NOTE: With the different aspect ratios it was often harder to get exact frame matches but I did in many captures below; backstage, the two with fire, the black and white wrestling shot etc.)

Coen go-to composer Carter Burwell (A Serious Man, No Country for Old Men, The Big Lebowski) the background music for Barton Fink. The Kino is also transferred in a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel stereo but only 16-bit. Effects are limited to the fire and gunshots - generally the film is dialogue-driven. Everything sounds excellent and clear with some modest depth. The Kino Blu-ray has no optional DUBs, like the Universal, and their disc is region 'A'-locked.

Unlike the, bare-bones, Universal - Kino provide extras which include a 1/4 hour interview with star John Turturro where he relates how he knows the Coens etc.. There are also interview with actor Michael Lerner (15-minutes), and with producer Ben Barenholtz for a dozen minutes and a featurette entitled Headspace: Inner Sounds of Barton Fink with composer Carter Burwell and sound editor Skip Lievsay running 20-minutes. It's very informative. There are 8 deleted scenes - some in black and white and an original theatrical trailer.

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this, deeply layered, nuanced film again and I applaud the bold option of having it in 1.66:1. The image quality preference is a personal choice, Universal wins in the audio department and Kino wins, handily, with the supplements. You choose!

***

ADDITION: Universal - Region FREE - Blu-ray (September 2015): Firstly, this is the German BD but it is the same region FREE Blu-ray version - available in many places in Europe. The disc is made for multiple languages and menus (both DUBs and subtitle options) and is bare-bones with no extras. I couldn't match the exact frames with the old DVD - as they impose a timeline bar in 'pause' mode on the BD. I think you can see the dramatic improvement although has some minor EE. The SD was pretty soft. The new 1080P is a VC-1 encode and is dual-layered with a very high bitrate. Colors are warmer, there is some consistent grain texture. I though I saw a touch of edge-enhancement that would only be an annoyance to those sensitive to it. It looks pretty solid in-motion.

No extras but still a cool film experience - a satire on Hollywood with many of the Coen regulars. Funny, great costumes and sets... recommended!

***

ON THE DVD: An occasionally soft image with strong colors. Barton Fink is a darkly shot film, but I was impressed about the color hues and although there are occasional scratches and minor dirt speckles in the picture, it is still pretty strong regardless that it is not razor sharp. The sound is well balanced and there are some extras with "deleted scenes"," stills" and an anamorphic "trailer". It is an adept DVD, but not stupendous. out of      Gary W. Tooze