Friday, 4 March 2022

Nostalghia (1983)

Lots of new Foley in the 5.1, so speaking purely about the theatrical mono mix:

1986 Pioneer LaserDisc [SF098-1091]: Far and away the best sounding version of the film among these editions. Hissy, but extremely clear and very clean.

1998 Fox Lorber DVD: Less detail than the Pioneer LD, with a higher noise floor and more generational film noise, including ticks and pops not present in the Pioneer. Its highs don't extend as high and it lacks bass detail. I don't think there's much mastering work going on here, but it sounds mediocre all the same. I believe every subsequent edition is derived from whatever subpar elements were used to strike this transfer.

2004 Ruscico DVD: Strong noise reduction and some limiting relative to the Fox Lorber DVD.

2008 Zóna DVD: This Czech DVD sounds a bit better than the Ruscico DVD, but still has less detail than the Fox Lorber DVD.

2014 Kino Lorber Blu-ray: More noise reduction than the Fox Lorber DVD.

2016 Artificial Eye Blu-ray: Horrible. Extreme noise reduction atop of what's probably the same transfer as the Fox Lorber DVD. It's riddled with artefacts and an overall echoey quality. I think it's an even bigger problem than the video restoration.

2017 Potemkine Blu-ray: Same mastering as the Artificial Eye blu-ray.

I haven't heard the Criterion LaserDisc, but I'm curious if it sounds more like the Pioneer given that its packaging states it was sourced from the soundtrack negative.







No comments:

Post a Comment