24 / BD 78 Faust

Discuss releases by Eureka and Masters of Cinema and the films on them.
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Lino
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#51 Post by Lino » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:20 pm

I really couldn't ask for anything more! This now will be the most comprehensive DVD release of Faust, incidentally my favorite Murnau. Let's just say I'm on cloud 10 right now!

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HerrSchreck
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#52 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:23 pm

peerpee wrote:Final specs are now at the site. This 2 x disc set is now finished and will be released on June 26th.

http://www.eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/024.htm
Ah.. now if Massino & the boys at Flicker Alley can push out the Berrauita PHANTOM disc in "mid June" (his last quote to me about 5 wks ago) then I can put away Zappas THE TORTURE NEVER STOPS. Waiting for these two (and now WARNING SHADOWS.. fuckin W A R N I N G S H A D O W S no less) has beenn agony.

Nick any possibility of getting around to some of those Carl Mayer string of Kammerspiels that ended with THE LAST LAUGH? i e BACKSTAIRS, SCHERBEN, or SYLVESTER? I would collapse with weeping and sing glories to the merciful savior in overweight-black-lady tones (waving my hands inna sky at the spirit) if you did. If you guys came out with the last two especially (FWMS has them in preservation) you would officially become The Coolest Most Thoroughly Solid Dudes In Interplanetary Dvd-dom, and with one stroke revise the "what's great in silent film" paradigm around the world . Even DIE STRASSE or RASKALNIKOV would be glorious.

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denti alligator
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#53 Post by denti alligator » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:28 pm

HerrSchreck wrote:Ah.. now if Massino & the boys at Flicker Alley can push out the Berrauita PHANTOM disc in "mid June" (his last quote to me about 5 wks ago) then I can put away Zappas THE TORTURE NEVER STOPS. Waiting for these two (and now WARNING SHADOWS.. fuckin W A R N I N G S H A D O W S no less) has beenn agony.

Nick any possibility of getting around to some of those Carl Mayer string of Kammerspiels that ended with THE LAST LAUGH? i e BACKSTAIRS, SCHERBEN, or SYLVESTER? I would collapse with weeping and sing glories to the merciful savior in overweight-black-lady tones (waving my hands inna sky at the spirit) if you did. If you guys came out with the last two especially (FWMS has them in preservation) you would officially become The Coolest Most Thoroughly Solid Dudes In Interplanetary Dvd-dom, and with one stroke revise the "what's great in silent film" paradigm around the world . Even DIE STRASSE or RASKALNIKOV would be glorious.
I have a hunch that PHANTOM will be MoC spine #23 or #25 ...

Schrecko: has RASKOLVINKOV been restored?

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HerrSchreck
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#54 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Jun 07, 2006 4:43 pm

I doubt it-- theres a FaceTs vhs of it hanging around, and my suspicion is we'd be starting, like the Pick/Mayer's, with preservation nitrates sitting in the Murnau Foundation vaults. My guess is Gosfilmofond would have a solid print of this (what dont they have gorgeous prints of? aside from vaults that were the only ones NOT overrun by an invader during WW2-- and being such active participants in cinema, w to & fro's w all the major source countries since at least the early teens-- they also had the advantage of rolling over the German archives, which had in turn, prior to be rolled over by the Soviets, rolled over all the major vaults in central and western .. and eastern.. Europe. So the Soviets have stuff in there, we'd go bananas if we looked at an inventory of what these guys are sitting on! They actually, truly, have everything. From their own undisturbed collections, and from vamping the vamper who vamped all of europe.)

RASKALNIKOV is one of the more interesting adaptations of CRIME & PUNISHMENT, and one of the more successful post-Caligari, purely expressionist films.. coincidentally (or not) by Veine. The extremely warped art direction (think the Jack episode of WAXWORKS) of acute angles, jagged edges & corners, etc, are a perfect exterior manifestation of the warped interior life of Raskalnikov himself. I hope this finds a home on dvd soon.. its certainly more successful than MORNING TO MIDNT, TORGUS, & GENUINE (which actually has grown onme.. such a bizarre & obscure atmosphere, I kind of found my way into it), other purely expressionist looking films, because there is a reason for the strangeness in the text. Another reason THE STREET works so well too.

TheWatcher
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#55 Post by TheWatcher » Wed Jun 07, 2006 11:55 pm

Excellent news.

Is the transfer on the second disc the same as the previously released Eureka version, or a newer one?

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Monsieur Verdoux
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#56 Post by Monsieur Verdoux » Tue Jun 13, 2006 9:41 am

In the new Sight & Sound; there's a page advert for the release of Faust (page 29)...they've put the release date down for June, 19. I'm guessing this is a mistake yes..? or is a pre exculsive to Virgin megastores, in which the advert has been placed down as... ? Which I find highly unlikely.

