1 / BD 1 Sunrise

[Blonde Venus]

DVD Beaver review

Wow. Very exciting.

By the way is this the first important silent film to be reviewed on Blu-Ray?

[skuhn8]

DVD Beaver review

Wow. Very exciting.

By the way is this the first important silent film to be reviewed on Blu-Ray?

I believe it is the first important silent to be released on Blu-ray.

[MichaelB]

DVD Beaver review

Wow. Very exciting.

By the way is this the first important silent film to be reviewed on Blu-Ray?

I believe it is the first important silent to be released on Blu-ray.

Isn't it the first silent feature on Blu-ray? There's been at least one silent short as a Blu-ray extra (on There Will Be Blood), but I can't think of another separate feature release.

[Jonathan S]

Amazon.com advertise a Blu-ray release of the Houdini feature The Man from Beyond that was apparently issued early this year by a very small outfit called Restored Serials.

http://www.amazon.com/Houdini-Man-Beyon ... 919&sr=1-1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

All of the previous VHS and SD releases of this film I've seen (including the one in Kino's Houdini set) have been from rather poor 16mm prints. I haven't seen any independent reviews of the Blu-ray to support the glowing "customer" testimonial on the Amazon listing! Has anybody seen it?

EDIT: I have just found a review of the "Restored Serials Super Restoration Corporation" 2007 SD release of The Man from Beyond. From the reliable silentera.com:

Whoa, Nelly! Despite the claims — despite the long-winded company name — there is nothing ‘restored’ about this horrid product from this eBay seller. No excessive use of exclamation marks on packaging or in online descriptions can alter the fact that this shameful disc has been cobbled together from one or two analog video transfers of a 16mm reduction print duplicated on VHS videotape, digitally smoothed to render smeary image details, and digitally reprocessed to attempt to put back what was taken away. One of the video sources is likely the Alpha Video disc, with its logo-stamped intertitles, hence the cleaned-up high-contrast dialog titles here, with artwork titles and letter inserts overlaid with a digitally-added swarm of artificial film grain to mask their origin. The net result looks awful, especially on an HD monitor.
We can see that this edition is the result of a lot of work — the digitally-generated music accompanying the film is sometimes better than that on the Alpha edition — but to what end? Much of this effort would not have been necessary had edition producer Bruce Cardozo started with a new video transfer from the best-available print, even if it was from a 16mm reduction print.

Take note, this is one of the few times that we recommend an Alpha Video edition over another. This one is to be avoided, unless you’re a masochist.

[HarryLong]

I haven't seen the Blu-Ray of MAN FROM BEYOND, but I received a review copy of the standard DVD. The source is what it is (very contrasty for one thing), but Restored has cleaned up scratches and other artifacts and sharpened the image considerably.

[Jonathan S]

I haven't seen the Blu-Ray of MAN FROM BEYOND, but I received a review copy of the standard DVD. The source is what it is (very contrasty for one thing), but Restored has cleaned up scratches and other artifacts and sharpened the image considerably.

I now see that Restored have released this three times, so maybe you saw their 2008 SD release which one of three five-star Amazon customer reviews says is an improvement on their first. The Amazon listing does, however, state (proudly) that it's on "TDK Armor" which I gather is burned media. That makes me wonder if the Blu-ray is too.

[peerpee]

Yes, as far as we can work out, our edition of SUNRISE is the first silent feature film released on Blu-ray. The Czech silent version of SUNRISE qualifies as a true silent film, even if the Movietone version straddles silent and sound eras.

[Finch]

I can't wait to see the Czech version (still on holiday in the US till Oct 1) which looks jawdroppingly good (it looks lovely on SD DVD already but the Blu-Ray screenshots are so impressive that I'm wavering for the first time in my resistance to upgrading to Blu; if Sunrise is only a foretaste of what is still to come, I may well cave in and upgrade sometime next year, as long as there is a relatively affordable multiregion player that also plays all DVDs regardless of region).

[tojoed]

... I may well cave in and upgrade sometime next year, as long as there is a relatively affordable multiregion player that also plays all DVDs regardless of region).

Multiregionmagic in Peterborough (or Online) is the place to go. (Peerpee will confirm, I think).

[HarryLong]

I haven't seen the Blu-Ray of MAN FROM BEYOND, but I received a review copy of the standard DVD. The source is what it is (very contrasty for one thing), but Restored has cleaned up scratches and other artifacts and sharpened the image considerably.

I now see that Restored have released this three times, so maybe you saw their 2008 SD release which one of three five-star Amazon customer reviews says is an improvement on their first. The Amazon listing does, however, state (proudly) that it's on "TDK Armor" which I gather is burned media. That makes me wonder if the Blu-ray is too.

We probably did get the 2008 release as the review copy arrived early this year.
I wouldn't be all that surprised if it was a DVDR (i didn't check that closely); Restored is a small company and they may not have the resources to manufactuire & warehouse losts of copies ... and seriously, just how many people out there do you think are clamoring for this, anyway? Houdini fans -- talk about a niche market.

[Finch]

Multiregionmagic in Peterborough (or Online) is the place to go. (Peerpee will confirm, I think).

Thanks, tojoed! The Panasonic DMP-BD60EB-K Blu-Ray Player Multiregion Blu-Ray+DVD looks good so might go for that one if or when I upgrade.

[Jonathan S]

seriously, just how many people out there do you think are clamoring for this, anyway? Houdini fans -- talk about a niche market.

