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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South
(1919)
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This stirring silent era documentary details Sir Ernest Shackleton’s failed expedition to cross Antarctica by way of the South Pole. From a ship trapped in antarctic ice pack, to a daring sea voyage in a small boat, to an eventual and hard fought rescue, the film documents Shackleton’s relentless determination in the face of certain failure. Amidst the hardship, cinematographer Frank Hurley captured the events of the challenged expedition on motion picture film.
— Carl Bennett
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 The Milestone Cinematheque
2022 Blu-ray Disc edition
South (1919), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.
Milestone Film & Video, distributed by Kino Lorber,
K26009, UPC 7-38329-26009-5.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 20 September 2022.
Country of origin: USA
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered at 2K high-definition from an archival 35mm print by the British Film Institute.
The film is accompanied by an orchestral music score by Neil Brand performed by Covent Garden Sinfonia.
Supplementary material includes audio commentary by Luke McKernan of the British Film Institute; and an eight-minute excerpt from Southward on the Quest (1922), with commentary by Shackleton (from a 1909 recording) on his Nimrod expedition of 1907; Departure of Shackleton’s British Antarctic Expedition from Lyttelton, New Zealand (1908) [8 minutes]; Antarctic Expedition: Sir George Newnes’ Farewell to Officers and Crew (1 minute); Shackleton: South Georgia Birds (1920) [13 minutes]; Shackleton’s Boat Journey (1999) [31 minutes] (produced by Harding Dunnett and John Bardell for the James Caird Society).
This is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.
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This Region A Blu-ray Disc edition is also available directly from . . .
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 The Milestone Cinematheque
2021 DVD edition
South (1919), black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.
Milestone Film & Video, distributed by Kino Lorber,
unknown catalog number, UPC 7-84148-01394-7.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 24 August 2021.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD edition has been mastered from archival 35mm print materials.
Supplementary material includes audio commentary by Luke McKernan of the British Film Institute; and an excerpt from Southward on the Quest, with commentary by Shackleton (from a 1909 recording) on his Nimrod expedition of 1907.
This is our current recommended DVD home video edition of the film.
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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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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition is also available directly from . . .
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 The Milestone Collection
2000 DVD edition
South (1919), black & white, 81 minutes, not rated.
Milestone Film & Video, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID5929MLSDVD, UPC 0-14381-59292-4.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles, chapter stops; snapper DVD case; $29.99.
Release date: 1 August 2000.
Country of origin: USA
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In addition to the main program, this DVD edition also features an excerpt from Southward on the Quest, with commentary by Shackleton (from a 1909 recording) on his Nimrod expedition of 1907.
South features modern audio commentary by Luke McKernan of the British Film Institute.
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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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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 BFI Video Publishing
2002 DVD edition
South (1919), black & white, 80 minutes, BBFC Classification E.
BFI Video Publishing, BFIVD504, unknown UPC number,
unknown ISBN number, EAN 5.03567E+12.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 PAL DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; £19.99.
Release date: 27 May 2002.
Country of origin: England
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This PAL DVD edition also features the special supplements the Ross Sea Party, Shackleton’s Last Expedition, Shackleton’s Funeral, a stills gallery, and a recording of Shackleton’s voice. It likely features the same audio commentary by Luke McKernan that is included in the Milestone edition above.
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 0 PAL DVD edition from Amazon.co.uk. Purchase supports Silent Era.
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This Region 0 PAL DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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Other DOCUMENTARY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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