Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of early film of all sorts! There was absolutely no way I was going to have a Friday Fright with Blu-Ray without including at least one silent film. So many copies of this historic (in so many ways!) film from 1925 are so sub-par on so many levels that most are virtually unwatchable. This blu-ray, which is not the entire film, which is actually a series, is the restored "1905" sequence, the most famous of all this series segments. I works too as a film on it's own. Kino Co. came a bit late to the blu-ray boat. They smartly shied away from entering in on the HD vs Blu-Ray rivalry, staying in the DVD (and eve VHS business) until a clear winner emerged. (And when I say "smartly," I'm tooting my own houses horn, we did the same--and I "dead-chuffed" that we waited!).
This is absolutely my favorite Blu-Ray so far. So many audiophiles who know WAY more about the blu-ray experience have remarked that, while newer films, particularly CGI, benefit a great deal from Blu-Ray, it is older films that are literally breathed back to theater experience life by the Blu-Ray treatment. When I first heard this, I sort of thought, because I don't know dick about the actual process, well that doesn't really make much sense. I thought especially that the oldest films, meaning anything between 1888-1929, would probably not benefit much at all. BOY WAS I WRONG!! Again, it's the Blu-Ray darks. Old black and white film stock was able to store so much photographic information, but other than viewing an actual original reel of any of these films, no reproduction has ever been able to convey all of that information at once. That is no longer a problem!! All the stark lines between black and white and various shades to gray are so well defined; and all the detail, all of it, comes through to the point that it is a bit disconcerting to the brain. I really feel like this was the first time I've seen this film.
This really is Blu-Ray Heaven!
Some Images:
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