Historical Fiction movies available on 4K Blu-ray, ranked by transfer quality.
dir. Sam Peckinpah
S-Tier ViaVision 4K. Sam Peckinpah's WWII film. ViaVision's Imprint label from Australia has been picking up interesting catalog titles.
ViaVision
dir. Thomas Clay
S-Tier Pull Back Camera 4K. A period revenge drama from a small label.
Pull Back Camera · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Al Reinert
S-Tier Criterion 4K. Al Reinert's Apollo documentary. NASA footage in 4K.
Criterion Collection · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Satyajit Ray
S-Tier Criterion 4K. Satyajit Ray's Apu Trilogy opener, and the 4K set is considered gorgeous given how damaged the original negatives were. The films are regularly called some of the greatest ever made. The feminist reading keeps surprising first-time viewers who expect a straightforward coming-of-age story.
dir. David Lean
The classic story of English POWs in Burma forced to build a bridge to aid the war effort of their Japanese captors. British and American intelligence officers conspire to blow up the structure, but Col. Nicholson, the commander who supervised the bridge's construction, has acquired a sense of pride in his creation and tries to foil their plans.
Sony Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Peter Greenaway
R. Neville, a brash young draftsman, is hired to make a dozen landscape illustrations at the estate of Mr Herbert and his wife Virginia. Aside from monetary compensation, the arrangement includes a sexual liaison offered to Neville by Virginia while her estranged husband is away. But when the murdered body of Mr Herbert is discovered at the estate, mysterious clues found in Neville's drawings point to the identity of the killer.
Le Chat Qui Fume · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Anthony Harvey
StudioCanal S-Tier 4K. O'Toole and Hepburn chewing scenery in medieval England. The announcement caught people off guard because nobody expected this one to get the 4K treatment, and the transfer delivered.
StudioCanal · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Michael Reeves
England, 1645. The cruel civil war between Royalists and Parliamentarians that is ravaging the country causes an era of chaos and legal arbitrariness that allows unscrupulous men to profit by exploiting the absurd superstitions of the peasants; like Matthew Hopkins, a monster disguised as a man who wanders from town to town offering his services as a witch hunter.
88 Films · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Fred Zinnemann
A-Tier Sony 4K. Part of the Columbia Classics Collection Volume 5, which frustrated collectors who wanted a standalone release. Buried alongside On the Waterfront, Tootsie, The Age of Innocence, and Little Women. The box set bundling means paying for films you might already own to get the ones you don't.
dir. Chen Kaige, Wen Muye
Anthology of short films directed by several different directors.
dir. Sydney Pollack
A-Tier Universal 4K. Sydney Pollack's Oscar winner with Streep and Redford. The African landscape photography is the main draw, and the John Barry score is preserved in lossless.
Universal Pictures · 4K + Blu-ray
Pat Garrett is hired as a lawman on behalf of a group of wealthy New Mexico cattle barons to bring down his old friend Billy the Kid.
dir. Rob Epstein, Jeffrey Friedman
Exuberant, eye-opening movie that serves up a dazzling hundred-year history of the role of gay men and lesbians have had on the silver screen. Film contains fabulous footage from 120 films showing the changing face of cinema sexuality, from cruel stereotypes to covert love to the activist triumphs of the 1990s.
dir. Steven Spielberg
An epic tale spanning forty years in the life of Celie, an African-American woman living in the South who survives incredible abuse and bigotry. After Celie's abusive father marries her off to the equally debasing 'Mister' Albert Johnson, things go from bad to worse, leaving Celie to find companionship anywhere she can. She perseveres, holding on to her dream of one day being reunited with her sister in Africa.
Warner Bros. · 4K + Blu-ray
dir. Akira Kurosawa
Returning to their lord's castle, samurai warriors Washizu and Miki are waylaid by a spirit who predicts their futures. When the first part of the spirit's prophecy comes true, Washizu's scheming wife, Asaji, presses him to speed up the rest of the spirit's prophecy by murdering his lord and usurping his place. Director Akira Kurosawa's resetting of William Shakespeare's "Macbeth" in feudal Japan is one of his most acclaimed films.
BFI
dir. Chloé Zhao
The powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare's timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.
Universal Pictures · 4K Ultra HD
dir. Brian G. Hutton
A biplane pilot is saddled with a spoiled industrialist's daughter on a search for her missing father through Asia that eventually involves them in a struggle against a Chinese warlord.
dir. Mika Ninagawa
Anna Tsuchiya blasts back in time playing an oiran, a top-notched geisha of the Edo period’s Yoshiwara District, navigating brothel politics while trying to cling to the man she loves.
88 Films · Limited Edition
dir. Sergei Parajanov
The life of the revered 18th-century Armenian poet and musician Sayat-Nova. Portraying events in the life of the artist from childhood up to his death, the movie addresses in particular his relationships with women, including his muse. The production tells Sayat-Nova's dramatic story by using both his poems and largely still camerawork, creating a work hailed as revolutionary by Mikhail Vartanov.
dir. Oleg Ryaskov
The plot is based on the adventures of secret agents, members of an expedition sent by Peter the Great to the Madagascar pirates in order to attract them to his side.
dir. Douglas Hickox
Severin Films announced a Collector's Edition 4K with three SKUs, including a deluxe limited edition and a UHD + 2xBD combi pack. The blu-ray.com thread was enthusiastic across the board, with multiple people calling it a must-buy and comparing it favourably to the original Zulu.
Severin Films · 4K Ultra HD
