A couple of weeks ago, we highlighted some of the top 4K UHD films releasing on Blu-ray this year. Well, a loaded list just got longer and deserves an update. Criterion is releasing some classics in the Ultra HD format including the all-time classic Citizen Kane. The first 4K Ultra HD releases from Criterion will be the first of these 4K editions of the films:
Citizen Kane (1941)
Directed by Orson Welles
The Red Shoes (1948)
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
A Hard Day’s Night (1964)
Directed by Richard Lester
Menace II Society (1993)
Directed by Allen and Albert Hughes
The Piano (1993)
Directed by Jane Champion
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Directed by David Lynch
It’s a pretty loaded group of six for Criterion’s first 4K releases. Citizen Kane is widely considered one of the greatest and most influential films of all-time. And Mulholland Drive is a modern classic with a theme centered around Hollywood itself.
Criterion writes in their announcement:
“Each title will be available in a 4K UHD+Blu-ray combo pack including a 4K UHD disc of the feature film as well as the film and its special features on Blu-ray. Select films will be presented in Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos.”
In CITIZEN KANE (1941), the most dazzling debut feature in cinema history, 25-year-old writer-producer-director-star Orson Welles synthesized the possibilities of sound-era filmmaking into what could be called the first truly modern movie. https://t.co/d4IwWdYwpN pic.twitter.com/QQGOnzC10Z
— Criterion Collection (@Criterion) August 16, 2021
After surfing around The Criterion Collection, it appears these six films are not the only ones that will be coming in 4K UHD. If you browse the collection and filter by 4K, only Citizen Kane, Menace II Society, and Mulholland Drive currently come up.
However, looking around at individual pages for films on the site, I found that more movies appear to be coming in the 4K format. For example, The Irishman—Martin Scorsese’s 2019 film featuring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci—shares that it is a “New 4K digital master, approved by director Martin Scorsese, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack on the Blu-ray”. The buying options does not display 4K as an option like it does for the slate of six above, but I would think that’s coming soon and the description may have been updated to reflect that.
Along with Mulholland Drive, which we know will be in 4K, four more of David Lynch’s films from The Criterion Collection are listed as having 4K restorations or transfers: Eraserhead, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.
So, we know for sure there are at least six from Criterion, but even more 4K options look like they are on the way. In an era of streaming and staying in to watch movies instead of going to theaters, 4K UHD in physical form gives something for film fanatics to own and hold onto.