I have the MK2 edition of Lost Highway (in a hologram box) and I agree it's bright but it's still preferable to the R1 disc, which is horrible. The image quality isn't sharp enough to be Lynch supervised. It looks dull and muddy and there's not enough contrast.

Don't know if this has been posted but another review of the R1 release here:

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/articles/adamjahnke/jahnke052308.html

He gives the video image quality a B- and the extras an F.

Just received the new R1 version - it looks much better to me, as dark as it should be.

I buckled and ordered the MK2 for the special features, which are absent in the R1

Saw the R1 against the R2 edition... literally side by side in a high-end post-production facility with a super HD monitor and...

The Universal R1 release of Lost Highway is the SUPERIOR PICTURE, hands down! (Yes, I know this contradicts what I said before).

Even if there are no extras (thanks a lot Universal), the picture alone is worth the price of admission. Much darker and richer than the UK/French edition which does seem brightened and even had a green hue in some scenes compared to the USA edition which has more realistic skin tones. I think DVDbeaver's analysis is seriously flawed.

Still I'll keep the R2 Cinema Club/MK2 Edition for all those great extras.

I can't compare the R1 vs. the MK2, but versus the German release to which I've been accustomed all those years. As to colors, I didn't feel very comfortable about e.g. the road during the intro credits having a brownish tint in the R1 where on the German it had a blueish. But after a single watching back to back I had to realize the R1 is far superior.

Generally it seems that they tend to brighten the picture plus boost the contrast with this film on DVD releases, maybe having in mind it'll be played on home equipment possibly with other light sources in the room. But it really has to be as dark as it is. For example the daylight scenes on the German release always looked like shit, especially Mr. Eddy's car ride. Way too bright. On the R1 on the other hand, everything feels just right.

Dvdbeaver seems to whine particularly about the R1 leaning into reds/brown. But this still is exactly right. This film contains very little blue, and even those - e.g. the trademark flash lights - look way deeper and more saturated on the R1 as compared to the German release, although the latter already had a blueish bias. Quite incredible, really. And the "Alice at gun point" scene, man this was the first time I saw all the red there.

Now, when I compare the caps at dvdbeaver, and especially for example the jail shot, I'd definitely say the MK2 is too bright. As said, I couldn't be sure though not owning it, but the R1 certainly is very convincing color wise.

On the other hand, it seems that the overall production value isn't really that great. Extras are missing, as noted, but for example the intro credits had a small vertical black band on the left side when played on my computer, as if the image had been horizontally shrunk a bit. It's not much though, and only during the credits. But that certainly disqualifies this release as being a collectors dream. That said, I guess anybody who loves the film would want to have the R1.