NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

UPDATE (November 25th, 2021): As per our uncovering, and Criterion's admission (below), the 4K UHD image is vastly superior and doesn't have the encoding issue that the included Blu-ray (replaceable) has. The 3840 X 2160 is wonderfully grain-soaked with deft contrast and a brilliant visuals in-motion.  

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.

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ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (November 2021): Criterion have transferred Orson Welles's Citizen Kane to Blu-ray and 4K UHD. We aren't capable, yet, of obtaining screen captures for the 4K UHD. Perhaps in the next few days we can add them here. The Blu-ray is cited as being from a "New 4K digital restoration". This is a three Blu-ray disc package with the feature on the first disc and supplements on the remaining two discs. The 4K UHD has the three Blu-rays included making it a 4-disc package. There are no extras, aside from the three commentaries on the first Blu-ray or 4K UHD discs.

The 1080P looks quite strong, superior to Warner's 2011 Blu-ray (reviewed HERE) in varying degrees, often darker, showing more grain and richer contrast layering. It's a dual-layered rendering with a max'ed out bitrate with nothing else sharing that first Blu-ray disc. Until we get almost exactly 30-minutes into the film - just prior to the scene in Bernstein's office (with the contentious visibility of the rain on the windows) and the Criterion Blu-ray alters and shows a very softer, paler, contrast - the brightness diminished. This difference is NOT as notable on the 4K UHD disc - and doesn't appear to exist at all on my system (deconstructing that disc may prove otherwise.) Purists will appreciate that the rain is highly visible on the 4K UHD transfer. I don't have any explanation for this on the Blu-ray, nor do I find it looks unsatisfying - only different from the first 1/2 hour of the film. The screen captures below should support this disparity.

STATEMENT FROM CRITERION:

"We discovered this weekend that there is a problem with Blu-ray disc 1 in all of our Citizen Kane editions that affects the contrast in the feature film, starting around the 30-minute mark and lasting until the end of the film. The 4K UHD disc is not affected. We are in the process of manufacturing corrected copies and will be making replacements available to all of our customers. We hope to have replacement discs ready to ship before the end of the year.

If you would like to exchange your disc, please send the Blu-ray disc 1 only (no packaging) to:

The Criterion Collection
Attn: Jon Mulvaney / KANE
215 Park Ave South, 5th Floor
New York, NY 10003

There is no need to protect the disc you are returning, and please do not send the packaging or other discs, as we will not be replacing complete sets.

Please include your address for the replacement disc. We’ll also send you a $10 gift certificate to Criterion.com.

If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us at orders@criterion.com.

Our apologies for this inconvenience, and thanks as always for your support. Best wishes for a happy, safe, and wonderful holiday."  

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NOTE: 60 more more full resolution (3840 X 2160) 4K UHD captures, in lossless PNG format, for Patrons are available HERE

NOTE: We have added 68 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Citizen Kane has a lot of music - no demonstrative aggression with a score credited to the iconic Bernard Herrmann (Vertigo, Blue Denim, Beneath the 12-Mile Reef, Cape Fear, The Magnificent Ambersons, The Wrong Man, The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, Mysterious Island, Jason and the Argonauts, Obsession, Hangover Square, Taxi Driver, etc. etc.) far less distinguishable than the bombastic efforts from 'Hitchcock or Harryhausen' days yet to come. There is also It Can't Be Love performed by Raymond Tate, Buddy Collette, Buddy Banks, CeePee Johnson, and Alton Redd, Una voce poco fa from the opera "Il barbiere di Seviglia" by Gioachino Rossini sung by Dorothy Comingore (dubbed by Jean Forward), there is some Wagner ("News On The March" sequence, Chopin (Funeral March - Third Movement of "Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor, Op. 35"), and plenty of pieces by Roy Webb (Becky Sharp, A Bill of Divorcement, Notorious, The Spiral Staircase, The Curse of the Cat People, I Married a Witch, The Fallen Sparrow, The Window, Journey Into Fear, I Walked with a Zombie etc) - all sounding clean, authentically flat and appropriately moody with consistent dialogue in the lossless transfer. Criterion offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray. This appears to be the same audio transfer on the 4K UHD which also has English (SDH) subtitles but, like all of that format's transfers is Region FREE.

The Criterion Blu-ray (and 4K) offers the three audio commentaries: a new one (2021) featuring Orson Welles scholars James Naremore - author of Orson Welles's Citizen Kane: A Casebook (Casebooks in Criticism) - and Jonathan Rosenbaum; from 2002 featuring filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich; and from 2002 featuring film critic Roger Ebert. These are all very good with different attributes, essential analysis and brimming with detail. I am enjoying the new one right now.

The packages are stacked with the two 'supplement' Blu-rays. Highlights would be the 1991, UK-produced, 1.5 hour, rarely seen feature-length BBC documentary, The Complete “Citizen Kane” described on IMDb as "A closer look at Citizen Kane and the stories behind this cinematic milestone that became one of the greatest films of all time. Made as part of the many celebrations of the movie's 50th anniversary, the documentary presents interviews with actors and technicians involved in Kane's making; film historians; the controversial Pauline Kael - who wrote a critical article about Orson Welles real contribution to the film; and of course, old clips of Welles himself revealing details about his very first film project." There are also excellent new interviews with critic Farran Smith Nehme for 23-minutes and film scholar Racquel J. Gates for over 1/4 hour, a new video essay by Orson Welles scholar Robert Carringer (author of The Making of Citizen Kane) and a fascinating new program on the film’s special effects by film scholars and effects experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt running shy of 28-minutes.

There are also interviews from 1990 with editor Robert Wise; actor Ruth Warrick for almost 20-minutes; optical-effects designer Linwood Dunn; Bogdanovich; filmmakers Martin Scorsese, a piece entitled "Knowing Welles" with Henry Jaglom, Gary Graver Martin Ritt, Peter Bogdanovich and Frank Marshall - another with cinematographers Allen Daviau, Haskell Wexler, and Vilmos Zsigmond discussing Greg Toland for 1/4 hour. More? 11-minutes of audio of Roger Ebert extolling it as his favorite film, a RKO Pathe News on the 'Premiere Opening' of Citizen Kane, an advertisement trailer for the film with Welles narration, interviews with actor Joseph Cotten from 1966 and 1975 (one briefly at the AFI.) We also get The Hearts of Age, a brief silent film made by Welles as a student in 1934 with a disclaimer about black-face and a racist caricature. There are television programs, Merv Griffin + Dick Cavett, from 1979 and 1988 featuring appearances by Welles and Mercury Theatre producer John Houseman dismissing 'burying the hatchet' as it were. Included are a 20-minute program featuring a 1996 interview with actor William Alland on his collaborations with Welles and an extensive piece with John Houseman interviewed. "On the Nose" discusses in detail Welles penchant for false noses in his roles and there are a selection of three 'Mercury Theatre on the Air' radio plays featuring many of the actors from Citizen Kane - running over an hour. The deluxe packaging includes a book with an essay by film critic Bilge Ebiri and has a new cover by Mike McQuade.

Orson Welles's Citizen Kane is cinema royalty. It's a film to revisit for the rest of your life seeing deeper meaning and subtleties in every viewing. I will leave Citizen Kane scholars to discuss the Criterion Blu-ray image-shift but can share that 4K UHD disc is easily the best viewing, by a wide margin, that I have ever seen of the film. The extensive Criterion extras (3 commentaries and 2 Blu-rays worth) make this a must own for cinephiles everywhere. This will definitely be one of the most discussed packages of the year.

Gary Tooze