Ikiru (1949) and Stray Dog (1952) 4K UHD

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Rayjaymay

I think we’re seeing some movement now. Before Seven Samurai, they released Dreams on 4K and just announced a 4K Yojimbo/Sanjuro set. We’ll see if more follow.

Fingers crossed. Most of the Kurosawa films have 4K masters now.

For now though, at least the BFI is releasing those new masters on BD, with English subtitles.

The Japanese UHDs are not much good to most foreign buyers.

[Doomhunter]

Yes, DVDBeaver has a review up of the BFI Stray Dog blu

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film10/blu-...og_blu-ray.htm

[Mr. Mojo Risin]

Originally Posted by Doomhunter

Yes, DVDBeaver has a review up of the BFI Stray Dog blu

http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film10/blu-...og_blu-ray.htm

Wow looks good, I have this BFI Stray Dog Blu-Ray on order should get by next week and was wondering how it was going to look, DVD Beaver did a great review. I have the Criterion DVD and it looks like the BFI is a good upgrade for $20. I wish they could do Drunken Angel as well but not sure if the source available and in good condition.

[nicwood]

I’ve got the new BD releases of Stray Dog and High and Low today and compared them with the Toho 4Ks.

Stray Dog is practically identical due to the battered nature of the film element Toho used for the transfer as the original negative is long gone. The film would’ve looked better had they refrained from using grain management. It’s what it is and unless Criterion does another surprising round of cleanup as well as restoring some of the grain, this is the best we get. Sound on the BFI is as dead and devoid of detail as on the Toho. Unlike their Seven Samurai 4K, subtitles have full stops included. Enjoy - this is a good release!

[Mr. Mojo Risin]

Well I was very happy with the Video quality of this BFI release of Stray Dog. Comparing this to the Criterion DVD the details are much improved also image stability is evened out with no pulsating images like in the DVD. The high contrast in the DVD is also addressed with the overblown whites and gamma being corrected, this is a more middle gray image that I would like but much better than the loss of detail on the high contrast image from the DVD, also the subtitles look much better than the DVD version. The booklet that comes with the fist pressing is worth getting.

I was very impressed with the new commentaries they are very entertaining and deep dive into the film analysis of this movie especially the Jasper Sharp commentary. The Criterion commentaries with Stephen Prince were also very informative and it is nice that the new commentaries did not just regurgitate the same information.

I was hesitant to get this version because of the [Reg. B] I like to have [Reg. A] or Region free disks, and I'm sure sooner or later the 4k scan will get a US release, but I couldn't wait and I'm glad I didn't because I really like this version, Now I'm going to have to get High and Low as I still have the Criterion DVD version and for the Price [$20] the BFI Blu-ray with the Jasper Sharp commentary will be worth the upgrade. Enjoy.

[JAKS88]

Kurosawa 4K restorations (with English subtitles) are showing up at US theaters. I am getting to see Ikiru here soon, but they also have High and Low, Stray Dog, and The Hidden Fortress (all 4K). Red Beard is a new 2K restoration along with Rashomon.