2) BFI - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - MIDDLE

3) Criterion - Spine # 916 - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

ADDITION: Criterion - Region 'A'  Blu-ray - February 2018: Criterion's transfer is, also, described as a "New 4K digital restoration". I cannot distinguish much difference in the BFI Blu-ray image from 2016, although the Criterion is a shade less technically robust but that may only be notable in-motion. These are both very strong HD presentations. Colors are well-supported and contrast is at a high level. The 1080P, 1.75:1 AR, transfers both look very impressive adding depth not present on the, hazier, MGM SD.

Audio is pretty much the same with  linear PCM mono tracks (24-bit) for both Blu-rays.   I can hear no difference at all in the Delerue score. Exact same, imo.  Criterion's Blu-ray disc is Region 'A'-locked and it offers optional English (SDH) subtitles in a lager font (see sample below).

Criterion include the same two audio commentaries from 2003, one featuring director Ken Russell and the other screenwriter and producer Larry Kramer. There are also 14-minutes of excerpts from a 2007 BAFTA Los Angeles Heritage Archive interview with director Ken Russell. A British Picture: Portrait of an Enfant Terrible is Russell’s, 49-minute, 1989 biopic on his own life and career. There is a 20-minute interview from 1976 with actor Glenda Jackson as well as a 10-minute piece from the British television show ATV Today with actors Alan Bates and Jennie Linden and screenwriter and producer Larry Kramer on location for Women in Love in Derby, England, in 1968. There is a new 25-minute Interview with cinematographer Billy Williams and one, 17-minute interview, with editor Michael Bradsell recorded in London in 2017 for the Criterion Collection. Second Best, a 1972 short film based on a D. H. Lawrence story, produced by and starring Bates and it runs 1/2 hour and is also found on the BFI. Lastly, is a trailer and the package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by scholar Linda Ruth Williams.

Predictably Criterion are equal to the challenge of the strong BFI Blu-ray package. It's great to have the options and Women in Love is very strongly recommended!  

***

Women in Love gets an impressive 4K restoration transfer to Blu-ray from BFI. It's dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate for the 2 hour 10-minute feature. Grain textures are fine and consistent supporting a very film-like rendering buoyed by Billy Williams exquisite cinematography and the sumptuous set pieces. Colors are brighter and truer than SD could relate and there is no noise whatsoever. The 1080P supports solid contrast exhibiting healthy, rich black levels and some minor depth in the 1.75:1 frame. It's extremely clean showcasing some hi-def detail and there are really no flaws with the appearance which generally looks gorgeous. This Blu-ray provides one of the better transfer of the year from BFI.

BFI give the option of mono or 2.0 channel linear PCM audio tracks. It carries some depth although there isn't an abundance of aggressive effects and dialogue is clean and clear. Georges Delerue (Mister Johnson, Jules et Jim, The Woman Next Door, The Last Metro, Day For Night) did the score and it benefits from the uncompressed rendering creating an authentic 'period' atmosphere. There are optional English (SDH) subtitles and my Oppo has identified it as being a region 'B'-locked.

BFI stack the release starting with two audio commentaries - a first with director Ken Russell - always enlightening, a second - also revealing - with writer and producer Larry Kramer and we also are privy to, for the first 77-minutes of viewing the film, Glenda Jackson interviewed at the National Film Theatre - audio from The Guardian Lecture series while watching the first 1 1/4 hours of Women n in Love. Billy Williams OBE BSC is in conversation with Phil Méheux BSC for almost 50-minutes for in-depth interview, from 2015, with the Oscar winning cinematographer. There are also two shorts; Second Best (Stephen Dartnell, 1972, 27 mins): previously unreleased - starring Alan Bates based on the short story by D H Lawrence and The Pacemakers: Glenda Jackson (1971, 14 mins): a documentary profile in which the actress speaks of her performance in Women in Love. There is a stills and collections gallery that runs about 3.5 minutes and an original theatrical trailer. The package contains an illustrated, liner notes, booklet with new writing by Michael Brooke, Paul Sutton and Vic Pratt, and full film credits.