Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

The Conversation 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 31, 2024

Note: Lionsgate has started their own "boutique" label called Lionsgate Limited which is offering both this film and Apocalypse Now 4K as its premiere outings.

When does a joke start writing itself? For years I've been (maybe?) kidding how Lionsgate seems to want to get rid of their "remainder" 1080 discs by enclosing them with new if not always improved 4K UHD releases, but now the studio has taken things to a new level of "recycling" at least in terms of the Lionsgate Limited release of Apocalypse Now, which more or less duplicates the content found in their wide Apocalypse Now 4K release which I reviewed several years ago, including offering previously released 4K UHD discs in addition to the older 1080 discs. On the other hand, The Conversation is being released in 4K for the first time in Region A, and surprise of surprises also offers a new 1080 transfer, along with several new on disc supplements on both the 1080 and 4K UHD discs, and so offers potential consumers something other than the packaging and non disc swag, which in this particular instance is pretty significant if maybe slightly impractical (how many of you still have a cassette player?). So maybe the joke is ultimately on yours truly with regard to at least this release.

Lionsgate released The Conversation in 1080 many (many) years ago, and those interested in my reaction to the film are encouraged to read my now more than a decade old The Conversation Blu- ray review. That review also offers my assessment of the 1080 disc's technical merits as well as listing that disc's supplements. Some may note I've actually upped my overall score for the film with this review. In revisiting it again after a rather long span, I was even more struck by how prescient its incipient paranoia seems to be for what many people seem to be experiencing.

The Conversation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Note: As mentioned above, this release offers both a new 1080 transfer as well as a 4K UHD transfer. Screenshots 1 through 5 are from the 1080 presentation, and screenshots 6 through 10 are sourced directly from the 4K disc, but downscaled to 1080 and SDR. Color space in particular is more accurately represented in the 1080 screenshots.

The Conversation is presented in 4K UHD courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an HEVC / H.265 encoded 2160p transfer in 1.85:1. This package also includes a new AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1 on a standard Blu-ray disc. Lionsgate's deluxe insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

For the 2024 restoration of The Conversation, the original negative was accessed for the first time and scanned in 4K. An approved reference print was used for the color grading, and the 5.1 soundtrack was created in 2000 by Walter Murch. The home entertainment release will include the original 1974 mono track.

I gave solid marks to the old 1080 presentation, but of course hindsight is 20/20, and I'm not sure after stacking up both the 1080 and 4K presentation in this package against that older release that it would still warrant so high of a score, something that's probably unsurprising given both the original negative source of these presentations as well as the improvements in restorations in the more than decade since the original 1080 release came out. The first change is the slight but commendable correction from the older presentation's 1.78:1 aspect ratio to this release's 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Probably more significantly, though, there are some interesting changes in the color timing in both the 1080 and 4K UHD presentations offered here, with a somewhat less pink and just slightly more yellowish look when compared to the older 1080 presentation, something that has more nuance and tonal variety in the 4K UHD version courtesy of HDR / Dolby Vision. While the 4K UHD version probably points up some of the intentional differences in appearance that I mention in my original 1080 review, especially in some of the supposed surveillance video, there's a really appealingly organic appearance to the 4K UHD version, something that I had a bit of trepidation about, given my well voiced concerns about how grain can look at the increased resolution this format offers. That said, there is at times very heavy grain throughout this presentation, and it can tend to be especially noticeable against brighter backgrounds. Both the 1080 and 4K UHD presentations here look slightly darker than the older 1080 version, but I'd argue both of the new presentations offer more secure saturation. Dolby Vision / HDR helps to define some of the darker material in particular, notably some of the apartment scenes with Teri Garr. While detail levels can understandably be somewhat variable in the ostensible surveilliance material, they're otherwise typically precise looking.

