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Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

post #1 of 14
8/18/07 at 5:10pm
Thread Starter 
Kino is releasing a new 2-disc SE of Sergei Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin on Oct. 23.

It'll have both the new restoration (with footage cut out before the official Russian release) and the regular familiar cut (that's on the old Image DVD). The restored version is remasterd in HD and will have the original Edmund Meisel orchestral score in 5.1 sound. As for extras, it'll have a making-of documentary, a restoration featurette, and a photo gallery. There's also optional English intertitles (no burned-in subs). Also seems to have a booklet.

www.silentera.com has the blurb.
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post #2 of 14
8/18/07 at 6:13pm

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

Battleship Potemkin is extraordinary filmmaking - We studied it in great detail during my Film Studies class...I will have to pick this one up for sure. Thanks for the info!
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post #3 of 14
8/18/07 at 7:56pm

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

Good news.

However, I always thought that Criterion would be releasing this in their elusive (likely forgotten by now) Eisenstein: The Silent Years boxset?

Of course, it has been nearly 6 years since I've heard anything about this set which never came to be.
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post #4 of 14
8/18/07 at 7:58pm

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

Sooooo, I guess this is the death nail in Criterion's long-rumored Eisenstein: The Silent Years box set.
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post #5 of 14
8/18/07 at 9:51pm

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

Not necessarily. The problem is that Criterion knows there are better elements in Russia that they haven't been allowed to get their hands on, and they refuse to work with lesser elements knowing better ones are out there.
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post #6 of 14
8/19/07 at 8:12am

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

Kino release the same restoration like Transit Film in Germany, so probably with PAL-NTSC ghosting like Metropolis.

According to the documentary on the DVD, Gosfilmofond of Russia (Russian State Film Archives) said, that the original camera negative is no longer copyable, so for the restauration they used three 35mm nitro film copies from the first generation found in London.

Screenshots from the Transit Film DVD


Compare between Transit Film, Eureka and Films Sans Frontieres
http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/...5015&start=325
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post #7 of 14
8/19/07 at 10:35am
Thread Starter 

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

I really hope Kino actually goes for frame interpolation instead of a ghosted master. It's really annoying and they should know better.
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post #8 of 14
8/19/07 at 3:45pm

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

I agree!
Unfortunately, given their track record, I don't have much hope for Kino to come up with a transfer that does the film justice. I think I'll buy the BFI version.
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post #9 of 14
8/20/07 at 5:50am

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

Quote:
Originally Posted by Patrick McCart
I really hope Kino actually goes for frame interpolation instead of a ghosted master. It's really annoying and they should know better.

Pardon my ignorance, Patrick, but could you briefly explain what frame interpolation and ghosted masters are? Thanks.
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post #10 of 14
8/21/07 at 6:06pm

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

The best version of this, and a few others of his films, are the French Integral boxset from Film Sans Frontieres. I think Gary has screenshots on dvdbeaver.com. Not easy to get but worth the effort. I highly doubt Kino's release will be better, if even close.
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post #11 of 14
8/21/07 at 9:31pm

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

Actually, the FsF box titles are available individually at most French etailers and pretty easy to get.
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post #12 of 14
8/23/07 at 4:22am

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

This will make a fine version of a classic film.

My only gripe is that they haven't included the wonderful Neil Tennant score (presumably for rights reasons). It's arguably an even better anachronistic soundtrack than the stunning 'In The Nursery' score for Hindle Wakes.

I've never seen Potemkin with the Tennant score (despite unsuccessfully trying to sync up the old PAL DVD and CD....).
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post #13 of 14
10/13/07 at 1:13pm

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

Just picked up a copy today - something I did not know was even coming out - and I have never seen this film. Still, it should be interesting and hopefully the included documentary will be well done too. If there is anything some of you want me to check for regarding the video quality - such as the ghost master issue I'll be glad to help. I have no experience as of yet on what to look for but regardless one hopes Kino being aware will do it properly on this version. Seems like a waste not to.
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post #14 of 14
10/13/07 at 5:56pm

Re: Battleship Potemkin 2-disc SE - Oct. 23

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dick
Pardon my ignorance, Patrick, but could you briefly explain what frame interpolation and ghosted masters are? Thanks.

Since Patrick never came back...

Anything mastered in PAL (R2) will have to be converted before being mastered for an NTSC release (R1). Without getting too technical (at which point I usually mess it up), PAL uses a different number of scanlines as well as a different framerate and manner of dealing with fields. Some conversion processes are better than others, but an NTSC downconversion of such a master will result in most frames looking "smeary" when you still-frame them, due to successive fields or frames being combined. Some folks can see this effect even when playing in real time.

Brent, just step through several successive frames in which there is a lot of movement. You'll either see one crisp frame after another, or you'll see a moving object leave a "ghost" or a "trail" as it goes.
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