Rashomon (1950)

The audio on the BFI blu-ray sounds exactly the same as the track on the Japanese Kadokawa blu-ray. ...Which is to say it sounds great.

I maintain that the Criterion blu-ray sounds awful, and it remains the most extreme case of 'additional restoration' done at the distribution level I've encountered. The actual restoration work done by Audio Mechanics was superb.

The film's audio was restored from the 1962 print and a fine-grain master positive in the Kadokawa Foundation's collection. The elements were transferred at DJ Audio in Los Angeles, and Audio Mechanics in Burbank identified the best source element for each shot, in order to create a seamless soundtrack.

 

Atanasov says, "Predictably, dynamic movement is quite limited, and especially during a few sequences early into the film there is also some unevenness. It is pretty clear, however, that the minor fluctuations that have been retained are inherited source limitations." I beg to differ.

3:58 is especially startling.

The audio on the old Criterion DVD, while relatively unfiltered, sounds much less detailed due to source issues.