The Conversation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The older 1080 disc offered DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono options, while both the 4K UHD discs in this package substitute an LPCM 2.0 Mono track while keeping the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. The audio here did not sound different in any meaningful way from the older 1080 audio presentation. Purists may want to stick with the mono track just to experience the film the way it was originally released, but I highly recommend at least checking out the 5.1 track, which has some incredible immersion, especially with regard to the central Union Square sequence, something the film returns to over and over again as it progresses. Voices dart in from the right and left, crowd noise moves seamlessly between channels and the wafting voices of Williams and Forrest peek through unexpected channels as they make their way around the square. David Shire's haunting score also sounds fantastic in the 5.1 repurposing. Dialogue is clean and clear, and fidelity is superb on both of these tracks. The Conversation is filled with intriguing, sometimes almost mystifying, sound effects, and those also pop with a sonic vivacity that really makes the surround track a vibrant listening experience. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Conversation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Both the 4K UHD and 1080 discs in this package sport the same slate of supplements, with one good new interview with editor Walter Murch along with returning supplements from the previous 1080 release. There's more information on the archival supplements in my original review linked to above.

• Introduction by Francis Ford Coppola (HD; 3:12) is accessible under the Play Menu, and is authored to proceed directly on to the feature. The Play Menu also offers a simple Play option without the introduction.


• Original Mono Track is presented in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono.


• Q & A with Walter Murch, Filmed at Curzon Soho, 2017* (HD; 43:28) is a really interesting session with the famed editor.


• Feature Commentary with Writer-Director Francis Ford Coppola


• Feature Commentary with Editor Walter Murch


• 50th Anniversary Trailer* (HD;1:00)


• Interview with Gene Hackman (1973) (HD; 4:03) was shot on February 12 on set.


• Composer David Shire Interviewed by Francis Ford Coppola (HD; 10:59)


• Cindy Williams Screen Test (HD; 5:01)


• Harrison Ford Screen Test (HD; 6:43)


• Close-up on The Conversation (HD; 8:40)


• Coppola Dictates Script (HD; 49:14)


• Harry Caul's San Francisco: Locations Then & Now (HD; 3:42) is "now" if you consider 2011 now.


• No Cigar (1956, Francis Ford Coppola) (HD; 2:28) includes an introduction by Coppola.


• Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:49)


• Behind the Scenes Stills Gallery (HD; 1:56)

As Lionsgate Limited seeks to establish its "identity", for whatever that's worth, it's maybe a bit perplexing to contrast this release with the simultaneously released Apocalypse Now 4K. As mentioned above, that release is more or less duplicative of Lionsgate's original wide 4K release, aside from the SteelBook packaging. This release takes an almost comically opposite approach, starting with an oversized box which measures approximately 6" wide by 7 1/4" high by 2 1/4" deep. Inside the box are reproductions of both the original and 50th anniversary posters, and then a really nicely appointed insert booklet which includes an array of really interesting essays by Kim Newman and several others, along with a lot of stills and other information. Underneath that is the SteelBook, which features an image of Hackman playing sax, offered in slate gray and sepia tones. The back panel alludes to Harry's "deconstruction" of his apartment. The interior panels offer a photograph of one of the surveillance sessions from the truck in the film. A digital copy is also included. A Mylar O ring somewhat cheekily offers a VU meter on the front and production information on the back.

In maybe a questionable example of "but wait, you also get. . ." under the SteelBook there's a cassette of the soundtrack. This marks the second "vintage" technology that's crossed my review queue, or at least some of the sometimes hilarious PR offerings that I'm privy to. Kind of unbelievably, Disney / Buena Vista and 20th Century Productions sent me a VHS copy of Alien: Romulus a couple of weeks ago.

The Conversation 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Lionsgate Limited is off to a perhaps slightly perplexing start, but that said, this release certainly points the way forward for what a boutique label might be able to offer dedicated collectors, namely a release with solid technical merits, appealing supplements, handsome packaging and some nice swag. Highly recommended.