Three Days of the Condor - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

As I previously reviewed Three Days of the Condor - or Six Days of the Condor if you want to get literary about it all, I’ll be deferring to my past work. I still love it. I still think it’s a pitch-perfect paranoia Thriller. I still think this is one of Redford’s best as well as one of the most chilling Max von Sydow performances as the assassin Joubert. This is one of my favorite films to pull out around early winter, that brief area where Halloween is over where it's wet and cold out, but it’s not quite snowing. It’s a tension-filled thrill ride right from the jump and delivers through one suspense-filled setup after the next. 

KLSC 4K UHD

StudioCanal 4K UHD

2021 StudioCanal 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray SteelBook Review

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD
Three Days of the Condor is on the run with a new two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray release from Kino Lorber Studio Classics. Pressed on a BD-100 disc with a Region A BD-50 for the 1080p, the discs are housed in a standard sturdy two-disc black case with identical slipcover artwork. The discs load to the standard basic KLSC main menu.

Back in the long-ago year of 2021, I imported and reviewed the French SteelBook 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray of Three Days of the Condor from StudioCanal. That was a pretty good disc for the day, but with the exception of the color-timing being overly Blue/Green. I didn’t hate that look for the film, but it was a point that knocked the overall score for. Now, after a new 4K scan from the original negative with a new Dolby Vision HDR grade, Paramount and KLSC give fans the 2160p 2.35:1 transfer they’ve been waiting for. Not only does this transfer look terrific with a healthier more stable grain structure than even the StudioCanal release, but the details appear even sharper for a wonderfully cinematic appearance. Now, compared to the previous 4K disc, this transfer appears to be slightly reframed. Tighter and slightly to the left, there’s a little difference in image data, but nothing so egregious that any given scene looks vastly different. 

KLSC 4K UHD

StudioCanal 4K UHD

Best of all for this release, the new color timing and Dolby Vision (HDR10 also included) grade looks much closer to the original color timing of the film. It’s been ages since I saw a film print projected so I don’t want to speak to memory, but this thankfully does not have that Blue/Green timing of the StudioCanal release, and neither is it as overly bright as the old Blu-ray. Skin tones are healthy and normal without looking too red or orange/peach. Black levels are deep and inky with lovely shadows throughout. Whites are brilliantly crisp without blooming. While the StudioCanal disc is still pretty good, I can’t deny this is the far superior presentation. That 2021 disc wasn’t as bad as what hit for Serpico or Cat's Eye but this is another case where those who waited for the domestic release are getting the better product.

KLSC 4K UHD

StudioCanal 4K UHD

KLSC 4K UHD

StudioCanal 4K UHD

On the audio front this release comes with the typical DTS-HD MA 5.1 and DTS-HD MA 2.0 combo deal. On the 5.1 field, this sounds to me like the same mix that’s been available for a while now. Flipping between discs, I didn’t notice anything off or different between the KLSC disc or the StudioCanal. On the 2.0 side we get a trick that’s about as good as the LPCM mix from StudioCanal, but I felt the need to pop my volume just a bit. For the bulk of my viewing for this ride-through, I kept with the 5.1 audio running through the NuralX function and that was pretty good. The early rainy New York street scenes, or that grinding hum of the old printer system, or later the shudder of the elevator in the apartment complex gave the mix a little more oomph on the atmospherics. A lot of the track still keeps to the front/center channels but it’s clean without issue and still sounds excellent.

KLSC 4K UHD

StudioCanal 4K UHD

On the bonus features front, this isn’t the most aggressive set of extras ever assembled but it’s pretty good and certainly more than we got with the EU 4K release. At the top of the pack again is the excellent Pollack audio commentary that’s gone around the bend a few times. Next in line is a new audio commentary with film historians Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson, which is an especially fun listen. It’s a bit on the “fan-appreciative” side of the spectrum but it also covers a lot of interesting trivia. After that, we have the 2004 archival documentary Something About Sydney Pollack that was made just before The Interpreter was about to go into production, as well as an archival featurette before diving into KLSC’s standard collection of related movie trailers. 

4K UHD Disc

• Audio Commentary featuring Sydney Pollack

• Audio Commentary featuring Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson

Blu-ray Disc

• Audio Commentary featuring Sydney Pollack

• Audio Commentary featuring Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson

• Something About Sydney Pollack (2004) (SD 59:06)

• More About the Condor (2003) (SD 24:57)

• Theatrical Trailer

• KLSC Trailer Gallery

• Indecent Proposal

• The Thomas Crown Affair

• Needful Things

• Malone

• The Interpreter

• The Groundstar Conspiracy

• The Eiger Sanction

• Marathon Man

Patience is a virtue that as a collector I don’t often have much stock. After waiting (briefly) for word of a domestic release I went and imported the EU edition of Sydney Pollack’s terrific Three Days of the Condor. While I wasn’t disappointed, it was an arguably better release than the past Blu-rays and DVDs, but it left room for improvement with an overly blue color timing. Now just a couple of years later Paramount and Kino Lorber Studio Classics have gone and filled that gap with a new 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray that offers up some notable improvements in detail and clarity on their own but issues a Dolby Vision grade that’s much more faithful to the original look of the film complete with a healthier assortment of bonus features. So if you waited it out and didn’t rush your collection, this is the 4K UHD disc to add to the shelf. Highly Recommended