Birth
Of A Nation
(1915/Brownlow restoration/2018 Twilight Time Limited Edition
Blu-ray)/The
Patriot 4K (2000/Sony 4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)/This
Is Cinerama
(1952)/Windjammer: The
Voyage Of The Christian Radich
(1958/both Flicker Alley reissue upgrade Blu-ray editions)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: A Picture: B/B+/B+/A- Sound: B/A B+ B/B/B
Extras: B/B/B/C+ Films: B/B/B+/B
PLEASE
NOTE:
The
Birth
Of A Nation
Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time, is
limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies last,
from the links below.
Up
next are four big screen epic hits, all in new upgraded versions that
render all previous editions old...
We
start with a new upgrade of D.W. Griffith's Birth
Of A Nation
(1915), a film whose title was highjacked for a film that landed up
having all kind of controversial issues of its own (reviewed on 4K
Ultra HD Blu-ray elsewhere on this site), while this 1915 first-ever
blockbuster epic was previously issued in an impressive 3-disc set
with the last two restorations of the film that we covered at this
link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11360/Colin+Quinn:+Long+Story+Short+(2011/VSC/MVD
In
what started out as another project including serious film lovers,
scholars and historians like Kevin Brownlow
led to this full restoration of the film, which was big and epic for
its time, especially with large frame formats not being experimented
with for another decade or so. This edition is a Twilight
Time Limited Edition Blu-ray, coming out at a time where the film
takes on a new relevance one wish it did not, but do be it. My
opinion that it is a great epic propaganda film, no matter the
director's feelings or beliefs, stands. Of course, he would collapse
under his own point of view and ambition with Intolerance
a few years later, go bankrupt, only briefly become one of the
founders of United Artists Studios and be washed away with the sound
film era (his own sound films duds) and loose his studio space to the
then-new MGM. However, like all films, it needed a full restoration
and it got one.
Extras
include an illustrated booklet on the film including informative text
and yet another excellent, underrated essay by the great film scholar
Julie Kirgo, while the two Blu-ray discs offer a ton of extras to
rival the previous Kino edition.
Blu-ray
Disc One includes a 1930 Sound Reissue Prologue, D.W. Griffith in
conversation with Walter Huston, star of his 1930 sound film Abraham
Lincoln,
1930 Sound Reissue Intermission and Introduction to Act 2 and Huston
recites sections from Woodrow Wilson's A History of the American
People.
Disc
Two adds Outtakes and Original Camera Tests, Stills and Collections
Gallery, Silent Feature: The
Coward
(1915 ~ Produced by Thomas H. Ince, Directed by Reginald Barker)
Released nine months after The
Birth of a Nation
premiered, this Civil War drama concerns the weak-willed son (Charles
Ray) of a Southern officer (Frank Keenan), forced to enlist at
gunpoint, and coming to terms with cowardice. Silent Short:
The Rose of Kentucky
(1911 ~ Directed by D.W. Griffith) Three years before shooting on
Birth
began, Griffith made his only other film featuring the Klan, in this
case labeled the Night Riders, and cast as the villains. Silent
Short: Stolen
Glory
(1912 ~ Directed by Mack Sennett) Sennett, who had worked under
Griffith at Biograph Studios, had a great fondness for improvising
comedy shorts around actual events, in this case a parade of the
Grand Army of the Republic, the principal veterans organization for
those who served in the Union Army during the Civil War. Silent
Short: The
Drummer of the 8th
Original Edit The Drummer of the 8th 2015 Re-Edit (1913 ~ Produced by
Thomas H. Ince, Directed by Jay Hunt) Presented in two versions. The
Re-Edit shifts the position of later, seemingly out-of-order
sequences encountered in the Library of Congress original negative
holdings. Both cuts use all existing footage., The
Birth of a Nation
Score Recording Sessions
in 5.1 Audio, D.W. Griffith on Lux Radio Theater with Cecil B.
DeMille, The
Birth of a Nation: The Legacy
Directed, Written and Edited by John McCarty, The
Clansman: From Stage to Screen
Directed and Edited by Daniel Griffith Text Essay: We
Can Never Censor the Past
by Kevin Brownlow, Text Essay The Birth of a Nation: The 2015
Restoration by Patrick Stanbury and Text Essay Fighting Back:
Responding to The Birth of a Nation by Ashley Clark.
