The Hollywood studio formed in 1924 sold its pre-May 1986 library to Turner, so its current catalogue is post-1986 MGM plus United Artists, Orion and Samuel Goldwyn titles. Amazon bought it in 2022 and folded it into Amazon MGM Studios. Fox handled its discs until 2020 and Warner Bros. after that; Alliance Entertainment took over North American distribution in January 2026, and Plaion covers German-speaking Europe.
MGM
Best 4K release by tier:
- Solid4
- Worse Than BD2
Also known as: Amazon MGM
How we pick the best MGM releases
8 in 4K
Best video release on UHD Blu-ray or 4K streaming
Director: David Ayer
Best Video & English-Friendly:
MGM 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
MGM 4K Blu-ray review, PQ and audio are fine but unremarkable
Directors: Phil Lord & Christopher Miller
Best Video, Audio & English-Friendly:
Amazon MGM 4K Blu-ray
Upcoming Release:
Amazon MGM 4K Blu-ray SteelBook with mixed aspect ratio 1.43:1/2.39:1
Director: Martin Campbell
Best English-Friendly:
4K Streaming
Best Video:
4K Streaming SDR master on streaming seems to look quite a bit better than the Blu-ray
MGM Blu-ray is the best physical media release
Caps of the 4K SDR master: 007 on Home Media: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
Best Audio:
MGM 1993 LaserDisc
23 in HD
Best video release on Blu-ray or HD streaming · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Oliver Stone
Best Video & English-Friendly:
MGM Blu-ray
Upcoming Release:
A improved Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray teased by Oliver Stone
Video Notes:
Better than 2022 Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray due to poor encode and heavy DNR (review)
Director: Woody Allen
Director: James Cameron
Best English-Friendly:
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
Best Video:
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
Best Audio:
1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix
Audio Notes:
Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731
Additional Info:
The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.
Director: Lewis Gilbert
Best Video & English-Friendly:
MGM Blu-ray
Best Audio:
Original 4-Track Mix: MGM 1990 LaserDisc
General release mono mix: CBS Fox VHS Hi-Fi but time compressed
5.1 remix of 4-track mix: MGM Blu-ray (a lossless version of the remix from the Ultimate Edition DVD)
Audio Notes:
The 5.1 track on the earlier THX LD/DVD and SE DVDs is not the same as the later remix, and appears to be more faithful the original mix (likely a simple upmix). The UE DVD remix has a lot more surround activity.
6 in SD
Best video release on DVD, SD streaming, LaserDisc or VHS · by Letterboxd rating
2 with a weaker 4K
Best 4K release rated Disappointing or Worse Than BD · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Oliver Stone
Best Video & English-Friendly:
MGM Blu-ray
Upcoming Release:
A improved Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray teased by Oliver Stone
Video Notes:
Better than 2022 Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray due to poor encode and heavy DNR (review)
Director: James Cameron
Best English-Friendly:
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
Best Video:
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
Best Audio:
1991 Image Entertainment LaserDisc for the US mono mix, 2001 MGM DVD for the International mono mix
Audio Notes:
Comparison between the US and International mixes: https://vimeo.com/246332731
Additional Info:
The 4K Blu-Ray and the 2001 MGM DVD have exclusive extras.
54 for audio only
The best audio is MGM's; the video and English-friendly picks are other releases · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Billy Wilder
Best Audio:
1992 MGM LaserDisc [ML102699]
Audio Notes:
But still a bit overly noise-managed.
1984 CBS/Fox Hi-Fi VHS maybe better?
Best Video & English-Friendly:
Video Notes:
Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Capelight/Kino Lorber which has heavy noise reduction and opening snare hit is missing, Capelight is slightly better encoded than Kino Lorber
Best Audio:
2001 R1 MGM DVD
Best Video & English-Friendly:
Video Notes:
Best Audio:
6-Track 70mm mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray (restored for the box set), 1997 MGM LaserDisc, 1998 MGM DVD
35mm Mono Mix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Matrixed Stereo Remix: MGM Japan LaserDisc (1985) [G158F5509]
5.1 Remix: Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Best Video & English-Friendly:
Director: Martin Scorsese
Audio Notes:
1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1993 MGM LaserDisc/2002 R2 MGM DVD are the best. See blah-ray https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/2018/01/raging-bull-1980.html
Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has better audio than Criterion 4K Blu-ray, from nicolas:
I believe that what’s on Imprint’s 4K is one of the good mixes MGM and Criterion released during the LaserDisc days. Music is powerful and detailed, dialogues have excellent fidelity and ambient sounds have perceptible depth. I compared the "new" 2.0 with the anemic 5.1 as well as the Criterion 4K mix and could clearly hear the improvements.
Best Video & English-Friendly:
Video Notes:
Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has slightly better compression than Criterion 4K Blu-ray.
The master in DV looks all but identical to the Criterion’s HDR grade. Detail-wise, FiM’s encode looks like it uncovered a tiny bit of extra high-frequency information that got filtered on the Criterion. See nicolas review
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Best Audio:
1984 MGM Hi-Fi VHS
Best Video & English-Friendly:
WB 4K
Video Notes:
An undeniably significant improvement from the BD yet still severely flawed. See DFIC's review.
Director: William Wyler
Best Audio:
1991 MGM LaserDisc
Audio Notes:
The 4K Blu-ray 5.0 is the original mix, but more muffled than LaserDisc and even the previous Blu-ray's gentle remix. The Atmos mix is revisionist.
Best Video & English-Friendly:
Additional Info:
The 50th Anniversary box set has some exclusive extras.
1991 LaserDisc is Dolby Stereo matrix encoded from the original six track master and this was later upgraded to a 5.1 Dolby Digital version prepared for the first DVD. The 5.1 version may have had some slight tweaking in the process. This was reused for the DVD CE boxset and then the 5.1 on Blu-ray seems like a slight upgrade of the DVD track. (The first pressing from the UCE boxset had audio defects rampant on the Blu-ray. These were corrected for standalone pressings.) All 5.1s sound roughly the same as the LaserDisc 2.0 in terms of the mix, but the LaserDisc PCM mastering seems like the only one that is direct without any major processing.
1 announced
MGM's release is announced; until it is out, the picks are other releases · by Letterboxd rating
Upcoming Release:
Amazon MGM 4K Blu-ray
Best Video & English-Friendly:
Amazon Streaming
Know a film where the MGM release is the one to buy? Suggest it