Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
October
(1928) |
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 Corinth Films
1998 DVD edition
October (1928), black & white, 103 minutes, not rated.
Corinth Films, distributed by Image Entertainment,
ID4576CODVD, UPC 0-14381-45762-9.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 1 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 1.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 12 chapter stops; snapper DVD case (reissued in standard DVD keepcase); $24.99.
Release date: 29 December 1998.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 6 / additional content: 0 / overall: 6 |
This early DVD edition, from Corinth Films (U.S. distributor of the film), has been transferred from a 35mm Russian preservation print at sound speed, which is notably faster than natural speed. The 1990s analog video transfer, originally prepared for the film’s release on laserdisc and VHS videotape, is often full of dark, deep shadows and distracting picture exposure fluctuations in the greyscale range that remains. The print itself is soft in its image details and contains the normal amount of dust, speckling and picture jitters, much of it hard-printed into the preservation print from the original source print. The Russian intertitles have been replaced with video-based English intertitles (some of them with awful typographical errors).
The film is accompanied by the modern Russian music score attached to commonly-available American distribution prints of the film.
This film needs desperately to be remastered from the best materials and released on home video at the proper speed and with balanced exposures. While not ideal, this is our current recommended home video edition.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 1 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Eureka Entertainment
2000 DVD edition
October (1928), black & white, 104 minutes, BBFC Classification PG.
Eureka Entertainment,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, dual-layered?, Region 2 PAL DVD disc, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 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 mono sound, Russian language intertitles, English language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; £19.99.
Release date: 8 May 2000.
Country of origin: United Kingdom
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This high-quality PAL DVD edition has been mastered from a 35mm Russian language print.
North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.
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United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 2 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Films-sans-frontières
2006 DVD edition
L’Intégrale des films de S.M. Eisenstein (1923-1944), black & white, 784 minutes total, not rated,
including October (1928), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Films-sans-frontières,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Four single-sided?, dual-layered?, Region 2 PAL DVD discs, 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 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, Russian language intertitles, French and English language subtitles, chapter stops; four standard DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; €90,00.
Release date: 2006.
Country of origin: France
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We have not viewed this DVD edition, but have received reports that the visual quality ranges from very-good to excellent.
This edition features a music score by Edmund Meisel.
North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.
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France: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.fr. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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 Grapevine Video
2003 DVD edition
October (1928), black & white, 103 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R 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, PCM 48 kHz 2.0 mono sound, Russian language intertitles, English language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $9.95 (raised to $12.95).
Release date: 2003.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting recordings.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Other silent era SERGEI EISENSTEIN films available on home video.
Other RUSSIAN and SOVIET FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
Other FILMS FROM 1928 available on home video.
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