Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Chess Fever
(1925)
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 Flicker Alley
2020 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Bolshevik Trilogy: Three Films by Vsevolod Pudovkin (1925-1928), black & white and color-toned black & white, 291 minutes total, not rated, including Mother (1926), black & white, 87 minutes, not rated, The End of St. Petersburg (1927), black & white, 73 minutes, not rated, Storm Over Asia (1928), black & white, 131 minutes, not rated, and Chess Fever (1925), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Flicker Alley, FA0068, UPC 6-17311-68689-4.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Discs; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; Russian language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; insert booklet; standard two-disc BD keepcase; $59.98 (reduced to $49.95).
Release date: 10 March 2020.
Country of origin: USA
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has likely been mastered from an archival 35mm print.
The film is likely accompanied by a music score performed on piano by Rodney Sauer.
Supplementary material includes audio commentary for Mother (1926) by historian Peter Bagrov; audio commentary for Storm Over Asia by historian Jan-Christopher Horak; a presentation of the comedy Chess Fever (1925); the short film Notebooks of a Tourist Presents: St. Petersburg (circa 1920); the short film Amateur Images of St. Petersburg (1930); a comparison of Pudovkin’s “Five Principles of Editing”; “A Revolution in Five Moves,” a visual essay showcasing the five edits that inspired the Bolshevik revolution; and an insert booklet featuring a new essay by film author and historian Amy Sargeant.
This collection may contain the best-available home video edition of this film.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This
Region A Blu-ray Disc edition is also available directly from . . .
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 Flicker Alley
2015 DVD edition
Bed and Sofa (1927), black & white, 87 minutes, not rated, with Chess Fever (1925), black & white, 28 minutes, not rated.
Flicker Alley, distributed by MovieZyng,
FA-MD3-006, UPC 8-89290-09097-3.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.0 surround sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate, and Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $19.95.
Release date: 18 March 2015.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a very-good to excellent source print and should be of identical quality to the 2004 Image edition noted below. Refer to our comments on that edition for an idea of what to expect from this DVD-R edition. This edition replaces the Image edition noted below.
The film is accompanied by a music score performed on piano by Rodney Sauer.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from FLICKER ALLEY through . . .
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 Film Preservation Associates
2004 DVD edition
Bed and Sofa (1927), black & white, 87 minutes, not rated, with Chess Fever (1925), black & white, 28 minutes, not rated.
Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID5753DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-57532-3.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (reissued on DVD-R disc); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 5.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; 6 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $24.99.
Release date: 9 March 2004.
Country of origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 8 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This DVD edition of Chess Fever (1925) is presented from a very-good 35mm print, with both English intertitles and Russian intertitles on the alternate video angle.
The film is accompanied by new music performed on piano by Rodney Sauer.
This DVD includes audio commentary for Bed and Sofa by Julian Graffy, professor of Russian Literature and Cinema at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University College, London, and author of Bed and Sofa: The Film Companion (I.B. Taurus Publishers, 2001).
The out-of-print edition was reissued on DVD-R disc but is now replaced by the Flicker Alley edition noted above.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Kino on Video
2003 DVD edition
Earth (1930), black & white, 69 minutes, not rated, with The End of St. Petersburg (1927), black & white, 89 minutes, not rated, and Chess Fever (1925), black & white, 28 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K298, UPC 7-38329-02982-1.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 4.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; Russian language intertitles, permanent English language subtitles; no chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 13 May 2003.
Country or origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from 35mm materials that are of very-good quality. A decision on which edition with Chess Fever to purchase may be based on which films are packaged with it.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on synthesizers by Roger White.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Other RUSSIAN and SOVIET FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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