Will Abel Gance's Napoleon (1927) ever come to dvd?
 

Just recently I saw a clip from the Gance's four epic and was completely flabbergasted by the striking visuals and camera techniques that were employed in an era of limited technology. Because of this, I did some research and found that such an influential film has no tenative dvd release scheduled. If anyone has any information that proves otherwise, it would be greatly appreciated.

On another note, it appears that in 1991 Francis Ford Coppola oversaw the restoration by providing a quarter of million of his own dollars and using a score that was composed by his father. The clips that I have seen were from this VHS print. Surprisingly, the print looked very good even after fourteen years of being released.

So again, if anyone has any information regarding this film, please reply.

This film is just too amazing to let it slip away from a dvd release.

It would seem impossible that an 80 year old movie could be tangled up in a rights dispute, but both Universal and BFI claim they own the movie.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co....386427,00.html

There is (was?) a DVD release of the Coppola version in Australia (you would need a multi-region player).

More information here:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...=&pagenumber=2

I have the R4 PAL Australian dvd. I bought it 2 years ago, but i still haven't watched it... The running time time is around 4 hours (this is the 'short' version) and the score is composed and conducted by Carmine Coppola. I believe this dvd was also released in Korea (very cheap) and Spain.

George

The heart of the problem is...

Zoetrope wants to release the 4 hour American version (1981) with the Carmine Coppola score.

Kevin Brownlow wants the 5 1/2 hour BFI version (1990's) with the Carl Davis score.

Also, StudioCanal apparently has international rights, Zoetrope has R1 rights to the Zoetrope version, Universal has R1 distribution rights, etc.


Zoetrope is being a little bit silly about this, though. The score by Carmine Coppola was recorded track-by-track, which was edited and mixed into the audio track for the 1981 release. To adapt the score for the 5 1/2 version, all they'd have to do is re-edit and re-mix the score. A lot of the score was from classical pieces like Beethoven's Eroica, so some new orchestral pieces can be added.

I personally feel that someone like Criterion should step in and act as a mediator between the various rights holders. That way, a proper 3-disc edition (the 5 1/2 hr. version has two intermissions) from a new HD remaster, digital restoration, both musical scores, plenty of extras, etc. would be justified by the cost. Not to mention that the tryptich could be 16x9 enhanced.