The Top 4K UHD Blu-rays of 2023

2023 was a packed year for films on the 4K UHD format. Here are my top picks for the best 4K UHD Blu-rays of the year. Do not miss these!

[@ElliotCoen]

Want some more 4K UHD recommendations? Here you go - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iXTSmaytfpZpgNksi=pxBPwmVJsYR7gZKY

[@johnfunderburg6225]

Great video, Elliot. This is probably the best "top of 2023" video I watched to recap the year. Well done!

[@ElliotCoen]

Thank you very much, John!

[@planninegoodtimes]

Aside from Oppenheimer, The Fugitive was one of my favorite releases. Strong recommend if you have a surround sound setup. Great list. Thanks!

[@hunterf.7345]

Fugitive’s upgrade over prior media releases is really incredible. Definitely one of the best major releases of the year.

[@TheDigitalBear]

After Hours is not only my fave Scorsese movie, it's my favourite movie overall. Best retelling of the Wizard of Oz ever done.

[@derrickmcleod9549]

A couple I recommend adding to your Arrow list … Hugo (my favorite Scorsese film) and Witness.

[@My20GUNS]

An honorable mention to Gran Turismo. I picked it up on sale and it's a very standard underdog sports movie, but done well. And the 4K presentation was excellent.

[@TheStOne1]

The Collector's edition of Avatar The way of water has Dolby Vision and a ton of bonus contents.

[@HazaFromNextDoor]

Excellent list, im wondering if you will ever make a video about the viewing experience, possibly on a more technical side of it or just share your experience with your set up.

[@ElliotCoen]

Yes absolutely! I’m hoping to upgrade my TV and sound setup this year so I’ll do some videos at that time. Cheers!

[@nazarinprod]

Fun video. Branded to kill is a wonderful film. Hus at Touch of film loves it too. Three great 4k's I saw last year were Night Of The Hunter, Lost Highway and Arrow's Blackhat (with the far superior director's cut on bluray extra disc). Avatar The Way Of Water looks gorgeous even on streaming on 4k. I still need to get the disc but there's a collector's edition coming soon with the dolby vision version so am waiting for that.

[@20thand21stMovies]

Awesome list, Elliot! I still need to pop my copy of Oppenheimer 4K in my player. I loved that film and agree it might be Nolan’s best. I expect it to have a big night at the Academy Awards.

[@Jesuslovesfilm2121]

Touch of Evil is one of the greatest pictures ever made.

[@444chroma]

What a year for 4k. I'll leave my favorite releases below... The Ranown Westerns (Criterion) Barbarella (Arrow) Dellamorte Dellamore (Severin) Rider on the Rain (Plaion Pictures) The Night of the Hunter (Kino Lorber) Oppenheimer (Universal) The Psycho Collection (Arrow) East of Eden (Warner)

[@MrCREWCRUSHIN95]

Thanks for the heads up on TOUCH OF EVIL. I did not know the new discs didn't offer the different aspect ratio choices. I was about to give the old Eureka blu rays to a friend! I'll be keeping them WITH the new 4K Discs! Thanks👍

[@greg3118]

I really appreciate your list! Lots of different picks from others

[@ModernStacker]

@Boutique: Try and get your hands on the new collector's edition release for Way of Water if you can. The transfer was upgraded over the initial release...which really says something about IMHO. Definitely worth a look. Cheers!

[@marcusbritt2896]

apparently the new collector's edition sets of both avatar films are going to include Dolby Vision. Glad I waited before picking up the standard 4k discs. The first avatar on 4k not coming with the extended versions was a deal breaker for me, but it looks like i can finally replace my old blu ray in march

[@ElliotCoen]

Ah I did not know that! Thanks for letting me know

[@SebastianGroebner]

Great list. Thanks a lot for it, Elliot. Glad to see Sleepy Hollow on it. Big fan of the movie since I saw it was back at the theatre. :)

[@user-mp9sp9bs7v]

