Red Sun 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		0.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		4.0

Red Sun 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 2, 2026

The uptick in international co-productions as the late sixties gave way to the early seventies provided some epochal changes for cinema in general, though kind of interestingly not always with regard to the American market. Case in point: 1971's Red Sun, a film with the imprimatur of having been directed by James Bond veteran Terence Young, and with a cast headlined by Charles Bronson, Ursula Andress, Toshiro Mifune, Alain Delon and just a soupçon of Capucine added for additional interest. But here's the kind of interesting thing vis a vis the aforementioned American market: Charles Bronson hadn't quite attained his Death Wish global superstar status yet, and it's at least arguable that Andress, Mifune, Delon and Capucine would have been best known in the United States more as "interesting sidebars" rather than outright marquee attractions in and of themselves. Mifune and Delon in particular quite probably would have been best known at the time by what might be termed the Art House crowd. All of this is to say it's perhaps at least somewhat understandable, then, that Red Sun did what Variety used to call boffo business in overseas markets (where also interestingly Bronson was probably already more popular than in his native land) while it languished pretty spectacularly on this side of the pond. While the film is often shoehorned into the Spaghetti Western idiom, as some of the excellent supplements on this release address, there's a considerably more "meta" aspect at times, and in fact the very international flavor of the cast might make this more of what might be jokingly called a Samurai Western, with Bronson and Mifune teamed to try to reclaim a Japanese ceremonial sword that has considerable value.

Perhaps surprisingly for such a perceived cult item, Red Sun has had several previous 1080 and 4K releases through the years, though Radiance's eponymous Red Sun from 2023 isn't among them. Instead Region B had a pretty ancient 1080 release from Studio Canal in 2015, which was followed in 2024 by new 1080 and 4K releases also from Studio Canal. All of the provided links feature reviews with plot information and lists of supplements along with reactions to the technical presentations. As always, different reviewers means different opinions, and I'm a bit more tolerant of some of the excesses on display here (including overly long traveling segues that seem to be there only to increase the running time, even if they're often quite scenic), and would actually argue that the overall pacing of the film is the biggest problem, with all of the interrelationships between the four (arguably five) focal characters competently handled within the constraints of a slightly clunky screenplay.

Red Sun 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: While this is a standalone 4K release without a 1080 disc, I am offering screenshots from Arrow's standalone 1080 release of Red Sun as I think it actually provides a better representation of the look of the palette in particular, rather than offering screenshots from the 4K disc which are by necessity downscaled to 1080 and in SDR. Because this release does not include a 1080 disc, the 2K video score above has been intentionally left blank.

Red Sun is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Arrow Video with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information about the presentation:

Red Sun is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with English mono audio. The film is presented in 4K resolution, and for the UHD presentation, in HDR10 and Dolby Vision.

The restored 4K HDR master was supplied by Studio Canal. Additional color grading was completed by R3Store Studios.

That last bit about additional color grading may be the most salient piece of information for those stacking this up against the previously released 1080 and 4K presentations by StudioCanal. Simply comparing some of the screenshots in this review as well as my Red Sun Blu-ray review of Arrow's 1080 edition with screenshots from the listings linked to above should pretty easily show how much improvement there is in general saturation and especially warmth of the visuals. A lot of the screenshots from the previous reviews struck me as having a yellow undertone, something that could, for example, skew blues toward greens or teals. Compare, for example, this screenshot from my review of Arrow's 1080 edition with this screenshot from the 2024 Studio Canal 1080 release for just one pretty clear example of the improvements in color space across the board here (in both 1080 and 4K, frankly, though probably only improved here with the HDR / Dolby Vision grades). There are several other examples available for those who take the time to parse through all of the screenshots available in our reviews. Probably unsurprisingly given the provenance of the underlying master, and with the caveat that this is based solely on screenshot comparisons, detail levels look similar if not outright identical between the two presentations. There's some very appealing fine detail on costumes and sets in particular. There are still some minor (at times almost imperceptible) signs of age related wear and tear on display (the really committed screenshot peruser may find one or two in the screenshots of Arrow's 1080 edition). Grain is somewhat variable, some of which can be attributed to lighting conditions, but on the whole resolves organically.

Red Sun 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Red Sun features an LPCM Mono track which provides nice fluidity and fidelity throughout. The Great Train Robbery (so to speak) has some well rendered and forceful sound effects, and a lot of the outdoor material is liberally sprinkled with background ambient noises. Maurice Jarre's score is maybe a little anachronistic (is that an ocarina?), but didn't chafe as much as some other Jarre scores I've unabashedly found less than helpful (I know, I know, absolute heresy). It's obvious that vast swaths of the film were post looped, and so sync as they say can be somewhat comically loose, but all dialogue is rendered without any issues. Optional English subtitles are available.

Red Sun 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary by C. Courtney Joyner & Henry Parke


• A Global Western (HD; 31:54) is an interesting and informative 2026 appreciation by Jose Arroyo.


• The Ghosts of the Samurai (HD; 31:12) is another very interesting 2026 piece by Daisuke Miyao focusing on Samurai.


• The Man with the Gold Tooth (HD; 14:56) is a 2026 profile of Alain Delon by Mark Gallagher.


• Archival TV Promos

Pour le cinema (HD; 8:27) is from French TV and features interviews with the cast and crew along with behind the scenes footage. In black and white and subtitled in English.




Le Journal du cinema (HD; 2:03) is another archival French TV piece with Terence Young and Toshiro Mifune. In black and white and subtitled in English.

• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 3:32)


• Image Gallery (HD)

This Limited Edition features a reversible sleeve and a collectors' booklet with interesting writing by Paul talbot and Moya Luckett. Packaging also features a slipcover.

Red Sun 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If only for its really interesting global cast Red Sun is ripe for reexamination. Thankfully, that examination now includes markedly improved color timing and some especially interesting newly produced supplements. Recommended.