau complete restoration: MoC Blu-ray > Kino Lorber Blu-ray
Director: Masaki Kobayashi
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · DVDBeaver (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
MoC slightly better than Criterion http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film5/blu-ray_reviews_69/kwaidan_blu-ray.htm
Director: Kenji Mizoguchi
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
Eureka MoC Blu-ray, see caps
MoC is sourced from an earlier scan, but still looks more detailed than the later 4K restoration released by Kadokawa in Japan, which has some black crush and DNR. French Capricci disc is sourced from the same scan as MoC but with much worse encoding and wrong levels.
Best Audio:
1991 Daiei LaserDisc
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:
Eureka Masters of Cinema Blu-ray
Video Notes:
Eureka Blu-ray slightly better than Kino Lorber. Note that the Eureka release has ~6 seconds of cuts due to BBFC rules.
Audio Notes:
Eureka has original mono.
Best English-Friendly:
Kino Lorber Blu-ray or Eureka/Gaumont Blu-ray (preference)
Best Video:
Gaumont/Eureka
Video Notes:
Gaumont/Eureka is a newer restoration than Kino Lorber but has problems with automatic clean-up and ghosting.
Director: John Ford
Video Notes:
MoC better encode than Olive Films. Brightness levels vary quite a bit between them.
Director: Maurice Pialat
Director: F. W. Murnau
Best English-Friendly & Video:
2006 Restoration: Eureka Blu-ray
1995 photochemical restoration: BFI Blu-ray
Best Audio:
Eureka with Murnau institute restoration featuring score based on original score, BFI uses Photoplay restoration with James Bernard score
Additional Info:
Both Eureka and BFI Blu-rays are worthy of owning. Each restoration has unique positives and extras. The James Bernard score on the BFI is outstanding and the image tinting is different to how the Murnau institute official restoration was done. The Eureka MoC Blu-ray is stuffed with extras and remains one of the best-made Blu-rays of all time. Whatever you do: AVOID THE Kino Lorber Blu-ray!!! It uses the same Murnau institute restoration but drops frames for the whole feature - thus it loses a significant portion of the film! This was never acknowledged or addressed. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray remains one of the worst Blu-rays of all time for this reason.
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