"The Trial", your input? (1 Viewer)

[borisfw]

Focusfilm is putting out Orson Welles The Trial on May 22 . Anyone have any insight on this release or the company releasing it ? The Image disc is OOP and pricey . This one lists at $10 .

 

[Mark Edward Heuck]

I believe that FocusFilm (not to be confused with Universal's arthouse label Focus Features) edition of THE TRIAL was reviewed in the DVDBeaver comparison, and came out looking very bad. The $10 price tag should be a dead giveaway; you get what you pay for.
The Image edition was a Milestone Film presentation that followed their theatrical rerelease in the early 00's, and was very good for the time. The movie is no longer listed on Milestone's website so I guess they lost the U.S. rights. Since the Salkind family were involved in its production, it would appear that StudioCanal now controls it; they have put out very nice editions overseas. However, there are enough differences between those and the previous Milestone edition that it would be worth trying to get that domestic Image DVD.
Crossing my fingers that just maybe Rialto will do a reissue here in the States to be followed by a domestic Blu-Ray via Canal+'s deal with Lionsgate.

 

[borisfw]

Thanks for the reply Mark . I read the review/comparison in DVD Beaver . Seems they released the dvd in 2002 in a two disc set with The Stranger . The DVD received OK marks for sound and extras . But they did not think the image was too hot . Not sure if this May 22 release is a rehash or an upgrade . I guess i will check back on it latter and see . Thanks again for responding .

 

[Charles Smith]

I'd like to find that Image/Milestone DVD, but I'm probably a few years too late and a few dollars short. I do have the Roan Group laserdisc, which was the one to have back in the day. I think it's pressed on a gold LD, even! Haven't watched it in a long time, but I know that when I got it, nothing else could hold a candle to the 35mm film I'd seen at a Welles festival years before.

 

[Angelo Colombus]

Website Wellesnet is reporting that a recent restoration of The Trial will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival later this month. Have the Studio Canal Blu-ray from 2012 and it looks good compared to the other disc releases. By the way the French fashion house Chanel underwrote the cost of the restoration of the film.

'The Trial' restoration to debut at Cannes Film Festival

The restored version of "The Trial" will premiere at the 75th edition of the Festival de Cannes later this month.

www.wellesnet.com