Werner Herzog on DVD

[Vincent]

I recently bought that 10 disc "Special Edition" set and have spent the last few hours taking a look at its contents. I thought people would appreciate me telling them what's in it (since it doesn't say anywhere else, as I found out when I did some research pre-purchase).
It's possible that they correspond to previous releases by Shock Entertainment, like zedz says, but the discs themselves are newly made: they come in two normal-sized Amarays that hold five discs each, all discs are numbered (from 1 to 10), and when I take a look at the file structure, the video files were all created in July/August 2009.

Seven of the Australian discs hold all of the content of the 6 disc set that can be ordered from wernerherzog.com (plus Little Dieter Loves to Fly), but they're not identical. The films are spread differently around the set, and there are differences in both audio and subtitling.
I don't own the original (website) Herzog set, but as per this graphic, it seems to feature both German and English voice-over whenever both exist (and either German or English subtitles when there's only one audio stream); the Australian set doesn't give you an option: German-only films (and the two mostly French- and Greek-audio films) feature English subtitles, English-only films feature no subtitles at all, and for those films where two language versions exist, the set gives you only the English one without subtitles (even in those cases where, presumably, the German version would be the original). One (and if I might say so, particularly stupid) exception is Fata Morgana where the German and English voice-over play at the same time (with the English audio slightly louder). The Anchor Bay disc did that, too, but also had the German audio only as a separate stream.
Video quality wise, everything is watchable, but many films have heavy combing evident on a computer monitor. Wings of Hope is on its disc in two versions, a "theatrical version" of little more than an hour, and an even shorter "TV version." Both are fullscreen and with English-only voiceover. Little Dieter is in fullscreen, definitely cropped from the Anchor Bay set. Lessons of Darkness is in letterboxed widescreen. Everything else is in fullscreen (presumably the correct aspect ratio, since many of these films are TV documentaries). I didn't do any thorough checking regarding PAL/NTSC, but Little Dieter is about 7 minutes shorter compared to the NTSC Anchor Bay disc, so it's probably in PAL. I have (I think?) no way of checking whether there was a PAL->NTSC->PAL conversion.

The real value of the Australian Special Edition set is in the three additional discs, which feature documentaries that aren't on the original set and aren't as easily available.
I gather that two of those repeat content already available in an R4 release (Transformation of the World into Music, Gesualdo, Pilgrimage, Wheel of Time, and The White Diamond), but these new discs are all region-free. Again, these films are either German with English subtitles, or English with no subtitles. Transformation and Pilgrimage are widescreen, but letterboxed; the rest are in anamorphic widescreen.
The final disc holds Location Africa, a documentary on the making of Cobra Verde, and The Ball is a Scumbag, a film directed by Herzog's son. The first is German-only with no subtitles, the latter is a special case: it was clearly filmed in German, and from what I can gather, features only narration/dialogue by Werner Herzog and a friend of his. Herzog translates his own dialogue into English, while his friend is "voiced-over" by an (I think) American actor with a distinctive voice who sounds familiar, but whom I can't place at the moment. There are English intertitles which seem unnaturally spliced in.

That's not ideal, and in fact the audio/subtitling situation overall is my one big caveat (both for non-native speakers of English and those hard-of-hearing; and for Herzog purists, since some of his newer documentaries do have German narration by him, which is occasionally a bit different from the English version and would be nice to have as a bonus). But I can't really argue with the price of the set, compared to the six disc one from Herzog's website; I picked up the Australian set directly from the manufacturer for about 100 EUR, including shipping. (The booklet that is mentioned there is merely a list of the films contained on each individual DVD, plus some technical details – languages, aspect ratio – that don't appear to have been very thoroughly fact-checked.) That's not cheap, of course, but it is cheaper than buying from Herzog's website directly (where most of the bonus films are also available, at 25 EUR apiece).

All in all, this is not an ideal package, but it is an attractive option for Herzog fans with limited funds (a group that includes me).

[zariadris]

Many thanks Vincent for taking the trouble to write such a detailed review of the 10-disc set. Very helpful indeed. It's frustrating that Herzog has not collected ALL of his documentary work into one definitive set, including obscurities such as Death For Five Voices, Christ and Demons in New Spain, etc., etc. Far from being definitive, the new 13-disc set available through his website even excludes films on the 6-disc set, such as Flying Doctors, let alone the fact that it doesn't include previously unreleased titles. Instead we are offered more documentaries about Herzog himself. Very strange.

I wish I could take advantage of the Australian versions of either the 6 or 10 disc set, as they are so reasonably priced, but, alas, being in the States I can't play PAL.

[Numero Trois]

I wish I could take advantage of the Australian versions of either the 6 or 10 disc set, as they are so reasonably priced, but, alas, being in the States I can't play PAL.

Region free players are cheaper than ever. Do some research on Amazon and Ebay and you'll find some. Or here. There are also widely available codes for US DVD players that can convert them automatically into region free. I bought my region free from Wal Mart, for chrissakes!

