StudioCanal is the Paris-based film studio of the Canal+ group, holding a library of around 9,000 titles that includes Carolco, Ealing, EMI Films and British Lion. It issues discs through its own UK, German and French arms, and its UK Vintage Classics line carries new 4K restorations of British and world cinema on UHD and Blu-ray.
StudioCanal
118 films on Best BluraysBest video release: 85 in 4K33 in HD11 more for audio only6 more announced
Best 4K release by tier:
- Excellent41
- Solid23
- Superior Imports1
- Good in DV Only2
- Disappointing8
- Worse Than BD1
Films where StudioCanal's release is the pick. How picks are made
85 of 118 films match · Page 5 of 5
Films where StudioCanal's release is the pick. How picks are made
Director: Lewis Teague
Best English-Friendly & Video:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: John Guillermin
Best Video:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray: good encode, but poor colours. More extras Paramount 4K Blu-ray: good colours but poor encode.
Best Audio:
(Paramount 4K Blu-ray has a 5.1 mix ONLY, which contains a music error) a possible replacement disc is still to be confirmed...
Additional Info:
Shout! Factory Blu-ray has extras missing from 4K
Director: Renny Harlin
Best Video:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray poor compression, grading looks very off
Director: Joel Coen
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Director's Cut: Disappointing UK StudioCanal/US Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: LaserDisc or 2001 UK Universal DVD
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=21782879#post21782879 - comparison. StudioCanal is a massive improvement to the Criterion but still flawed in some areas (chroma noise)
Director: Richard Curtis
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Universal 4K Blu-ray replacement disc only or AVC encoded StudioCanal Blu-ray?
8 with a weaker 4K
Best 4K release rated Disappointing or Worse Than BD · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Roman Polanski
Best Video:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has poor encode and heavy DNR
Additional Info:
Shout! Factory Blu-ray is from original DI master. The film was an early DI and film prints also looked poor. Shout! Factory Blu-ray is representative of original release. StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has some new VFX work done along with some plates reshot as well as poorly upscaled original VFX work.
Director: Sidney Lumet
Best English-Friendly:
Best Video:
StudioCanal EU
Video Notes:
StudioCanal EU has elevated blacks and inaccurate colors, Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor encode.
Best English-Friendly & Video:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has mediocre encode
Director: Richard Curtis
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Universal 4K Blu-ray replacement disc only or AVC encoded StudioCanal Blu-ray?
Director: Lewis Teague
Best English-Friendly & Video:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: John Guillermin
Best Video:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray: good encode, but poor colours. More extras Paramount 4K Blu-ray: good colours but poor encode.
Best Audio:
(Paramount 4K Blu-ray has a 5.1 mix ONLY, which contains a music error) a possible replacement disc is still to be confirmed...
Additional Info:
Shout! Factory Blu-ray has extras missing from 4K
Director: Renny Harlin
Best Video:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray poor compression, grading looks very off
Director: Joel Coen
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Director's Cut: Disappointing UK StudioCanal/US Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Theatrical Cut: LaserDisc or 2001 UK Universal DVD
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?p=21782879#post21782879 - comparison. StudioCanal is a massive improvement to the Criterion but still flawed in some areas (chroma noise)
6 for audio only
The best audio is StudioCanal's; the video and English-friendly picks are other releases · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Jacques Tati
Best Audio:
2014 StudioCanal Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Upcoming Release:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray (part of Jacques Tati boxset releasing December 2026)
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Video Notes:
Additional Info:
The UHD is slightly cropped in.
Best Audio:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Audio Notes:
StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray marginally better
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Director: Jane Campion
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Video Notes:
France Carlotta 4K Blu-ray slightly better than Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Best Audio:
5.1 mix is flawed on Shout! Factory/ICON, a phasey upmix instead of the proper discrete surround. The UHD 2.0 tracks are downmixes of that track.
2008 Fox Blu-ray sounds great, very close to the original 70mm mix, only with split surround.
2001 DVD has the original mix as 4.1 and matrixed 2.0.
Imprint 4K has a 4.0 track. The StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has a different 5.1, unclear if it's the same as Fox BD.
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Video Notes:
UK ICON 4K Blu-ray (caps)
UK 4K Blu-ray has a slightly better encode than US Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray and Germany StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
Director: Roman Polanski
Best Audio:
Atmos Remix: Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray
Original 5.1: Imprint Australia Blu-ray or StudioCanal Germany/France Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Audio Notes:
Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray encoded the "Original 5.1" as lossy Dolby Digital, which is very different from the AC3 on the original DVD. This new "Original 5.1" may in fact be a downmix of the Atmos track. FWIW, the original DVD AC3 still sounds very good.
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
Lionsgate Limited 4K Blu-ray see caps. Much better contrast and grain exposure but the grade is a bit questionable as it skews heavily towards magenta in some caps and the encode looks low-pass filtered.
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Best Audio:
Upcoming Release:
France 4K Blu-ray announced
Audio Notes:
4K Blu-ray includes the original 5.1 mix in its unaltered form, all other releases after the LaserDisc, as well as the remastered Blu-ray, had its dynamic range lowered.
For the English dub, the UK StudioCanal Blu-ray is the least limited mix.
Best English-Friendly:
2026 Japan Studio Ghibli (remastered) Blu-ray
Best Video:
Video Notes:
Remastered Blu-ray only included as a pack-in with the 4K Blu-ray. Includes English subtitles and a dub, which the 4K Blu-ray does not.
1 announced
StudioCanal's release is announced; until it is out, the picks are other releases · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Sean S. Cunningham
Upcoming Release:
UK StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Video Notes:
> Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray
Plaion fixed Kino’s errors. Excellent release but it’s only for the blue tier as there’s not as much fine detail in the master as we’ve come to expect from high quality 4K transfers. Either Kino / Studiocanal didn’t use the negative or the scan wasn’t the best. - impressions.
Kino Lorber is a solid master but with picture and audio errors
Know a film where the StudioCanal release is the one to buy? Suggest it