NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (August 2019): The long lost (and long bootlegged) "Babylon" now arrives on Blu-ray in an all new digital restoration from Kino Lorber. The following text precedes the film;

"Franco Rosso's Babylon was originally released in the U.K. in November 1980 with English subtitles for the Jamaican patois spoken by the characters in the film.
Kino Lorber Repertory and Seventy-Seven are releasing the film for the first time in the U.S., both with and without subtitles.
The all-new subtitles on this version are for North American audiences to better understand the patois, and the British slang, while preserving the nuances.
This restoration was supervised and color graded by the film's Director of Photography, Chris Menges (B.S.C., A.S.C.) for the U.K. re-release."

The film is housed on a dual-layered Blu-ray and the 1.85:1 HD image is given a maxed-out bitrate. The restoration work here must be commended, as the new color grading looks true to how the film must have looked back in the early 80s. What truly stands out is a very strong contrast ratio, helping darker scenes not fade into blotchiness. The 1080P level of detail to the image is also worth mentioning, at times it would seem that every stitch of fabric in clothing is visible, even in darkness. Not bad at all.

One of the real stand-outs of this long buried film is the score, Dennis Bovell's various D.J. work is rather remarkable, underscoring tension at various points while still having a unique style. Artists featured include Aswad, Dennis Bovell, Cassandra, Michael Prophet, I-Roy, and Yabby U. I would buy the soundtrack in a heartbeat. The audio track here is a 24-bit DTS-HD Master audio, in 2.0 channel. There are optional English subtitles which helped me with some of the dialect. The booklet notes;

"A NOTE ON THE SUBTITLES Babylon was originally released in the U.K. in 1980 with English subtitles for the Jamaican patois spoken in the film. These subtitles as well as the newer captions for the U.K. DUD release in 2008 were often inaccurate. For its first ever U.S. release we have fully edited the subtitles, making every effort to make this release of Babylon the most definitive. The patois is not fully translated into English, but phonetically transcribed, thus preserving its nuances. The subtitle editing was performed by Ayanna Heaven. - Gabriele Caroti, Seventy-Seven"

This is a Region 'A' Blu-ray from Kino Lorber.

There is an all-new audio commentary with director Franco Rosso, screenwriter Martin Stellman, actor Brinsley Forde and producer Gavrik Losey. As you can see in the Q&A extra also on this Blu-ray, this cast and crew have a very fun and matter of fact rapport, and I look forward to hearing the rest of this commentary in the near future. "Dread Beat and Blood" is a 46-minute short documentary film on Linton Kwesi Johnson and is directed by Rosso as well. Up next is a 14-minute interview with Brinsley Forde. The star talks about getting the role, having the freedom to ad-lib, and how he would finish filming then go into the studio to record. The 11-minute interview with composer Dennis Bovell involves him telling a story about a conflict with law enforcement regarding his music, a truly dystopian nightmare if I've ever heard one. Bovell then goes on to describe coming up with different cues for different characters. The Q&A is more lively than these things tend to be, thanks to a hilarious group of cast and crew on stage over 32-minutes. The restoration featurette covers the film's new digital restoration, having previously been available only through bootlegs. The 3-minute piece discusses the removal of dirt and scratches and the new color grade supervised by Chris Menges. Rounding out the Blu-ray disc are two trailers for the film, as well as the music video for Vivien Goldman's 'Launderette' starring Goldman and Archie Pool. There is a 12-page booklet included featuring an essay, "Babylon Reborn" by Mike Rubin.

Franco Rosso's "Babylon" suffered by being buried for decades, yet this new Kino Blu-ray release and restoration shows the film in all its glory. The music alone is worth the purchase. A true British classic film now sees the light of day, pick this Blu-ray up. 

Colin Zavitz