Shout! Factory

Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray (caps)

Fox 2002 NTSC DVD includes the original mix as discrete LCRS 4.0, later reelases only include a matrixed version an an inferior 5.1 upmix.

The matrixed stereo version on Shout! Factory's 4K Blu-ray sounds good.

All pre-4K BDs (Twilight Time US, Suevia Spain, Imprint Australia, Koch Media Germany) are the same, and significantly better than the 4K restoration (Shout! Factory, Arrow, Kino Lorber), and a bit better than the MGM NTSC DVD.

Twilight Time Blu-ray or MGM NTSC DVD for the original mono mix

• Shout! Factory 4K only has a stereo downmix (which sounds muffled, as do the surround tracks)

• Twilight Time Blu-ray has the mono track with seemingly the best fidelity, but its dynamic range has been heavily compressed

• MoC UK Blu-ray has a proper dynamics and good fidelity, but bizzarely, everything is repeated after a few miliseconds, rendering echoey and metallic

• MGM NTSC DVD has been denoised and has had a strong EQ applied and sounds muffled as a result, but it retains proper dynamics

• Koch Media DE BD had poor dynamics and wrong pitch

• Analog 1986 US LaserDisc sounds poor
  

Perhaps the digital JP LD would be better.

Shout! Factory Blu-ray for the original Dolby stereo, 4K Blu-ray is a downmix

(no audible difference)

Arrow, Via Vision, and Koch Media all have exclusive extras

The remastered LaserDisc PCM mono sounds the most untouched and natural of any version. In 2006, Universal made a new HD master used on all subsequent DVD and Blu-ray releases. The Universal 2.0 mono mix may be a new transfer, different source or remix made from stems as the music and effects are at different levels throughout the track when compared to older copies featuring the mono mix. Additionally there is extreme noise reduction with dialogue sounding too clean and hiss being almost gone. Comparing with the 1996 LaserDisc mono clearly shows in all of these moments that the original mono was mixed differently and to serve the jokes.

(caveat: missing extras present on the Germany NSM Blu-ray mediabook)

WB Home Video US LaserDisc [23000] for the OG stereo

(Shout! Factory has more extras, but only 5.1 audio, Paramount has 7.1, both only have the Theatrical in 4K)

Paramount 4K Blu-ray has DTS-HD 7.1