ADDITION: Arrow (Steelcase) - Region  'B' Blu-ray - May 2015: Okay, I'm going to try to be brief. The Long Good Friday has been exclusively restored for this Blu-ray release by Arrow Films. The original camera negative was scanned in 2K resolution on a pin-registered Arriscan, and the film was graded on a Baselight grading system. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris and scratches were removed through a combination of digital restoration tools, Image stability was also improved.

The film's original mono soundtrack was transferred from the magnetic reels and audio issues such as pops, clicks and audible buzz were repaired or removed. The restoration of The Long Good Friday was fully graded under the supervisions of Director of Photography Phil Meheux and was completed in 2K resolution. This project was supervised by James White on behalf of Arrow Films, with all work carried out at Deluxe Restoration, London.

Looking at the below screen captures (in full resolution) will verify the Arrow transfer's superiority over the 2010 Image Entertainment 1080P edition. Grain is more apparent, colors (flesh tones) normalize and it is more stable in-motion. The mono soundtrack is, obviously, more authentic to the original theatrical presentation and the electro-based theme by Francis Monkman sounds rich and deep via the linear PCM. There are optional English subtitles on the region 'B'-locked Blu-ray disc.

NOTE: Ben tells us in FB: "Hey, great review as always but I'd just like to point out Disc 2 is actually exclusive to the Limited Edition box set (with Mona Lisa and a hard-back book). The steelbook only has the first disc, and a DVD copy of the same disc (so Dual Format). Just thought this should be made clear for people looking to buy the release - they might be disappointed if they bought the steelbook to find no Disc 2"

Arrow include many supplements including the commentary by director John Mackenzie and a 55-minute documentary entitled Bloody Business, about the making of the film, including interviews with John Mackenzie, Bob Hoskins, Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, producer Barry Hanson and cinematographer Phil Meheux. There are also brand new interviews with writer Barrie Keeffe and cinematographer Phil Meheux, a Hands Across the Ocean video piece about the US reaction to the film and the subtitles used in the US releases and there is a couple of theatrical trailers. The Steelbook also has a DVD.

Arrow included a second Blu-ray disc (in the Mona Lisa added set - NOT the Steelbook)  that has the 1977, 1/2 hour, Health + Safety film Apaches with a brief introduction by Phil Meheux. The single-layered second Blu-ray also has a 1/2 hour Q+A with Bob Hoskins and John Mackenzie and over an hour's worth of new interviews with Barry Hanson, Barrie Keeffe, cinematographer Phil Meheux and assistant directors Simon Hinkly and Carlotta Barrow. The steelcase also has a collector's booklet featuring new writing on the film by critic and BFI curator Mark Duguid, illustrated with original production stills.

Quite handily, this Arrow Blu-ray package is the most complete digital edition of The Long Good Friday from the a/v restoration to the extensive supplements. An amazing piece of work that Arrow should be proud of. It marks them as the absolute top shelf of digital production companies on the globe. Fans of the film are in for a real treat. Our highest recommendation!

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ADDITION: (August 2010) Image Entertainment Region 'A' - Blu-ray: Firstly, I don't own Region FREE Anchor Bay UK Blu-ray edition available HERE  (now Out-Of-Print) but suspect like the others it will technically be a superior transfer to this Image Entertainment disc. However one comment on Amazon does state that it is incorrect at 1.66:1. This 1.78 US release appears to be cropped on the left edge and the rendering is single-layered with a modest bitrate and no real extras aside from a trailer. It offers a decent lossless 5.1 audio at 2000 Kbps but the video rarely goes dramatically in advancement of the previous DVDs - colors (like reds) are notable and flesh tones appear to warm up. This has optional English subtitles while the UK Blu-ray does not - and my Momitsu has identified the Image Entertainment as being a region 'A'-locked. 

NOTE: like the Anchor Bay Blu-ray this has the original 'Brit' language audio (ex. 'poxy', 'in the boot', 'grasses' etc.) not the Americanized DUB.

Like we said about Time Bandits, Mona Lisa and Withnail and I - the most attractive feature to the Image Ent. Blu-ray is the asking price. The UK edition is even more reasonable at present but is supposedly cropped. ?

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ON THE DVDs: NOTE: We have added one frame from the PAL UK (also by Anchor Bay) release below. It has the same commentary but the featurette is a 30 minute interview.

In an unusual circumstance Anchor Bay is besting Criterion whose ancient (1999) bare-bones 4:3 widescreen release seems like easy pickings to climb above. The Criterion captures are in their native resolution but the Anchor Bay have been reduced from 960 to 800 so judgment of detail via the screen caps is not 100% accurate. I still think the Criterion nudges ahead on detail - colors are about the same. The Criterion edition has a black border around the outer edge limiting horizontal resolution. The Anchor Bay skin tones are a little red indicating some possible manipulation.

Where the Anchor Bay vaults ahead is in the extras department - Criterion offers a UK and US trailer but Anchor Bay have a director commentary and an , almost hour long, featurette.

One note of disappointment - as the cockney slang can be quite thick until you catch on - optional subtitles, by either release, would have been appreciated.       

 - Gary Tooze