TSPDT

They Shoot Pictures, Don't They with "The 1,000 Greatest Films" list.

1,020 films · page 2 of 51

Director: Jean Vigo

2026: #21
2025: #20
2024: #20
2023: #21
2022: #21
Best Video:

Curzon 4K Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Curzon 4K Blu-ray with much better encoding than the Gaumont Blu-ray with the same 4K restoration see caps

Criterion Blu-ray uses an older restoration

Director: Dziga Vertov

2026: #22
2025: #22
2024: #22
2023: #22
2022: #22
Best Video:

Eureka MoC Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Eureka Blu-ray has better encode than Flicker Alley Blu-ray. Kino Lorber/BFI are older restoration and are worse.

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

2026: #23
2025: #23
2024: #23
2023: #23
2022: #23
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion

Audio Notes:

Netherlands Lumière Blu-ray marginally better

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

2026: #24
2025: #26
2024: #28
2023: #26
2022: #26
Best Audio:

Turbine Germany Blu-ray, WB DVD(?)

Director: Akira Kurosawa

2026: #25
2025: #24
2024: #24
2023: #24
2022: #24
Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · 2019.tiff-jp.net (opens in a new tab) · web.nhk (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

2015 BFI Blu-ray

Additional Info:

(A 4K restoration was shown 2019-2021-2025, but no signs of a home video release so far)

Director: Charlie Chaplin

2026: #26
2025: #25
2024: #25
2023: #25
2022: #25
Best Video:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · caps-a-holic (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

4k restoration. Superior to Germany Kinowelt or Japan Kadokawa, see caps-a-holic

Best Audio:

2000 Image Entertainment DVD

Director: François Truffaut

2026: #27
2025: #27
2024: #26
2023: #27
2022: #27

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab) · i.ibb.co (opens in a new tab) · +1 more

Video Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray > 2021 Carlotta France 4K Blu-ray. Carlotta has bad compression and elevated gamma levels, while Criterion shows more shadow details. See caps1 and caps2

Criterion actually handed the flawed MK2 master over to Prasad Corporation for "additional restoration" instead of working on it in-house.

Criterion 4K Blu-ray is another SDR grade inside an HDR container, with average brightness on HDR BL of 83 nits and 100-nit static DV. See fkid post

Best Audio:

2001 MK2 DVD

Director: Andrei Tarkovsky

2026: #28
2025: #28
2024: #27
2023: #28
2022: #28
Best English-Friendly:

Theatrical Cut: UK Artificial Eye Blu-ray

2023 "Director's" Cut: Unreleased

Passion According to Andrei Cut: MosFilm Youtube Stream

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Theatrical Cut: Netherlands Lumière Blu-ray has best encoding

2023 "Director's" Cut: Unreleased

Passion According to Andrei Cut: MosFilm Youtube Stream

Video Notes:

Theatrical Cut: UK Artificial Eye Blu-ray > Criterion

Passion According to Andrei Cut: MosFilm Youtube Stream > Criterion Blu-ray

Passion According to Andrei Cut: MosFilm Youtube Stream > Criterion Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Theatrical Cut: 2011/2018 RU Blu-ray

Passion According to Andrei Cut: ??

Director: David Lynch

2026: #29
2025: #30
2024: #30
2023: #33
2022: #33
Video Notes:

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray > Criterion 4K Blu-ray. 

StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray is encoded by FiM and doesn’t have the low-pass filter the Criterion 4K Blu-ray has.

Audio Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray is closer to the original DVDs than the 2015 Criterion release, not sure about whether the StudioCanal 4K is like the Criterion 4K/original DVD

Additional Info:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision, StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has MEL

Director: Francis Ford Coppola

2026: #30
2025: #33
2024: #31
2023: #31
2022: #31
Best Video & Audio:

Paramount 2008 Blu-ray Coppola Restoration

Sources: YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Additional Info:

The Paramount 4K "restoration" is a desecration. It has completely revisionist color timing, harsh HDR, treatment of stock footage, bad encoding, selective DNR and grain management so bad that the entire screen frequently freezes up with only characters moving around in grain soup. It is so bad that the film's restorer Robert Harris publicly washed his hands of it saying essentially the 2007 restoration (with Willis and Coppola supervising) is how the film was intended and made. This is Paramount's modern version done their way. The new 1080p SDR Blu-rays in print are the crap 4K desecration master with the same problems still there just harder to spot and with crap encodes. Part II overall fares better than the first film but it has all the same problems. Randomly some shots are the worst in the trilogy looks mushy and manipulated to death.
The mono option is an unnecessarily processed version of the lossy mono from the 2008 Blu-ray. The 2008 Blu-ray of the 2007 Coppola Restoration while an imperfect outdated disc is LIGHT YEARS better than this 4K desecration. The only truly major issue is that it is very slightly redder than the 2007 finished master as seen on DCPs. The lossy mono on the 2008 Blu-ray is the best version of the original mix known to exist as it is better than the late 80's mastering for VHS and LaserDisc.
DFIC review of the hideous crap 4K Blu-rays: https://youtu.be/0uw6-Kcy_UA?si=ob1nDg0wTCvemjH0

