Fritz Lang on DVD/Blu-ray

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matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#351 Post by matrixschmatrix » Tue Nov 22, 2011 2:21 pm

They look really similar, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the same transfer- the one shot I could find exactly certainly looks that way.

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HJackson
Joined: Wed Jul 20, 2011 7:27 pm

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#352 Post by HJackson » Wed Nov 23, 2011 5:54 pm

I'm pretty certain they are identical. I looked through the caps Beaver has of the Wild Side back when I got the Exposure, and couldn't spot the difference at all. Not gonna complain though since it's a fine release.

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hearthesilence
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 4:22 am
Location: NYC

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#353 Post by hearthesilence » Tue Nov 29, 2011 5:57 pm

Frankinho007 wrote:Comparison of While the City Sleeps between the Exposure Cinema disc and the Remastered Warner Archive disc: http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film3/dvd_revi ... sleeps.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Jesus, glad I saw this before I bought that Warner Archive disc.

FWIW, if you want widescreen, one consolation is to rip the Exposure DVD, re-export it with MPEG Streamclip using the "cropping" function, then burn it back on to a DVD using DVD Studio Pro.

Unfortunately you will take a hit in quality - even if re-compression is not a factor, you're still chopping it down a good number of pixels, and if the exported/burned image is made to fill a widescreen TV (and not just sit letterbox-fashion in an academy ratio screen), it's not going to look ideal.

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matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#354 Post by matrixschmatrix » Tue Nov 29, 2011 6:02 pm

Yeah, there's a debate to be had about Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, but I think there's no question that Exposure's the way to go on While the City Sleeps- I have that disc and it's wonderful. It even has extras- press clippings and sales material and so forth- that are way more interesting that I would have expected, and reflect the company's level of care in putting these out.

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Der Spieler
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:05 am

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#355 Post by Der Spieler » Tue Nov 29, 2011 11:47 pm

And their release of SBTD is boss!

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Der Spieler
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:05 am

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#356 Post by Der Spieler » Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:17 pm

I updated the List adding the upcoming Spiders DVD and Scarlet Street BD from Kino. I try to list the best overall release(s) for each title and avoid the problematic ones. But the list is of course incomplete.

Spiders (1919) - upcoming Kino DVD
Der müde Tod (1921) - Image DVD
Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922) - MoC DVD (only in Mabuse box set)
Die Nibelungen (1924) - Kino DVD for now (upcoming MoC and Kino Blu-rays)
Metropolis (1927) - MoC and Kino Blu-rays tie for PQ, but MoC has more extras
Spione (1928) - MoC DVD
Woman in the Moon (1929) - MoC DVD
M (1931) - Universum, Criterion and MoC Blu-rays tie
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) - Criterion and MoC DVD tie
Liliom (1934) - Extra on "Carousel" DVD
Fury (1936) - Warner DVD
You Only Live Once (1937) - Studio Canal DVD
You and Me (1938) - Koch Media DVD
The Return of Frank James (1940) - Fox DVD
Western Union (1941) - Optimum DVD
Man Hunt (1941) - Fox DVD
(Moontide) (1942) - Fox DVD
Hangmen Also Die (1943) - e-m-s DVD
Ministry of Fear (1944) - Optimum and Carlotta DVD tie
The Woman in the Window (1945) - MGM DVD
Scarlet Street (1945) - Odeon DVD for now (upcoming Kino Blu-ray)
Cloak and Dagger (1946) - Republic DVD
Secret Beyond the Door... (1948) - Wild Side and Exposure DVD tie
House by the River (1950) - Wild Side DVD
Rancho Notorious (1952) - Warner Archives DVD
Clash by Night (1952) - Warner DVD
The Blue Gardenia (1953) - Arthaus DVD
The Big Heat (1953) - Sony DVD
Human Desire (1954) - Sony DVD (only available in Film Noir box set)
Moonfleet (1955) - Warner France DVD
While the City Sleeps (1956) - Exposure DVD
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) - Warner Archives DVD
The Indian Epic (1959) - MoC DVD
1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960) - MoC DVD (only in Mabuse box set)

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matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#357 Post by matrixschmatrix » Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:36 pm

Was there anything that gave details about the upcoming Spiders release, or are you just figuring they wouldn't bother unless it was an improvement?

