Founded in Melbourne by Jeff Harrison, Umbrella distributes film in Australia and New Zealand and specialises in restoring Australian cinema, often with the National Film and Sound Archive. Collector lines include Ozploitation Classics, Sunburnt Screens for landmark local films and Beyond Genres for international cult titles in limited slipcases. Many of its Blu-rays are region free.
Umbrella
26 films on Best BluraysBest video release: 19 in 4K7 in HD3 more for audio only4 more announced
Best 4K release by tier:
- Excellent7
- Solid3
- Disappointing1
Films where Umbrella's release is the pick. How picks are made
Films where Umbrella's release is the pick. How picks are made
19 in 4K
Best video release on UHD Blu-ray or 4K streaming
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:
Umbrella/Arrow 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
Umbrella/Arrow 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.
Audio Notes:
But whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
Director: Kevin Smith
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
> Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode on Umbrella 4K Blu-ray)
Director: Richard Stanley
Best English-Friendly:
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Best Video & Audio:
AU Umbrella 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
The US/Theatrical Cut on the Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is AI upscaled and has DNR, along with Kino Lorber's usual poor compression.
Director's Cut uses a proper transfer but suffers from terrible compression, even by Kino standards.
The Umbrella with its FiM encode looks blurrier due to a slight low-pass filter, but is still far better than Kino.
Audio Notes:
AU Umbrella 4K Blu-ray and US Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray are the same.
The 5.1 track is a direct port of the lossy NTSC DVD track.
Director: Martin Campbell
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Australia Umbrella 4K Blu-ray
Sources: slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Video Notes:
Australia Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (native 4K sourced) is better than Turbine Germany 4K Blu-ray which is an upscale, not a true 4k source see caps
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Best English-Friendly:
US GKIDS 4K Blu-ray authored by FiM
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)
Best Video:
US GKIDS/Australia Umbrella 4K Blu-ray authored by FiM
Video Notes:
US GKIDS/Australia Umbrella 4K Blu-ray authored by FiM with identical encodes
UHD vs BD comparisons
Best Audio:
4K restoration includes a high-fidelity Dolby Atmos remix sourced from new transfers of original magnetic elements, with inconsequential content differences from the original mono mix. Umbrella 4K Blu-ray only includes a 5.1 mixdown of the remix, other discs have it in Dolby Atmos.
Umbrella/GKIDS 4K Blu-ray's 2.0 track is a stereo downmix. Older BDs and LDs have the original mono mix in varying quality, but are all inferior in fidelity to the new Dolby Atmos remix. The digital track on the Bandai/Emotion Japan LaserDisc BELL-942 is the best of the bunch.
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23714400&postcount=159
Only the GKIDS 4K Blu-ray has the English dub.
Director: Richard Stanley
Best English-Friendly:
Umbrella AU 4K Blu-ray
Best Video:
Umbrella AU 4K Blu-ray, encoded by Fidelity in Motion
Best Audio:
Original matrixed Dolby Stereo mix: 2018 Ronin Flix US Blu-ray / 2009 Optimum UK Blu-ray
5.1 surround remix: Umbrella AU 4K Blu-ray / Umbrella Blu-ray
Audio Notes:
The 2.0 on the 4K Blu-ray is a downmix.
Directors: Michael Spierig & Peter Spierig
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray is reported to have a different, more organic-looking master without the DNR on the Lionsgate 4K Blu-ray. Encoding and possibly further mastering by FiM. Still “just” an upscale.
Best English-Friendly:
Criterion US Blu-ray or Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Best Video:
Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173
The master is heavily DNR'd.
Best English-Friendly:
Criterion US Blu-ray or Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Best Video:
Maybe Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode), Plaion Germany 4K Blu-ray, or Pony Canyon Japan 4K Blu-ray. All other existing 4K Blu-rays have terrible compression: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=21423337&postcount=173
The master is heavily DNR'd.
7 in HD
Best video release on Blu-ray or HD streaming · by Letterboxd rating
Best English-Friendly, Video & Audio:
Umbrella Blu-ray
Director: Luis Buñuel
Director: Jerry Lewis
1 with a weaker 4K
Best 4K release rated Disappointing or Worse Than BD · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Alejandro Amenábar
Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)
Best Video:
Umbrella Australia 4K Blu-ray disappointing review
3 for audio only
The best audio is Umbrella's; the video and English-friendly picks are other releases · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Stephen Hopkins
Sources: movie-censorship.com (opens in a new tab)
Audio Notes:
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has a replaced soundtrack, see details here
Australia Umbrella Blu-ray and Germany NSM Blu-ray have the original soundtrack intact, don't know which sounds better
Best Video:
Video Notes:
Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray is disappointing
Director: George A. Romero
Best Audio:
Mono: 35mm scan, old Shout! Factory and Australia Umbrella Blu-ray sounds better than the rest of the discs, but has noise reduction
Stereo: Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray has a transfer of the 1986 Japan LaserDisc Stereo
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab)
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Video Notes:
4 announced
Umbrella's release is announced; until it is out, the picks are other releases · by Letterboxd rating
Director: Christopher Nolan
Upcoming Release:
Collector's edition of a new restoration from Umbrella
Sources: Blu-ray.com (opens in a new tab) · linkedin.com (opens in a new tab) · dvdcompare.net (opens in a new tab)
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Spain Selecta Vision 4K Blu-ray
Video Notes:
> other releases and old 2006 release - impressions of Selecta Vision release
Additional Info:
Comparison of extras between different releases:
https://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=999
https://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=9670
Upcoming Release:
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, part of Alejandro Jodorowsky Collector’s Edition, scheduled for November 2026 release
Sources: caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)
Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Upcoming Release:
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, part of Alejandro Jodorowsky Collector’s Edition, scheduled for November 2026 release
Best Video:
Video Notes:
Severin 4K Blu-ray has bad encode
Director: Hal Needham
Upcoming Release:
2026 Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray, 2025 Umbrella 4K Blu-ray
Best English-Friendly & Video:
Know a film where the Umbrella release is the one to buy? Suggest it