ADDITION: Criterion 4K UHD (March 2022): Criterion's have released Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Cercle Rouge" 4K UHD. It is cited as a "New 4K restoration by STUDIOCANAL of the uncut version of the film." Criterion's 2011 Blu-ray release had some color disparity from the European editions. It's pretty hard to know Le Cercle Rouge's most authentic look and we tried to use the pool table felt as a barometer. I really have no idea at this point. The new 3840 X 2160 image has a consistent green cast (you get used to it immediately) and the overall visuals are dark per the film's tone. Some of the DVDs - notably the BFI - looked blown-out with overly cool flesh tones. So, forgoing judgment on the colors, the higher resolution does wonders for the new 4K UHD appearance. There has always been some inconsistency in the detail in Melville's "Le Cercle Rouge", but this rises handsomely above any previous digital edition with a fine representation in close-ups offering very pleasingly rich grain. The image is very clean and exported with a very high bitrate on a filled 4K UHD disc housing only the 2-hour+ uncut version of the film. 

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software if simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues etc.) as the 4K system at your home. But the framing, detail, grain texture support etc. are, generally, not effected by this simulation representation.

NOTE: 58 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

We have reviewed the following 4K UHD packages to date: An American Werewolf in London (software uniformly simulated HDR), A Hard Day's Night (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Piano (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Great Escape (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Red Shoes (software uniformly simulated HDR), Citizen Kane (software uniformly simulated HDR), Unbreakable (software uniformly simulated HDR), Mulholland Dr. (software uniformly simulated HDR), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Hills Have Eyes (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Servant (software uniformly simulated HDR), Anatomy of a Murder (software uniformly simulated HDR), Taxi Driver  (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Wolf Man (1941) (software uniformly simulated HDR), Frankenstein (1931) (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Deep Red (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Misery (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Silence of the Lambs (software uniformly simulated HDR), John Carpenter's "The Thing" (software uniformly simulated HDR), The Cat' o'Nine Tails (software uniformly simulated HDR),  The Bird With the Crystal Plumage (software uniformly simulated HDR), Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (software uniformly simulated HDR), Perdita Durango (software uniformly simulated HDR),  Django (software uniformly simulated HDR),  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 Helsing (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).

The Criterion audio is the same linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original French language as found on their 2011 Blu-ray. I am still pleased with the depth that the mono track can export. The film's music is credited to Éric Demarsan (as Eric De Marsan - who did the score for Melville's Army of Shadows.) It sounds clean and tight. The 4K UHD and Region 'A' Blu-ray discs have optional English subtitles and, like all of this format's transfers the 4K UHD disc is Region FREE.  

There are no extras on the 4K UHD disc and the package includes a second disc Blu-ray, with all the supplements (minus the re-release trailer) from the previous 2004 Criterion DVD, also on the Criterion Blu-ray. It seems like they did a time-correction making the extras NTSC as opposed to PAL sourced. It has the hour's worth of video interviews with the author of Melville on Melville, Rui Nogueira, and assistant director Bernard Stora - repeated on the Studio Canal Blu-ray package - plus excepts from Cinéastes de notres temps; Jean-Pierre Melville and archival footage; Pour le Cinema, Midi Magazine, Vingt-quatre Heures sur la deux and Morceaux de Bravoure - the original theatrical trailer and a booklet booklet featuring essays by film critics Michael Sragow and Chris Fujiwara, excerpts from Melville on Melville, a reprinted interview with composer Eric Demarsan, and an appreciation from director John Woo. It's a shame that we don't have the Ginette Vincendeau commentary as found on the BFI DVD.

Criterion's 4K UHD release of Jean-Pierre Melville's "Le Cercle Rouge" offers a new viewing experience of, as close as we can find, iconic French Noir. An absolute classic. The suitably darker image enhances the seamy atmosphere and vastly improved resolution provide a delightful dive into the shadowy world of Melville's criminal nobility. I only wish the film was longer. 'Cool' performances from Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volontè and Yves Montand make this a must-own. This upper-tier resolution does give Melville's "Le Cercle Rouge" more of an edgy film-like representation that addictive dark cinema noirists crave. Certainly recommended!

Gary Tooze