Lost Horizon (1937/Frank Capra/Columbia/Sony Blu-ray)

Picture: B Sound: B Extras: B Film: B

Frank Capra's Lost Horizon (1937) celebrates its 80th Anniversary with this deluxe special edition Blu-ray featuring the film in a remarkable new version Sony has gone to great lengths to restore in high definition. Presented in deluxe digi-book packaging with production notes on the film and beautiful archival photographs, this is a must have for Frank Capra fans and cinephiles.

In 2016, the film was selected for inclusion in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." Originally released in 1937, the film also snagged seven Academy Award nominations.

Lost Horizon stars Edward Everett Horton, Jane Wyatt, Sam Jaffe, John Howard, Thomas Mitchell, and Ronald Colman. The film is based on the best-selling novel by James Hilton.

In 1935, seasoned diplomat Robert Conway (Colman) is sent to rescue a group of British nationals who find themselves in China in the midst of an epic rebellion. Conway manages to get them all out and also to escape with his brother George (Howard) and several others on the last airplane only to find that they are being actually being flown far into the Himalayas.

They eventually find themselves in Shangri-La, a Tibetan monastery in a beautiful mountain valley, where it soon becomes clear that they were apprehended against their will. At first feeling like prisoners, Conway and his companions end up falling in love with their new surroundings are keen on leaving but slowly, they all come to appreciate their new surroundings except Conway who wants to go back home. However, when Robert learns the true secret of Shangri-La and his specific reason for being there, he is faced with having to leave in order to protect his brother and the strong possibly that he will be leaving without him.

Presented in 1080p high definition with a full frame aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and a great sounding DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 2.0 Mono lossless track, this 4K restored black and white film looks better than it ever has before. In 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment completed an all digital restoration at Colorworks, using the preservation negative created in 1998 as the primary source, scanned at 4K and integrated with the director's personal nitrate print.

Additional material was located in a badly worn 16mm print of the scene of the first meeting with the High Lama, where previously missing footage had been represented by the original soundtrack and still images. Even though there is a mixture of formats that went into this restoration, the 35mm film elements are significantly the sharpest as compared to the recently uncovered footage to give us the longest version of the film ever. Overall, this is a nicely done restoration that will hopefully hit the 4K UHD format in the near future. A digital copy is also included.

Special Features include...

Restoration Audio Commentary

Alternate Ending

Photo Documentary

Restoration: Before and After Comparison

Theatrical Trailer

Collectible Digi-Pak book packaging

This is a great new release. It's a shame that Frank Capra isn't here to see it himself.

For more on the 1973 musical remake, try this link...

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/12053/Lost+Horizon+(1973/Sony/Columbia/Twilight+Time

- James Lockhart

https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/