Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Battling Butler
(1926)
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Buster Keaton’s boxing film is not as well known as his other features but is just as funny. It is a pleasure to see a comic master at work.
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 Kino Classics
2011 Blu-ray Disc edition
Go West (1925), black & white, 68 minutes, not rated,
with Battling Butler (1926), color-toned black & white, 85 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, K791, UPC 7-38329-07912-3.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) progressive scan AVC (MPEG-4) format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 10 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase in cardboard slipcase; $34.95.
Release date: 27 September 2011.
Country of origin: USA
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This Blu-Ray Disc edition, produced for home video by Bret Wood, has been mastered from a very-good to excellent 35mm print.
The film is accompanied by a music score arranged and conducted by Robert Israel.
This is our recommended edition of Battling Butler on home video.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Kino Classics
2011 DVD edition
Go West (1925), black & white, 68 minutes, not rated,
with Battling Butler (1926), color-toned black & white, 85 minutes, not rated.
Kino Lorber, unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 10 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 27 September 2011.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition, produced for home video by Bret Wood, has been mastered from a very-good to excellent 35mm print.
The film is accompanied by a music score arranged and conducted by Robert Israel.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Kino on Video
1999 DVD edition
Battling Butler (1926), black & white, 71 minutes, not rated,
with The Haunted House (1921), black & white, 25 minutes, not rated, and The Frozen North (1922), black & white, 17 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K128DVD, UPC 7-38329-01282-3.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan MPEG-2 format, SDR (standard dynamic range), ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? Kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 13 chapter stops; snapper DVD case (reissued in standard DVD keepcase [retail], and in slimline DVD keepcase [boxset]); $29.99 (reduced to $24.95).
Release date: 26 October 1999.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 7 / additional content: 7 / overall: 7.
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This early DVD edition had been prepared from the 1995 analog video master produced for home video by David Shepard, which was previously released by Kino International on laserdisc and VHS videotape. The slightly windowboxed, natural-speed video transfer will appear full-frame on most televisions with a bit of the black frame showing on the left side of the picture. The older video transfer is softer of image detail than in today’s digital transfers. The very-good 35mm source material itself is a bit compromised by some print wear, dust, speckling and other minor defects.
The film is accompanied by an ensemble music score arranged and conducted by Robert Israel that gives way to a theatre organ music score for the main bout denouement.
The DVD also includes The Haunted House (1921) and The Frozen North (1922).
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.
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Other silent era BUSTER KEATON films available on home video.
Other silent film music scores by ROBERT ISRAEL available on home video.
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Buster Keaton filmography in The Progressive Silent Film List
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