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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2024 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
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Strike
(1924)

Sergei Eisenstein’s first feature-length film is a bold cinematic statement that is, in some aspects, more experimental and visually striking than his later works.

While the film is serious in subject matter, there are wonderfully broad comical elements of characterization and performance in the portrayals of the factory managers, the capitalists and their spies in the first of the five sections of the film.

The film takes a serious turn in the second part when a worker commits suicide on the factory floor, and the other workers initiate a spontaneous strike.

The film is entertaining on multiple levels with its touches of comedy, its pathos laden drama, and its intriguing visual inventiveness.

Kino Classics
2011 Blu-ray Disc edition

Strike (1924), black & white, 89 minutes, not rated,
with Glumov’s Diary (1923), black & white, 4 minutes, not rated, and Eisenstein and the Revolutionary Spirit (2008), black & white and color, 37 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, K783, UPC 7-38329-07832-4.
One single-sided, single-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, ? Mbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles; chapter stops; standard BD keepcase in cardboard slipcover; $34.95.
Release date: 30 August 2011.
Country of origin: USA

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been transferred in high-definition from the 35mm restored version by La Cinémathèque de Toulouse. As would be expected from older print materials, there is a noticable amount of film grain that is fully reproduced in HD here. However, the edition is quite pleasing with its high-definition transfer that is well-balanced but a little dark across the greyscale range, nonetheless holding open shadow areas in the picture that were previously plugged-up in older video transfers. A few shots are distractingly jittery, with the picture jumping about in the frame. We wish that picture stabilization had been performed on the preservation materials or on the video scan.

The edition is presented with new video-based English language intertitles.

Excellent musical accompaniment has been arranged from traditional Russian music by Rodney Sauer and performed by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. The music conveys proper mood throughout the presentation and significantly adds to the enjoyment of the film.

We highly recommend this Blu-ray Disc edition of Sergei Eisenstein’s Strike, which has never looked as good on home video as it does here.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Kino Classics
2011 DVD edition

Kino Lorber, unknown catalog number, UPC 7-38329-07522-4.
One single-sided, dual-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, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 30 August 2011.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition has been transferred in high-definition from the 35mm restored version by La Cinémathèque de Toulouse.

Musical accompaniment has been arranged from traditional Russian music by Rodney Sauer and performed by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Tartan Video
2010 DVD edition

Sergei Eisenstein: Silent Classics, Volume One (1924-1928), black & white, 255 minutes total, BBFC Classification 12,
including Strike (1924), black & white, ? minutes, BBFC Classification 12.

Tartan Video,
unknown catalogue number, unknown UPC number.
Three single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 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, DTS 48 kHz 5.1 surround sound, Dolby Digital 48 kHz 2.0 stereo sound and Dolby Digital 48 kHz 1.0 mono sound, Russian language intertitles, optional English language subtitles, chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; £59.99.
Release date: 12 July 2010.
Country of origin: England

This DVD collection of Sergei Eisenstein film has likely been mastered from 35mm materials.

The films are accompanied by music scores composed by Ed Hughes and performed by the New Music Players, conducted by Patrick Bailey, with two alternative vintage soundtracks for Battleship Potemkin, one composed by Kryukov, the other 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.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Purchase supports Silent Era.

Film Preservation Associates
2000 DVD edition

Strike (1924), black & white, 94 minutes, not rated.

Film Preservation Associates, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID4588DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-45882-4.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (reissued as DVD-R disc), 1.33:1 aspect ratio image in windowboxed 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, chapter stops; snapper DVD case (reissued in standard DVD keepcase); $29.99.
Release date: 25 July 2000.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD edition, prepared by David Shepard, has been transferred from a positive print struck from the original camera negative.

We are impressed by the lively music score performed by The Alloy Orchestra.

The supplementary material is limited to audio commentary by Russian cinema historian Yuri Tsivian.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Films-sans-frontières
2006 DVD edition

L’Intégrale des films de S.M. Eisenstein (1923-1944), black & white, 784 minutes total, not rated,
including Strike (1924), 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

We have not viewed this PAL DVD edition, but have received reports that the visual quality ranges from very-good to excellent. This edition features a music score by Meisel.

North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.