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Wake in Fright (1971)

2009 R4 Madman DVD: This DVD is sourced from the same problematic restoration as the Madman and Masters of Cinema blu-rays, but it actually has less reduction on its video, though still obviously a tonne. Its audio remains the same, though - quite a lot of hiss reduction, very murky. It is pitched 0.7 semitones higher than them due to PAL speed-up.

2009 Madman Blu-ray: Like the Madman DVD but pitched 0.7 semitones lower.

2014 Masters of Cinema Blu-ray: Like the Madman blu-ray. A lossy transcode.

2025 Umbrella UHD Blu-ray: Much less hiss reduction - I think its fidelity is excellent - but it's pitched 0.7 semitones lower. Uncorrected reference.

John Scott's original score recording has never been released on LP or CD (only via a 1991 re-recording, cat. JSCD111), so an ideal pitch comparator doesn't exist. At 58:44 (UHD timecode), we hear Amelita Galli-Curci's 1916 recording of Caro nome from Rigoletto. The pitch of the earlier blu-rays matches that of the 1988 Pearl and 1990 RCA CDs fairly well. After pitching the Umbrella UHD 0.7 semitones down, it's pretty similar (certainly closer than before the adjustment), though there's still a small inaudible discrepancy - understandable, as the speed of playback of the song during production (whether done diegetically or if inserted into the soundtrack later) is unlikely to have been perfect. I suggest someone ask Umbrella directly to see if they found the pitch of previous editions to be incorrect.

Dr. No (1962)

Added the Warner UHD.

The Great Escape (1963)

Added the Capelight and Arrow UHDs.

Chinatown (1974)

Added the Paramount UHD.

Watership Down (1978)

 Added the BFI UHD.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

Hey, the Criterion UHD mono sounds great! It improves upon the 1984 Japanese LaserDisc in every way. A pleasant surprise.

 

The new 5.1 is also very good, with every constituent stem (dialogue, music) being of uniformly excellent fidelity.

Night Moves (1975)

2005 R1 Warner DVD: Veiled and missing bass detail.

2017 Warner Archive Blu-ray: Like the DVD but more brightly EQed.

2025 Criterion UHD Blu-ray: This sounds wonderful. The opening music shows it best - little to no hiss reduction and just crystal clear. The extended boat sequence at the end of the film has a tonne of low-frequency bass detail that was removed from the earlier mastering. More like this, please.

American Gigolo (1980)

1991 Paramount Hi-Fi VHS: Perhaps a bit less detailed and with more background hiss than you'd expect from a 1980 magnetic mono mix, but this still sounds good overall.

2024 Arrow UHD Blu-ray: The mono here is a remix. It's not a straight reduction of the stereo/5.1, but it is very plainly not the theatrical mono track. A few content discrepancies, which are totally insignificant on their own and are more just evidence that this is a remix:

• 16:34: There's some background dialogue (bad ADR) that fades out early in the VHS mono but continues in the Arrow mono/stereo/5.1.
• 40:34: A different, more forceful sounding, Foley effect in the Arrow mono/stereo/5.1 as the handcuffs hit the table.
• 57:40: More rattling in the Arrow mono/stereo/5.1 as Gere opens the door

The real issue with the remixes is that they sound harsh. All background noise has been aggressively removed. The EQ of the entire film, really, is headache-inducingly V-shaped. The music is also of higher fidelity than the dialogue. 

Prime Cut (1972)

The theatrical mono mix was last released on home video in 1985 by Key Video - a Hi-Fi track I'd like to hear.

Every 2.0 track released since is a downmix of the 5.1.

A Fistful of Dollars (1964)

Added the Arrow UHD.

Airplane! (1980)

The mono track on the 1990 Paramount LaserDisc sounds lovely. No issues.

The 5.1 remix on every DVD and blu-ray has some noise reduction on the centre channel's dialogue and it's sometimes also noticeable on the strings in the score. No new sound effects as far as I can tell. The music tends to be louder relative to the dialogue and effects.

The Searchers (1956)

Added the UHD blu-ray.

North by Northwest (1959)

 Added the 1984/1987/1996 MGM Hi-Fi VHS tapes and the 2024 Warner UHD.

Midnight Run (1988)

The 5.1 remix doesn't contain any new effects, as far as I can tell. Its fidelity is also fine.

Comparing only 2.0 tracks:

1989 MCA LaserDisc [40810]: No issues. Detailed, clear, pristine.

2003 R1 Universal DVD: Like the LaserDisc, though its high end is slightly rolled off.

2023 Shout Factory UHD Blu-ray: A downmix of the 5.1 with strong limiting, but no actual clipping.

Real Life (1979)

The Paramount DVD, Amazon download, and Criterion UHD all sound basically the same.

The dialogue-heavy scenes sound a bit muffled, but without a better sounding comparator (e.g. the 1986 Paramount Hi-Fi VHS), it's difficult to say if this is due to mastering or the mix itself.