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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The End of
St. Petersburg
(1927)
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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 The End of St. Petersburg (1927), black & white, 73 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 composed and performed by a number of musicians.
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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 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 ? 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; 12 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 13 May 2003.
Country or origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 6 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This DVD edition has been mastered from 35mm elements of very-good quality. This is the same video master that was prepared for release on VHS videotape and laserdisc in the 1990s.
The film is presented with permanent yellow English subtitles over the Russian intertitles. The orchestral music score is the existing optical soundtrack from the source print.
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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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 Film Preservation Associates
2002 DVD edition
The End of St. Petersburg (1927), black & white, 87 minutes, not rated, with Deserter (1933), black & white, 106 minutes, not rated.
Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID1124DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-11242-9.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 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 5.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 1.0 mono sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; Russian language intertitles, permanent English language subtitles; 16 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $24.99.
Release date: 15 October 2002.
Country of origin: USA •
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 6 / additional content: 6 / overall: 6.
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This DVD edition is touted (by Film Preservation Associates) to be mastered from the best print available, which is the 1975 American release print prepared by the Eastin-Phelan Corporation (1970s owners of the Blackhawk Films collection) from the 1969 Gosfilmofond restoration. Film Preservation Associates succeeded Eastin-Phelan in ownership of the Blackhawk Films collection and so owns the 35mm source material. The video transfer was prepared by Kino International in 1991 for release on VHS videotape and was subsequently issued on laserdisc by Film Preservation Associates in 1996.
The film is accompanied by the monaural orchestral music soundtrack from the 1969 restoration version.
But, obviously, we cannot recommend one edition or another until viewed.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Eureka Entertainment
2001 DVD edition
The End of St. Petersburg (1927), black & white, 88 minutes, BBFC Classification U.
Eureka Entertainment,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 2 PAL DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 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) 2.0 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; £19.99.
Release date: 20 August 2001.
Country of origin: England
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This PAL DVD edition has been mastered from 35mm print materials.
North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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Other RUSSIAN and SOVIET FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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