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Der Spieler
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:05 am

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#358 Post by Der Spieler » Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:55 pm

I assumed the new edition would be at least equal in quality.

And this guy thinks a new resto was made after the Sephard one.

Jonathan S
Joined: Sat Jun 07, 2008 3:31 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#359 Post by Jonathan S » Fri Dec 09, 2011 3:00 am

Re. the upcoming Kino DVD of The Spiders, accompanist Ben Model wrote on Nitrateville:
Newly transferred from a tinted 35mm print from a foreign archive. Difference in running time between this and the 2002 version is because of transfer speed, although there are a few minutes here and there of add'l footage. Also, the tinting scheme is almost completely different from the the Image DVD.
Incidentally, the BBC (2) has a Fritz Lang noir season in the week leading up to Xmas, including Secret Beyond the Door, While the City Sleeps, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, The Big Heat and Scarlet Street. It might be worth comparing the prints of some titles with the UK DVDs, though I suspect the BBC will use fairly old transfers.

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#360 Post by knives » Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:06 pm

I wonder if Kino is going to rerelease Hangmen Also Die!. Yesterday TCM showed a version that is far cleaner and better looking than any of the screencaps I've seen for the film so far as if a new restoration was done. I don't know how to take caps off of my DVR to show though.

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swo17
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Location: SLC, UT

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#361 Post by swo17 » Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:12 pm

There's been a better transfer available for several years now, from e-m-s in Germany. Review here. Did the version on TCM include the scene depicted in the first screencap shown at that link, with the shadows against the wall? (It's right at the end of the film.) This scene is pretty crucial to the film, but was excluded from the Kino release.

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triodelover
Joined: Sat Jan 27, 2007 2:11 pm
Location: The hills of East Tennessee

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#362 Post by triodelover » Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:30 pm

swo17 wrote:There's been a better transfer available for several years now, from e-m-s in Germany. Review here.
There's also this, which seems to be a 2001 reissue of this. Both are also available through Amazon.de directly and not through third-party sellers. Anyone know how either of these compare to the e-m-s?

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knives
Joined: Sat Sep 06, 2008 6:49 pm

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#363 Post by knives » Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:33 pm

It did not have that shot as far as I can tell, but my DVR cut out early as a song began to play after the traitor was shot.

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Der Spieler
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:05 am

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#364 Post by Der Spieler » Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:14 pm

For what it's worth, I asked Kino about 6 months ago if they had any plan to re-release 'Hangmen', and they said no.

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JPJ
Joined: Mon Dec 15, 2008 8:23 am

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#365 Post by JPJ » Sun May 06, 2012 1:50 am

In the May issue of Sight&Sound(the one with MichaelB's Kaurismäki cover story)Michael Atkinson reviews Kino's new Spiders dvd and claims that"the restoration of The Spiders is the news,being more than half an hour longer than previous editions".If this is true it would certainly be news but I didn't find anything about this on Kino's website.Noticed the post from Nitrateville above about"few minutes",so which one is correct?Does anyone here own both Image and Kino versions to verify?

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TMDaines
Joined: Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:01 pm
Location: Stretford, Manchester

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#366 Post by TMDaines » Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:33 pm

bugsy_pal wrote:That's great news about the forthcoming "You and Me" disc from Koch - I've never seen that film. I'm also looking forward to hearing impressions of the new "While the City Sleeps".

I was wondering about the best version of "Cloak and Dagger" - I don't have a copy, and i'm not sure whether to go with the US Republic version or the UK disc which is from "Paladium" (according to Amazon UK). I have not been able to find anything on the quality of the UK disc. It would be nice if it improved on the US version, which doesn't look great according to Beaver screencaps.
The German release of Cloak and Dagger (Im Geheimdienst) is supposed to be an improvement on the US one: click & look at post #10. I still have no idea about the UK disk. Olive seem to have the rights to it now though so we could be getting a new DVD or Blu-ray shortly.

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perkizitore
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:29 pm
Location: OOP is the only answer

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#367 Post by perkizitore » Thu Jun 07, 2012 2:52 pm

Well, 'Paladium' is the publisher of the UK DVD, so it must be a PD disaster...

