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

ADDITION: Criterion Blu-ray (October 2020): Criterion have transferred Federico Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits to Blu-ray as part of their 14 films (15-Blu-rays) package of Essential Fellini that includes Toby Dammit 1968, Variety Lights 1950, The White Sheik 1952, I vitelloni 1953, La strada 1954, Il bidone 1955, Nights of Cabiria 1957, La dolce vita 1960, 8½ 1963, Juliet of the Spirits 1965, Fellini Satyricon 1969, Roma 1972, Amarcord 1973, And the Ship Sails On 1983 and Intervista 1987. This is the 9th Blu-ray in the Essential Fellini package.

The package has "New 4K restorations" - for the 100th anniversary of Federico Fellini's birth.

Juliet of the Spirits cited in the opening text screens as: "Restoration of Juliet of the Spirits (Federico Faith, 1965) completed in 2015 by Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Cineteca Nazionale from the original 35mm picture and optical soundtrack negative made available by RTI-Mediaset. A few sections affected by severe decay were replaced with interpositive materials conserved by Cineteca Nazionale. Color restoration supervision by Gianfranco Angelucci. All laboratory work was carried out at Rumblefish VFX, Milan."  

Criterion's new 1080P transfer looks very good but strangely all 4 digital editions in this comparison seem to have different color schemes (even the title - see above.). It is in the correct 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a middling bitrate for the 2.5 hour film (running a full 8-minutes longer than their own DVD from 2010 - so it is the 'original Italian release') that shares the disc with many extras including a new digital restorations of the short film Toby Dammit (1968). I can't really speak to the authenticity of any of the colors in the 4 transfers, but I can admonish the Cult Films image as 1080i (PAL timing) with flagrant digitization issues like macro-blocking (see sample below) artifacts and edge enhancement. The Criterion 1080P looks a bit duller side-by-side but that is due to the Cult Films Blu-ray being boosted. The UK HD transfer also is horizontally stretched, possibly to conform to a 1.85:1 aspect ratio because information is missing on both side edges as compared to the Criterion. I'd say, quite easily, the Criterion is the best presentation - notably in-motion, but that also greatly stems from the other digital transfers having issues. With the reported state of the decay of some of the original elements - this 2015 restoration may be the best we ever get for Juliet of the Spirits.  

NOTE: We have added 58 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 Italian language. The Italian-standard post DUB'ing is noticeable for Masina as we have seen before but you learn to live with it. The score is, again, by Nino Rota (La Strada, Rocco and His Brothers, Death on the Nile, Nights of Cabiria, 8 1/2, I Clowns, Purple Noon, The Leopard etc.) adding some contemplative chords to the more extravagant visual scenes. Criterion offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Criterion Blu-ray repeats the 22-minute Familiar Spirits, interview with Fellini by Ian Dallas and the theatrical trailer - both found on their 2010 DVD. But they add significantly more. We get Fellini's 1968 3/4 hour short Toby Dammit (Federico Fellini's entry in the 1968 omnibus project Spirits of the Dead, which comprises three shorts based on the stories of Edgar Allan Poe (the others were directed by Roger Vadim and Louis Malle). Terence Stamp stars in Toby Dammit, which is based on Poe's "Never Bet the Devil Your Head.") with the initial text screen stating "Restoration of Toby Dammit (Federico Fellini, 1968) completed in 2019 by Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia - Cineteca Nazionale and Istituto Luce - Cinecitta from a 35mm internegative made available by Alberto Grimaldi Productions and from a soundtrack positive conserved by Cineteca Nazionale. All laboratory work was carried out at Studio Emme, Rome."

Also restored is the 51-minute "Fellini: A Director's Notebook"; "This restoration of Fe A Director's Notebook was undertaken in 2019 at L'Immagine Ritrovata by the Cineteca di Bologna and Compagnia Leone Cinematografica for the Fellini 100 Project. Produced by NBC, the film circulated in Italy in two versions, one 50 minutes long and the other 37 minutes long. The only available element for the restoration of the longer version was a 16 mm print. Due to the lack of additional materials, it was not possible to repair all the damage in that version."

Also included in that section are a series of text screen of Fellini's Letter from July 20th, 1968 that starts "Dear Peter: Here for you briefly are some ideas, notes, and proposals that can give life to the television program that we have spoken about. The program essentially would be in the manner of a notebook (the notebook of a director) consisting of sketches and proposals, not in a journalistic vein but in one of drama and fantasy. Episodes and adventures of the preparation and work on the film that I am presently realizing..."

Lastly, is another of the behind-the-scenes documentaries entitled Reporter’s Diary: “Zoom on Fellini” from 1965 - a documentary about Federico Fellini made and aired on Italian television.  

NOTE: The deluxe packaging, includes two lavishly illustrated books with hundreds of pages of content: notes on the films by scholar David Forgacs, essays by filmmakers Michael Almereyda, Kogonada, and Carol Morley; film critics Bilge Ebiri and Stephanie Zacharek; and novelist Colm Tóibín, and dozens of images spotlighting Don Young’s renowned collection of Fellini memorabilia collector’s set designed by Raphael Geroni, with new illustrations by Abigail Giuseppe.