International 55 Days At Peking / Circus World U.K. Release April 7 (1 Viewer)

[OliverK]

Thanks for that Oliver, I'll wait & get the UK release. The sixties, my favourite decade for movies (my teen years). 55 Days has its dramatic problems, but it looks great, fantastic sets & amazing music score, I love it. It's early in the year & already there's, 55 Days At Peking, The War Lord, Lord Jim & The Pit & The Pendulum, none of them will get into any official top 100 list, but they're my kind of movies.

55 Days is flawed indeed but same as you I find it very entertaining. Also while I thought that the score by Tiomkin for Fall of the Roman Empire was often annoying I like his score for 55 Days - much better imo. I also look forward to The War Lord and Lord Jim!

 

[OliverK]

Lots of caps now on DVDbeaver, hopefully this will get the disc a bit more of the attention it deserves:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film4/blu-ray_reviews_61/55_days_at_peking_blu-ray.htm
Remains to be seen if the UK version will look exactly the same or slightly different and if it will be region coded.

 

[FoxyMulder]

Just wondering something, IMDB says the UK version was cut, are these scenes in this blu ray edition. ?

The BBFC site says it was released by Anchor Bay this year on DVD with a PG certificate and now runs 166m and 12 seconds, doesn't sound right so i guess they are counting an additional extra feature, surely now uncut though with that PG certificate, certainly no cuts are now mentioned for that version and the BBFC are so much better these days.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056800/alternateversions

To receive a 'U' certificate in the UK (making the film suitable for all ages) significant cuts were made by the BBFC. These included the scene of the priest being drowned by the water-wheel, a shortening of the screaming sounds made by the soldier before his leg amputation, and a removal of all references by Lewis to local women being made available for soldiers. To retain the same certificate all video releases also featured the same cut print.

 

[classicmovieguy]

If the review of the French Blu-ray on the DVDBeaver website is anything to go by, the UK Blu will be an absolute treat. I'm getting very excited about this disc.

 

[Douglas R]

Just wondering something, IMDB says the UK version was cut, are these scenes in this blu ray edition. ? The BBFC site says it was released by Anchor Bay this year on DVD with a PG certificate and now runs 166m and 12 seconds, doesn't sound right so i guess they are counting an additional extra feature, surely now uncut though with that PG certificate, certainly no cuts are now mentioned for that version and the BBFC are so much better these days.

166 minutes is correct for the uncut version. That's 154 minutes for the film plus Overture, Entr'acte and Exit Music.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Both BD discs have shipped so probably another ten days before arrival.

 

[Douglas R]

Got 55 DAYS AT PEKING today. Excellent picture quality but a very cheap looking package with no extras other than a brief restoration comparison. A film like this deserves far more than a bare-bones release and I wish now that I'd bought the French version which has a much more attractive cover and substantial extras even though they are mainly in French.

 

[Alan Tully]

Yep I got mine too. Cheap looking package & no English subtitles. Anchor Bay have gone to no trouble at all with this, but the film looks & sounds great. I keep all my Blu's in a large draw (but it's getting a bit full these days), so not that bothered about the cover.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Got 55 DAYS AT PEKING today. Excellent picture quality but a very cheap looking package with no extras other than a brief restoration comparison. A film like this deserves far more than a bare-bones release and I wish now that I'd bought the French version which has a much more attractive cover and substantial extras even though they are mainly in French.

For me, there was a distinctive difference in pricing with the French disc quite a bit more than the UK version.

Edit: The French disc with shipping cost to USA is $37.69 The UK disc is $23.24 I like extras too, but not enough for this film at those pricing differences.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Hope to get my UK version soon too and will compare it to my only copy which is a TCM HD broadcast of the film.

 

[Colin McGuigan]

As long as the PQ is up to scratch, that'll be good enough for me.

 

[Robin9]

As long as the PQ is up to scratch, that'll be good enough for me.

Have you gone blue? I thought you were an SD hold-out.

 

[Colin McGuigan]

Have you gone blue? I thought you were an SD hold-out.

Robin, I buy Blu on some selected titles. SD is still good enough for me for most stuff though. I've had this on DVD for years but it's a movie I have a bit of a soft spot for and the Bronston titles do look especially nice in HD.

 

[mark brown]

So are the UK versions region free?

 

[Robert Crawford]

So are the UK versions region free?

No, I believe they're Region B.

 

[Doug Bull]

No, I believe they're Region B.

I got my copy of '55 days' today and Robert is correct.

WARNING !! The UK version of "55 Days At Peking" is Region B Locked.
I tried it first on my Region A player and it displayed "Only playable on Region B"

My region B player displayed an amazing quality image.
At the start of the movie it announces "restored in 2013 at Pinewood from the original 8 perf Super-Technirama 70 Camera Negative.
And it shows, my how it shows.
Brilliant detailed and sharp image, which displays very accurate colors, good grey scale with some acceptable grain present.
It looks to me to be framed at about 2.20:1 which others here can respond or dispute.
Others don't agree, but I think, picture quality wise, it's on a par with the french disc of "Circus World" which is a big compliment in it's self.

I will be interested to see how the UK disc of "Circus World" compares to the French disc. (of course no forced sub-titles will be a big plus)

The UK cover of 55 Days is abysmal and supplies very little information of what's inside.

Bottom line: If you are a fan of this movie and can play Region B discs, then run straight to your computer and order it. you will not be disappointed in any way.

Doug.

 

[RichMurphy]

My 55 DAYS AT PEKING and CIRCUS WORLD discs arrived yesterday, and I am very pleased with both.

However, I should caution that these are not state-of-the-art presentations such as the Blu-Rays of THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, WHITE CHRISTMAS, or HOW THE WEST WAS WON. They remind me of the current series of Cinerama films being released, which are wonderful but because of technical and/or budgetary limitations are not reference quality work.

For example, the intermission and entr'acte music for CIRCUS WORLD sounds like it was taken from a copy of the soundtrack LP, and the color palette seems flat to me at times. On the other hand, the imagery is usually razor-sharp.

Despite some quibbles, these are well worth purchasing if you're a fan of the roadshow epics and semi-epics of the 50s and 60s (and if you have a Region B player).

 

[Douglas R]

For example, the intermission and entr'acte music for CIRCUS WORLD sounds like it was taken from a copy of the soundtrack LP, and the color palette seems flat to me at times. On the other hand, the imagery is usually razor-sharp..

So the UK CIRCUS WORLD has the Entr'acte and Exit Music? I hadn't expected that judging from the quoted running time. Due to my obsession with wanting extras I opted to get the French version, despite the French subtitles, the cost of which actually worked out at less than the UK version.

 

[RichMurphy]

So the UK CIRCUS WORLD has the Entr'acte and Exit Music?

Yes the UK version contains both the Entr'acte and the Exit Music. Since both are just reprises of the vocal version of the theme song used over the opening credits, I'm not sure why they just didn't "copy and paste" the opening credit version, which is of much better quality.

The little snippet of music used over the "Intermission" card is also of poor quality, but is not heard elsewhere.

 

[Alan Tully]

So the UK CIRCUS WORLD has the Entr'acte and Exit Music? I hadn't expected that judging from the quoted running time. Due to my obsession with wanting extras I opted to get the French version, despite the French subtitles, the cost of which actually worked out at less than the UK version.

I don't know why it's that stupid price at Amazon, it's only £10 instore at HMV (as is 55 Days).