ADDITION: Arbelos Blu-ray (March 2021): Arbelos have transferred Béla Tarr's Sátántangó to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New 4K restoration from the original negative and sound materials" and is housed on two dual-layered Blu-ray discs with the 7-hour the epic divided into three 'parts' - with the first 2-hour+ sections on the first disc (part one has the prologues and 3 chapters, part 2 has 3 chapters) and the last, three hour part (6 chapters), on the 2nd dual-layered Blu-ray. This is a massive upgrade over the DVDs, which do show a shade more information in the frame but had rounded corners. It is a significantly superior image - great texture, layered contrast and no artifacts (Facets). It was a revelation to see this in 1080P after suffering with SD for the last 15-years. The 4K restoration is a total success. The improvement is extremely satisfying. 

NOTE: Regarding the UK Blu-ray (Curzon / Artificial Eye) - Our friend, Jan Bielawski, has informed us in email:
"I'm a fan of the film so I got both Blu-ray versions: the Curzon (Region B) and the Arbelos (Region A). Both actually feature the Arbelos transfer, picture quality looks very similar (FAPP indistinguishable in places) and the framing (frame content) is identical.
BUT: the odd thing is their frame sizes: Arbelos is 1792 x 1080 and Curzon is 1722 x 1080 (aspect ratios 1.66:1 and 1.6:1, respectively).
In other words, the Curzon disc is very slightly anamorphically squeezed. How does this sort of thing happen - has someone mistyped "1.6" instead of "1.66" in some authoring suite or something? It's weird how things of that sort can escape quality control." (Thanks Jan!)

NOTE: We have added 56 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Arbelos use a linear PCM 1.0 channel mono track (24-bit) in the original Hungarian language. The score is by Mihály Vig (NotFilm, Béla Tarr's The Turin Horse, The Man from London, Werckmeister Harmonies etc.). It sounds clean without pops or hiss and is authentically flat via the uncompressed transfer. Arbelos offer optional English subtitles (see sample below) on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Arbelos augment their Blu-ray release with supplements. There is a new 41-minute video interview entitled "A Sense of Rhythm" with composer and actor Mihály Víg. He is a composer, poet, songwriter, guitarist and singer plus being the co-founder of bands Trabant (1980–1986) and Balaton (1979–present), and known for his musical and occasional acting collaborations with Tarr. His comments are very welcome. I loved the new, 20-minute, video essay "Orders of Time in Motion" by Kevin B. Lee. Very insightful - great work Kevin. There is also a 2007 archival interview with director Béla Tarr running 23-minutes, and a U.S. theatrical trailer.

Sátántangó is #36 on the Sight & Sound / British Film Institute's Critic's Poll of the 100 Greatest Films Ever Made. I can't say much more than the Arbelos description: "One of the greatest achievements in recent art house cinema and a seminal work of "slow cinema," Sátántangó, based on the novel by László Krasznahorkai, follows the members of a humble agricultural community living in a bleak and punishing backwater after the fall of Communism... Shot in stunning black-and-white by Gábor Medvigy and filled with exquisitely composed long takes, Sátántangó unfolds in twelve distinct movements, alternating forwards and backwards in time, echoing the structure of a tango dance. Béla Tarr's vision, aided by long-time partner and collaborator Ágnes Hranitzky, is enthralling and his portrayal of rural Hungary beset by drunken revelry, treachery, and near-perpetual rainfall is both transfixing and uncompromising. Sátántangó has been justly lauded by critics and audiences as a masterpiece..."  Arbelos' '25th anniversary 4K Blu-ray restoration of Béla Tarr's masterpiece' is a welcome addition to any cinephile's digital library... in fact, we consider it essential. Don't hesitate to pick this up, immediately.

I haven't watched the three discs all the way through but have done some extensive sampling to reach these conclusions.

While I can appreciate Facets giving a decent attempt at a 'package' here - they are still miserable failures on the digital transfer front. The second disc is single-layered and overall the image is much darker. In short the Artificial Eye set - also imperfect - is far in advance of this Facets representation of Tarr's masterpiece film. Depending on the system it can be a humungous difference - like night and day. Facets have even cheaply duplicated the exact same static menus screen for all three feature discs.

NOTE: The term 'director approved' seems to get thrown around a lot these past few years. What is can mean is the director endorses the print that the digital transfer is made from. It, very infrequently, means he/she approves the final encode - where anything can happen - from cropping to incorrect standard conversion. The fact that this Facet's package is labeled as 'director approved' is fairly meaningless. 

I didn't give a thorough test to the audio but it too seems, like the image transfer, at the weaker end of the scale.

Facets have tried with a fourth disc inclusion (single-layered). It includes Tarr's TV version of Macbeth (1982 - 63 minutes 4:3 interlaced), Journey on the Plain (1995, 34 minutes - color), Prologue (2004, 5 minutes, 4:3 letterboxed - interlaced) and 5 minutes on the restoration which states Facts as initiating the removal of 500,000 pieces of dirt and debris, scratch repair etc. from the print. There is also a 24-page linter notes booklet which includes the text of "A Symposium at Facets" with Susan Doll in conversation with Jonathan Rosenbaum. The latter may be the best part of this set.

In an age where DVD production companies are producing high-definition digital transfers on Blu-ray disc - I'm afraid Facets appears as a techno-dinosaur with their work only really acceptably viewable on old tube TVs (the smaller the better). They have some amazing licensed works in their stable of films but need a strong influx of cash to support them to modern standards. This is almost as bad as Fox/Lorber's stuff from more than a decade ago. The extras are a positive attempt although they too lack any type of impressive representation. So despite this we really have no alternative but to continue to recommend the Artificial Eye package (currently half the price of the Facets) - which we strongly encourage to those both uninitiated to the film or post-appreciating it.