Touch of Evil picture issues: I watched my copy (4K reconstructed version) last night and was very distracted with the 'scratch marks' down the screen in some scenes. For example, at 29.37 and again at 30.20. I then checked the other disc and have found the same scene in the Preview version at about the same time code and it's clear. I have the earlier Masters of Cinema Blu ray set, so I've just popped that Reconstructed version in for comparison. The time codes don't quite match up but those two scenes are clean on the Blu! However, the Blu has a single scratch line across a few shots in a slightly earlier scene starting at 26.40 that is clear on the 4K, suggesting that this version is not perfect either.... Overall, the 4K is a better picture and it really shines in the last scene where Vargas tracks Quinlan over the bridge. I suppose having bought the 4K I'm a bit more sensitive to the image, but if this is a restoration, surely it should not be displaying these lines like this? Can anyone else confirm what I think is poor 4K picture quality on the Reconstructed 4K disc in these specific areas?

[@AaronOfYell]

Good video. Here's a question, is the extras on the Criterion 4K releases included on a separate regular blu-ray disc and is that disc region locked?

[@ElliotCoen]

Yes Criterion don’t put the extra on the 4K disc, so the included Blu-ray is region locked i’m afraid.

[@AaronOfYell]

@@ElliotCoen OK. Thanks for the quick reply!

[@corporalhicks86]

Prey and Titanic were really solid 4K transfers.

[@ewanread198]

Great list! I got the Touch of Evil 4K for £12 at CeX because they labelled it wrong. Got really lucky there 😂

[@halfbakedmovies]

Where do you get your sweatshirts from?

[@URBONED]

Great list, and I don't own any of these except for After Hours, although I have quite a few in older releases. I'm trying to think what some of my favourites were, and I'd probably say all the Warner Bros ones were really strong, Casablanca, Maltese Falcon, the James Dean films. They have a few others I haven't picked up yet, but all of their restorations were great quality. I think I'll have to jump on 12 Angry Men (as it includes Friedkin's remake) and Touch of Evil at some point.

[@andrew_hulme]

Have you got the latest Hitchcock 4k boxset?

[@richardsharp2463]

Elliot smashes the 4k review of 2023 out the park... Worth waiting for... keep up the good work in 2024... Babylon blew my mind... surely its reappraisal will happen... RIDICULOUSLY good film. 👍

[@thiagomattar2368]

Great list⭐️

[@ElliotCoen]

Thank you 🙏

[@fcsuper]

19:10 Elliot trying to convince us to like one of the most popular movies of recent years is a little funny.

[@BubaGlobalJ]

100% agree with your assessment of Babylon

[@marcoesquandolez4737]

Great list! I’ll have to check out the Truman Show as it’s been ages

[@marcjohnson3553]

Hi Elliott, I’m curious. What your setup? (TV, 4K player, sound system, etc)

[@ElliotCoen]

Hi Marc. I’m using an LG65B8 OLED (showing its age now!), an OPPO UDP 203, I used a combination of an HK soundbar and AKG multi channel headphones. I want to get full surround but my current space is too small. Hopefully I’m moving soon and can upgrade my whole system. Cheers!

[@marcjohnson3553]

@@ElliotCoen cool! Thank a lot for the answer :) I’m going to be upgrading to a 4K setup soon and was curious to know how you enjoy your films. Have a good one!

[@brunomachado7279]

I bought Branded to Kill 4k and watched it after a few beers. I don't remember anything, I must watch again. 😂😂

[@juancmorenor]

Either do I with Branded to Kill!

[@ElliotCoen]

Do you not remember his ‘interesting’ relationship with boiled rice? 😄

[@brunomachado7279]

@@ElliotCoen vaguely, now that you've mentioned. 😅😅

[@kapatidnaotaku9376]

Here are my top 4K released of 2023: 1. TCSM (SecondSight) 2. Talk To Me (Umbrella) 3. Witness (Arrow) 4. It Came From Outer Space (Universsal) 5. Gregory's Girl (BFI) 6. Prey (20th Century) 7. Walkabout (Criterion) 8. Mildred Pierce (Criterion) 9. 12 Angry Men (Kino Lorber) 10. Stalag 17 (Kino Lorber)

[@ElliotCoen]

Great choices!

