This film apparently had a 4-track mix that's been lost and some say the 5.1 is an attempt to recreate it. I think it sounds poor, as if it was made from a single mono dialogue/effects track and combined with a stereo music track, with some generic ambient sound added to some scenes. There's no real separation and it's murky as hell.
Mono:
1991 MGM LaserDisc [ML102163 LD]: Good.
1991 Criterion LaserDisc [CC1273L]: Clearly sourced from the same audio transfer as the MGM LaserDisc, but it has additional mastering work: it's EQed to be warmer and its treble sounds recessed. Strangely, there's a ~2-minute segment at about 00:55:41 (equivalent blu-ray timecode) that's a lot more muffled than the rest of the film.
1998 R1 MGM DVD: More rolled off than the LaserDisc, but similar.
2004 R1 MGM DVD - Special Edition: More hiss reduction than the MGM LD/earlier DVD and a compensatory treble boost.
2020 Criterion Blu-ray: Like the SE DVD.
2022 Kino Lorber UHD Blu-ray: Like the SE DVD.
2023 Capelight Pictures UHD Blu-ray: Like the SE DVD.
2024 Arrow UHD Blu-ray: It's wild how much more high-frequency detail this has than every other version. As far as I can tell, this is a new transfer and more obviously mastering of the magnetic mono elements. What a joy it is that this was commissioned and it's the sort of standard these distributors should be held to, rather than just clamouring for the inclusion of 'the LaserDisc track' or some other consumer material.
I often find it difficult to know how much better something can sound without a comparator like this that towers over everything else. You listen to a track like the MGM LaserDisc and think it sounds pretty good, though perhaps not in the realm of what big budget recording could sound like in the late '50s/early '60. The Arrow track is so good that it makes me wonder - why aren't more big Hollywood films from this period permitted to sound like this?
2/3/2022: Added the Criterion LaserDisc
2/6/2022: Added the Kino Lorber UHD
6/6/2025: Added the Capelight and Arrow UHDs
I didn't notice a difference between the kino 4k and the mgm LD
ReplyDeleteSame with the kino release of the train
Kino did admit they used the LD for good bad and the ugly 4k though.