For the Agatha Christie Collection, StudioCanal and Silver Salt Restoration have collaborated on a sweeping 4K restoration of Death on the Nile, The Mirror Crack’d and Evil Under the Sun. Technicians spent over 200 hours on each title, meticulously grading colours and removing sparkle, dirt and scratches. The results are strong, with accurate colours, fine detail and many subtle textures and visual nuances that bring new life to the films’ sets, costumes and locations.
However, the same cannot be said for Murder on the Orient Express, arguably the collection’s most famous title. This disc is not a Silver Salt restoration; it appears to be a reissue of Kino Lorber’s 4K transfer from 2024. The image quality is decidedly inferior, starting with its boxy 1.70:1 aspect ratio, which feels cramped compared to its peers’ screen-filling 1.85:1 format. Worse still is the lighting. Overly strong whites produce bloomy, unpleasant images that can strain your eyes; windows, lamps and even newspapers and clothing cast an uncomfortable glare, softening the image and blurring clarity. A restoration could reduce the bloom but not eliminate it, as the lighting was integral to the cinematography, which sought to evoke a glamorous, storybook aesthetic with diffused lighting.
Some may think these objections miss the point of the film’s deliberate style, and maybe they’re right. It might not be to this writer’s taste, but the release is hardly controversial, certainly not compared to StudioCanal’s much maligned Terminator 2 4K transfer. Murder on the Orient Express still displays reasonable detail among the bloom and softness; it is, doubtlessly, the best the film has ever looked. Besides, for most viewers, the appeal lies less in audiovisual perfection than in the characters, performances and plotting — elements that make Orient Express and its three successors worth revisiting.
Accompanying all of the scenery-chewing and whodunit skulduggery is a suite of extras on every disc, including over a dozen interviews with cast and crew and numerous making-of documentaries. There’s also a 64-page booklet with essays and other literature packaged in the collection’s handsome box. The Agatha Christie Collection is fit for old sleuths or newcomers with post-Knives Out curiosity.
