What year did studios stop using Mono?

What Year did studios stop using Dolby Stereo?

This thread is so that I can see when studios stopped using certain audio formats so I can see if an audio mix on a home video release is the theatrical mix or a remix.

Depends on the specific film. Many films stuck with mono long into the Dolby Stereo era because it was cheaper.There's not a hard cut off.

The Terminator used mono when Return of the Jedi used Dolby Stereo, and the Terminator is a $6 million movie, so I see your point.

Groundhog day used Dolby Stereo when Jurassic Park used DTS.

Drunken Master II used mono in 1994.

As already noted, the cut-off is very fuzzy as a whole. You'll probably be able to ballpark a guess by taking into consideration a movie's country-of-origin as well as its budget, but generally speaking, it'd be safer to look up titles on a case-by-case basis.

For instance, I would say that (as far as I can think of) Hong Kong titles were mono mixes all the way up to the late 90s (as I can't think of a single one of those titles that had a stereo mix produced for theatrical).

That said, I can't guess by the same rule of thumb for 70s Italy given the existence of Suspiria with its a 4.0 magnetic mix (despite being unable to think of a single other title from the period having anything beyond mono).

I think Rumble In the Bronx, Police Story 4, Mr Nice Guy, and Who Am I all had stereo mixes, though those are only Jackie Chan films. The Internal Affairs trilogy for sure had Dolby Digital mixes.

(2026-07-05, 09:18 AM)rinrinabis Wrote: I think Rumble In the Bronx, Police Story 4, Mr Nice Guy, and Who Am I all had stereo mixes, though those are only Jackie Chan films.

Those were stereo sync-sound mixes which HK films didn't really use until the 90's. Those also had backing from US producers and made for export, so some of those have theatrical 5.1 mixes for the English US dubs.

(2026-07-05, 09:18 AM)rinrinabis Wrote: I think Rumble In the Bronx, Police Story 4, Mr Nice Guy, and Who Am I all had stereo mixes, though those are only Jackie Chan films. The Internal Affairs trilogy for sure had Dolby Digital mixes.

In the 2000s was when I believe you started seeing a lot more HK titles getting stereo / surround mixes. I know Wong Kar Wai's In The Mood For Love did theatrically have a Dolby Digital mix for instance.

As for the 90s HK Jackie Chans (good catch as I completely forgot about his filmography; I'm too engrained with Wong Kar Wai, Tsui Hark and John Woo hahaha), as already noted, given his popularity overseas, I imagine the stereo mixes were a result of that. It seems the mid-90s was the exact juncture point for him since Rumble In The Bronx was still mixed in mono for its original Hong Kong cut to some degree (not sure why the English dub's specifically mono?); the other titles seemed to have gotten off luckier.

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Jackie-Ch...75/#Review Wrote:The Hong Kong Cut of Rumble in the Bronx is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Cantonese stereo and English mono audio. The International Cut version is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with stereo and 5.1 English audio, and the burnt-in subtitles are presented as per the original theatrical release.

Thunderbolt is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Cantonese stereo, English (export dub) stereo and English (New Line dub) 5.1 audio. The Japanese Cut is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Cantonese stereo audio.

Police Story 4: First Strike is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with Cantonese stereo and Mandarin stereo audio. The International Cut, re-titled Jackie Chan's First Strike, is presented in its original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with stereo and 5.1 English audio.

All three versions of Mr. Nice Guy (Japanese, Hong Kong and International) are presented in their original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with stereo and 5.1 English audio.

Both versions of Who Am I? (Hong Kong and International) are presented in their original 2.39:1 aspect ratio with English stereo and 5.1 audio. For the Hong Kong Cut, alternate English 5.1 audio with Cantonese-dubbed sections is also included.