Terry Gilliam Brazil

directed by Terry Gilliam
UK 1985

Pitting the imagination of common man Sam Lowry (the brilliantly befuddled Jonathan Pryce) against the oppressive storm troopers of the Ministry of Information, Terry Gilliam's Brazil has come to be regarded as an anti-totalitarianism cautionary tale equal to the works of George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. Gathering footage from both the European and American versions of this masterpiece, Gilliam has assembled the ultimate, 142-minute director’s cut of his most celebrated film.

***

Bureaucratic paper-pushers and massively obtrusive ductwork run amok in the story of a clerical error that leads to the imprisonment of a shoe-repairman named Buttle. It should have been Harry Tuttle, illegal renegade Heating Engineer. Daydreaming Sam Lowry, part of the bureaucratic cogs, follows the face or a girl he loves and gets branded as a terrorist. He becomes hunted by the Big-Brother state while trying to correct the error. out of

Posters

Theatrical Release: February 20th, 1985 - France

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DVD Comparison:

Criterion (RE-ISSUE - single disc) Region 1- NTSC vs. 20th Century Fox - Region 2 - PAL vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Universal - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Fox Video (Brazil) Region 4 - NTSC

Big Thanks to Pavel Borodin and his friend Akos Balazs for the 20th Century Region 2 Screen captures.

(Criterion - REISSUE - single disc - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. 20th Century Fox (UK) Region 2 - PAL MIDDLE vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers

Distribution

Criterion Collection (REISSUE - Single Disc) Spine # 51

Region 1 - NTSC

20th Century Fox

Region 2 - PAL

Criterion Collection Spine # 51

Region 1 - NTSC

(Universal - Region 1 -NTSC LEFT - Fox Video (Brazil) Region 4 - NTSC - RIGHT)

Universal Studios

Region 1 - NTSC

Fox Video (Brazil)
Region 4 - NTSC

Distribution	Criterion Collection (REISSUE - single disc) Spine # 51 Region 1 - NTSC	20th Century Fox Region 2 - PAL	Criterion Collection Spine # 51 Region 1 - NTSC	Universal Studios Region 1 - NTSC	Fox Video (Brazil) Region 4 - NTSC
Runtime	2:23:10	2:16:45 (4% PAL speedup)	2:23:10	2:23:05	2:22:25
Video	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6 80 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.45 PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.79:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.29 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.79:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate:4.0 mb/s NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s	1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.70 NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Criterion REISSUE Single Disc
Bitrate: 20th Century Fox - UK and Criterion
Bitrate: Universal and Fox Video (Brazil)
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), DUB: German (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround), DUB: Spanish (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround)
Subtitles	English and none	English, German, Spanish, none	English and none	Spanish, French, English (captions), None	English, Spanish, Portuguese, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Discographic Information: Layers: Dual Edition Details: • Commentary by director Terry Gilliam • Liner notes booklet with essay by Jack Mathews DVD Release Date: September 5th, 2006 Transparent Keep Case Chapters 35	Release Information: Studio: 20th Century Fox (UK) Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Discographic Information: Layers: Dual Edition Details: Theatrical Trailer Featurette: "What is Brazil" - Rob Hedden's on-set documentary (30:00) DVD Release Date: May 19th, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 20	Release Information: Studio: Criterion Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterbox - 1.79:1 Discographic Information: Layers: Single THX Certified Collector's Edition Edition Details: • Commentary by director Terry Gilliam • Production notes • Theatrical trailer(s) • Interview with co-writer Tom Stoppard • Production and publicity stills • "The Production Notebook", screenwriters Tom Stoppard and Charles McKeown illuminate the script's development through 3 drafts and 3 treatments. Production designer Norman Garwood displays his design's for Brazil's unique sets. Costume designer James Acheson explores the couture of fashion, fantasy and fascism. Terry Gilliam's original dream sequences, in storyboards, include hundreds of shots that never made it to the screen. Composer Michael Kames unveils the sources of his score. A study of the special effects includes footage of unused effects • "What Is Brazil?", Rob Hedden's rare 30 minute witty on-set documentary features Terry Gilliam and other key members of the cast and crew • "The Battle of Brazil: A Video History", Battle of "Brazil" author Jack Mathews reassembles the players in the famous battle of "Brazil"'s US Release in this original 1996 Criterion documentary. Terry Gilliam, producer Arnon Milchan, and several studio executives close the book on one of the noisiest, most unusual, and most instructive controversies in Hollywood history • "Brazil: The Love Conquers All Version", with audio annotation by David Morgan, this 94 minute version of "Brazil", rearranged in the hope of making the film commercial, stands as a fascinating document of the power of editing to change a movie • Number of discs: 3 DVD Release Date: July 13, 1999 Keep Case Chapters 35	Release Information: Studio: Universal Studios Aspect Ratio: Widescreen letterbox - 1.79:1 Discographic Information: Layers: Single Edition Details: • Production notes • Theatrical trailer • Widescreen letterbox format DVD Release Date: April 1, 2003 Keep Case Chapters 16	Release Information: Studio: Fox Video (Brazil)- Regency Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1 Discographic Information: Layers: Dual Edition Details: Theatrical Trailer Featurette: "What is Brazil" - Rob Hedden's on-set documentary (30:00) DVD Release Date: May 5th, 2003 Click Case Chapters 20

