Now, what I found was that both versions image quality is as exact as my software (system and eyeballs) can determine. So, I wonder if seamless-branching was considered to keep it on one lone Blu-ray? But, regardless, it is quite different from the Masters of Cinema Blu-ray. The UK disc is darker (richer black levels), more visible damage, less information in the frame and significantly more textured grain. I appreciate the grain. So the Criterion(s) are 'lighter', smoother and likewise gives a very strong video presentation - but a different, crisper, one. It would probably come down to personal preference.

I noted no differences in the linear PCM audio - so our comments below - "It sounds predictably flat but Dimitri Tiomkin's (Angel Face, Strangers on a  Train, The Men, Dial M For Murder, The Thing From Another World etc. etc.) rousing score get some 'umpph' and sounds quite strong. Cattle, horse and respective sounds seem crisp - adding to the atmosphere." - hold true. There are optional English subtitles on the region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc.

On disc one, the "Original Theatrical" version we get a new 17-minute interview with filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich about Red River and the two versions. He also shares his memories of Hawks. There is also an audio excerpts from a 1972 conversation between Hawks and Bogdanovich as they sat together in Palm Springs. This disc also has a trailer. On the "Pre-Release" Blu-ray we have a new (2014), 16-minute, interview with critic Molly Haskell. The long-time champion of Howard Hawks discusses Red River in relation to the western genre and gender politics and expresses her appreciation for the filmmaker. There is also a new 13-minute interview with film scholar Lee Clark Mitchell (author of Westerns: Making the Man in Fiction and Film) delving into the cultural history and trademarks of the western genre literature and film, framing Red River and the novel's author, Bordon Chase, within these terms. There are 10-minutes of audio excerpts from a 1970 interview with novelist and screenwriter Borden Chase and an hour-long Lux Radio Theatre adaptation of Red River from 1949, featuring John Wayne, Joanne Dru, and Walter Brennan. The package contains the two DVDs with all the contents of the Blu-rays and a liner notes booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien and a 1991 interview with Hawks’s longtime editor Christian Nyby (dual-format only) plus a new paperback edition of Chase’s original novel, previously out of print.

Great release and nice to see differences in both video, the addition of the original theatrical and new supplements. Strongly recommended!  

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema - Region 'B' - Blu-ray (November 2013): Pretty sweet - more than 7X the bitrate of the SD and the big story is the grain. The textures are well-supported with scrumptious film-like visuals. The only thing, and we've noticed it with most 1080P-transferred vintage films - as the resolution is heightened - so is the visibility of the damage marks. In the case of Red River it is light scratches, many just under the surface. I wasn't deterred and it looks like the same source that also exhibits some weaknesses including softness at times. The 2001 DVD had some artifacts - and they are gone and the contrast is a significant improvement in HD.