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or in the US edition  (September 2012)

Criterion, predictably, go, authentic, linear PCM mono for the audio. The Incredible Shrinking Man is modest on sound effects but there is the fair grounds, snarling cat etc. but most of the drama is from the score - uncredited - by composers Irving Gertz (Gun For a Coward, Curse of the Undead, The Leech Woman, It Came From Outer Space, Blonde Ice, Plunder Road, The Deadly Mantis), Hans J. Salter (Jungle Queen, Man Without a Star, The Killer that Stalked New York, The Strange Door, Cover Up, Man Without a Star, Scarlet Street, The Land Unknown, The War Lord, The Mole People, The Strange Case of Doctor Rx) and Herman Stein (Horizons West, Six Bridges to Cross, Son of Ali Baba, Man in the Shadow, Female on the Beach, This Island Earth, It Came From Outer Space, War Arrow, Tarantula, There's Always Tomorrow) and in the commentary David Schecter of Monstrous Movie Music tells us about the theme (a trumpet solo by Ray Anthony) and the awkwardness of "The Girl in a Lonely Room" (written by Foster Carling and Earl E. Lawrence.) The film's audio is authentically flat, clean and clear via the uncompressed mono track. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles on this Region 'A' Blu-ray.

Criterion, thankfully, stack the Blu-ray supplements starting with a new commentary by genre-film historian Tom Weaver. He is always fun and informative doing interview recreations and providing airtime to horror-music expert David Schecter to provide details on the score. Weaver covers plenty of lesser-known minutia (producer Albert Zugsmith added the word "Incredible" to Matheson's title, the cat and spiders used etc.), he reads from Giancarlo Stampalia's book entitled Grant Williams, and cites his own interviews stars related tangentially related to The Incredible Shrinking Man. It's a wonderful addition especially since Criterion have revered away from new commentaries in the past few years. There is a new 25-minute program on the film’s special effects by effects experts Craig Barron and Ben Burtt who discuss filming techniques used to create some of The Incredible Shrinking Man's set pieces. We get a new 23-minute conversation between filmmaker Joe Dante and comedian and writer Dana Gould who discuss their love of The Incredible Shrinking Man. Auteur on the Campus: Jack Arnold at Universal (Director’s Cut) is a new 50-minute piece, there is a 11-minute interview from 2016 with Richard Christian Matheson, novelist and screenwriter Richard Matheson’s son. We get another of Robert Fischer's Fiction Factory gems. Here is an interview with director Jack Arnold from 1983 running 27-minutes. It was excerpted from a series of interviews conducted by German journalist Roland Johannes in August 9th and 10th, 1983, at director Jack Arnold's office on the Universal Studios lot over the course of two days. NOTE: From Robert Fischer in email: "The Koch Media Blu-ray had the 12-minute version as aired on German television back in the nineties. Thanks to Roland Johannes, I gained access to the complete, unedited footage of his talks with Arnold and composed this newly illustrated version of Arnold's unabridged comments on The Incredible Shrinking Man (thereby adding 15 minutes to what Koch had on their disc), which previously was only available as a German transcript in a book on Arnold published in 1993." Criterion include an 8 mm home-cinema version from 1957 runny shy of 17-minutes, plus a trailer and teaser narrated by filmmaker Orson Welles. Included is the 17-minute The Lost Music of The Incredible Shrinking Man where horror-film-music expert David Schecter presents recordings previously lost and unused for the film. Return to Dust is a harrowing 20-minute radio play, about a scientist shrinking in his lab. It originally aired via the program Suspense on February 1st, 1959. The scientist is played by Richard "Dick" Beals an actor with a unique high-pitched voice. The package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Geoffrey O’Brien. 

The Incredible Shrinking Man is an unforgettable classic - full of continuity questions, extremely inventive and ambitious effects, bizarre concluding speech, and filled with childhood nostalgia. The stacked 4K-restored Criterion Blu-ray, filled with a new commentary and extensive supplements, is too alluring to resist and we give it a very strong recommendation! This is a huge keeper for me. 

***

ADDITION: Koch Media - Region 'B' - Blu-ray June 15': Initially, looking at the static captures, the new 1080P from Germany may not seem like a huge HD difference, but it actually transforms the artifacts in the SD to rich grain. It is in the 1.85:1 aspect ratio and shows a bit more information in the frame. Contrast is more layered and the detail tightens. The higher resolution may show some of the lesser-quality special-effects of the film a bit more prominently. There are segments showing depth. It is dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate. It may be a different print with a few more speckles but I doubt this can look significantly better. It shows some pleasing texture not present in SD. This follows other Universal Sci-fi/creature features on Blu-ray from Germany like The Mole People (1956), Tarantula (1955), The Monolith Monsters (1957) and The Land Unknown (1957) although this, The Incredible Shrinking Man, may be considered the most 'classic' - a totally inventive gem from the late 50's.

Audio is transferred via a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel at 1585 kbps in original English and a similarly robust German DUB. Audio effects are less notable than the score - by uncredited combination of Earl E. Lawrence, Irving Gertz (Plunder Road, Blonde Ice and The Deadly Mantis among others), Herman Stein (This Island Earth) and Hans J. Salter (The Wolfman). It is quite dramatic and impacting adding flavor to the viewing experience. There are fully optional English and German subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

Koch add supplements; a 12-minute interview with Jack Arnold in English but German-friendly, ditto for an 8-minute Super 8 digest-version of The Incredible Shrinking Man, plus an English theatrical trailer, teaser and an image gallery.