Frenzal Rhomb

Kino is going to release a new edition of this classic! Let's hope for a remastered version!

Yakuza Bengoshi

Presumably Kino will use the 2007 restoration by F. W. Murnau-Stiftung and Luciano Berriatúa featuring the original Hans Erdmann score and the original German intertitles which is being used for the upcoming UK Masters of Cinema release.

PopcornTreeCt

I would say this is the definitive edition.

tofferman

I have the Image release, but may consider an upgrade (and also would get rid of another snapper) after reading reviews first.

Swahili

As much as I am a fan of original restoration to the nth degree (that being the original soundtrack restored in this edition), I've had a copy for a few years now that used some German-goth-metal-esque soundtrack for the film, and it was wonderfully creepy. I've seen the film played with period music from the 1920's, but to me it never conveyed the same sense of dread as that DVD release I have with the industrial-techno-goth stuff.

I suppose it wouldn't be hard to switch audio setups to have differing soundtracks for the film, but I can't really see them going that route in deviation of presenting the film in as much of it's original production as possible.

Jack Theakston

Of course, the major drawback, in my most humble opinion, is that while it is an honorable thing to be as original as possible with the score (and it makes a good selling point), the Erdmann score is just not very good. It flows and does what it has to, but doesn't take any chances and never accents the film to an emotional level.

But I am looking forward to any upgraded image, for sure.

Carcosa

I'm concerned this may be a PAL conversion like the CAT AND THE CANARY just issued from Kino...does anyone know?

I have both the Shepard disc AND the last Kino disc...and I'll be buying this too. I don't mind supporting silent films on DVD. Each disc has something to offer....

The Monkees

I haven't gotten this movie yet, but will spring for it if there are some kick ass special features. I love this movie, probably one of only a few silent films I actually really like.

manicsounds

http://www.kino.com/video/item.php?film_id=887
SEE The Unbelievable HD transfer

NOSFERATU
THE ULTIMATE DVD EDITION

A cornerstone of the horror film, F.W. Murnau's NOSFERATU is triumphantly
reborn in this breathtaking new restoration by the F.W. Murnau Foundation.
Backed by an orchestral performance of Hans Erdmann's 1922 score (recorded
in 5.1 stereo surround), this Kino International edition is derived from a
new high-definition transfer of Murnau's masterpiece, with unprecedented
visual clarity and historical faithfulness to the original release version.
This double-disc collection presents the film with the original German
intertitles as well as with newly-translated Englishintertitles. Accompanying the film is a
52-minute documentary by Luciano Berriatúa which provides a detailed account
of the production and explores the filmmakers' involvement in the occult.

NOSFERATU: A Symphony of Horror
Germany 1922 94 Min. Color Tinted 1.33:1
Directed by F.W. Murnau Photographed by Fritz Arno Wagner
Screenplay: Henrik Galeen Art Direction: Albin Grau
With Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Alexander Granach, Greta Schroeder
Restored by Luciano Berriatúa
Reconstruction of Hans Erdmann's original 1921 score by Berndt Heller
Performed by the Saarbrücken Radio Symphony Orchestra
Conducted by Berndt Heller
Sound Recording: Saarländischer Rundfunk, Saarbrücken

Extras on DVD

View the film with newly-translated English intertitles
or the original German intertitles (with optional English subtitles)
Hans Erdmann's original 1922 score, available
in 5.1 Stereo Surround or 2.0 Stereo
The Language of Shadows, a 52-minute making-of documentary
Nosferatu: An Historic Film Meets Digital Restoration, a 3-minute documentary
Lengthy excerpts from other films by F.W. Murnau:
Journey Into the Night (1920), The Haunted Castle (1921),
Phantom (1922), The Finances of the Grand Duke (1924),
The Last Laugh (1924), Tartuffe (1925),
Faust (1926), and Tabu (1931)
Photo Gallery
Scene Comparison

VS


http://eurekavideo.co.uk/moc/catalogue/nosferatu/

Germany | 93 min.

1.37:1 OAR

color

stereo and 5.1


SPECIAL EDITION 2 x DISC SET

• The officially licenced 2007 restoration by F. W. Murnau-Stiftung and Luciano Berriatúa featuring the original Hans Erdmann score — previously unheard for over 85 years — and the original German intertitles.

• Full-length exclusive commentary track by silent film historian and bookseller R. Dixon Smith with freelance film critic Brad Stevens.

• The Language of Shadows — a 53-minute German documentary by Luciano Berriatúa about Murnau and the making of Nosferatu complete with fascinating footage of the film’s locations today.

• Restoration demonstration

• 80-page book containing articles by Thomas Elsaesser (author of Weimar Cinema and After: Germany’s Historical Imaginary); Gilberto Perez (author of The Material Ghost: Films and Their Medium); Enno Patalas (former director of the Münchner Stadtmuseum/Filmmuseum, where he was responsible for the restoration of many German classics, including Nosferatu); a newly translated archival piece on vampires by the film’s producer Albin Grau; notes on the film’s restoration; and archival imagery.


Judging that MoC will run 93 minutes PAL, and Kino 94 minutes NTSC and come from the same master, I'm guessing that the KINO will be PAL->NTSC speedup, and the extra minute plus or minus credits

PopcornTreeCt

The 80 page book has me sold on the MoC version. That and I can't stand Kino and detest everything they've released.