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#57 Post by peerpee » Tue Jun 13, 2006 2:47 pm

Actual release date is June 26th. The ad was placed last month, when the release date was June 19th.

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#58 Post by peerpee » Tue Jun 13, 2006 3:57 pm

TheWatcher wrote:Is the transfer on the second disc the same as the previously released Eureka version, or a newer one?
We couldn't improve on it, due to the nature of the original elements. The Export version on the second disc of the new set, is exactly the same as the old Eureka version.

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Lino
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#59 Post by Lino » Wed Jun 21, 2006 9:42 am


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HerrSchreck
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#60 Post by HerrSchreck » Wed Jun 21, 2006 11:48 am

I'm bouncing offa the walls here waiting for this disc. O the horror!

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Steven H
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#61 Post by Steven H » Thu Jun 22, 2006 3:16 pm

Excerpt from the DVDBeaver review:
Gary Tooze wrote:The Eureka is the best edition available at present. It improves upon every area of the previous DVDs.

The David Ehrenstein and Bill Krohn commentary is one of the best - a real pleasure to hear such thoroughly prepared and organized discussion. They work extremely well together - almost finishing each other's sentences in many instances. Tony Rayns is always a pleasure to hear and his erudite dissemination of information is the best in the DVD supplement community. He discusses quite a lot in less than 40 minutes including topics divided into such topics as 'Murnau's Mise en scene' and 'Weimar Culture' etc.

The entire Eureka package is so beautifully done with marvelous artwork and the included booklet. Again Master of Cinema have given DVD/dfilm fans a real keepsake with such an interesting and historically significant film wonderfully presented with relevant extra features that further enhance appreciation.

P.S. The old commentary track that appeared on the original Eureka disc wasn't done very well - but the bulk of that information (spoken by Timothy Brock) has been reconstituted into the essay printed in the 28-page liner notes booklet.

We strongly recommend the Eureka 2-disc Masters of Cinema edition.
I can't begin to tell the good people of this forum how dissapointed I am that I'm too poor to afford this right now. Goodness.

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denti alligator
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#62 Post by denti alligator » Thu Jun 22, 2006 4:47 pm

Maybe I should hold my mouth until I get my copy in the mail, but I see some troubling jagged lines in the screen caps at DVD Beaver. Is this just me?

Compare the umlaut over the "o" in "beschworen" in cap no. 1.

Compare the folds in the tent to the left of the feet of the man doing a handstand in the 2nd capture.

Compare the crest of Mephistopheles' right wing (on the left of the screen).

Compare (most tellingly) that little stub of a branch jutting out of the left side of the tree in the 4th captures.

And also very revealing are the last captures: look at the top of Mephisto's hat.

If you look at these next to the Divisa Red caps you can see that these lines aren't smooth, but broken up. This is usually a sign of an interlaced DVD, so I'm confused why they're appearing here. Or did Gary mix up his screen caps?


The Divisa Red caps also seem to me to be sharper, though the black levels are better on the MoC. The "beschworen", for example, looks like "beschworer" in the Divisa Red cap.
Last edited by denti alligator on Thu Jun 22, 2006 11:21 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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mbalson
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#63 Post by mbalson » Thu Jun 22, 2006 6:39 pm

That's one of the things I noticed as well. Let's hope those jaggies are only in the screen caps. :|

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#64 Post by Senya » Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:06 pm

Unfortunately, those jaggies are not only in the screen caps. :(
It looks like interlaced picture, not progressive. Why?..

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denti alligator
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#65 Post by denti alligator » Thu Jun 22, 2006 10:58 pm

Senya wrote:Unfortunately, those jaggies are not only in the screen caps. :(
It looks like interlaced picture, not progressive. Why?..
Well, I'm glad I'm not alone in seeing this. I didn't want to seem like a freak whose shitting on MoC's most astounding release to date.

I don't know how a "progressively encoded transfer" differs from a regular progressive transfer, but maybe that's the culprit. But then, why does the Spanish DVD look ok?

Senya, is it really noticeable? If it is, I guess I'll be buying the Spanish disc as well :cry: ... luckily subs aren't an issue for me, but sadly the black levels aren't as nice as on the MoC and it appears to be a little cropped at the top too. :cry:

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skuhn8
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#66 Post by skuhn8 » Fri Jun 23, 2006 3:28 am

peerpee, can we get a comment on this? I ordered mine last night as soon as I saw the review on beav....but am now concerned. I had to double dip on M because Eureka's version was full of jags. I really don't want to have to do that again. I'm a highschool teacher for chrissakes!