Director
Roland Emmerich (Stargate,
Independence
Day),
a modern filmmaker who has made more bad films than good, directs
this historical epic The
Patriot
(2000), which also happens to be one of Mel Gibson's finest
performances (and before he got all controversial). This is
definitely one of Emmerich's best films and is now newly restored
here in 4K for this The
Patriot 4K
release. Also featuring the late Heath Ledger, Chris Cooper, and
Jason Issacs amongst several others, the film may not be entirely
historically accurate, but sure is a lot of fun to watch, especially
in this newly enhanced presentation.
Set
in South Carolina in the year 1776, the British redcoats have invaded
and it's every man and woman for themselves. Amidst the battle of
humanity, Benjamin Martin (Gibson), his son Gabriel (Ledger), and
family fight for survival and end up engaged in mortal combat.
Not
sure why they didn't include the unrated in 4K but it still looks
fine for the format, but extras include a digital copy and other
Special Features besides those include two versions of the film are
as follows...
4K
UHD Special Features:
Theatrical
Version of the Film (165 minutes)
Director
& Producer Commentary
7
Deleted Scenes with Commentary
Three
Featurettes:
The
Art of War
The
True Patriots
Visual
Effects Interactive
Conceptual
Art to Film Comparisons, Photo Galleries, Theatrical Trailer
BLU-RAY
SPECIAL FEATURES:
Extended
Version of the Film (175 minutes)
Two
Featurettes:
The
Art of War
The
True Patriots
Again,
one of my personal favorite Mel Gibson films, The
Patriot
is worthy of repurchasing in this 4K UHD upgrade, plus you get the
older disc included.
Both
Flicker Alley reissue upgrade Blu-ray editions, starting with Robert
L. Bendick's This
Is Cinerama
(1952), which makes for an interesting comparison to the Griffith
Birth
Of A Nation,
because it reflects an optimistic, progressive, post-WWII U.S.A.
versus one that is a mess and made worse by the worse possible ideas.
We reviewed the previous Blu-ray restoration at this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11900/Lawrence+Of+Arabia+(1962/Sony+Blu-ray+w/Gift
To
see it upgraded like this is like seeing for the first time again,
now matching much more closely the sensation, hype and blockbuster
results of the original release. As spectacular as any large frame
format before or since, it is also one of the great independent
classics (had to think of it like that, but it was not made by a
major studio) and anything you might chuckle at as a gimmick is more
than made up for by its imaginative shots, sound design and amazing
cinematography. This was worth all the effort put into it to save
and deliver it more closely to the original photochemical film
presentations.
Extras
are not exactly the same as the last set, but most are similar
including a Feature Length Audio Commentary Track with John Sittig
(Cinerama Inc.), David Strohmaier (Cinerama Restorer), Randy Gitsch
(Cinerama Historian), and Jim Morrison (original crew member), The
Best in the Biz:
An updated hour-long documentary about the composers of Cinerama,
Restoring
This is Cinerama:
A detailed, behind-the-scenes look at the brand-new restoration,
Alternate European Opening to Act Two: a European-oriented segue into
the second half of the film, featuring a panoramic view of the United
States from the nose of a B-25 bomber plane, Cinerama
Everywhere:
A French-produced short on the Cinerama tent shows in Europe, Tribute
to the New Neon Movies:
a short film celebrating an Ohio theater where a projectionist
revived Cinerama through special screenings for people from all over
the country, Radio Interview with Cinerama Creator, Fred Waller
recorded on the eve of opening night, This
is Cinerama
trailer Updated recreation of theatrical trailer with newly-restored
clips, Cinerama
Returns to the Cinerama Dome
(2002 Announcement Trailer): Promotional short for the 50th
anniversary of Cinerama and its return to the fabled Cinerama Dome in
Hollywood, "Breakdown Reel" - footage originally projected
interstitially during Cinerama interruptions and TV Spots - Original
television ads for This
is Cinerama
and Seven
Wonders of the World.
