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WATERSHIP DOWN
A film by Martin Rosen

Released on Limited Edition UHD and Blu-ray, iTunes and Amazon Prime on 25 November 2024 (previously listed as 11 November)

See the new trailer here.

Newly restored in 4K, with a premiere at the BFI London Film Festival in October, Watership Down, long unavailable to buy, is released by the BFI in Limited Edition UHD and Blu-ray formats on 25 November. Each presentation contains identical special features including a new audio commentary, a vintage audio commentary, four scenes with accompanying original storyboards, postcards, a perfect bound book and more.

An apocalyptic vision prompts a group of rabbits to abandon their warren in search of a new home, in this landmark British animation. Richard Adams’ timeless novel is brought brilliantly to life as Hazel, Fiver and Bigwig tackle the brutal realities of the English countryside – and mankind’s devastating impact upon it – as they lead their colony to the utopian Watership Down. Featuring an acclaimed voice cast (including John Hurt, Richard Briers and Denholm Elliott), a powerful score by composer Angela Morley and the hit single 'Bright Eyes' sung by Art Garfunkel, Watership Down is a thrilling tale of adventure, courage and resilience that continues to enthral new and old audiences alike.

Special features
• UHD: Restored 4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
• Blu-ray: Restored in 4K and presented in High Definition
• New audio commentary by film and animation scholars Catherine Lester and Sam Summers (2024)
• Vintage audio commentary by director Martin Rosen and writer and filmmaker Chris Gore (2003)
• A Conversation With the Filmmakers (2005, 17 mins): director Martin Rosen and editor Terry Rawlings discuss the production history of the film
• Defining a Style (2005, 12 mins): key animators and background artists discuss their work
• Storyboard comparison (2024, 15 mins): four scenes with accompanying original storyboards
• Super 8 version (1978, 28 mins): original UK Super 8 digest release
• Nepenthe Super 8 footage (c1977, 3 mins): shot by Arthur Humberstone, a senior animator
• Designing Watership Down (2024, 4 mins): a film of materials related to Watership Down courtesy of The Arthur Humberstone Animation Archive
• Treasures from the BFI National Archive (1942-1969, 48 mins): a selection of archive gems, including films by Mary Field and Halas & Batchelor, related to the themes or personnel of Watership Down
• Trailers and TV spots
• Double-sided poster featuring the original UK quad and the 2024 rerelease artwork
• A set of four postcards featuring images and sketches from the film
• 80-page perfect-bound book featuring writing by Jez Stewart, Catherine Lester, Nigel and Klive Humberstone, Angela Morley, Charlie Brigden, Lillian Crawford, Vic Pratt, Tim Coleman, Caroline Millar, Tony Dykes and Michael Brooke

Product details – UHD
RRP: £34.99 / Cat. no. BFIB0004 / PG
UK / 1978 / colour / 92 mins / English with optional descriptive subtitles and audio description / original aspect ratio 1.85:1 // UHD100: 2160p, 24fps, LPCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz/24-bit)

Product details – Blu-ray
RRP: £29.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1473 / PG
UK / 1978 / colour / 92 mins / English with optional descriptive subtitles and audio description | original aspect ratio 1.85:1 // BD50: 1080p, 24fps, LPCM 2.0 stereo audio (48kHz/24-bit)

nicolas wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2024 10:16 am This is a lovely edition as seen in these from pictures from a BR user: https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php? ... stcount=81

After taking a look at the disc, I felt a sigh of relief that this fantastic new transfer (16-bit 4K OCN scan and Silver Salt restoration) saw the light of day after all. It’s a drastic improvement to the Criterion across the board. The film’s now more detailed due to the new scan and encode, it’s much better graded, HDR is very tastefully and beautifully applied, the film is now stable and doesn’t have the Telecine wobble that’s present on the Criterion master.

I’m not the biggest fan and collector of animated films, but I did see another gorgeous restoration this year which serves as an interesting comparison - Gandahar by René Laloux, which was released by Le chat qui fume in France. They also released the film OCN-restored with HDR and their approach was more to emphasize a "pop" look with brighter colors and highlights rather than a more subtle grade to represent the film’s filmic roots more faithfully. I was impressed how Gandahar looks on my TV but the BFI made the right decision when approaching Watership Down. It feels like someone’s projecting these images live and there’s essentially nothing distracting.

I’m mentioning essentially because there are tiny blocking artifacts I observed in Fidelity’s encode, namely with some of the highlights in moments where grain is thicker and the HDR grade is at its "hottest". The vast majority of viewers aren’t noticing this and even the pixel peepers shouldn’t worry but it’s there if you look for it. See at minute 06:57 for an example near the fence where detail isn’t as strong as in the foreground. Again, nothing to worry about. This is still very much a Fidelity encode.

Audio sounds very good to me. BFI also commissioned an audio restoration from the original magnetic tracks. The score in particular sounds very lively whereas the narration is a little more muffled but that can also be heard in Criterion’s mix, which I also think is really good.

Subtitles are included and have full stops.

Please enjoy your copies - it’s truly an outstanding release. If you have the Criterion and are aware of its poor encoding, definitely consider an upgrade.

black&huge wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2024 8:10 pm Debating if I should get this bfi 4k or wait for a potential Criterion upgrade

therewillbeblus wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2024 2:14 amFor the life of me, I can’t discern 4K upgrades in animated films

therewillbeblus wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2024 2:14 am For the life of me, I can’t discern 4K upgrades in animated films

ryannichols7 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2024 4:14 am

therewillbeblus wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2024 2:14 am For the life of me, I can’t discern 4K upgrades in animated films

Ghost in the Shell and Snow White have been the biggest winners to me so far. you can see the literal hand strokes in the animation with the HDR. I'll admit CGI (so Wall-E) haven't been that big a jump to me, noticably, but anything hand drawn definitely has. I really look forward to an eventual Sleeping Beauty upgrade, or dream of Fantasia

unfortunately so many titles aren't gonna be "big enough" to get the upgrade, hence me basically mentioning Disney exclusively in this post

therewillbeblus wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2024 2:14 am For the life of me, I can’t discern 4K upgrades in animated films

beamish14 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2024 5:53 am The Black Cauldron is the big Disney one that I’m hoping for. No transfer has ever used the OCN, which was filmed in 65mm and used the incredible detail afforded by the studio’s amazing multiplane camera

beamish14 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2024 5:53 am

ryannichols7 wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2024 4:14 am

therewillbeblus wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2024 2:14 am For the life of me, I can’t discern 4K upgrades in animated films

Ghost in the Shell and Snow White have been the biggest winners to me so far. you can see the literal hand strokes in the animation with the HDR. I'll admit CGI (so Wall-E) haven't been that big a jump to me, noticably, but anything hand drawn definitely has. I really look forward to an eventual Sleeping Beauty upgrade, or dream of Fantasia

unfortunately so many titles aren't gonna be "big enough" to get the upgrade, hence me basically mentioning Disney exclusively in this post

The Black Cauldron is the big Disney one that I’m hoping for. No transfer has ever used the OCN, which was filmed in 65mm and used the incredible detail afforded by the studio’s amazing multiplane camera