Region 4 Winners and Losers

    There are numerous editions of this film available worldwide.

Restored Version

    Kino have released the restored version in the US. This Region 1 edition has the same transfer and extras (minus the trailers) as the Region 4, but has two disadvantages. Firstly, it has been transferred to NTSC format, resulting in a slight loss of detail. Secondly, the film and the extras have been squeezed onto a single disc, meaning a higher rate of compression. I understand that the running time of this release is the same as the PAL versions; that is, there is no PAL speed-up.

    The UK Region 2 release of the restoration is from Eureka Video, and is identical to the Region 4 in almost all respects. The two discs come in an Amaray case with different cover art, not as nice as the Region 4 in my opinion. The menus are not as nice looking either. The layer change is at 58:28, in a fade to black between the end of the prelude and the start of the intermezzo, which is better placed than the Region 4. The only other difference is the absence of the Madman trailers, not a major factor in my opinion.

    The Transit Films Region 2 release from Germany has the same transfer as the Region 4, plus the same extras (excluding the trailers of course). This edition has the audio commentary in both German and English, and has English subtitles. The advantage of this release is that the film's titles are in the original German with English subtitles. A small advantage, but it seems just that fraction more authentic to me. You can see the German titles in the documentary extra on the Region 4.

Older Versions

    Force Video released the earlier Region 2 UK Eureka Video single disc edition in Region 4. I bought this, watched about two minutes, then ejected the disc and have not looked at it again until writing this. This is a good example of how bad previous transfers of this film looked. Blurry, poorly contrasted with the actors' faces just white blobs, this release was a disgrace. The running time is 138:39, but this would have been due to a slower projection speed. This appears to be the US version as butchered by Paramount and Channing Pollock.

    There were at least eight previous Region 1 releases of the film, all of which seem to be poor in quality judging by the reviews I have located. If you have any of these, throw them out and buy the new one.

    A previous restoration by Patalas in 1987 was released in France, but the video quality is significantly less fine than the new release.