Plaion Pictures is the German film arm of Austria's Plaion (Embracer Group), based in Planegg near Munich and known as Koch Films or Koch Media until the August 2022 rebrand. Its German-market catalogue leans on licensed Hollywood and European classics, westerns, gialli and cult titles, often issued as numbered Mediabooks with booklets and extras, alongside 4K UHD and Steelbook editions.
Plaion
52 films on Best BluraysBest video release: 36 in 4K16 in HD1 more for audio only1 more announced
Best 4K release by tier:
- Excellent13
- Solid6
- Superior Imports3
- Good Imports1
Films where Plaion's release is the pick. How picks are made
Also known as: Koch Media
16 of 52 films match
Films where Plaion's release is the pick. How picks are made
Best Video & Audio:
DE Koch Media
Video Notes:
DE Koch Media is presented in the correct 25fps and is likely better compressed than UK Dogwoof (29 vs 14 Mbps), but it doesn’t have English subtitles.
US Drafthouse is in 24fps for Region A compatibility, and is encoded at around 30 Mbps.
(Although bitrate does not solely determine the quality of the encode, the difference is large enough here and there are no publicly available caps.)
No info on the JP VAP Blu-ray.
Audio Notes:
DE Koch Media and US Drafthouse feature a lossless 5.1 track. Dogwoof offers only AC-3.
Director: Billy Wilder
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
Germany Plaion Blu-ray has the best encoding, and both MoC and Kino Lorber Blu-ray have Quicktime Gamma Bug see caps
For encoding, Plaion > MoC > Kino Lorber
Director: George Marshall
Director: Billy Wilder
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
Germany Plaion Blu-ray has better encoding and Kino Lorber Blu-ray likely suffers from the Quicktime Gamma Bug, see caps
Director: John Ford
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
> US Twilight Time Blu-ray see caps
Director: Cecil B. DeMille
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
Germany Plaion Media Blu-ray is marginally better than Kino Lorber which suffers a little dark crush: https://slow.pics/c/BME05Jlw
Directors: Henry Hathaway & Howard Hawks & Henry King & Henry Koster & Jean Negulesco
Best English-Friendly:
1 announced
Plaion's release is announced; until it is out, the picks are other releases · by Letterboxd rating
Directors: Colin Chilvers & Will Vinton & Jerry Kramer & Jim Blashfield
Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)
Best English-Friendly & Video:
OG Version: 1989 US Image Entertainment LaserDisc
2005 Edited Version - Re-Edited and Censored: UK Warner Bros Blu-ray
2005 Edited Version - Uncensored: UK Warner Bros DVD
Video Notes:
Film Whisperer's restoration is better
Additional Info:
Censorship changes for Blu-ray: https://www.movie-censorship.com/report.php?ID=224122
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