Louis
De Rochemont III and Bill Colleran's Windjammer:
The Voyage Of The Christian Radich
(1958) was
meant to be the big spectacular competitor to This
is Cinerama,
called Cinemiracle, getting rid of the visible lines better between
the three projected 35mm film strips that made up the single image
throughout and this new restoration is so good, in a rare moment, I
actually landed up liking the film more than when I saw it for the
first time. My first reactions on the film can be read in the review
of the older Blu-ray at this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11987/Chronos+(1985/Image+Blu-ray)/Rescue+3D+(201
In
fairness, film stocks became a little faster a few years between the
debut of the two formats, but detail and clarity here can be stunning
and both offer demo moments constantly. I'll get to the playback
quality and improvements below, but the makers here were being
ambitious in the hopes of having two formats that would compete with
each other and lead to decades of such productions. However, these
films were so expensive to produce that Cinerama started turning to
70mm to shoot the films and then do blow-ups for three-projection
theaters, while Cinemiracle was eventually bought by Cinerama, so
this was their only film. However, they are both classic and
must-sees for all serious film fans.
Here
too, we lose a few extras, but we get most of the older releases
goodies, including The
Windjammer Voyage: A Cinemiracle Adventure
documentary by historian Dave Strohmaier on the film's production,
The
Reconstruction of Windjammer
behind the scenes look at the reconstruction and restoration of
Windjammer from the original Cinemiracle camera elements, The
Windjammer Breakdown Reel, The
Christian Radich Today:
a modern look at the famous ship at the Aalbourg, Denmark Tall Ships
Festival 2010, Windjammer trailer: a new re-creation from the
original 1958 release trailer, Windjammer
Behind The Scenes Slideshow:
images from the production of the film and the impressive Cinemiracle
Showplaces Slideshow:
a look at the unique venues that screened Windjammer.
Most
notable is the original Blu-ray edition included DVDs and the
booklets reproduced their theater programs. Hardcore fans will want
both editions.
Presented
in a 2160p HEVC/H.265, HDR (10; Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High
Definition image on the 4K disc, the film looks and sounds incredible
in this new 4K remaster of the theatrical version of the film with a
widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1. This is another film that I have
seen on various formats over the years and was constantly noticing
things I didn't before. The film is beautifully shot and the money
is on the screen here. The sound mix is also something to behind in
11.1 Dolby Atmos that's ideal for battle sequences and heightens John
Williams' epic score. Also on the disc are tracks in a Dolby TrueHD
7.1 mixdown from the Atmos and slightly less smooth DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mix on the 4K disc, while the older Blu-ray we
covered years ago retains its PCM 5.1 mix. However, what sounded
really strong a decade ago now sounds harsher than remembered and is
the least of the three choices.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer (centered in a 1.78 X 1/16 X 9 frame) on Nation
can show the age of the materials used, but this is far superior a
transfer to all previous releases of the film being so clean and from
the most first-generation sources the film is ever to originate from,
lucky to have survived for so long. The kind of scratches on each
frame film fans used to tolerate on home video and older film copies
is being put to pasture, so now you can really see (for better and
worse) what Griffith did. The new DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless mix of the new music score is fine, but nothing out of the
ordinary and just fine for a new recording.
That
leaves the 1080p 2.59 X 1 Smilebox digital High Definition image on
Cinerama
and Windjammer
are great upgrades from their original Blu-ray releases, finally
coming from the original three panel, 6-perf 35mm materials as close
to the first generation materials as possible. The older Cinerama
Blu-ray was from a 70mm dye-transfer,
three-strip Technicolor print of the film that was rejected in the
early 1970s. That was fine under the circumstances and the
restoration team did a great job at the time getting the best color
out of it and it was the most impressive the film had been in eons.
Now, the film has even better color (the team seems to have used the
older work as a guide too) and the film is much more of the true
experience it was intended to be in 1952, stunning and looking
great.
Windjammer
has its previous Blu-ray derive a faded, anamorphic 35mm print the
team painstakingly did what they could to bring up to spec. Now,
they were able to also go back to the original three panel, 6-perf
35mm materials and the results are incredible, even a little more
impressive than Cinerama and is looking as good as any of the
cinerama films on Blu-ray they have issued, now that they have
completed all of them. This looks great. I guess these are among
the candidates for Flicker Alley's first 4K discs when they start
supporting that format.
Both
Flicker Alley titles have DTS-HD MA (Master
Audio) 5.1 lossless mixes from their original 8-track magnetic
soundmaster with traveling dialogue and sound effects, sounding as
good as expected, so no problem there either.
All
in all, four releases with great demo moments, history and other
surprises to catch.
To
order The
Birth Of A Nation
(1915) limited edition Blu-ray, buy them while supplies last at these
links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo & James
Lockhart (4K)
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
