ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A' - Blu-ray June 16': This ended up being quite the comparison - three separate dual-layered AVC-encoded Blu-rays - each with a different version of the Malick's The New World. I was expecting the 3 versions to looks similar and have similar transfers. But there are some notable differences including cropping on the theatrical and some color shifts here and there. The disparity can be subtle but there are also some more surprising shifts in the image described as a new 4K digital restoration of the 172-minute extended cut of the film, supervised by cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki and director Terrence Malick and featuring material not released in theaters and high-definition digital transfers of the 135-minute theatrical cut and the 150-minute first cut of the film, supervised by Lubezki. Aside from our compared captures below - I will say that the 'extended' version looks terrific - the theatrical and 'First Cut' are no match - looking decidedly weak at times beside the 4K. Ohhh - and, of course, it looks far superior, greener and earthier, to the New Line's VC-1 1080P Blu-ray from 2009.

The score in the three versions sounds the same to my ears (EXCELLENT) - all are robust DTS-HD Master 5.1 surrounds (24-bit). The score is by James Horner (The Amazing Spider-man, Brainstorm, Alien, Wolfen) who we lost in 2015. Everything sounds impressive, and better than the 2009 Dolby TrueHD from 2009, including Vorspiel to Das Rheingold by Richard Wagner, Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 plus some exquisite music from R. Carlos Nakai, and others. There are optional (SDH) subtitles and burned-in English for Algonquin dialogue. The Blu-ray discs are region 'A'-locked.

There are a lot of supplements - we get the same 10-part, 1-hour 20-minute, documentary, shot during the production of the film in 2004, directed and edited by Austin Lynch on the first Blu-ray (which also houses the extended 4K restored version.) That disc also has a couple of trailers. On the second Blu-ray disc, that has the theatrical version, we get a new program produced by Criterion in 2016 with Colin Farrell and Q'orianka Kilcher for 1/2 an hour as they discuss director Terence Malick's unique style and vision, and the liberating effect it had on the their own work. There is another new piece by Criterion about the making of the film, featuring interviews with producer Sarah Green, production designer Jack Fisk, and costume designer Jacqueline West . It runs 36-minutes. Blu-ray disc three has the 'First Cut' and another new program, running over 40-minutes, about the process of cutting The New World and its various versions, featuring interviews with editors Hank Corwin, Saar Klein, and Mark Yoshikawa. There is also a piece on the 3 Versions with Mark Yoshikawa discussing notable differences between the cuts. It runs 17-minutes. The Blu-ray package also has a liner notes book featuring an essay by film scholar Tom Gunning, a 2006 interview with Lubezki from American Cinematographer, and a selection of materials that inspired the production.

The value lies in the stellar 4K restoration of the Extended version, the 2 other cuts and the many rewarding and informative extras. This will make some noise in our year-end poll - Malick fans should consider it a must-own. Strongly recommended!

***

ADDITION New Line Blu-ray - August 2009: Terrence Malick's The New World premiered around Christmas 2005 in New York and Los Angeles with a running time of somewhere around 2 hour 30 minutes. By the time it received a wider release, the director had trimmed it down to 2 hours 15 minutes. The initial DVD (compared here) was that trimmed down version.  The 'Extended Cut' on the Blu-ray is the same the DVD released at October 14, 2008 which is actually almost 22 minutes longer than the Première.

At the time, I thought the SD looked just marvelous, but expectantly the Blu-ray eclipses it in all visual areas. I suppose the awesome cinematography is a key in the mesmerizing presentation but fans were simply hopeful that this 1080P transfer would support the film justly. Colors are, for the most part similar, but the Blu-ray tightens everything up. Skin tones lose their orange hue, but perhaps the biggest difference beyond the higher resolution detail is that the DVD comparatively appears much flatter. The Blu-ray often looks to have desirable depth of field but doesn't reach the level of Braveheart. Being Warner (New Line is a division of...) the VC-1 Video encode has been used and although I prefer MPEG-4, there remains a hint of noise. Grain is not as prevalent as I was expecting. I've added extra, expandable, captures, at the bottom of this review, to help you judge the quality for yourself. The Blu-ray is minutely darker than the DVD and this is probably more accurate to theatrical. The almost 3-hour feature takes up over 37.5 Gig of space on the dual-layered disc. It could be somewhat crisper and is possibly filtered to some degree. Could this look better? I think so - but it's a heck of an improvement over the DVD.

The only audio is a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track at 1437 kbps. There isn't a lot of aggression in the ambient soundscape and the modest audio transfer is acceptable with James Horner's beautiful original score along with the classical warmth of Richard Wagner, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, R. Carlos Nakai and others. The extended cut of The New World incorporates some narration and score shifts - all for the better in my opinion. Along with the film's visuals - it's all pretty overwhelming. I've already replayed several scenes - just for the music. There are only optional English subtitles (the brief Algonquin dialogue is English-translated and burned-in). My Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras extend slightly over the DVD which has a, heavy-on production, hour-long "Making The New World" divided into 10-parts*. The Blu-ray appears to have the same documentary but its about 20-minutes longer and I haven't identified the differences. There are 2 trailers but nothing more.

*NOTE: The extended version DVD didn't have this documentary supplement.

I was so happy to relax and re-experience this profound film. I think this longer cut flows just as well as the wider released theatrical. It's layered with more visual splendor.  It's one of those films though where viewing time shouldn't be an issue. Watch it late at night with no work the next day. You are exposed to so much natural beauty along with the story it can elevate you to a new cinema experience. The New World cried out for a Blu-ray treatment but, for some what New Line have done may not be enough. We need more of this cinema in the 1080P resolution done right - enough of the teen comedies.    

Gary W. Tooze