Carcosa

If it was a PAL conversion, wouldn't the NTSC runtime actually be a bit shorter?

Carcosa

Whats wrong with the Kino stuff in particular? I'm just surprised that there is nothing they have put out that pleases you. They have had some pretty decent discs...

Although I agree that the extras on the PAL set are pretty good....

manicsounds

Sorry, i meant it ISNT converted so, the NTSC Kino disc will be ridden with ghosting like their other releases.

Kino has put out amazing movies and great hidden gems for years,
but their DVD releases are not to be desired.

Usually they use PAL masters and don't convert them properly for NTSC,
and many of their barebones discs are quite overpriced for their quality.

PopcornTreeCt

Pretty much everything that I've been interested in there's a better version in another region. Especially when comparing Kino to the Masters of Cinema series. (Metropolis, Spione, and Diary of a Lost Girl)

And then there's...

The Mirror

There's more too. They charge so much money too and don't deliver.

Carcosa

I'll check them out...I just hate buying PAL discs but you are probably right now that I think about it...

Dr Mabuse

well crap...

i thought i had the 'good' version with the last Kino release...

i would not agree with a sweeping generalization that all Kino DVD's are poor releases... a bit much there...

i assume one of you guys, or a reviewer here?, will do some kind of in-depth look into this and post authoritatively which one is the best version?...

then i'll get that one i guess...

baracine

For years I used to take out my CD of the Gillian Anderson reconstruction of the Hans Erdmann score

and coordinate it as best I could with first a laserdisc version of the film, then the new Kino DVD of the film, which didn't work so well because many of the scenes had been made longer in this version. I'm curious to see if this version will use the same cues at the same places I did and how it will circumvent the problem of making the music fit this longer version.

What is astounding about the Erdmann score is that it is so surprisingly modern and moody and it works very well in the pure horror department. By comparison, all other scores sound like neo-minimalist emo caca (IMHO).

Carcosa

The version you have isn't crap...the upcoming release may be superior but the previos editions were not too shabby. Check out the comparisons on DVD BEAVER and see....

nateman

I have that same version of Nosferatu that uses the German-Goth-Metal score & it is indeed, wonderfully creepy. Great bass & it really makes it an enjoyable experience.

The thing about Nosferatu is that you can pretty much turn the volume off on you HT system, & play any fu*king song you’d like with the film.

The cover art for the Kino ‘The Ultimate DVD Edition’ of Nosferatu looks alright but it’s not as good looking as the Germany artwork. I might pick this up to see what the 22’ score sounds like but I’m not quite sure yet.

baracine

We can only presume that the new Kino version will be windowboxed in keeping with its other recent issues of silent films and in view of the fact that all previous editions of this film have had cropping issues that are all over the place.

I was so happy to finally get the latest Kino version so I could see Orlock's head as he raises from his coffin in the ship - only to discover the horrible truth about my set's overscanning (the top of the head was still missing).

The latest Kino version (2002) showed this, with more cropping on the left, right and bottom sides than the Image version however:



Image (2001):



I have high hopes for this one as the same F.W. Murnau Foundation did wonders in the photo-chemical, wet gate technology and digital restoration of Metropolis, such an amazing restoration, in fact, that I forgave its PAL speedup and its occasional ghosting.

Effects of the wet gate technology:

Carcosa

It seems like it's always a mixed bag with the various versions...the cropping is bigger problem but the image with the Shepard disc has always seemed a bit sharper to me than the Kino edition, which in turn has its benefits. I don't mind, I'll always end up buying a new release of any of these silents. Glad to put the money to good use.

I am really impressed with the wonders that can be worked by these magicians in the film restoration business. A pretty admirable thing keeping our film history intact and preserved....

PatrickMcCart

Well, if it's true that the Kino is just another PAL-to-NTSC release, I'm going to import the MoC release. After finding out that they didn't bother to properly convert The Cat and the Canary, I doubt the Battleship Potemkin release fares better either.

This is just frustrating. Even with other issues, Milestone was able to convert The Phantom of the Opera from PAL to progressive NTSC. Even Koch Lorber was able to properly convert La Dolce Vita. With the amount of the market Kino has on silents, why can't they show a little bit of competence for once?

I know they do a great job in the other areas, but "blended frame" PAL to NTSC conversion looks horrible.

PopcornTreeCt

Yup, I was pretty disappointed when I learned that Criterion wouldn't be releasing Battleship Potemkin.

caligulathegod

Actually, NTSC would be longer. I'd guess about three and 3/4 minutes longer (4%), if it had been properly transferred.

baracine

When it comes to 18 frames per second film (like Nosferatu presumably is - see http://www.celtoslavica.de/chiaroscu...eiche/nos.html for complete details), isn't it a little absurd to insist on a further 4 % slowdown in PAL to NTSC conversion? I'm willing to live with a little ghosting in that case. In the 2001 Kino version, the intertitles already stayed on screen so friggin' long (compared to the Image release) that it absolutely threw off any attempt at my synchronizing the image with the Anderson-Erdmann score - which I could do relatively easily with the preceding Image versions.