1993 Toho LaserDisc [TLL 2401]: Probably the best sounding '60s film track I've ever heard. Wide and very directional stereo, no ticks or pops whatsoever (an unfutzed-with transfer of magnetic elements), and no attenuation of high or low frequencies. This is the source of the Amazon/BFI Player stream. I had previously thought that every later release was derived from this transfer but heavily manipulated, but now I think this is a different mix altogether - the only true discrete stereo/multichannel mix. The only content-related mixing differences I could find occur at 2:05:05 (Criterion UHD equivalent timecode, car phone scene), where most of the subtle phone clicks between each reply are missing.
2003 Toho DVD: The 4.0 track here is basically a mono dialogue/effects track spread between the front three channels, surrounded by a mono surround channel - so no real stereo separation, no directional dialogue or effects, and much less detailed than the LaserDisc stereo track overall (even beyond what has been removed by the strong NR). If I had to guess, I'd say Toho 'lost' the stereo track they released on LaserDisc and have for the last 20 years distributed this 4.0 recreation. The 2.0 is a downmix of the 4.0.
2005 BFI DVD: Interestingly, this is a true mono track, not a downmix of the 4.0. It's the second best sounding mastering here and has absolutely no noise reduction, but its overall fidelity still resembles the 4.0 tracks more than the Toho LaserDisc - another reason why I think the 4.0 is derived from the mono. This is also an NTSC to PAL conversion, so it plays at the correct tempo and pitch.
2006 R4 Madman DVD: Identical to the Toho DVD. The 2.0 is a downmix.
2008 Criterion DVD: Like the Toho DVD 4.0 track.
2010 Toho Blu-ray: Like the Toho DVD 4.0 track, but lossless. The 2.0 is a downmix.
2011 Criterion Blu-ray: Like the Toho blu-ray.
2017 Wild Side Blu-ray: Like the BFI DVD (true mono), but with hiss global reduction.
2019 Amazon BFI Player Stream: Like the Toho LaserDisc.
2021 Studio S Blu-ray: Identical to the Wild Side blu-ray.
2023 Toho UHD Blu-ray: A new mastering of Toho's 4.0 track with less NR. Occasionally, dialogue sounds nearly as good as it does on the Toho LaserDisc, but the majority sounds much worse. And of course it is still essentially just mono dialogue/effects surrounded by a few instances of mono music/effects. The 2.0 is a downmix.
2025 BFI Blu-ray: Identical to the Toho UHD. The 2.0 is a downmix.
2025 Criterion UHD Blu-ray: Identical to the Toho UHD.
8/29/2025: Added the Toho DVD, BFI DVD, Toho blu-ray, and Studio S blu-ray
it looks like the recent Toho 4k blu-rays include High and Low and a 4.0 PCM track. any idea if this one has undergone NR as well?
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