Version Guides
Restorations, re-edits, runtimes, scores, subtitles, and intertitles can make a simple film choice feel complicated. These guides give a direct first-watch answer, then explain the differences that matter.
8 guides currently published
Why can the same film have different runtimes? →
The Gold Rush · 1925
Start with a reconstructed 1925 silent presentation—preferably the clearly labelled 2025 4K restoration—then compare Chaplin’s 1942 reissue.
Metropolis · 1927
Choose the nearly complete 2010 restoration (148–150 min); identify it by its restoration credits, Buenos Aires footage, and Huppertz score.
Nosferatu · 1922
Choose the Nosferatu film you mean, then identify the tinted 2005–06 Murnau Foundation restoration if you want the 1922 original.
Citizen Kane · 1941
Choose Criterion 4K UHD for Dolby Vision HDR or Blu-ray for 1080 HD; both present the 119-minute restoration with original mono sound.
Tokyo Story · 1953
Choose a restored Japanese-language presentation of the original 1953 film, with readable subtitles and the correct near-square image.
Pather Panchali · 1955
Begin with Pather Panchali, then Aparajito and Apur Sansar. Choose a restored Bengali presentation in a disc format your player supports.
Touch of Evil · 1958
Start with the 1998 reconstruction based on Orson Welles’s editing memo, then compare the theatrical and preview cuts.
Godzilla · 1954
Start with Ishiro Honda's 96-minute Japanese original. Save the shorter 1956 American re-edit for a later comparison.
Compare the cuts of two more films: