The Long Good Friday 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		0.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

The Long Good Friday 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 28, 2025

When an authoritative history of British cinema in the late seventies through the eighties is compiled, a perhaps unexpected name may turn out to be surprisingly relevant: George Harrison. Harrison's HandMade Films basically "rescued" more than one project during its heyday, including such (now) beloved efforts as Monty Python's Life of Brian. HandMade Films also arrived as a veritable Deus ex Machina to aid two John Mackenzie efforts, both of which were originally slated for television. A Sense Of Freedom evidently did air on British "telly", later to be distributed by HandMade, but HandMade intervened to prevent the film currently under discussion from being broadcast in a severely redacted form, giving The Long Good Friday a theatrical exhibition which led to pretty consistent acclaim and which helped catapult both Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren onto the A list.

The Long Good Friday has had several previous releases in both Region A and Region B in 1080, and one 4K UHD release for Region A courtesy of Criterion. Those interested can visit Casey Broadwater's The Long Good Friday Blu-ray review of the Image Entertainment 1080 disc from 2010 and/or Svet Atanasov's The Long Good Friday 4K Blu-ray review of Criterion's 2024 release (also available in a standalone 1080 version) for plot information, lists of supplements, and reactions to technical presentations.

The Long Good Friday 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 from 2018 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.

The Long Good Friday 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 on the restoration:

The Long Good Friday was restored by Arrow Films, and is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio with its original mono audio and a new Atmos mix.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution. The film was restored in 4K resolution and graded in HDR10 and Dolby Vision. Scanning, grading and picture restoration was completed at Silver Salt Restoration, London.

This restoration was approved by Director of Photography Phil Méheux.

The mono audio was remastered from the original mag reels by Bad Princess Productions. The Dolby Atmos mix was source from the original DME reels and was completed at Deluxe Audio, London.

All materials for this resotration were made available by Handmade Films via The British Film Institute.

This is another fantastic looking 4K upgrade from Arrow, one that takes the pluses of their previous 2K restoration (offered on 1080 disc in 2018) and offers at least some marginal improvements in detail levels, but which courtesy of its HDR / Dolby Vision grades really infuses the palette with some interesting new tonal energy. Svet mentioned some differences in the blue and gray ranges in his review of Criterion's 4K release, but what struck my eyes in particular was a very subtle but noticeable green(ish) undertone that is particularly observable in some of the outdoor London material. It's very subtle and does not add any hint of abnormality, but it's something I noticed after having watched Arrow's 1080 presentation. Arrow's 1080 disc actually had a text preface detailing some of the efforts made for that release, efforts which included image stabilization, and while that was assumedly carried over here, there are some very brief "jiggly" moments during the HandMade Films masthead in particular. Grain can be quite heavy, per the intentions of Mackenzie and cinematographer Méheux, but as someone who doesn't always like the appearance of grain resolution in 4K, I found the grain field to resolve rather tightly, overall. There's virtually no damage or signs of age related wear and tear that I spotted.

Note: For those who may have missed it when it was originally posted, I had the distinct pleasure and privilege of spending a day at Silver Salt Restoration in December 2024 which resulted in this interview.

The Long Good Friday 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Long Good Friday features the original mono soundtrack delivered via LPCM, and a new Dolby Atmos mix that is rather spacious even if it does admittedly "reinvent" the track's original focused ambience. Immersion is especially noticeable in placement of ambient environmental effects and Francis Monkman's "groovy" score. The Atmos speakers get intermittent engagement in some key moments like a couple of big explosions. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout (even with the supposedly problematic Cockney accents). Optional English subtitles are available.

The Long Good Friday 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Supplements not included on Arrow's previous 1080 release are indicated by an asterisk (*). See the above linked reviews for supplements on other labels' releases of the film.

• Commentary by John Mackenzie


• Bloody Business: The Making of The Long Good Friday (HD; 54:52) is an archival piece made by Anchor Bay.


• Interviews*

Barry Hanson, producer (HD; 5:38)




Phil Méheux, cinematographer (HD; 3:16)




Barrie Keeffe, screenwriter (HD; 8:26)




Simon Hinkly, first assistant director (HD; 18:08)




Carlotta Barrow, assistant art director (HD; 6:08)

• Hands Across the Ocean (HD; 7:10) looks at some of the kind of hilarious dubbing the film had for its US release.


• Q & A with Bob Hoskins and John Mackenzie* (HD; 27:48) is from 2000 and is moderated by Richard Jobson.


• Additional Interviews

Barry Hanson, producer (HD; 16:14)




Phil Méheux, cinematographer (HD; 17:35)




Barrie Keeffe, screenwriter (HD; 14:16)

• Trailers (HD; 4:48)

Additionally this Limited Edition features a reversible sleeve and a foldout poster. An illustrated collector's booklet features both new and archival writing, including an excerpt from Very Naughty Boys: The Amazing True Story of Handmade Films, which may help in part to offset the omission of the documentary about Handmade that accompanies the Criterion release. Packaging features a slipcover.

The Long Good Friday 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It was a longstanding family joke when my wife and I took our then teenaged sons to Europe that literally the only person we could not understand was a ticket agent at Heathrow who had a very heavy Cockney accent. That patois figures subliminally into the socioeconomic subtext of the film, and actually shows up in the supplement listed above focusing on a slight redub for American audiences, but even without an inherent understanding of how different English accents can indicate "class standing", Hoskins' feral characterization in The Long Good Friday makes Shand's "class standing" abundantly clear. Technical merits are first rate and as usual Arrow has aggregated some really appealing supplements. Highly recommended.