[Vincent]

I don't think region locking is zariadris' problem; in any case, the Australian Herzog set is region free. From what I understand, the problem is that European SD television sets have been able to display both PAL and NTSC video for at least two decades (I have never owned a television that couldn't also play NTSC cassettes or DVDs), but the same cannot be said for their American counterparts. I thought that compatibility problem would be over and done with with the introduction of HD, but apparently many American HD tellies still have a problem displaying SD material in PAL (or so some googling leads me to believe, something about a non-variable frame rate).

I am no expert, though, so maybe it's possible to circumvent these problems. And of course, computers don't care about the video standard at all; depending on screen size, zariadris may want to consider just watching the Herzog docs on a notebook or desktop computer.

[manicsounds]

Region free DVD or BD players convert the PAL or NTSC signal within the machine. No worries there if your TV only displays NTSC.

[Clevinger]

There is a new edition of the Documentaries set out on September 15th (13 discs). It can be ordered this week with a 20 % discount, http://www.wernerherzog.com/dvdedition2/

[kekid]

There is a new edition of the Documentaries set out on September 15th (13 discs). It can be ordered this week with a 20 % discount, http://www.wernerherzog.com/dvdedition2/

There are films in the old edition that do not appear in the new one (e.g. Jag Mandir and The Flying Doctors of East Africa), unless the list of films included in the link is incomplete.

[zedz]

The listed films total 22, which is the number repeated several times in the accompanying blurb, so it looks like those other films are indeed AWOL. Flying Doctors is available in the UK Natural World box, at least, but Jag Mandir is a genuine loss. The film unfolds so much like a bizarre dream that it's hard to believe the events it documents were actually real.

[Foam]

Dunno where else to post this but tweet a question @1stlookstudios on 8/23 between 8-10:30AM PST and Werner Herzog will respond with an individual video. Probably the only convincing argument I can think of to join twitter.

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

Received from Winter&Winter today.

Dear Kevin,

In this year we do not plan new dvd-releases. In 2012 we plan to release a dvd by Werner Herzog who filmed the works of cellist Ernst Reijseger.

Thank you for you interest.

With best regards,

Stefan Winter

[Drucker]

Any word on Werner's stuff going Blu? Except for the rumors part of this forum, I can find no info about it.

Also, do people still recommend the two boxes of his stuff? I know they are the right price, but I was so confused when I watched Aguirre from netflix and found that if I put the English track on, I felt most of the words sync up. But I didn't know (and still don't) if the English-language versions are frowned upon. What do people recommend these days with Herzog?

[Roger Ryan]

...I know they are the right price, but I was so confused when I watched Aguirre from netflix and found that if I put the English track on, I felt most of the words sync up. But I didn't know (and still don't) if the English-language versions are frowned upon. What do people recommend these days with Herzog?

When shooting AGUIRRE, Herzog was working with actors of multiple nationalities and found that it was easier to simply have everyone speak English. This is the reason the English-dubbed version syncs up well with the image. However, I believe that Herzog prefers the German-dubbed version as the cadence and language are closer to his original intentions.

[manicsounds]

Fitzcaraldo as well.

[Drucker]

That being said, you wouldn't say these are not worth getting, however, right? Does anyone know anything about them coming out on Blu-Ray, for that matter?

[zeroism]

That being said, you wouldn't say these are not worth getting, however, right? Does anyone know anything about them coming out on Blu-Ray, for that matter?

I don't know anything about blu-ray releases (none on the horizon that I'm aware of), but I'd say the Herzog commentaries in these sets are worth the current prices alone. I wouldn't hesitate.

[zedz]

It seems that RHV (Italy) have released a two disc set of Herzog's 'Cinema Lessons'. To the best of my knowledge this is the first release of these films anywhere, and they're one of the few remaining gaps in Herzog's filmography on home video. Unfortunately, there seem to be Italian subs only (sigh), but any news to the contrary would be welcome indeed.

Amazon link. Can't access RHV's own website for further information at the moment.

[Robin Davies]

They've been available for quite a while from his website but (again, unfortunately) not with English subs.

[manicsounds]

Has "Wings Of Hope" (2000) ever been released on DVD?

[antnield]

Has "Wings Of Hope" (2000) ever been released on DVD?

It appears as an extra on Soda's UK disc of Little Dieter Needs to Fly.

[zedz]

And it's in the big 'Documentaries and Shorts' box set.

[swo17]

I just noticed that Shock in Australia put out this Blu-ray set last year, featuring:

Encounters at the End of the World
The White Diamond
La Soufrière
The Flying Doctors of East Africa

Note that none of these films are included in the upcoming BFI or Shout sets.

[MichaelB]

This came out in the UK ages ago, only my copy includes Grizzly Man as well.

[swo17]

Ah, so it has.