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Gary Tooze
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#67 Post by Gary Tooze » Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:03 am

If you guys are referring to this:

Image

it is on the Spanish release as well (in fact that capture is from the Spanish release). I am pretty sure the MoC Faust is progressive - in my viewing and review I did not notice the common 'trailing' that is a result of progressive flags not being identified. I'm not seeing it. I suspect what you are noticing may have something to do with frame -rate conversion (silent->PAL), but perhaps Nick can further elaborate.

Best,
Gary

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mbalson
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#68 Post by mbalson » Fri Jun 23, 2006 7:52 am

No magnification needed for what I'm talking about. In fact enlarging the image hides the interlaced looking edges.
This is what i'm talking about:
Image

And this tree is a jagged mess compared to the divisa disc:
Image

I've ordered this disc regardless. The last thing I want to do is rag on MoC, I just don't want this issue to be true.
Gary, could this be a by-product of resizing the screen caps?

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Gary Tooze
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#69 Post by Gary Tooze » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:43 am

Hey Mark,

No it is not from resizing. Here is an unaltered PNG cap

Image

I'll look into it further.

Best,
Gary

Senya
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#70 Post by Senya » Fri Jun 23, 2006 9:47 am

denti alligator wrote:Senya, is it really noticeable?
Yes, if you use a computer monitor and PowerDVD player. Sorry, but I was not able to check it on good tube or plasma TV.
Also I am going to use my PowerDVD to make some screenshots in Bob and Weave modes. May be missing progressive flag (mentioned before) is the only reason of this "feature".

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Gary Tooze
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#71 Post by Gary Tooze » Fri Jun 23, 2006 10:03 am

Here is a PNG from the Export Version

Image

and one from the new Domestic MoC version

Image

I don't think it is non-progression we are seeing.

It is something else. It is not the same as the 100's of non-progressive DVDs that I have reviewed.

Best,
Gary

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HerrSchreck
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#72 Post by HerrSchreck » Fri Jun 23, 2006 2:47 pm

Yo Nick... whatsa story morning glory?

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denti alligator
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#73 Post by denti alligator » Fri Jun 23, 2006 4:03 pm

Senya wrote:
denti alligator wrote:Senya, is it really noticeable?
Yes, if you use a computer monitor and PowerDVD player. Sorry, but I was not able to check it on good tube or plasma TV.
Also I am going to use my PowerDVD to make some screenshots in Bob and Weave modes. May be missing progressive flag (mentioned before) is the only reason of this "feature".
Unfortunately I only use a computer monitor--that is, I'm set up with an HTPC and an LCD screen. Maybe some post-processing can eliminate this... if it is indeed as noticeable as you say. Or maybe it was a mistake ... I can't imagine something like this getting by quality control.

peerpee
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#74 Post by peerpee » Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:23 pm

We had difficulties a few months ago when we assessed Murnau Stiftung's master.

It appears that, for whatever reason, the only master materials they had was a PAL digibeta which had originally been made from an NTSC telecine, which had been very well converted to PAL using Alchemist. We tried to obtain the original NTSC telecine but they couldn't locate it anywhere and weren't even aware of the lineage of the master in the first place.

Unable to warrant the cost of a new telecine and repeat Murnau Stiftung's costly restoration, our options were to release an interlaced disc or to remove the 2:3 pulldown and make it progressive. Doing the latter introduced slight jagginess where harsh white met jet black, but the motion was lovely on all displays, as it was progressive.

The key thing is what it looks like in motion, and it looks really good.

I've viewed it for the last few months on an HD progressive display, and, in the circumstances, am happy with it. Whenever the DVD is paused, it is possible to see slight jaggies occasionally, but this does not ruin the viewing experience when the film is in motion -- as it's practically unnoticeable.

The Domestic version of FAUST on the new MoC set is *not* interlaced, and does not have any combing. Here are some more screenshots:

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

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Scharphedin2
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#75 Post by Scharphedin2 » Fri Jun 23, 2006 5:37 pm

I read DVDBeaver's review and looked at the stills, and, even if it is possible to find "jaggies" in some of the stills, the improvement over the earlier DVD releases of the film is such that I am not sure that I own the superlatives in my vocabulary to express it...

I am curious... do any of you people who posted on this thread actually notice these miniscule discrepancies in transfers, when actually watching the films? I have never personally been able to, but possibly that is because I view my DVDs on a projector, where I expect the image to be a little less "sharp" than what I imagine it will be on a computer (having never actually tried this).

I already ordered my copy, and I cannot wait to see this film. The extras, what will surely be beautiful cover art, and another wonderful booklet -- along with what to my eyes look like a gorgeous transfer -- makes this a completely impossible DVD to resist.

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