The big question involves the aspect ratios; The BFI Blu-ray is in the 2.38:1 aspect ratio where the Kino Blu-ray is in the 2.23:1 aspect ratio. The US releases has information cropped from the side edges. I have no idea whey this is so, but we are investigating and have sent out some 'feelers'. It seems quite odd. We are also looking into the running time and why the Kino is 3s seconds longer but I'm sure its the opening screen showing the Studio Canal logo - which I don't recall on the BFI.

NOTE: Regarding the aspect ratio: "Regarding the aspect ratio of The Day the Earth Caught Fire, it appears that the master file used has a resolution of either 4096x1716 or 2048x858. This corresponds to the DCI standards for features in Cinemascope. However, since the current HD och UHD formats doesn't support these resolutions, the image must be modified in one way or another. Either by scaling it down to 1920x804 which may cause some artifacts or cropping the image horizontally to 1920x858 to maintain a 1:1 pixel mapping (if the master is indeed 2K that is).

The cropping of this sort is fairly common on 1.85:1 features on UHD-BD. We've seen it on both War of the Worlds and Saving Private Ryan, which are cropped from 3996x2160 to 3840x2160 meaning you'll maintain the sharpest possible image at the cost of losing a slight bit of information on the left and right side of the image." (Thanks J.J.)

The rest of the image is the same as the BFI with the yellow tints, with the restorers finding the original gels including for the 'Certification notice'. The Kino may be minutely sharper but it's hard to be certain when they are not the same aspect ratio.

For the audio Kino go DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel dual-mono at only 16-bit (as opposed to BFI's 24-bit.) The Stanley Black score propels many scenes and there is the curiosity of Monty Norman's Beatnik contribution. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles, in a smaller font, and the Kino Blu-ray disc is Region 'A'-locked.

Kino off the same commentary with Val Guest and Ted Newsom but also a new second commentary from Richard Harland Smith who goes into great detail about many aspects from Atomic bomb testing (a few days before the film's première) and fascinating minutia on the cast/crew and degrees of separation from other productions including some James Bond / Ian Fleming / Wolf Mankowitz links. He's always good to indulge for a rewatch - prepared and detailed - a very calm voice a pleasure to listen to. There are also 4 TV Spots in SD (notable for having Leo McKern's famous line of "... irresponsible bastards" changed to "... irresponsible bunglers". There are four radio spots and a The Day the Earth Caught Fire trailer - plus trailers for Quatermass Xperiment (under the title The Creeping Unknown) and Terence Fisher's The Earth Dies Screaming.

So there you have it - a question about the aspect ratio (answered above) - but an otherwise strong, 4K restored 1080P image and a delightful new commentary for Kino's new Blu-ray.                

***

ADDITION: BFI Blu-ray - October 14': Firstly, this is described as "Newly remastered by the BFI National Archive and available on Blu-ray for the very first time, this is the definitive version of the classic British science fiction thriller." and starts with this screen:

So this is a brand new 4K transfer by the BFI National Archive and looks pretty sweet. The most notable difference from the older SD is the reddish-orange-ness of the DVD compared to the burnt-yellow of the new 1080P transfer (even in the 'Censor's Certification' screen - see below). This is a tint as the opening and ending were shot in black and white and later tinted with the restorers finding the original gels. The HD, must surely be more authentic to the theatrical, and advances in most visual areas - looking tighter, showing more depth with a crisper appearance with more layered contrast. It appears to show a shade more information in the frame - at the top - than the single-layered, PAL sped-up, DVD from 2009. The restoration has produced a very clean image, dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate, that looks far superior in-motion than previous digital offerings.

The audio is transferred via a linear PCM 1.0 channel, flat, mono track at 1152 kbps.  Benefiting is Stanley Black's (1960's Hammer film Stop Me Before I Kill! ) - often intense score balanced nicely between resigned emptiness and catastrophic drama. The brief Beatnik music was composed by Monty Norman! There are optional English (SDH) subtitles, in a white font, and the BFI Blu-ray disc is Region 'B'-locked.

Extras are never-ending with an older audio commentary with Val Guest and Ted Newsom. Guest states that he had not seen the film for a long time and Newsome does a great job of bringing out the director/writer/producer's recollections including specific dissolves, Les Bowie's 'Matte + Process shots', and other tracking shots. Val Guest passed away in 2006 - and I am unsure when this commentary was recorded but it was on the US DVD from around 2000. It is well-worth listening to, IMO. Hot Off the Press: Revisiting the Day the Earth Caught Fire is a 2014 documentary by John Kelly, running over 1/2 hour and detailing some of the journalistic angles to the film and some important information about the political climate at the time of production with many, fascinating, and salient details. There is a 2001 interview with Leo McKern by Paul Venezis, running 9-minutes with his recollections of The Day the Earth Caught Fire. There is also a 9-minute audio-only appreciation by Graeme Hobbs (reviewer with MovieMail.) The lengthiest extras is the hour-long The Guardian Lecture: Val Guest and Yolande Dolan interviewed by David Meeker from 1998. There is an original trailer (2:38), 4 TV spots (1:56) and 4 Radio spots (2:19) plus a stills and collections gallery - in a slideshow lasting almost 7-minutes. There are more supplements; The H-bomb is a 1956 civil defence information film by David Villiers, demonstrating the damage that might be expected from a ten megaton bomb - and running 20-minutes. Operation Hurricane is a 1/2 hour documentary from 1952 exploring the work involved in, and the research behind Britain's first atomic bomb tests, The Hole in the Ground also runs 30-minutes. It is from1962 by David Cobham and is a dramatization of a nuclear attack demonstrating the operation of Britain's warning system for atomic war and lastly is a 49-second road safety film with Edward Judd entitled Think Bike. The package contains a fully illustrated booklet with extensive credits and newly commissioned essays from John Oliver and Marcus Hearn

The Day the Earth Caught Fire is, by no means, a typical science-fiction film. It deals more with the emotional atmosphere of a potential-apocalypse - rather than the nuts and bolts, effect-based, details (although they are broached). There is incredible atmosphere here and an almost addictive film. It's fabulous to see the BFI bring this, restored, to Blu-ray in such a complete and wonderful package. Our highest recommendation!   

Gary W. Tooze