ADDITION: Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - June 12': I know there were a few doubting Thomases about this Olive Blu-ray release but despite the meager technical transfer - single-layered / 22 Mbps - it looks quite strong... or at least a noticeable visual improvement over the SDs. The 1080P is a shade brighter, a minute amount of depth but contrast is the area where the BD seems to show stronger layering. Subtle grays and light catching sweat announce that the video presentation is quite solid without manipulation although any slight edge-enhancements may simply be reflective of the source (which I was told was the best available). Background grain is visible.  Despite there being no restoration (that I am aware) the image is very clean, and surprisingly crisp in spots. There are imperfections but nothing dramatically hindering viewing. I like the way this looks and it gave me a fine, and a little surprising,  presentation - the best I have yet had of High Noon.

Audio is replicated faithfully with a modest uncompressed track in original mono. The Dimitri Tiomkin score, and lets not forget, crooning cowboy, Tex Ritter, sounds wonderful in lossless. There are no subtitles on the region 'A'-locked Blu-ray disc.

Nice to see some extras added - we get The Making of High Noon featurette also found in the LionsGate DVD package and an HD trailer.

Yes, my ideal would have been a stacked dual-layered Blu-ray but I hope others won't be complaining when they watch High Noon in their Home Theaters. I'd be similarly pleased to get the works of Antonioni and Bresson in such simple, clean 1080P editions. This cries out for a recommendation... and we give it. Enjoy!

***

NOTE: We've removed the Region 2 release HERE from this comparison as it was so decidedly poor.

ADDITION: Lions Gate - Region 1 - NTSC June 08': Firstly - good news: The transfer has lost that deplorable brightness boosting that was, in essence, the worst flaw of the two previous NTSC editions. This manipulation, including fiddling with the black levels, produced edge-enhancement/removed background information and made both Artisan releases extremely poor in the image department. This is most noticeable in the drinking at the train station capture sequence below. The Lions Gate's visual integrity appears improved with it looking sharper, darker and representing better contrast balance. There is some movement within the frame from the other two editions - notably it appears to have moved up a shade (with less info on the bottom - and some sides - but shade more on top). It amounts to less than 5% so I'm not going to quibble. Bottom line of the appearance is - it's  vastly superior.

Audio has the same options as the Collector's Edition from 2002 - enhanced and original - both restored. I didn't note the sync issue accepting once but others may be more sensitive to it than I am. Subtitles are offered in English or Spanish in a white font (see sample below).

Extras: We are given pretty much all of the same supplements from the 200 Collector's edition - the. occasionally fun, group commentary plus on disc 2 The Making of High Noon featurette (22:09), Behind High Noon (9:47) and the Radio broadcast with Tex Ritter on the Ralph Emery Show (5:35).

What is new is a wonderful 50 minute Inside High Noon featurette by Moda Entertainment. It's a nice overview with input from many - usually relations of those involved in the original production - so it has a lot of 'nostalgia' value to it. After that we have two short Tex Ritter tidbits - 6 minutes visiting his 'museum' in Carthage Texas and a very rough looking, 3 minute, video of him performing the Oscar winning theme song on The Jimmy Dean Show.

I dream of having this classic on Blu-ray one day but for the foreseeable future this new Lions Gate DVD package is the one to own. I'm pleased with the appearance and bonus material. The price makes it one of the bargains of the year in my opinion. I actually feel like watching it again right now. Maybe I will. Recommended! (of course)