Lost Skeleton
Well-known member
On February 6, without much fanfare, Universal issued a newly mastered DVD of All Quiet on the Western Front. The 35mm elements for the new master have been restored by the Film and Photographic Division of the Library of Congress. Previous releases of All Quiet in the Beta, VHS, and Laser Disc, formats utilized a censored archival print from the British Film Institute. Significant footage cut by the UK censor included the scene in which Paul Baumer and his comrades rendezvous with three French women and exchange food for more earthly considerations.
When All Quiet was released in 1930, the film's running time was approximately 150 minutes. Universal sold the rights to All Quiet as part of a package deal with a subsidiary distributor, Realart Pictures Incorporated, in the 1950s. The genuises at Realart then cut All Quiet to 103 minutes (excising more than 31 percent of its original running time). For decades, this was the only print available to the public
The sole virtue of the truncated Realart print was that it retained the censored footage. When MCA (the former parent company of Universal) first issued All Quiet on Beta and VHS in the early 1980s, the master was the Realart 103 minute version. After years of petitioning by film historians, MCA upgraded its source material to the censored UK print. After further lobby, MCA/Universal combined the Realart and UK prints to restore All Quiet to a running time of 130 minutes. However, the quality of the Realart elements was vastly inferior to the UK material, and the hybrid mating of the two was annoyingly perceptable.
Finally, I believe we've seen the ultimate restoration of this cinematic masterwork. For further explanation of the restoration and a side by side comparison, the following link is extremely helpful:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews28/all_quiet_on_the_western_front.htm
Unfortunately, the packaging of the new DVD is remarkably pedestrian. The artwork incorporates an anachronistic WWII U.S. Browning machine gun squad wearing M1 steel helmets.
If one has a Costco in his vicinity, the low price for this DVD is $8.69. I wholeheartedly endorse it.
Chas.
When All Quiet was released in 1930, the film's running time was approximately 150 minutes. Universal sold the rights to All Quiet as part of a package deal with a subsidiary distributor, Realart Pictures Incorporated, in the 1950s. The genuises at Realart then cut All Quiet to 103 minutes (excising more than 31 percent of its original running time). For decades, this was the only print available to the public
The sole virtue of the truncated Realart print was that it retained the censored footage. When MCA (the former parent company of Universal) first issued All Quiet on Beta and VHS in the early 1980s, the master was the Realart 103 minute version. After years of petitioning by film historians, MCA upgraded its source material to the censored UK print. After further lobby, MCA/Universal combined the Realart and UK prints to restore All Quiet to a running time of 130 minutes. However, the quality of the Realart elements was vastly inferior to the UK material, and the hybrid mating of the two was annoyingly perceptable.
Finally, I believe we've seen the ultimate restoration of this cinematic masterwork. For further explanation of the restoration and a side by side comparison, the following link is extremely helpful:
http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews28/all_quiet_on_the_western_front.htm
Unfortunately, the packaging of the new DVD is remarkably pedestrian. The artwork incorporates an anachronistic WWII U.S. Browning machine gun squad wearing M1 steel helmets.
If one has a Costco in his vicinity, the low price for this DVD is $8.69. I wholeheartedly endorse it.
Chas.