[@thaprofound]

What about the Avatar collectors edition 4k releases. I saw some people say that those editions looked better.

[@armlesswalrus]

When we got to Oppenheimer at No. 2 I was expecting Barbie at No. 1!!!

[@TheAlexZorba]

If it was one of my favorite films I would get the 4k upgrade Blue Velvet but since it's not I will do what I do with almost all criterions lazy and basically insulting 4k upgrades, I will pass and stick with the blu.

[@pietroscarpa2384]

I hate those special and collectors, boutique movies. They always but in a lot of crap that I don't want and make the film unnecessary expensive. Just give me the disc and I will buy it. Great list by the way.

[@creeper5051]

So you went with the vanilla version of Avatar 2 and not the Dolby Vision special edition released in November? Okay, but how are you gonna snuff "Titanic", also the highest grossing film of 2023 "Barbie" which looks and sounds amazing on 4k disc, and last but not least the BEST looking 4k disc of 2023 "Coraline?" But hey, to each their own.

[@ElliotCoen]

You’ll find that Coraline 4K was released late in 2022! It is a great disc though. The collectors edition of Avatar Way of Water doesn’t release in the UK until next month, so I’ve been holding off for that instead of spending extra to import. Titanic is one I just simply haven’t got round to yet, so it’s lack of mention here is not because I think it’s bad or anything. I hope that clears those up! Thanks for watching

[@jonathanbrewer7072]

I've 12 Angry Men on blu ray format - brilliant movie

[@brunomachado7279]

I have the criterion blu ray. It's such a dialog driven film, stuck in a room the entire time. I don't see the point to spend money on a 4k upgrade.

[@ta5777]

Arrow Bruce Lee set!

[@ElliotCoen]

I wish I could have got that set! Sadly missed it.

[@ta5777]

@@ElliotCoen the individual 4K movies are available now.

[@spicemelange]

Great job on the list, but #1 just made me imaginarily throw up on my shoes - sorry!

[@Beefers26]

Some fantastic films to check out - some of which I was unaware of previously - so thanks. I will pass on Avatar though - both of them are incredibly overrated films!

[@SAMTYLER1974]

Sorry, but you lost me at the part where you claimed Avatar is some of Cameron’s best work. Fortunately you left it till last so I still watched the entire rundown and heartily agreed with many, most notably The Wicker Man which has long been my favourite film of all time and has been bought six times over different formats throughout the years with three just being Blu-Ray … … but that’s by the by and I’m still taking away points for Avatar, a film I truly despise and consider to be truly the worst of Cameron, a director who I grew up admiring with Aliens and T2 alone, both films that to this day remain all time greats in the sci fi sequel ranks. But following the underrated True Lies and the astounding but also underrated Strange Days (Yes, I know he didn’t direct it but his screenplay alone is way ahead of any amount of sinking ships, Celine Dion infused ear vomit, blue bloody meanies, Ferngully, Dances With Unobtanium bullshit nonsense .. Apologies for the lapse in decorum!) his output has been frankly terrible and though technically astounding all semblance of world building, character, emotion, narrative and simple originality has all but left the building … and that’s even discounting the sequel which went on so long I nearly had to shave half way through! But that’s beside the point and I’m not here to criticise those who enjoyed it as walk of us are different and thus enjoy different things. I, for instance, believe Hudson Hawk is a underrated gem in Bruce Willis’ career, AI a sci fi masterpiece that ranks amongst Spielberg’s best, Spielberg himself to be overrated, especially in the last decade or so and, well, that’s another rant for another time. Anyway, an otherwise great list with some true gems amongst the lesser fodder. Keep up the good work, stay safe and I see you and all that guff!

[@robertgray8666]

Horse for courses, but Oppenheimer was an absolute bore fest.

[@PanfluteExpedition_]

You have a short attention span