NOTE: The below Blu-ray and 4K UHD captures were taken directly from the respective disc.

ADDITION: Criterion 4K UHD (November 2025): Criterion have transferred Howard Hughes's Hell’s Angels to Blu-ray and 4K UHD. It features a new 4K digital restoration of the Magnascope road-show version, presenting the film in stunning clarity for its 1930 vintage, with the black-and-white footage exhibiting enhanced detail in the aerial sequences and ground scenes alike, though the brief full-color ballroom segment shows some minor damage and softness inherent to the source material. Without HDR, the transfer relies on SDR to deliver impressive contrast and grayscale depth, making the dogfights and zeppelin raid impress with visceral realism that surpasses previous home video editions. Overall, this restoration honors the film's groundbreaking visuals, minimizing age-related artifacts like scratches and hiss for a clean, immersive viewing experience that highlights Hughes' aviation obsession. The film's look incorporates selective color tinting for dramatic effect - such as one-color tints for a nighttime gun duel and part-screen full-color for flames engulfing a German Zeppelin - while a full-screen Technicolor ballroom sequence stands out as the only color footage in Jean Harlow's career, originally shot in Multicolor but printed by Technicolor. Aerial sequences were filmed by pioneering cinematographer Elmer Dyer, utilizing actual World War I planes like the S.E.5A and Fokker D.VII, with principal stunt pilot Paul Mantz and a fleet of 137 pilots for the climactic battle scene. I imagine that this is as good as the film will look for home theatre consumption. 

While we are in possession of the 4K UHD disc, we cannot resolve the encode yet, and therefore, cannot obtain screen captures. We hope to add to this review at some point in the future. So, the below captures are from Criterion's 2025 1080P Blu-ray transfer.

Like 4K UHD transfers of The Long Wait, I, the Jury, and many others below, Criterion's 2160P transfer of Hell's Angels does not have HDR applied (no HDR10, HDR10+, nor Dolby Vision.) We have seen many other 4K UHD transfers without HDR; Mondo Macabro's Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf, Cult Film's Django 4K UHD, Umbrella's 4K UHD transfer of Peter Weir's The Last Wave, Radiance's Palindromes, and Criterion's 4K UHD transfers of Shoeshine, The Burmese Harp, Fires on the Plain, Killer of Sheep, Chungking Express, Winchester '73, The Mother and the Whore, I Am Cuba, The Others, Rules of the Game, Branded to Kill, In the Mood For Love, Night of the Living Dead, and further examples, Masters of Cinema's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Kino's 4K UHDs of Bob le Flambeur, Last Year at Marienbad, Nostalghia, The Apartment, For a Few Dollars More, A Fistful of Dollars, In the Heat of the Night, and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, as well as Koch Media's Neon Demon + one of the 4K UHD transfers of Dario Argento's Suspiria.

NOTE: We have added 90 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray and 4K UHD, Criterion use a linear PCM mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Originally conceived as a silent film in 1927, production pivoted after The Jazz Singer's success, with Hughes reshooting dialogue scenes under James Whale's direction - his film debut - while integrating sound into existing footage. This transfer faithfully reproduces the original mono mix, capturing the roar of plane engines, gunfire, and orchestral swells with surprising dynamism despite some persistent background hiss typical of early talkie recordings. Early 1930s tech limitations meant dialogue often lacked smooth fades, contributing to a stilted yet raw audio quality that amplifies the film's wartime chaos. These innovations, including uncredited script rewrites by Joseph Moncure March for sound adaptation, created an auditory experience that enhances immersion, though it sometimes feels transitional and uneven. The score, composed by Hugo Riesenfeld (The King of Kings, Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans, The Covered Wagon,) provides orchestral underscoring to heighten tension, while German-language scenes use actors speaking authentically with intertitle cards for key translations, blending old and new methods. Challenges arose from this mid-production conversion: dubbing voices over silent-era footage led to mismatches, such as in John Darrow's scenes, where lip-sync issues are evident, and the replacement of silent star Greta Nissen due to her accent clashing with talkie demands.  Compared to prior releases, this track offers improved fidelity on both the 4K UHD and Blu-ray discs, making it a solid auditory companion to the visuals. Criterion offer optional English subtitles (SDH) on their Region 'A' Blu-ray and Region FREE 4K UHD.

Criterion's package includes a modest but insightful array of special features on the Blu-ray disc, headlined by a new dozen-minute interview with Robert Legato, visual-effects supervisor for The Aviator, discussing the innovative aerial visuals of Hell's Angels; a 1/2 hour chat with critic Farran Smith Nehme (Missing Reels) on Jean Harlow's star-making role; and 5 minutes of outtakes with commentary by Harlow biographer David Stenn (Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow,) providing rare glimpses into the production's chaos. Rounding out the supplements are a printed essay by author Fred Kaplan (The Wizards of Armageddon,) offering historical context appealing to film historians and aviation enthusiasts.

Howard Hughes's Hell’s Angels is a seminal aviation epic that marks a pivotal moment in early Hollywood, blending groundbreaking aerial spectacle with melodramatic storytelling in the transition from silent films to talkies. Produced and directed by the young, ambitious Hughes at a staggering cost of nearly $4 million (equivalent to over $78 million today), the film exemplifies the excesses and innovations of pre-Code cinema, prioritizing realism in its war sequences while grappling with narrative inconsistencies. Criterion's 4K UHD release of Hell's Angels elevates this flawed yet pioneering epic to its best home video presentation yet, with the restored visuals and audio breathing new life into the thrilling aerial sequences while the ground-bound melodrama remains a product of its time, making it a must-own for fans of early Hollywood spectacle despite not outshining contemporaries like Wings in overall enjoyment. The extras, though sparse, add valuable insights into the film's legacy and Harlow's breakout, positioning this set as a worthy addition to any classic cinema collection, balancing technical excellence with historical reverence. Hell's Angels boasts a groundbreaking visual style that blends black-and-white footage with innovative color enhancements, establishing it as a pioneer in early epic aviation cinema.

Gary Tooze