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Dick Laurent
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 4:39 am

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#368 Post by Dick Laurent » Thu Aug 09, 2012 7:27 am

You Only Live Once 75th Anniversary
Does anyone know if this release is good?

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manicsounds
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 10:58 pm
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Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#369 Post by manicsounds » Thu Aug 09, 2012 10:49 am


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Dick Laurent
Joined: Fri Jul 30, 2010 4:39 am

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#370 Post by Dick Laurent » Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:12 pm

thanks, seems like the Italian blu is the better option.

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swo17
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Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#371 Post by swo17 » Thu Aug 09, 2012 2:17 pm

The Italian Blu is annoyingly stretched though. All I get from this review is that the Studio Canal is better than the Image, but no word on how it compares to the Cinema Club.

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matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#372 Post by matrixschmatrix » Sat Nov 17, 2012 2:09 pm

I always found these lists really useful, so if Der Spieler doesn't mind I'm going to go ahead and update it with the newer stuff. Let me know if there's anything that ought to be changed.

The Spiders (1919) - Kino DVD
Harakiri (1919) - Kino DVD (in Fritz Lang: the Early Works box set)
Das Wandernde Bild/The Wandering Image (1920) - Kino DVD (in Fritz Lang: the Early Works box set)
Vier um die Frau/Four Around a Woman (1921) - Kino DVD (in Fritz Lang: the Early Works box set)
Der müde Tod/Destiny (1921) - Image DVD
Dr. Mabuse the Gambler (1922) - MoC DVD (only in Mabuse box set)
Die Nibelungen (1924) - MoC Blu-ray
Metropolis (1927) - MoC and Kino Blu-rays tie for PQ, but MoC has more extras
Spione (1928) - MoC DVD
Frau im Monde/Woman in the Moon (1929) - MoC DVD
M (1931) - Universum, Criterion and MoC Blu-rays tie
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) - MoC Blu-ray
Liliom (1934) - Extra on "Carousel" DVD
Fury (1936) - Warner DVD
You Only Live Once (1937) - Studio Canal DVD
You and Me (1938) - Koch Media DVD
The Return of Frank James (1940) - Fox DVD
Western Union (1941) - Optimum DVD
Man Hunt (1941) - Fox DVD
(Moontide) (1942) - Fox DVD
Hangmen Also Die (1943) - e-m-s DVD
Ministry of Fear (1944) - Optimum and Carlotta DVD tie
The Woman in the Window (1945) - MGM DVD
Scarlet Street (1945) - Kino Blu-ray
Cloak and Dagger (1946) - Republic DVD
Secret Beyond the Door... (1948) - Olive Blu-ray
House by the River (1950) - Wild Side DVD
American Guerrilla in the Philippines (1950) - Fox Spain DVD (as Guerrilleros En Filipinas)
Rancho Notorious (1952) - Warner Archives DVD
Clash by Night (1952) - Warner DVD
The Blue Gardenia (1953) - Arthaus DVD
The Big Heat (1953) - Twilight Time Blu-ray
Human Desire (1954) - Sony DVD (only available in Film Noir box set)
Moonfleet (1955) - Warner France DVD
While the City Sleeps (1956) - Exposure DVD
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) - Warner Archives DVD
The Indian Epic (1959) - MoC DVD
1000 Eyes of Dr. Mabuse (1960) - MoC DVD (only in Mabuse box set)
Last edited by matrixschmatrix on Sat Nov 17, 2012 4:58 pm, edited 2 times in total.

BillWatkins
Joined: Fri Jan 22, 2010 11:50 pm

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#373 Post by BillWatkins » Sat Nov 17, 2012 4:41 pm

American Guerrilla in the Philippines is missing from the list.

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matrixschmatrix
Joined: Tue May 25, 2010 11:26 pm

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#374 Post by matrixschmatrix » Sat Nov 17, 2012 4:46 pm

True, but I don't know of a decent release anywhere. If anyone has a suggestion, I'd be glad to include it.

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Fritz Lang on DVD

#375 Post by domino harvey » Sat Nov 17, 2012 4:49 pm

Fox Spain put it out on DVD

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