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

ADDITION Criterion Blu-ray - September 2020: Criterion have also transferred Bong Joon Ho's Parasite to Blu-ray. This is an interesting release and has some unique qualities for a Criterion Blu-ray. Like The Elephant Man, there is already a 4K UHD edition available for this title. In this case,  HERE from Universal, released a few months ago in June 2020. Also a US, Region 'A', Blu-ray was already released earlier this year.

Criterion have advanced upon the Universal Blu-ray in every category - notably extras, the inclusion of the 'black and white' version of the film on a separate, 2nd disc, Blu-ray and the handsome package (see above.). We'll go through some of the details here.

Firstly, the 1080P video is advertises as "New 4K digital master, approved by director Bong Joon Ho and director of photography Hong Kyung Pyo" and shows the exact same pristine image in the matched stills captures. Both Criterion transfers have a higher bitrate than the Universal and technically, in-motion, may be improved depending on your system size or discerning eyeballs. I doubt it can look much better and the differences, even on the most discreet system, will be minor.

Audio though, Criterion go Dolby Atmos (like the theatrical) - for the first time I believe. This comes through on non-Atmos systems as True HD 7.1. It is significantly more robust than Universal's DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (24-bit). The surround effects remain subtle with aggression often diffused utilizing the score by Jaeil Jung and classic music such as Handel's Rodelinda: Act 2 - Spietati, io vi glurai, In Ginnochio Da Te performed by Italian singer Gianni Morandi and A Glass of Soju (lyrics by Bong Joon Ho!) performed by Woo-sik Choi (as Choi Woo Shik). Audiophile aficionados will appreciate this upgrade - even in the subtle areas. The Dolby Atmos track is duplicated for both color and black and white versions, and both offer optional English subtitles. Like The Universal this is a Region 'A' locked Blu-ray.

NOTE: For Atmos many non-compliant systems will recognizes it as TrueHD 7.1, but from Wikipedia: "Because of limited bandwidth and lack of processing power, Atmos in home theaters is not a real-time mix rendered the same way as in cinemas. The substream is added to Dolby TrueHD or Dolby Digital Plus. This substream only represents a losslessly encoded fully object-based mix. This substream does not include all 128 objects separated. This is not a matrix-encoded channel, but a spatially-encoded digital channel. Atmos in home theaters can support 24.1.10 channel, but it is not an object-based real-time rendering. Filmmakers need to remix and render the TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks with Dolby Media Producer."

Extras are quite appealing on the new Criterion Blu-ray. Firstly, a new commentary (on the color version only) featuring Bong Joon Ho and critic Tony Rayns. They are in separate locations - approx. 6,000 miles apart but the audio quality is very good. Ho's English is fine and discernable while they discuss pace, locations, the opening scenes and more intricate specifics of the production, small interrelated details. and deeper meaning of the narrative. Fans will find it revealing and fascinating. Next is a new 36-minute conversation between Bong and critic Darcy Paquet (who speaks Korean) as they delve into the making of Parasite. I enjoyed the new interviews with Hong running over 20-minutes, production designer Lee Ha Jun for a shade longer, and editor Yang Jinmo for 1/4 hour discussing pacing, storyboards and Ho's style. They both discuss their experiences working on Parasite and their respective relationships with Bong Joon Ho. Lastly on the first Blu-ray are 4.5 minutes worth of trailers.

The second disc with the black and white version has a 6-minute introduction by Bong Joon Ho where he discusses how as an after thought both Mother and Parasite might be expressed in black and white. I was keen to watch a 2020 program about the New Korean Cinema movement featuring Bong and filmmaker Park Chan Wook (Oldboy). It ran only a dozen minutes but nice to hear the passion. We get 1/2 hour of the Cannes Film Festival press conference from 2019 featuring Bong and members of the cast and, what may be most interesting to many a 1.5 hour Master class featuring Bong from the 2019 Lumière Festival in Lyon, France, hosted by filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier. There are also 7-minutes of storyboard comparison (Bong Joon Ho is famous for storyboarding everything) and, lastly on the second disc is a black and white trailer. The package has a liner notes booklet with an essay by critic Inkoo Kang.

So... the immaculate transfer of both color and, curious, black and white versions are here, Atmos audio, plus a bevy of extras from a valuable new commentary to a revealing 1.5 Master class with the director/writer. Yes, Criterion have advanced handily on the Universal Blu-ray released in January. It's also in a beautiful package and many fans of the film should be enticed by this edition. Strongly recommended!         

***

ADDITION: Universal Blu-ray (January 2020): Universal have brought Bong Joon Ho's Parasite to Blu-ray. It was shot on digital with an Arri Alexa 65 with a 4K master format. It looks pristine - as you might expect a modern film to appear in 1080P. The image quality is consistent throughout with a strong level of detail and frequent depth. There are no flaws with this HD image with no compression or noise in the later dark sequences. It is on a dual-layered disc with a supportive bitrate.

On their Blu-ray, Universal use a DTS-HD Master 5.1 surround track (24-bit) in the original Korean language. I believe theatrically it had Dolby Atmos and this film is surely a candidate for a UHD release although the surround effects are subtle with aggression often diffused utilizing the score by Jaeil Jung and classic music such as Handel's Rodelinda: Act 2 - Spietati, io vi glurai, In Ginnochio Da Te performed by Italian singer Gianni Morandi and A Glass of Soju (lyrics by Bong Joon Ho!) performed by Woo-sik Choi (as Choi Woo Shik). It sounds as flawless as it looks. Universal offer optional English subtitles on their, uncharacteristically, Region 'A'-locked Blu-ray.

The Universal Blu-ray offers no commentary but include a 20-minute Parasite - Fantastic Fest 2019 Q+A with Director Bong Joon Ho with his Korean responses translated. He claims the whole world is living in this one big world of capitalism. He discusses how the film has many staircases with people travelling (symbolically) up and down on these. he talks about his own small time jobs in high school and the mutually parasitic relationship of the two families. There are also two similar trailers.

Parasite is fascinating viewing with Bong Joon Ho peering subtly deep into class structure. He touches on a number of different genres from black-comedy to horror. It's nominated for many Academy Awards including Best Picture - and deservedly so. This unique examination and riveting cinema deserves as wide an audience as possible. You have to say that the Universal Blu-ray is underwhelming in terms of the supplements but the presentation is top-shelf. I'd love to see Criterion or Indicator take this on in a few years to do more exploration on the film's themes and visual associations. Our highest recommendation!

Gary Tooze