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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The Tarzan
Vault Collection
(1918-1935)
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Contents: Tarzan of the Apes (1918), The Adventures of Tarzan (1921) and The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935).
This collection of two silent Tarzan films and a golden era serial represents a visual improvement over previous home video editions of the films but it still has some regretable short comings. The silent era films do not survive in complete form, and The Adventures of Tarzan is more complete in an edition produced by The Serial Squadron. Also, the provided soundtracks to the silent films can spoil the whole viewing experience.
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 The Film Detective
2022 Blu-ray Disc edition
The Tarzan Vault Collection (1918-1935), black & white, 388 minutes total, not rated, including Tarzan of the Apes (1918), black & white, 65 minutes, not rated, with The Adventures of Tarzan (1921), black & white, 67 minutes, not rated, and The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
The Film Detective, FB1023, UPC 7-60137-10512-1.
Three single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Discs; 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 32.2 Mbps average video bit rate; optional DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono sound encoded at 1.5 Mbps audio bit rate and Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 256 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, optional English and Spanish language subtitles; closed-captioning; chapter stops; 28-page insert booklet; double-wide three-disc BD keepcase; $39.95.
Release date: 23 August 2022.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 6 / audio: 3 / additional content: 6 / overall: 6.
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This Blu-ray Disc collection has been mastered at high-resolution from very-good 16mm reduction prints. The natural-speed scans are pretty good but the silent prints themselves are historically incomplete, surviving only in abridged rerelease versions.
The films are accompanied by soundtracks compiled from preexisting music sources. As in most cases where this is done, the music rarely fits the mood and action of the story. The varying quality of the recordings, some mildly distorted, and the Frankenstinian editing make enjoyment of the films difficult if not impossible.
Supplementary material includes audio commentary for The Adventures of Tarzan and The New Adventures of Tarzan by Ed Hulse; a featurette on the career of Herman Brix (Bruce Bennett) including a vintage video interview (28 minutes); a featurette on early Tarzan films with C. Courtney Joyner, Richard Heft and Bruce Scivally by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures (20 minutes); a featurette on Tarzan comic books with Donald Glut by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures (11 minutes); and an insert booklet with essays. it is of note that some Tarzan fans are dissatisfied with some of the misinformation in the audio commentaries.
For our reviews of the individual silent films, see our Tarzan of the Apes on home video and The Adventures of Tarzan on home video pages.
Not a great presentation but this is the best home video edition of the films that we are aware of. It must be said that these prints have not looked this clear on home video before. The collection is recommended but the soundtracks are a major detriment.
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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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 The Film Detective
2022 DVD edition
The Tarzan Vault Collection (1918-1935), black & white, 388 minutes total, not rated, including Tarzan of the Apes (1918), black & white, 65 minutes, not rated, with The Adventures of Tarzan (1921), black & white, 67 minutes, not rated, and The New Adventures of Tarzan (1935), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
The Film Detective,
unknown catalog number, unknown UPC number.
[?] Two or Three? single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD discs; 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, optional English and Spanish language subtitles; chapter stops; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; $24.95.
Release date: 23 August 2022.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD collection has been mastered at high-resolution from very-good 16mm reduction prints.
The films are accompanied by soundtracks compiled from preexisting music sources.
Supplementary material includes audio commentary for The Adventures of Tarzan and The New Adventures of Tarzan by Ed Hulse; a featurette on the career of Herman Brix (Bruce Bennett) including a vintage video interview (28 minutes); a featurette on early Tarzan films with C. Courtney Joyner, Richard Heft and Bruce Scivally by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures (20 minutes); a featurette on Tarzan comic books with Donald Glut by Ballyhoo Motion Pictures (11 minutes); and an insert booklet with essays. it is of note that some Tarzan fans are dissatisfied with some of the misinformation in the audio commentaries.
Not a great presentation but this is the best DVD home video edition of the films that we are aware of.
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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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Other TARZAN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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