We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages to date: Fanny Lye Deliver'd (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, (NO HDR applied to disc),  Rollerball (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Chernobyl  (software uniformly simulated HDR), Daughters of Darkness (software uniformly simulated HDR), Vigilante (software uniformly simulated HDR), Tremors (software uniformly simulated HDR), Cinema Paradiso (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Bourne Legacy (software uniformly simulated HDR), Full Metal Jacket (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Psycho (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Birds (software uniformly simulated HDR), Rear Window (software uniformly simulated HDR), Vertigo (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Spartacus (software uniformly simulated HDR), Jaws (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Invisible Man, (software uniformly simulated HDR), Steven Spielberg's War of the Worlds (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lucio Fulci's 1979 Zombie  (software uniformly simulated HDR),, 2004's Van Helsining (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Shallows (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Bridge on the River Kwai (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Deer Hunter (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Elephant Man (software uniformly simulated HDR), A Quiet Place (software uniformly simulated HDR), Easy Rider (software uniformly simulated HDR), Suspiria (software uniformly simulated HDR), Pan's Labyrinth (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Wizard of Oz, (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Shining, (software uniformly simulated HDR), Batman Returns (software uniformly simulated HDR), Don't Look Now (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Man Who Killed Killed and then The Bigfoot  (software uniformly simulated HDR),,  Bram Stoker's Dracula (software uniformly simulated HDR), Lucy (software uniformly simulated HDR), They Live (software uniformly simulated HDR), Shutter Island (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Matrix (software uniformly simulated HDR), Alien (software uniformly simulated HDR), Toy Story (software uniformly simulated HDR),  A Few Good Men (software uniformly simulated HDR),  2001: A Space Odyssey (HDR caps udated), Schindler's List (simulated HDR), The Neon Demon (No HDR), Dawn of the Dead (No HDR), Saving Private Ryan (simulated HDR and 'raw' captures), Suspiria (No HDR), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (No HDR), The Big Lebowski, and I Am Legend (simulated and 'raw' HDR captures).

Audio comments (same as below): The audio gives the option of DTS-HD Master mono (24-bit) tracks - in English or Italian. The sound is flat and has production limitations (that we often note in Italian productions of this era,) The DUB is, as usual, a bit awkward but the dialogue is clear enough and there is a score by Luis Bacalov (The Seduction, Il Postino, A Bullet for the General, Shoot First, Die Later, Django Unchained, City of Women)  including the funky Django (theme) performed by Rocky Roberts work wonders for the pasta-genre atmosphere. Arrow offer optional English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack or English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack (samples of both below) on their Region FREE 4K UHD.

The significant increase in detail, contrast, and vivid colors, are all evidently clear from each and every comparison image below. This 4K UHD of "Django" is a must-own for new adopters and enough to encourage every pasta-western fan to upgrade. One of my favorite 4K UHD presentations of the year to date.

Colin Zavitz

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ADDITION - Arrow Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray January 2019: Arrow have transferred the iconic Spaghetti western, Django in a two-disc to Blu-ray package with Texas Adios. Django's transfer is described as  a "New restoration from a 4K scan from the original camera negative by Arrow Films". Aside from the image weaknesses in the first few minutes (first capture with Django standing on a hill dragging the coffin behind him) - it looks fabulous. In fact it looks so good that it brings out inconsistencies in the, formerly definitive, Blue Underground HD where the grain often looked fabricated. The Arrow is more film-like, darker, still showing grain and colors perk up to a richer level. After some extensive comparisons on my system - the Arrow, with a slightly higher bitrate, wins this battle in the 1080P image department.

NOTE: Arrow withdrew both editions from their catalogue pending the outcome of a rights dispute between Blue Underground (who claimed to still have sole ownership of the film's US distribution rights, and had sent cease and desist letters to consumers who had pre-ordered the titles) and the film's Italian rights holder Surf Film (from whom Arrow obtained permission to release both films.) While it still doesn't appear available - I do have these two screeners.

