Werner Herzog Collection

[Zot!]

Is that true? I didn't see that Herzog approval was part of the BFI package, I know Shout was advertising it as such. Either way, these masters probably all came from his company, so I guess they would all be Herzog approved. It makes very little difference thus far, as the differences are obvious.

[David M.]

Is that true?

No, I made that part up

Kidding Yes, from the back of the booklet on my own copy:

[Zot!]

Cool, thanks for that! Approved by committee it seems. Not sure how they could rubber-stamp these wildly differing results, but at least the BFI has their own standards to uphold, luckily.

[FrauBlucher]

I got my Nosferatu.
A couple of things...first, this is the fastest I ever got a package from the UK. Shipped Saturday and arrived this morning. Second, my first steelbook
and it is quite lovely. Question, do folks leave the info slip attached to the back or remove?

And finally, I skimmed through the German Version and all I have to say is hot damn. This looks incredible. Great detail, blacks and the grain are beautiful. No sign of any shenanigans. Very film like. Sound is excellent. Over the weekend I will sit back and watch.

In my skimming, the shot that blew me away was when Nosferatu hear's the howling of the wolves. He is surrounded by blackness and his face just jumps out of the TV. I wanted to run to the kitchen to get some garlic.

Job well done, David M.

[zedz]

Question, do folks leave the info slip attached to the back or remove?

It can become cumbersome if you leave it on (getting disconnected, flapping around, hampering the opening and closing of the case if it's one of those foldover ones). Personally, if it's slightly smaller than the case itself, I remove it and place it under the plastic casing on the inside front cover. This obscures any artwork underneath, but keeps everything tidy. Prying the metal cover off the plastic interior is a slightly delicate business. Don't be so rough that you bend the metal! It's usually easiest if you tackle it from the spine.

[FrauBlucher]

Thanks for advice, Zedz. I will probably not attempt prying metal cover from plastic. I would be really annoyed if I screwed it up.

[swo17]

I fold the hanging part of the info slip back on itself and then fix it to the back of the steelbook using double-sided tape. It looks classy.

[Koukol]

The paper can easily rip so I remove it and loop it back to back with the sticky side (folded but not creased)and store it in the box.

[Rupert Pupkin]

I'm the only here with a playback problem with Herzog's Nosferatu ?

Blu-Ray is loading just fine, legal mentions appears on screen, then another screen about the audio commentary, the the BFI logo animation- then I suppose that the menu is about to appear, but instead I have a black screen.
No chapter/title info on my LCD screen on my stand-alone player, just "00:00:00"

this is a multi-region player, and I've noticed that if it is set in region A it won't load. Disk just stop just after the beginning of loading.
And when it set to multiregion or region B it loads.

I don't know what to do with this menu black screen issue ](*,) (I did try press "stop" then "titles 1-2-3, etc.." but the authoring have a "no resume"/lots of key from the remote-control prohibited. I guess I have to find another firmware again :-k

[MichaelB]

Rave review of Nosferatu the Vampyre on Blu-ray.com.

[MichaelB]

Mondo Digital on Aguirre:

The transfer looks gorgeous, bordering on three dimensional at times given the elaborate textures and landscapes on display in virtually every shot. Colors look terrific with robust skin tones, and the jungle foliage looks perfect without any crazy Sorcerer-style exaggerations.

[Koukol]

"the jungle foliage looks perfect without any crazy Sorcerer-style exaggerations."



Thank God!

[FrauBlucher]

This all bodes well for the box.

[David M.]

Some screen grabs of BFI Aguirre vs the German StudioCanal BD.

This is an interesting example if you're into the workings of video encoding, because the master is the same:

http://caps-a-holic.com/hd_vergleiche/m ... #vergleich" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[EddieLarkin]

So we even get a little improvement on the best master StudioCanal used for their box set. It looks spectacular.

What's the story behind this one shot from Nosferatu David? Is the commentator correct in assuming the Shout version has replaced the shot from a different source?

[Mathew2468]

So, has everyone given up on the Shout?

[David M.]

So we even get a little improvement on the best master StudioCanal used for their box set. It looks spectacular.

What's the story behind this one shot from Nosferatu David? Is the commentator correct in assuming the Shout version has replaced the shot from a different source?

It's one of the shots with an optically printed title, hence the lessened resolution. I don't know what the case is with the other versions, they perhaps used a higher-up source with reconstructed/computer generated text for that one shot? Just a guess, you'd have to check them.

[EddieLarkin]

Yeah I figured the BFI shot was a dupe moment. The only thing that makes sense re the Shout equivalent is that someone at some point went back and replaced it. No big deal; if anything it just means the BFI disc is truer to source.

