Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2025 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Turksib
(1929)
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Directed by Viktor Turin, this propaganda documentary was charged with the task of convincing the Soviet people of the need for a railroad to connect Siberia and, what is today, Kazakhstan.
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 Flicker Alley
2011 DVD edition
Landmarks of Early Soviet Film (1924-1930),
black & white, 595 minutes total, not rated,
including Turksib (1929), black & white, 57 minutes, not rated.
Flicker Alley, FA0022, UPC 6-17311-67639-0.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc (four DVDs in the set); 1.19:1 aspect ratio picture in windowboxed 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 5.2 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 12 chapter stops; 28-page insert booklet; four slimline DVD keepcases in cardboard slipcase; $69.99.
Release date: 20 September 2011.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 7 / additional content: 6 / overall: 6.
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This DVD edition of Mikhail Kalatozov’s Turksib (1929) has been mastered from the 1997 analog video transfer of (what appears to be) a 16mm reduction print of an American release print with English intertitles by John Grierson, originally produced by David Shepard for release on VHS videotape. With its approximate 1.19:1 frame ratio, the source print appears to have had, at some point, a synchronized soundtrack. The print has the usual amount of dust and speckling, loose splices, and some moderate print flaws.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on synthesizer by Zoran Borisavljevic.
Supplemental material includes a 28-page insert booklet with short essays and notes on the films by Maxim Pozdorovkin and Ana Olenina.
This is the only DVD home video edition of the film that we are aware of. Even though the boxset is now out-of-print, it is recommended.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Loving the Classics
2025 DVD edition
Turksib (1929), black & white, 57 minutes, not rated.
Loving the Classics,
no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
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; Russian language intertitles, permanent? English language subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.99.
Release date: 16 March 2025
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 music recordings.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Other RUSSIAN and SOVIET FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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