- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,424
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
I find it hard to believe that I've just typed this heading.
F. W Murnau's Sunrise on Blu-ray!
And what a magnificent Blu-ray it is.
This particular song of two humans went through a major restoration in 2003 when Fox joined with several world archives to pool film elements, select what were perceived as the best, and create new archival masters. Fox released the film as a special edition and a part of their Classics series shortly thereafter.
But now, via Eureka and Masters of Cinema in the UK, we have one of the greatest motion pictures of the silent era lovingly re-mastered in high definition to breathtaking results. Created from the finest surviving elements, MoC has given us not one, but two versions of the film -- the long established Movietone version, and a new Czech silent version, which upgrades the image quality to a great extent. The downside of the Czech material is a loss of footage. Rather than detail the restoration process for you, I've asked permission to copy the restoration notes as included in the accompanying booklet, and will hopefully add them in due course.
Rather than go on about the greatness and importance of this film, I'll simply state that it remains one of the most beautiful, most important, and most moving motion pictures of any era. It has lost none of its power in the intervening eight decades.
The Movietone version includes both the original mono score, as well as score by the Olympic Chamber Orchestra, and to top it off a feature length commentary by cinematographer John Bailey (The Big Chill, Silverado). My call is to view the film three times, once with each of the scores, and finally with the master's class commentary by Mr. Bailey.
I love this film! I adore this Blu-ray!
Is it the Best or most important Classic Blu-ray release of 2009?
Quite possibly.
This is a release that is a necessity in every serious cinema library.
Here's a link to MoC's catalog PDF:
http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/MoC_CATALOGUE_2009_web.pdf
Extremely Highly Recommended.
RAH
F. W Murnau's Sunrise on Blu-ray!
And what a magnificent Blu-ray it is.
This particular song of two humans went through a major restoration in 2003 when Fox joined with several world archives to pool film elements, select what were perceived as the best, and create new archival masters. Fox released the film as a special edition and a part of their Classics series shortly thereafter.
But now, via Eureka and Masters of Cinema in the UK, we have one of the greatest motion pictures of the silent era lovingly re-mastered in high definition to breathtaking results. Created from the finest surviving elements, MoC has given us not one, but two versions of the film -- the long established Movietone version, and a new Czech silent version, which upgrades the image quality to a great extent. The downside of the Czech material is a loss of footage. Rather than detail the restoration process for you, I've asked permission to copy the restoration notes as included in the accompanying booklet, and will hopefully add them in due course.
Rather than go on about the greatness and importance of this film, I'll simply state that it remains one of the most beautiful, most important, and most moving motion pictures of any era. It has lost none of its power in the intervening eight decades.
The Movietone version includes both the original mono score, as well as score by the Olympic Chamber Orchestra, and to top it off a feature length commentary by cinematographer John Bailey (The Big Chill, Silverado). My call is to view the film three times, once with each of the scores, and finally with the master's class commentary by Mr. Bailey.
I love this film! I adore this Blu-ray!
Is it the Best or most important Classic Blu-ray release of 2009?
Quite possibly.
This is a release that is a necessity in every serious cinema library.
Here's a link to MoC's catalog PDF:
http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/MoC_CATALOGUE_2009_web.pdf
Extremely Highly Recommended.
RAH