Image Entertainment

Criterion Blu-ray

4k restoration. Superior to Germany Kinowelt or Japan Kadokawa, see caps-a-holic

Image Entertainment DVD is slightly better than Criterion 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray/DVD (all basically the same)
Other Blu-ray releases are all much worse.

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Criterion Blu-ray

> BFI. France Carlotta Blu-ray is a new, flawed 4K resto, which has heavy frozen grain

Kino Lorber Blu-ray/Final Cut Blu-ray

The Kino BD has additional extras but the Laserdisc still has exclusive extras and commentary not included on the Kino release. AVOID the MGM Blu-ray for the stretched aspect ratio error that was only finally corrected for the Kino Lorber reissue after much fan outcry.

Capelight 4K Steelbook and Mediabook announced for 2026

Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731

2013 MGM Blu-ray, or 4K Blu-ray if you MUST have the mono mix, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix

2013 MGM Blu-ray for non AI transfer, 1997 Image DVD/2001 MGM DVD for a purist version with original colors and the international mono mix

The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.

Universal Blu-ray

Universal - The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection

Arrow maybe better?

Arrow maybe better encode?

Scream Factory US 4K Blu-ray

> StudioCanal UK for the inclusion of original mono, more extras

Eagle Pictures Italy 4K Blu-ray

> StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray: better compression than StudioCanal

(Arrow is a port of the LaserDisc track, see spectrograms) This track has the best fidelity of any release but does have some channel bleeding baked in. The 2017 2.0 on the Arrow and Shout! Factory Blu-rays was the Dolby Stereo original mix without channel bleeding but that had heavy noise reduction resulting in a very flat and underwhelming presentation. The surround winds up being lessened as well due to the processing. It's a tough choice between the two but the Image LaserDisc audio wins out because it hasn't been messed with and the impact is so unrestrained that no other version hits in the same way.

Capelight and old Arrow Blu-ray included the original stereo mix, but with excessive noise reduction rendering it much less detailed. Kino Lorber only included a painfully defective 2.0 track sourced from somewhere with limited fidelity, volume spikes and screechy high end which frequently ruins the music. The 5.1 remix on most modern release is a processed version that does not sound as good as it once did.

The best and most accurate of the 5.1 mixes is the original version from the 2003 Special Edition DVD in lossy AC3 form.

The best source for the commentaries are from the 2003 Special Edition DVD.

Arrow UK 4K Blu-ray (damage removed, improved color/HDR, and best audio) or Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray (best compression but no damage removal and LaserDisc audio from Arrow)

Arrow UK /Capelight DE 4K Blu-ray

> Kino Lorber US 4K Blu-ray, see caps

Arrow has done additional cleanup work removing nearly all the damage in the transfer. They have massaged the color timing and HDR to try and improve what they could. The Capelight may have better encoding but it does not have these improvements. The Arrow encoding is solid and in motion there are no issues whatsoever. The Kino Lorber release has the damage and other issues plus frequent noise due to the lesser encoding.

Some scenes in the Arrow transfer are better, some are better in the Capelight.