Sabrina Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Sabrina Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 29, 2026

Sydney Pollack's "Sabrina" (1995) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on it include new audio commentary by critics Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff, and vintage trailer. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

The girl from Paris

Why did they decide to remake the original film? This question is asked by virtually everyone who dislikes Sydney Pollack’s film, as well as everyone who thinks that Billy Wilder’s film is a flawless classic. I am not a fan of remakes. However, for once, I believe that a remake of a very popular older film was not a terrible idea.

Almost everyone who has seen Wilder’s film knows it was a complicated compromise. Wilder wanted Cary Grant to play Linus Larrabee, not Humphrey Bogart, who was a rushed replacement and eager for his wife, Lauren Bacall, to take Audrey Hepburn’s part. Had Grant agreed to make Wilder’s film, it undoubtedly would have been a drastically different film. Better or worse? That is the million-dollar question. It is easy to speculate how Grant would have fit into it, but no one knows for sure how this fictional film would have turned out. Grant and Bogart had different acting styles, different charisma, and different actors reacted differently to their work. Wilder’s film was also marred by a lot of unscripted drama involving its stars, which could have been easily downsized and probably avoided with Grant present. So, there were legitimately intriguing possibilities that could have been explored in a remake of Wilder’s film, or at least Pollack must have thought so, because he also became one of its producers.

In Pollack’s film, the original story remains the same, but, unsurprisingly, crucial sequences in it are altered. For example, before heading to Paris, Sabrina (Julia Ormond) accidentally reveals her feelings for David Larrabee (Greg Kinnear) to his brother (Harrison Ford). This sequence, which in both films creates significant ripple effects, has a notably different dynamic from the one that precedes her departure in Wilder’s film. In Paris, Sabrina also lands a job at Vogue, where her passion for photography is then carefully intertwined with her maturation, which is a new development as well. The progression of the romance in the final act features several new themes that also expose the true personalities of the Larrabee brothers differently.

Ford looks younger than Bogart, which should have been a major positive development. However, his interactions with Ormond are less convincing, partially because many of them are compromised by disappointingly overpolished lines. The more consequential damage is done by the way Ford carries himself. In Wilder’s film, Bogart, despite looking too old for Hepburn, brings an adult quality to the drama and romance, helping plenty of the material to appear realistic. In Pollack’s film, Ford, despite looking younger, has the exact opposite effect. While pretending to be a workaholic millionaire-future billionaire and unscrupulous dealmaker, Ford becomes a ridiculous 1990s version of a prematurely aged trust fund baby. Needless to say, it is impossible to believe that his character would steal the heart of a beautiful young woman, repeatedly claiming to have found herself in Paris.

On paper, the supporting cast looks very impressive. Richard Crena, Angie Dickinson, and Lauren Holly are the powerful Tyson family and future partners of the Larrabees. Nancy Marchaund is the architect of the Larrabee empire. John Wood is the Larrabees’ imported chauffeur. Fanny Ardant plays a smart lady at Vogue’s main office who inspires Sabrina to see herself in the real world differently. Patrick Bruel is a charming French photographer who encourages Sabrina to follow her heart.

The glamour and elegance, some of them casual, some of them unmistakably opulent, that define the Larrabees’ world could not have been captured more convincingly. It is why the Larrabees' world is a place where an unbelievable story like Sabrina’s easily begins to look believable. Pollack created it with the great Italian cinematographer Giuseppe Rotunno (The Leopard, All That Jazz).

Sabrina Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sabrina arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release introduces a gorgeous new 4K makeover of the film, prepared at Paramount Pictures, which is one of the best I have seen from the major. On my system, all parts of the film, the ones with the impressive outdoor footage, and the ones with the more casual indoor footage, looked equally striking. Despite some small fluctuations introduced by the original cinematography, delineation, clarity, and depth were either excellent or outstanding. The new 4K makeover is incredibly well graded as well, which is why all visuals have a spectacular, very accurate period appearance. Everything that I saw looked terrific -- saturation levels of all primaries and all supporting nuances, balance, overall color temperature, etc. It is a flawless grade. There are no traces of any problematic digital corrections. Image stability is excellent. A few sequences could have benefited from small encoding optimizations, but the entire film looks fantastic in high-definition. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Sabrina Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

You must choose the 5.1 track to view Sabrina with. There is no intense action material, but John Williams' rich score sounds better on it. In fact, in some areas where the dynamic field is expanded, it sounds significantly better. Unsurprisingly, the narration and all dialogue are very clear, sharp, and easy to follow. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report.

Sabrina Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critics Julie Kirgo and Peter Hankoff.

• Trailer - presented here is a vintage trailer for Sabrina. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Sabrina Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sydney Pollack's instincts were right. It was a good idea to produce and direct a remake of Billy Wilder's classic film, which only its most loyal fans have defended as a flawless film. However, Pollack's remake has plenty of flaws too, some even familiar ones. The most consequential of them can be easily traced back to Harrison Ford's performance, which irreversibly damages Linus Larrabee's integrity and, in the process, compromises his chances of evolving into a desirable man. Still, Pollack's remake is too beautiful a film to miss, especially now that it looks better than ever before. Kino Lorber's release introduces a fantastic new 4K makeover of it, prepared at Paramount Pictures. RECOMMENDED.