[MichaelB]

In motion, the shot in question starts with a superimposed title, so the drop in quality is entirely to be expected. Also, when it cuts to the next shot there's also a substantial quality improvement - it literally "pops" into greater clarity. It's exactly what you'd have seen in a cinema if you'd watched it in 35mm.

[EddieLarkin]

Blu-ray.com on the Aguirre disc, with caps of The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz, Last Words, Precautions Against Fanatics and Fata Morgana

[Koukol]

So, has everyone given up on the Shout?

Not me.

For NOSFERATU I have the German ArtHaus, English BFI and American SHOUT! and it's the SHOUT! that I'll watch from now on.
BUT...this is important...the English language version on SHOUT! is horribly over dnr'd.(unwatchable)

I'm not happy with the BFI's of NOSFERATU and AGUIRRE at all.
They did no clean-up at all so the sparkling grain drives me nuts.

[antnield]

An excerpt from Jack Bond's South Bank Show episode on Herzog: Werner Herzog's favourite English footballers.

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced for the big box set:

The Werner Herzog Collection
18 films on Blu-ray and DVD

Presented in two formats – an 8-disc Blu-ray box set and a 10-disc DVD box set – The Werner Herzog Collection is released by the BFI on 28 July 2014. Containing 18 films by the visionary German filmmaking legend, the collection includes such classics of world cinema as Nosferatu the Vampyre, Aguirre, Wrath of God and Fitzcarraldo, as well as a number of Herzog's acclaimed, but rarely seen short films.

Extensive extras include Jack Bond's long-unseen South Bank Show portrait of Herzog (1982), Les Blank's classics Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (1980) and Burden of Dreams (1982), feature-length director commentaries, original trailers, stills galleries and an extensive contextualising booklet.

The Films
• The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (1967)
• Last Words (1968)
• Precautions Against Fanatics (1969)
• Handicapped Future (1970)
• Fata Morgana (1971)
• Land of Silence and Darkness (1971)
• Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972)
• The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
• The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1975)
• Heart of Glass (1976)
• How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976)
• Stroszek (1977)
• Nosferatu, the Vampyre (1979)
• Woyzeck (1979)
• Huie's Sermon (1980)
• God's Angry Man (1980)
• Fitzcarraldo (1982)
• Cobra Verde (1987)

Special features
• All films presented in High Definition;
• Alternative German and English versions of Nosteratu, the Vampyre;
• Full-length audio commentaries with Werner Herzog on selected titles;
• Alternative German and English language audio options on selected titles;
• Newly created subtitles for all films;
• Optional 5.1 German and English audio on selected titles;
• Nosferatu on-set documentary (1979, 13 mins);
• Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe (Les Blank, 1980, 21 mins);
• Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, 1982, 95 mins);
• Guardian Lecture with Werner Herzog (1988, 83 mins);
• South Bank Show: Werner Herzog (Jack Bond, 1982, 56 mins);
• Original trailers on selected titles;
• Stills galleries on selected titles;
• Illustrated booklet with extensive essay by Laurie Johnson; full film credits.

Blu-ray product details
RRP: £79.99 / cat. no. BFIB1192 / Cert 15
Germany, France, Peru, Ghana / 1967–1987 / black & white, and colour / German language, with optional English subtitles; English language / 1391 mins + extras / Original aspect ratios 1.33:1, 1.66:1 and 1.85:1 / BD50 x 8 / 1080p / PCM mono and stereo audio (48k/24-bit) and 5.1 DTS-HD master audio (640kbps)

DVD product details
RRP: £59.99 / cat. no. BFIV2005 / Cert 15
Germany, France, Peru, Ghana / 1967 –1987 / black & white, and colour / German language, with optional English subtitles; English language / 1341 mins + extras / Original aspect ratios 1.33:1, 1.66:1 and 1.85:1 / DVD9 x 10 / Dolby Digital mono audio and stereo audio (320kbps) and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround audio (448kbps)

[chatterjees]

Everywhere the picture of the box gives an impression that it might be a DVD sized box. Even at the very end of this new trailer for the collection, the box looked like a taller one. Any packaging information yet?

[Erik Morton]

Everywhere the picture of the box gives an impression that it might be a DVD sized box. Even at the very end of this new trailer for the collection, the box looked like a taller one. Any packaging information yet?

This is how BFI replied to my inquiries about the packaging (though I did not ask about size):

"The Robbe-Grillet and the Herzog DVD collections are packed in one multi-disc plastic box which also houses a booklet (though in the case of the Herzog booklet it will be packed side by side with the case and then the whole product packed into an outer slipcase).

The Blu-ray equivalents of each release will be a series of discs packed into a digipak which will then be inserted into a slipcase. The Robbe-Grillet booklet will be packed in the digi, whereas the Herzog one will be side by side with it due to its higher number of pages."