Takashi Shimura · 1954

2 Takashi Shimura movies from 1954 on 4K Blu-ray, ranked S to D by transfer quality. 2 S-Tier picks including Godzilla, Seven Samurai.

Decade

All 10 1940s 1 1950s 5 1960s 4

Year

All 5 1950 0 1951 0 1952 1 1953 0 1954 2 1955 0 1956 0 1957 1 1958 1 1959 0

Seven Samurai(1954)

8.5/10

dir. Akira Kurosawa

S-Tier

The BFI vs. Criterion debate dominated every thread. BFI has HDR and what people call the best authoring house in the world (Fidelity in Motion), while Criterion has the deeper extras catalog. Most people who already own the Criterion Blu-ray went BFI for the encode quality bump. The BFI hardbox at $35 USD from OrbitDVD was considered a steal compared to the typical $42-60 USD range for rigid box editions. Criterion's 4K is SDR, which stung given BFI was offering HDR of the same restoration. Seeing it in theaters during the 4K restoration tour was almost too sharp for some viewers, with bald cap seams visible for the first time.

Criterion Collection · 4K + Blu-ray

Godzilla(1954)

7.6/10

dir. Ishirō Honda

S-Tier

The 1954 original. Criterion's S-Tier 4K preserves the grain of the black-and-white negative and the restoration gives Honda's creature feature the clarity its early special effects deserve.

Criterion Collection · 4K + Blu-ray