The audio gives the option of DTS-HD Master mono (24-bit) tracks - in English or Italian. The sound is flat and has production limitations (that we often note in Italian productions of this era,) The DUB is, as usual, a bit awkward but the dialogue is clear enough and there is a score by Luis Bacalov (The Seduction, Il Postino, A Bullet for the General, Shoot First, Die Later, Django Unchained, City of Women)  including the funky Django (theme) performed by Rocky Roberts work wonders for the pasta-genre atmosphere. Arrow offer optional English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack or English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack (samples of both below) on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

IArrow add an audio commentary by film critic, historian and theorist Stephen Prince who we often associate with Japanese film commentaries. There are newly filmed interview with star Franco Nero (for over 26-minutes), assistant director Ruggero Deodato, co-writer Franco Rossetti, with Sergio Corbucci's wife Nora Corbucci plus archival interviews with co-writer Piero Vivarelli and with stuntman and actor Gilberto Galimberti. That over 1.5 hours of interviews there alone. Discovering Django is a newly filmed appreciation by Spaghetti Westerns scholar Austin Fisher plus there is an introduction to Django by Alex Cox, an archival featurette with the acclaimed director (also found in the Argent Blu-ray) plus an extensive gallery of original promotional images from the Mike Siegel Archive and original trailers (Italian - 2:48 - optional subtitles / International - 2:58) while the package has a double-sided fold-out poster, reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips and has a limited edition 60-page perfect-bound book featuring new writing on the film by Howard Hughes and Roberto Curti, and original reviews. Wow.

This is BIG news. Easily the Arrow is the definitive Blu-ray package for the 1966 classic Spaghetti genre Django that produced more than thirty unofficial "sequels". It's such a great western starting with a unknown man dragging a coffin into town. It's reputation is totally deserved and this Blu-ray has done the film justice. I can't say enough about it. When it becomes available - don't hesitate!

Gary Tooze

Audio is likewise lossless in a DTS-HD Master for both English and Italian. I couldn't identify much of a difference playing certain scenes back-to-back and the UK Blu-ray also offers subtitle - but only in English.  I determine it as being Region FREE.

Such a cool film - worthy of multiple visitations. The Blue Undergrounds is 50% OFF at the writing of this review but temporarily Out-of-stock. 

***

ADDITION - Blue Underground - Region 'A' - Blu-ray May 2010: Blue Underground continues to impress! Similar to their DVD edition this is advertised as "This definitive edition of DJANGO has been newly transferred in glorious High Definition from its camera negative, and includes the original Italian audio track featuring Franco Nero's own voice. Following extensive restoration work, Blue Underground is now proud to present the most stunning and complete version of DJANGO you will ever see!". And it appears true.

The damage marks seen on the Blue Underground DVD have been irradiated - the image is sharper and it has a wonderful consistent sheen of grain. Colors like red and blues become truer and aside from some frailty it looks absolutely magnificent. The disc is dual-layered with a high bitrate. Wow - what an improvement!

Audio has original mono for English and Italian versions. Both are offered in lossless DTS-HD Master tracks. This is cleaner and has more resonance but, obviously no depth or separation. Cool to hear Franco Nero's recognizable voice. The Blu-ray offers subtitles in English (SDH), English, French and Spanish - in a yellow font. My Momitsu has identified this disc as being a region 'A'-locked.

Extras duplicate some of the past DVD with a 30-second intro by Nero, the "Django: The One and Only": interviews with star Franco Nero and assistant director Ruggero Deodato for just shy of 15-minutes, The Last Pistolero is a western, black and white, short with Nero, "Western, Italian Style" - A 1968 documentary about the Spaghetti Western phenomenon containing interviews with Directors Enzo G. Castellari, Sergio Sollima and Sergio Corbucci. This runs almost 40-minutes. There are also 2 trailers.

This is an extremely popular title - and has always been so. DVD editions have sold out many times and this Blu-ray is easily the definitive edition. It has an enduring charm and I'll credit Nero with a lot of that - but the Corbucci direction deserves credit as well. They don't make them like this anymore. This 1080P edition is a true gem that we strongly recommend! Let's hope Blue Underground continue releasing these strong transfers or niche titles. I expect this will be a great seller!