Press Release Criterion Press Release: Don't Look Now (1973) (4k UHD Combo) (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

​

Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie mesmerize as a married couple on an extended trip to Venice following a family tragedy. While in that elegantly decaying city, they have a series of inexplicable, terrifying, and increasingly dangerous experiences. A masterpiece from Nicolas Roeg, Don’t Look Now, adapted from a story by Daphne du Maurier, is a brilliantly disturbing tale of the supernatural, as renowned for its innovative editing and haunting cinematography as for its naturalistic eroticism and its unforgettable climax and denouement—one of the great endings in horror history.

FILM INFO​

• United Kingdom, Italy
• 1973
• 110 minutes
• Color
• 1.85:1
• English
• Spine #745
  
  

  4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES​

  • 4K digital restoration, supervised by director of photography Anthony Richmond, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
  • One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
  • Conversation between editor Graeme Clifford and film writer and historian Bobbie O’Steen
  • “Don't Look Now”: Looking Back, a short documentary from 2002 featuring Clifford, Richmond, and director Nicolas Roeg
  • “Don't Look Now”: Death in Venice, a 2006 interview with composer Pino Donaggio
  • Program on the writing and making of the film, featuring interviews with Richmond, actors Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, and coscreenwriter Allan Scott
  • Program on Roeg’s style, featuring interviews with filmmakers Danny Boyle and Steven Soderbergh
  • Q&A with Roeg from 2003 at London’s Ciné Lumière
  • Trailer
  • English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • PLUS: An essay by film critic David Thompson
    
    Cover by Fred Davis
    
    October 3, 2023

 

[Ronald Epstein]

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See on Amazon

 

[Ronald Epstein]

One of my all-time favorite movies.

I own the 4k Studio Canal release and the film looks tremendous in the format.

I don't know if Criterion can better it, but it should look spectacular.

 

[david hare]

Canal’s encode was done by David Mc And it’s flawless. The thought of Criterion getting an encode from Pixellogic does not fill me with joy.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

One of my all-time favorite movies.

I own the 4k Studio Canal release and the film looks tremendous in the format.

I don't know if Criterion can better it, but it should look spectacular.

I realty like this film, too. I saw it for the first time in film class in college, probably around 1981. I have the Criterion BD, so I'm not sure if I will splurge for the 4K release. Will probably wait for reviews.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I realty like this film, too. I saw it for the first time in film class in college, probably around 1981. I have the Criterion BD, so I'm not sure if I will splurge for the 4K release. Will probably wait for reviews.

Perhaps @david hare can elaborate on his remark about Criterion getting an encode from Pixellogic.

I can tell you, as David has, the Studio Canal 4k release is remarkable—one of my collection's best 4k catalog transfers. I was amazed at how much better DON'T LOOK NOW looked. It's a must-buy 4k release for anyone who is remotely a fan.

I expected at least the same transfer quality from Criterion, but again, David's remarks piqued my curiosity.

 

[titch]

There has been a lot of Internet grumbling about Pixellogic applying low-pass filtering to Criterion's 4K scans, supposedly resulting in slightly inferior video quality. However, the vast majority of Criterion's 4K UHD titles are reference quality. The better European versions are considered to be, by some: Citizen Kane (Warner, superior compression and grain), Mulholland Drive (StudioCanal, better compression by David Mackenzie/Fidelity In Motion) and Wings Of Desire (Curzon, looks better without low-pass filtering). Don't Look Now was mastered and authored by David Mackenzie/Fidelity In Motion for StudioCanal and is thus reference quality.

 

[battlebeast]

Canal’s encode was done by David Mc And it’s flawless. The thought of Criterion getting an encode from Pixellogic does not fill me with joy.

Im Curious, as I never thought about this… does the company that encodes the disc really Make a difference?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Perhaps @david hare can elaborate on his remark about Criterion getting an encode from Pixellogic.

I can tell you, as David has, the Studio Canal 4k release is remarkable—one of my collection's best 4k catalog transfers. I was amazed at how much better DON'T LOOK NOW looked. It's a must-buy 4k release for anyone who is remotely a fan.

I expected at least the same transfer quality from Criterion, but again, David's remarks piqued my curiosity.

Thanks, Ron. I see the Studio Canal version is available on Amazon for under $25. Maybe I should just order that, as the Criterion, even on sale, will not be any less expensive.

 

[jayembee]

Im Curious, as I never thought about this… does the company that encodes the disc really Make a difference?

I'm not knowledgeable about the technological work required, but it's fairly simple to see a pattern of certain individuals or outfits being behind better encodes. Just as it's fairly simple to see a pattern of certain cinematographers shooting dazzling-looking movies.

 

[Lord Dalek]

One wonders why Criterion should bother to continue releasing 4k titles since all its done is raise prices, lay off employees, and give certain factions of this forum and the other one more excuses to bash the company over perceived inferior compression.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Thanks, Ron. I see the Studio Canal version is available on Amazon for under $25. Maybe I should just order that, as the Criterion, even on sale, will not be any less expensive.

Scott, I would jump on that version at that price. It's an incredible, incredible transfer. I can't see Criterion doing anything better with it.

 

[Robert Harris]

Im Curious, as I never thought about this… does the company that encodes the disc really Make a difference?

Unless it’s a very simple job of compression - short film - matted, for which data throughput can just be run full open, it can be Huge!

 

[Konstantinos]

This is a film that when I saw the ending, I thought to myself that I lost 2 hours of my life I will never get back.
Honestly, I can't see the appeal.
Now, you might be wondering what I am doing in this thread then..
Well, I just wanted to share this I guess.
Maybe some people would want to go blind with this? I would advise against it!

 

[Robert Crawford]

One wonders why Criterion should bother to continue releasing 4k titles since all its done is raise prices, lay off employees, and give certain factions of this forum and the other one more excuses to bash the company over perceived inferior compression.

I see what you meant by that comment.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Scott, I would jump on that version at that price. It's an incredible, incredible transfer. I can't see Criterion doing anything better with it.

Ron, I went to jump on that price, and it's gone now... just a few hours later. Price from another seller is about $4 more. I guess I'll wait awhile longer.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Preorder should be live momentarily. See post #2

 

[JoshZ]

Im Curious, as I never thought about this… does the company that encodes the disc really Make a difference?

Rarely. At least not to the extent that some would have you believe.

 

[Jeffrey D]

This is a film that when I saw the ending, I thought to myself that I lost 2 hours of my life I will never get back.
Honestly, I can't see the appeal.
Now, you might be wondering what I am doing in this thread then..
Well, I just wanted to share this I guess.
Maybe some people would want to go blind with this? I would advise against it!

I do quite a bit of blind buying. Horror is not my genre of choice, so I likely won’t be getting this one.

 

[Dick]

One of my all-time favorite movies. [DON'T LOOK NOW]

Mine as well. I was completely in the dark about this film, but it happened to be playing in the ridiculously tiny two-screen mall theater where I owned a record business in the 70's. I was tired from the usual, mandatory 11-hour day the mall stores forced on all merchants, and after locking up, stepped into the late show of DLN, just to relax.

Relax, my ass! I was drawn into this film completely by its portentous title/opening sequence. I can only hope there are still people out there who want to see this and have no idea how it plays out. My advice to you: don't read spoilers...just see the movie. My 4K from Europe is twice the quality of the 35mm print I saw. Gorgeous. Too bad that Criterion wasn't able to -- or did not care to -- license the full-length commentary by Nicolas Roeg.

If the movie seems slow to you...just wiggle in your seat with a promise of a very big payoff, much bigger if you've been paying careful attention -- it's a challenging plot.