best Nosferatu dvd release?
 

I saw Nosferatu not too long ago and really enjoyed it. From there I visited Bestbuy's website and noticed there are about 10 releases titled "Nosferatu, the vampire" (I was under the impression the movie was titled simply, "Nosferatu") and many of them are dvd format and released within a year or two of each other.. each claim they're the 1922 release, which I am looking for (in case there were remakes). my question for those who are familiar with not only the movie, but the releases: which is the best copy to buy? obviously based on transfer quality, picture, sound (im guessing i'll be lucky if there is even a 2.0 soundtrack!) and even extras if any.

and a bonus for those who really know their stuff: why would studios re-release a movie so many times, especially when many of the releases were dated within a year or two of each other? what are the differences in the releases?

The movie is in the public domain, so a lot of companies have tried to put out their own editions.

The Image release and the Kino release are generally regarded as the best. They each have their strengths and weaknesses.

Some of those discs you saw may be for the Werner Herzog remake, which was released twice by Anchor Bay (non-anamorphic, then remastered anamorphic).

This may be overkill ... there's lots of information about the various releases of Nosferatu here:

http://www.celtoslavica.de/chiaroscu...eiche/nos.html

I have the Image release and it has a fabulous commentary.

The best site that compares the two is the silent era website. Click on DVD reviews and it will go into the various releases. The two best are released from Kino and Image.

http://www.silentera.com/

hey thanks alot everyone, info was great !.. jonpeters a commentary would be fantastic, i might have to check out that release..

obscurelabel thanks for the link.. thank god i didnt pick up any of the "odds and ends public domain sub-standard" editions.. one has an audio score by type-o negative.. nothing against the band, but..

seems as the US releases are up between Image and Kino.. Image being a pre 1995 transfer, and Kino a post 1995 transfer.. ill have to read up on the differences.. and also, it says something about a first and second french edition (1922, 1926-27, respectively).. time to do some more homework..

but wait.. it says, the "ultimate edition has yet to come"... hmmm..

I have the Anchor Bay remake 2 disc edition with the English and German versions. I like this remake alot.