This article contains several comparisons which contrast the older Shout! Factory Blu-ray transfer with the new Arrow restoration. The frames aren’t necessarily exact matches (though in this case I believe they all are), but should give a solid indication of the visual differences.
New on Blu-ray this week, and already quite difficult to find and purchase due to its popularity and limited release, Arrow Video’s new box set “Enter the Video Store: Empire of Screams” collects several terrific Empire International Pictures titles, most (but not all) of which have been on Blu-ray before.
Today we’re looking at The Dungeonmaster, which was previously released in 2015 by Shout! Factory as a double feature. Shout! is no slouch in the PQ department, but Arrow’s new edition boasts a new 2K restoration from the original negative (not to mention three different versions of the film, noted as the US theatrical, pre-release, and international cuts).
The “slider” images below allow for a quick comparison of the stills from both discs by color, cleanliness, framing, but are downscaled and not representative of the full 1080p resolution. These are only illustrative of differences, and not definitive, especially in terms of resolution and clarity.
For a truer direct comparison, it’s recommended to download the image files and view them at full size on a large monitor with 1080p or higher resolution.
In the case of Dungeonmaster, we can see several differences brought about by Arrow’s restoration:
- A massive boost in clarity and fineness of grain (very typical for Arrow releases)
- Much cleaner images with respect to dust, scratches, and random splotches.
- In terms of framing, Arrow’s disc is a little tighter on all 4 sides and has some slight letterboxing.
- generally improved brightness and contrast, though this varies by scene and to some extent a matter of opinion
