The 4K UHD of Philip Kaufman's Invasion of the Body Snatchers is reviewed HERE

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

Shout! Factory gives the audio option of a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround at a healthy 3352 kbps or a similar 2.0 channel (both in 24-bit). The surround sounds very rich and deep (very similar to the Arrow 5.1) and benefits the score by Denny Zeitlin (Invasion of the Body Snatchers his only film credit composure) plus the film is remembered to include Amazing Grace as performed by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards and Richard Allison's De La Tromba Pavin. It also includes optional English (SDH) subtitles but is region 'A'-locked.

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Audio, on the other hand has some slight differences. Arrow have gone with uncompressed for both the 2.0 (LPCM) and 5.1 (DTS-HD). The surround is a duplicate of the MGM (to my ears) but its reassuring to have the 2.0 channel original also in its premium lossless format. The Arrow also offers English subtitles (seemingly a near replication of the MGM - font, size - just a lot brighter) but the Arrow is Region 'B'-locked.

NOTE: Sent in by Michael (Thanks Michael!): Further to your review of 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', you might also like to know that Arrow corrected a small audio flub that was present on both the MGM BD and the HD master that fuelled both releases. If you look at Don Siegel's cameo as the taxi driver on the MGM BD, he appears to be talking to himself. The old DVD revealed that we should also be hearing his controller communicating with him over the radio - for some reason, that particular audio stem was dropped or accidentally muted when the soundtrack was remastered, but the controller's voice has been reinstated on the Arrow release.

Extras is where the Arrow vaults ahead. It includes the informative Kaufman commentary (only found on the MGM DVD) plus the 4 vintage documentaries (running a little over 1/2 hour);  Re-Visitors from Outer Space: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Pod a documentary on the making of the film featuring Philip Kaufman, Donald Sutherland, writer W.D. Richter and more, The Man Behind the Scream: The Sound Effects Pod takes a look at the film's pioneering sound effects, The Invasion Will Be Televised: The Cinematography Pod cinematographer Michael Chapman (Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) discusses the look of and influences on the visual style of the film and Practical Magic: The Special Effect Pod is a look at the creation of the special effects from the opening space sequence. PLUS Arrow add three further 'Pod' pieces - a 'Pod Discussion' consisting of a new 51-minute panel conversation about Invasion of the Body Snatchers and invasion cinema featuring critic Kim Newman and filmmakers Ben Wheatley and Norman J. Warren. Dissecting the Pod: is a 20-minute new interview with Kaufman biographer Annette Insdorf and 11-minutes of Pod Novel: a new interview with Jack Seabrook, author of Stealing through Time: On the Writings of Jack Finney about Finney's original novel The Body Snatchers.

It seems like we have all the best of the MGM... and then some. It is the definitive package of this film and comes in an alternate Blu-ray Steelbook case for fans with as high opinion of the film as I. This gets better each time I see it. Strongly recommended!   

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'ADDITION: MGM (US) -Region 'A' - Blu-ray September 2010: Okay - this is a wonderfully enjoyable film - a superb remake of Siegel's 56' classic (compared HERE).

Although it initially appears as MGM have scrimped with the 'thrown in' inclusion of a DVD - which we were able to determine was the 1998 non-anamorphic, flipper disc (pan and scan version on opposite side). This was the reason we actually included it in the comparison. Technically though - the MGM Blu-ray appears to be adept with a dual-layered transfer - the feature taking up almost 38 Gig for the, less than 2-hour, film. There is quite a high bitrate. The 2-disc Collector's Edition DVD was excellent for that SD medium and the Blu-ray doesn't advance predominately in colors but it showcases the grain in a more even, consistent fashion - this same grain often appeared as blotchier noise on the 2007 DVD.  Now, noise still exists on the Blu-ray image cinematographer Michael Chapman (notable for such Scorsese films as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) describes in the extra featurette The Invasion Will Be Televised - the Cinematography Pod that the image was intentionally very dark - making the viewer pay strict attention to distinguish detail. This grain gives a potent textured appearance that improves the presentation in my opinion. I don't see digital manipulation and suggest that this is probably as close to theatrical as we are likely to get.

Audio may actually be an even stronger component to this transfer. There are plenty of deliberately spaced audio effects in the film and the powerful DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 3350 kbps exports some decent depth as well as a bit of surprisingly spooky range. This area there is a notable difference from the DVDs and there are optional English, French and Spanish subtitles choices offered on all three editions. My Momitsu has identified the US Blu-ray as being a region 'A'-locked.

Supplements contain the same featurettes as the CE DVD with the 16-minute piece - Visitors From Outer Space, or How I Stop Worrying and Learned to Love the Pod - a shorter piece on the special effects entitled Practical Magic, The Man Behind the Scream - The Sound Effects Pod details more about the audio - lasting almost 13-minutes and lastly the aforementioned 'Cinematography Pod' for less than 6-minutes. While all of these are offered in HD - the video quality is limited on these extras such that it looks as if they were simply blown up from the resolution of the CE DVD. We also get an original theatrical trailer (2:11 in HD!) and on the included 'pan and scan' flipper disc has the, more-then-decade-old, Kaufman commentary. This is frustrating not to have the commentary moved over to the Blu-ray - how hard could it have been? - unless there is a legality around it. I'm sure it is just laziness. Still these are good extras despite nothing being new.