ADDITION: Criterion Region 'A' - Blu-ray - November 2016: I can see absolutely no difference between the Criterion and Masters of Cinema audio/video '2K digital restoration' presentations. Even the grain looks placed in the same spot. You can compare the large captures I've done below - I see no difference at all. The Criterion is also dual-layered with a max'ed out bitrate. So where are the differences?

Aside from the fact that Masters of Cinema add the English DUB and an isolated score option - the subtitle translation is different. And, of course, the supplements;

Criterion have a new audio commentary featuring Frank Burke, author of Fellini’s Films providing fascinating and mega-information about the director and the production. Criterion include the same 17.5-minutes worth of deleted scenes as found on the Masters of Cinema Blu-ray. But there are new interviews with filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino on the lasting influence of director Federico Fellini - running 1/4 of an hour - and a shade longer with poet and Fellini friend Valerio Magrelli who is the author of Lo sciamano di famiglia. Omeopatia, pornografia, regia in 77 disegni di Fellini (The family Shaman: Homeopathy, Pornography, Directing in 77 drawings by Fellini.) The New York University professor and critic Antonio Monda engages Magrelli in a wide-ranging discussion in this program, shot for Criterion in 2016. There is also a slideshow of images from the Felliniana archive of collector Don Young. It includes a selection of posters and promotional material of Roma followed by a selection of behind-the-scenes photographs of the production from the MGM archives. Lastly we get a US trailer and a liner notes booklet with an essay by film scholar David Forgacs.

Criterion nudge ahead with their commentary and extras but the MoC package still represents exceptional value. This deeply personal expression in waves of an exciting, feverish, city come alive, is many Fellini's fans favorite of his films. It's been treated fabulously on Blu-ray, in both regions. Our highest recommendation! 

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema (February 2014): Firstly, IMDb lists the theatrical ratio of the film as 1.66:1 but it also states a 1.85:1 AR - which this new Masters of Cinema Blu-ray exports. This seems to have significantly more in the frame - notably on the sides edges, but depending on the SD edition - the top and bottom as well. The color scheme supports the bluer US DVD as opposed to the overly brown UK disc. This 1080P transfer is darker but also brighter in other sequences (not shown in the caps chosen for the original DVD comparison - which were not ideal!) The film has such a variety of images and later in the film the 1080P shows more of its chops with some impressive detail in, better lit, close-ups (see samples at the bottom.) Roma always looked very rough around the edges and you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. I expect this dual-layered BD with max'ed bitrate - may be the best we ever get for our home theaters.

Audio is an authentic linear PCM 1.0 channel mono track at 1152 kbps in original Italian. It sounds, predictably flat but the music in the film by Nino Rota (The Godfather which would be the film he would do directly after Roma, Amarcord and Fellini's Casanova) adds some reflective pause to the locations and sounds quite good via the uncompressed. There is an, untested, English DUB and you can have access to the isolated score also in LCPM. There are optional English subtitles and   the disc is region 'B'-locked.

Extras include 17.5 minutes of, often damaged, outtakes/deleted scenes from the film. These are all that survive. We also get Chris Wagstaff - author of the BFI book on Il conformista (The Conformist) - discussing Roma for 16.5 minutes and providing some great detail. There is both an Italian and International Trailer and MoC's famous liner notes - a 32-page booklet filled with Fellini material even the director's own words.

Masters of Cinema made an interesting choice in bringing this Fellini film (as with Il Bidone or even City of Women) to 1080P. In both cases I was able to garner more appreciation for a film that I hadn't fully embraced (although I thought I had with Il Bidone). It's easy to love Nights of Cabiria or La Strada - but these films can take more effort - but in the end can be just as rewarding. Fellini fans should indulge, without hesitation in this Blu-ray.

Gary W. Tooze

***

ON THE DVDs: The tinting on the UK release is unnatural. You can seem some more details, such as in capture three of the piece of furniture and the smoke, but I'm stating the obvious. The framing is a great disparity. I could not achieve the same framing you got on this particular shot for example. There was just more horizontal info in the U.S. and less vertical. I couldn't get as low on the van as you did with the traffic jam shot. In general, the U.S. image looks darker through out, obscuring some detail, but the U.K. colors seem strangely tinted, albeit revealing some additional detail. The painting is where this works out the best.

Fred

But the US is also much sharper, especially in the last capture. I think I prefer the US disc.

Regards, Pavel

There is a strong color balance issue here, as well as some cropping. To me the US release is far superior. The UK release is quite hazy in comparison and has a sepia tint to it that is very unbecoming. Region 1 for me!

Gary Tooze

Note: both versions are cut "American / international" version of the film, and there is missing approx. 10 -15 minutes from the original cut!