directed by Wim Wenders
UK / France / West Germany 1984
A man walks alone in the desert. He has no memory, no
past, no future. He finds an isolated settlement where the doctor, another
exile, a German, makes some calls. Eventually the man's brother comes to
take him back home again. Before we think about this as the beginning of a
story, let's think about it very specifically as the first twenty minutes of
a movie. When I was watching "Paris, Texas" for the first time, my immediate
reaction to the film's opening scenes was one of intrigue: I had no good
guesses about where this movie was headed, and that, in itself, was
exciting, because in this most pragmatic of times, even the best movies seem
to be intended as predictable consumer products. If you see a lot of movies,
you can sit there watching the screen and guessing what will happen next,
and be right most of the time.
That's not the case with "Paris, Texas." This is a defiantly individual
film, about loss and loneliness and eccentricity. We haven't met the
characters before in a dozen other films. To some people, that can be
disconcerting; I've actually read reviews of "Paris, Texas" complaining
because the man in the desert is German, and that another character is
French. Is it written that the people in movies have to be Middle Americans,
like refugees from a sitcom?
Excerpt from Rofger Ebert's review on the Chicago Sun-Times located HERE
Posters
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Theatrical Release: September 14th, 1994 (Toronto Film Festival)
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Recommended Wim Wenders Books (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
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Wim Wenders: Once by Wim Wenders |
The Cinema of Wim Wenders: Image,
Narrative, and the Postmodern Condition (Contemporary Film and Television
Series) by Roger F. Cook, Gerd Gemunden |
The Cinema of Wim Wenders by Alexander Graf |
Wim Wenders: On Film: Essays and
Conversations by Wenders Wim, Michael Hofmann |
The Cinema of Wim Wenders: From Paris,
France to Paris, Texas (Studies in Cinema, No 41) by Kathe Geist |
From Alice to Buena Vista: The Films of Wim Wenders by Roger Bromley |
Paris, Texas/Screenplay by Sam Shepard, Wim Wenders |
My Time With Antonioni: The Diary of an
Extraordinary Experience by Wim Wenders, Michael Hofmann |
DVD Comparison:
Fox Home Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL
Big thanks to Per-Olaf Strandberg and Warren Murphy for the Screen Caps!
(Fox Home Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)
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| Distribution |
Fox Home Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC |
Anchor Bay Entertainment Region 0 - PAL |
| Runtime | 2:24:45 | 2:18:48 (4% PAL speedup) |
| Video |
1.75 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1.75:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Fox Home Entertainment
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Bitrate:
Anchor Bay Entertainment
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| Audio | English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby), DUB: Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby), Commentary in English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby) |
English Dolby Digital 5.1; English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary in English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo) |
| Subtitles | English, Spanish, none | None |
| Features |
Release Information: Studio: Fox Home Entertainment Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
Chapters 28 |
Release Information: Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD
Release Date: Sept 2nd, 2002 Chapters 24 |
| Comments |
The NTSC version is brighter and sharper, where the PAL edition looks slightly saturated. I now see some very slight edge enhancement on the NTSC. Extras are a duplicate, as is the Wenders commentary. Audio - the NTSC have replaced the 5.1 mix (non-original) with a Spanish DUB. I suppose many might want that 5.1 although the films content would never test it. I prefer the menus of the NTSC. The BIG news - the NTSC is $9.98 USD and the PAL from Amazon.UK is 18.99 GBP = $36.64 USD (over 3X as much!). Easily the Fox - NTSC is the DEAL OF THE YEAR ! - Gary W. Tooze |
DVD Menus
(Fox Home Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC
- LEFT vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL - RIGHT)
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Screen Captures
(Fox Home Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Fox Home Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL - BOTTOM)
NOTE: May not be the exact frame!
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(Fox Home Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Fox Home Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(Fox Home Entertainment - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP vs. Anchor Bay Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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Report Card:
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Image: |
FOX - NTSC |
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Sound: |
ANCHOR BAY _ PAL |
| Extras: | tie |
| Menu: | FOX - NTSC |
| Price: | FOX - NTSC |
| DVD Box Covers |
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| Distribution |
Fox Home Entertainment Region 1 - NTSC |
Anchor Bay Entertainment Region 0 - PAL |
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Gary Tooze 1775 Rowntree Court Mississauga, Ontario, L4W 4V3 CANADA |
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Many Thanks...