I agree, of course. If Sunrise represents just about the pinnacle of silent film, then The Man from Beyond is almost the nadir (only Houdini's Haldane of the Secret Service is even worse IMO). Even a first-rate Blu-ray from the camera negative wouldn't tempt me to sit through it again! My only interest is in how far Restored Serials' claim that it is "the first silent feature film released on Blu-Ray" can be justified - and if it's on a burned disc, it doesn't count in my book.

[Restored Serials]

Thank you for the postings on our Restored “Man From Beyond” and setting the record straight. Yes, we did restore it 3 times.
This gives me the opportunity to comment on Silent Era’s review of our 2007 version.
Mr. Bennett crucified us for not using a new transfer of “Man From Beyond.” Yet he gave the highest praise to Kino for using old transfers of two of Houdini’s Movies on their box set!
“The Master Mystery Serial” was taken from an old analog transfer from the 1980’s used for the VHS release.
On “Terror Island” Kino claims to have sourced from the Library of Congress. Paramount Pictures still controls the print at the Library of Congress. Paramount’s Legal Department informed that that they have not given permission to anyone to use their print in over 10 years.
Which means Kino’s “Terror Island” transfer could be from the 1980's-1990's as “Master Mystery.” Paramount nor the The Library of Congress has been able to document any permission being granted to Kino or any recent transfer in the last 10 years.
Bennett accused us of stealing “Man From Beyond” from Alpha Video. For the record, we did not take one frame from Alpha Video. We did source parts of it from the same elements but we did not take anything from Alpha.
Which bring me back to “Terror Island.” Bennet is bouncing up and down with praise for Kino, yet it appears they had no permission to use the print and what they did use was a very old transfer.
As far as restoration, there were several scenes in “Man From Beyond” (both our 2007 version and 2008) version that took us hours to restore.
I was curious how Kino handled the same scenes. I rolled down to the same scenes in the Kino version and Kino cut them out!
Kino has does this more than one occasion. Apparently this is kind of “restoration” Mr. Bennett supports since he prefers Kino. “Hey, if the scene is too difficult to fix, just cut it out!”
As far as Blu-ray, yes we released the first silent film on Blu-ray, “Man From Beyond.”
As far as burned discs, not all burns are created equal! Armor Discs are used by the Smithsonian for archival purposes. They will outlive replicated discs in blu-ray or DVD.

[manicsounds]

I have the Houdini DVDs from Kino, and they are good for a curiosity standpoint, but they are not classics that changed cinema really. And that robot? my god, is that really from a 1920's film? Looks more like a parody of a bad 50's film. (So then was Houdini ahead of his time???)

I'm still waiting for Sunrise to come. Amazingly, it will be the first time to actually have Sunrise in my collection. Everytime I've put off buying the title, a new version gets announced.... but now I take the dive.

But really, if not answered before, is the Czech version different from the alternate version on the Murnau/Borzage Fox set?

[tojoed]

But really, if not answered before, is the Czech version different from the alternate version on the Murnau/Borzage Fox set?

No, the MBF version is the same.

[MichaelB]

DVD Outsider on both formats.

[zone_resident]

DVD Times on 2-disc SD-DVD release

[HarryLong]

And that robot? my god, is that really from a 1920's film? Looks more like a parody of a bad 50's film.

Ha! Not really any worse than those tin fedora robots in that Gene Autry serial. But it's no Tobor or Robby ...

[manicsounds]

Thank you for the postings on our Restored “Man From Beyond” and setting the record straight. Yes, we did restore it 3 times.
This gives me the opportunity to comment on Silent Era’s review of our 2007 version.
Mr. Bennett crucified us for not using a new transfer of “Man From Beyond.” Yet he gave the highest praise to Kino for using old transfers of two of Houdini’s Movies on their box set!

It's getting offtopic from Sunrise, but have you contacted Silent Era and tell them to set the record straight about it?

[Restored Serials]

I emailed Mr. Bennett after he wrote the 2007 Review and after we released our 2008 Houdini. He never replied to either email. He has not updated the 2007 Review of our product nor acknowledged that we released "Man From Beyond" on Blu-ray. Mr. Bennett has also failed to recognize/or admit that Kino's "Master Mystery" and "Terror Island" are allegedly old analog transfers.

[Restored Serials]

Mr. Bennett has alleged we are video pirates, which we are not. What Mr. Bennett needs to do is call Debra Feinerman at Paramount's legal Department and ask her about Kino's "permission" to use "Terror Island." If Kino, used The Library of Congress print, Ms. Feinerman will tell him (what she told me) that no recent permission has been granted nor any new transfers in about 10 years. When we tried to lease "Terror Island" from Paramount (at the beginning of 2009), Ms. Feinerman told me due to "legal reasons" they are not granting permission for any use.

[Ben Cheshire]

Oh my god! My copy arrived today, and I have six hours of work before I can view it. The packaging is simply stunning. The booklet features original artwork reproductions and such class as I've rarely seen before. I've only ever had one other MoC item, being over in Australia, the British Pound + shipping costs usually discourages, it was the Buster Keaton Collection, but now after this splendid new Blu Ray package, which from reviews looks incredible (particularly the Czech version... But you've got to have both) I'm converted to MoC for life!

[Cash Flagg]

We're putting all the articles online instead, it was getting silly at 120-pages.

Nick, any idea when/where these articles will be available?

[peerpee]

Bottom of the SPECIAL FEATURES column on the left: http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/sunrise/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Cash Flagg]

Silly me not scrolling down. Thanks.