UK

US Arbelos Blu-ray (encoded by FiM) or UK MoC Blu-ray. Both are the same 4K restoration. No comparison available

> Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

The different releases all have exclusive extras: https://dvdcompare.net/comparisons/film.php?fid=35931

> Shout! Factory 4K Blu-ray

UK Spirit Blu-ray better encode than Criterion Blu-ray

The UK Blu-ray is a marginally better encode than the Criterion, with better preseveration of detail: https://caps-a-holic.com/c_list.php?c=5302

The Criterion Blu-ray presents the original mono mix. Most other Blu-rays and DVDs are remixed either to stereo or 5.1 surround, with loss of detail and very little actual separation.

Radiance UK Blu-ray (caps)

> disappointing US Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray / R1 Lionsgate DVD sounds best and has the original mono and the R1 Lionsgate DVD has a Dolby Stereo remix

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)

caps; UK and US Blu-rays share the encode

2004 Buena Vista US DVD has exclusive extras

> US Zeitgeist Blu-ray

> Kino Lorber US 4K Blu-ray, see caps

Arrow has done additional cleanup work removing nearly all the damage in the transfer. They have massaged the color timing and HDR to try and improve what they could. The Capelight may have better encoding but it does not have these improvements. The Arrow encoding is solid and in motion there are no issues whatsoever. The Kino Lorber release has the damage and other issues plus frequent noise due to the lesser encoding.

Some scenes in the Arrow transfer are better, some are better in the Capelight.

(Arrow is a port of the LaserDisc track, see spectrograms) This track has the best fidelity of any release but does have some channel bleeding baked in. The 2017 2.0 on the Arrow and Shout! Factory Blu-rays was the Dolby Stereo original mix without channel bleeding but that had heavy noise reduction resulting in a very flat and underwhelming presentation. The surround winds up being lessened as well due to the processing. It's a tough choice between the two but the Image LaserDisc audio wins out because it hasn't been messed with and the impact is so unrestrained that no other version hits in the same way.

Capelight and old Arrow Blu-ray included the original stereo mix, but with excessive noise reduction rendering it much less detailed. Kino Lorber only included a painfully defective 2.0 track sourced from somewhere with limited fidelity, volume spikes and screechy high end which frequently ruins the music. The 5.1 remix on most modern release is a processed version that does not sound as good as it once did.

The best and most accurate of the 5.1 mixes is the original version from the 2003 Special Edition DVD in lossy AC3 form.

The best source for the commentaries are from the 2003 Special Edition DVD.

UK Arrow 4K Blu-ray see AVForum review

The slight darkening of the colour palette with the new WCG/HDR grades suddenly seems to add another layer of detail and immersion into the picture. Now, those dark night times punctured solely by neon or those dreary overcast half-light early mornings or dusks feel more alive with authenticity. Skin tones are gorgeous, the subtlety in colour detail of Hoskins’ atrocious leather jacket/Hawaiian shirt combo is sublime and those all-important blacks go deep. But it’s the now huge variations in colours that stand out – the reds of the Peep Show as Genesis’ classic In Too Deep plays now have a much richer, darker saturation to them than the previous 1080p SDR grade, helping them stand out so much more than those more neutral, toned down colours of the Brighton seaside against the morning skies. It’s a gorgeous colour reproduction from top to bottom.

Detailing is also tightened up significantly – again, the 2K picture was good, but this improves on that with keener lines, sharper edges and a greater sense of delineation in those finest of fine details that add an extra little touch of depth to the picture. Add to this another beautiful grain presentation – with organic looks and movement throughout - and it’s an image where its edges match the brilliance of its colouring.

... and the encode – courtesy of Fidelity in Motion – is absolutely rock solid. Hope were not high for this over the very good 2K edition, but I am very pleased to say that those hopes were well and truly exceeded: Mona Lisa on 4K looks absolutely stellar

> Disk Kino/WCL China import

review: Disk Kino

Both have better encoding than Disk Kino, some shots are better on Shout! Factory, others on Arrow

Shout Factory still has the best video while Arrow did a questionable regrade. Arrow definitely has less grain in most shots, has a worse encode and is cm v2.9 compared to Shout’s cm v4.0.

Shout! Factory/Arrow 4K Blu-ray has the original mono