Krull is a 1983 fantasy film directed by Peter Yates. Having watched the iTunes HD version more than a year ago, I thought I’d do a quick comparison against the new Mill Creek Blu-ray edition.

Going in – I’d assumed the Blu-ray would be from the exactly the same source but there are some interesting differences between the two.

In summary the differences:

• Naturally, the Blu-ray is a much larger chunk of data at approximately 20GB compared with 4.7GB for the iTunes HD download
• The iTunes edition has noticeable compression artifacts
• There is slightly more image information on all four sides of the Blu-ray.
• The colors between the two are different and the vary on a scene by scene basis from being almost identical to being very different. Neither appears obviously ‘orange-and-tealed’.
• The iTunes edition is more contrast-y and saturated, but loses detail in both the shadows and highlights
• The iTunes edition features edge enhancement that makes it look sharper, but adds halos to high contrast edges. There is far more real detail in the Blu-ray edition (seen by boosting the sharpness on your display device)
• There is slightly more dust and dirt on the iTunes edition, but not a huge amount
• The fade out at the end of the credits is done differently – here the iTunes version has the edge (image fades, made in Pinewood Studios England holds for a moment then fades), but it’s a very minor detail.
• There is a 10 second difference in running time (2:00:51 vs 2:00:41) that is due to an additional Sony Pictures Television logo at the end of the Blu-ray
• Meta-data in the iTunes edition suggests it dates from 2001
• I suspect the Blu-ray transfer may be from 2008 (25th anniversary)

Krull – iTunes vs Blu-ray Screenshots

Krull, Blu-ray. Tending wounds. I can’t work out if the Blu-ray hasn’t been darkened enough if the iTunes edition went too far.

Krull, iTunes, tending wounds.

Krull, iTunes. Edge-enhancement, I bet even in the thumbnail you can spot it.

Krull, Blu-ray. Colors are a little different, and it looks softer, but there is much more detail present.

Krull, iTunes, note how everything looks a bit golden hued, and the mild artifacting.

Krull, Blu-ray. everything looks more natural, possibly with a little bit too much saturation

Krull – Conclusion

The new Blu-ray is very reasonable priced, and I suspect a more recent negative scan, in general I think it looks ‘better’ but the differences between the two editions are certainly interesting.

FTC disclosure: I am an iTunes and Amazon affiliate advertiser, if you click on one of the above links and make a purchase I get a very small amount of money.