Director: Billy Wilder

2026: #31
2025: #31
2024: #32
2023: #30
2022: #30

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray > Capelight/Kino Lorber which has heavy noise reduction and opening snare hit is missing, Capelight is slightly better encoded than Kino Lorber

Best Audio:

1992 MGM LaserDisc [ML102699]

Audio Notes:

But still a bit overly noise-managed.

1984 CBS/Fox Hi-Fi VHS maybe better?

Director: Robert Bresson

2026: #32
2025: #29
2024: #29
2023: #29
2022: #29
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

Criterion, 4k restoration

Best Audio:

2016 A Contracorriente Blu-ray

Director: Federico Fellini

2026: #33
2025: #34
2024: #34
2023: #32
2022: #32
Best Video & Audio:

2022 Paramount Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · slow.pics (opens in a new tab)

Video Notes:

2014 Criterion Blu-ray is from the same master and has only slightly worse compression. JP/DE/FR releases all have incorrect levels. Caps

Audio Notes:

All Blu-ray releases are from the same mastering, superior to the one on older DVD releases which is sourced from a higher generation source. They all sound about the same, with the exception of Criterion, which sounds worse due to extraneous filtering.

Paramount's disc also includes a contemporary English dub, previously unreleased on home video.

Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer

2026: #34
2025: #32
2024: #33
2023: #34
2022: #34
Best English-Friendly:

BFI Blu-ray

Best Video:

BFI Carl Theodor Dreyer Collection

Director: Martin Scorsese

2026: #35
2025: #35
2024: #35
2023: #35
2022: #35

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab) · blah-ray.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab) · facebook.com (opens in a new tab)

Upcoming Release:

Capelight 4K announced for 2026

Video Notes:

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has slightly better compression than Criterion 4K Blu-ray.

The master in DV looks all but identical to the Criterion’s HDR grade. Detail-wise, FiM’s encode looks like it uncovered a tiny bit of extra high-frequency information that got filtered on the Criterion. See nicolas review

Best Audio:

1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1993 MGM LaserDisc/2002 R2 MGM DVD

Audio Notes:

1990 Criterion LaserDisc/1993 MGM LaserDisc/2002 R2 MGM DVD are the best. See blah-ray https://blah-ray.blogspot.com/2018/01/raging-bull-1980.html

Imprint Australia 4K Blu-ray has better audio than Criterion 4K Blu-ray, from nicolas:

I believe that what’s on Imprint’s 4K is one of the good mixes MGM and Criterion released during the LaserDisc days. Music is powerful and detailed, dialogues have excellent fidelity and ambient sounds have perceptible depth. I compared the "new" 2.0 with the anemic 5.1 as well as the Criterion 4K mix and could clearly hear the improvements.

Director: Charles Laughton

2026: #36
2025: #36
2024: #36
2023: #36
2022: #36

Director: Michael Curtiz

2026: #37
2025: #38
2024: #38
2023: #42
2022: #42
Best Video:

WB 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

1984 Fox Hi-Fi VHS

Director: Michelangelo Antonioni

2026: #38
2025: #37
2024: #37
2023: #37
2022: #37
Best English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Sources: Criterion Forum (opens in a new tab)

Best Video:

2022 Lobster Films

Video Notes:

2022 Lobster Films has a newer 2020 4K restoration, their encoding is often bad, but no caps to verify yet. Criterion is older 4k restoration

Director: Ridley Scott

2026: #39
2025: #39
2024: #41
2023: #47
2022: #47
Best Video:

Final Cut: WB 4K Blu-ray (Caveat: No Dolby Vision from Streaming)

Other Cuts: WB Blu-ray

Workprint: WB 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Set for a better AVC encode

Best Audio:

1982 Theatrical Mix: Embassy Video releases, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix

International Cut Dolby Stereo: Criterion Collection LaserDisc, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix

1992 Director's Cut Dolby Stereo: WB CAV LaserDisc 2.0 PCM-best fidelity of any mix, HD-DVD for the 70mm 6-track mix

Workprint: WB 30th Anniversary Blu-ray Set DTS-HD MA 5.1

2007 Final Cut remix: Blu-ray Dolby TrueHD 5.1

Additional Info:

WB 4K Blu-ray only has Final Cut and contains a bad Atmos remix with new sound effects. Original Final Cut mix was removed.

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

2026: #40
2025: #40
2024: #39
2023: #38
2022: #38
Best Audio:

2005 US DVD