Best version of Orson Welles' "The Trial"?
 

According to my sources, there are three different dvd version of Orson Welles' adaptation of the Franz Kafka novel. They are distributed by Gotham, Image, and Delta. Anyone know which is the better version to purchase? Primarily I am wondering about picture quality. As far as extras, they are no matter right now. I just want to be able to see the film with a decent transfer. In fact, are there any plans to rerelease this supposed underrated masterpeice that Terry Gilliam owes credit to for the look and feel of Brazil?

Here is a comparison on Wellesnet

http://www.wellesnet.com/trial_dvd_comp.htm

thank you.

The Image Milestone edition has been OOP for a long time... If you can get your hands on that one, pick it up. As far as I know, all of the other R1 versions (there are more than 3) range from tolerable to shit but I'm not really sure which version is considered "the best". The Studio Canal version from France is probably the best available, but it is R2 PAL.

I asked this same question in a Welles thread a few months ago... There has been no word (that I'm aware of) on a new R1 version from a reputable company.

Here's a similar comparison at DVDBeaver:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film/DVDCompare8/trial.htm

& a slam on the Citizen Welles disc from our very own DVD Savant:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s390welles.html

I can definitely tell you to avoid the Citizen Welles disc. There were a lot of DVD sites at the time that bought into the hype and had reviews about the breathtaking "digitally remastered" picture on that set. That set actually allowed me to clear quite a few DVD sites out of my daily 'favorites'. :)

Yes, if you're region-free, go for the French DVD. If not, track down the Image disc -- it's not yet too expensive and shows up every now and again on eBay.

there was another thread, in which i got slammed for owning the citizen welles disc...it doesn't seem to show up anymore...only thing i could find was this...if anyone else has a link I'd like to see it.


How's Orson Welles doing on DVD?