Comments:

ADDITION: Criterion (REISSUE) - Single Disc - Region 1- NTSC - Aug 06' -

Criterion are continuing to improve past releases as restoration technology improves and/or better elements surface - recent examples include - Seven Samurai and Amarcord but they are also making their individual discs, from larger packages, available (ex. The 400 Blows, Jimi Plays Monterey). This single disc edition of Terry Gilliam's Brazil would hold true in both categories.

We hope to review this disc (and the REISSUE 3-disc edition HERE) more completely in time but just as a quick comparison to the existing releases we can see it is bright and sharp without the blue-ish haze of UK disc and the only other 16X9 NTSC disc - now 'unavailable' from Region 4 (yes Brazil!). I think the out-of-print Region 4 disc may be as sharp but it is significantly darker and we see no undo signs of brightness boosting on the new Criterion REISSUE.

The Gilliam commentary is the same as on the original - recorded for Criterion in 1996. The only other supplement is a liner notes booklet with an essay by Jack Matthews. The feature disc will be the same as the 'final cut' edition in the REISSUE 3-disc set.

NOTE: Although we couldn't get a screen capture of the REISSUE subtitles - they certainly do exist (optional English) and are the better rendered than any of the others.

BOTTOM LINE: It looks quite good and I know many DVD-o-philes will rejoice that it has not been pictureboxed. More to follow...

****

This is quite interesting. Region 4- Brazil (the country) has been producing some anamorphic Hollywood titles that are not available as 16X9 in Region 1 ! This is another example. I was expecting the worst with simple porting from their PAL counterparts, but check the times - they are accurate! The image quality for this comparison is not the most accurate as the region 4 DVD native resolution is so much larger that it loses some sharpness in the conversion down to meet the Region 1's graphic size. So I don't need to tell you that the anamorphic DVD from Region 4 will give a much superior image when shown through a widescreen TV or projection system.

The anamorphic images appear darker than the other two releases it appears and the Region 4 has the best (sharpest) image quality, just slightly ahead of the Region 2 Fox view the plastic surgery capture and typing capture below). Of the non-anamorphic the Universal is sharper than the Criterion.

I see minor cropping on all version on various sides.

There is a bluish tinge to the Region 4 and Region 2 editions.

To my eye it looks like the Criterion and Universal have had some slight contrast boosting. Sequences seem overly bright at times... the addition of the Fox Region 2 tends to substantiate that claim..

The 45 seconds missed by the Region 4 DVD seems right at the beginning and I would assume it to be the distribution company logs (The Region 4 has none and launches directly into the film). The Region 2 has 4% PAL speedup.

Some of the Region 4 English subtitles are not translated - which is very unimportant to me.

The extras, of course, go to Criterion, but the Region 4 and Region 2 include a nice documentary (30:00).

Bottom line: If you have a widescreen TV or projection system you will obviously want the Region 4 NTSC (which betters the PAL 16X9 Region 2 version as it has no speedup). If you are a big fan of the film, or a film buff in general then you MUST own the 3 disc Criterion Boxset for the extras. If you have a simple tube TV and anamorphic quality is not an issue with you you may as well get the Universal Region 1 which has a better image than the expensive Criterion set.

- Gary W. Tooze

DVD Menus

(Criterion - REISSUE - single disc - Region 1 - NTSC LEFT vs. 20th Century Fox (UK) Region 2 - PAL MIDDLE vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC - RIGHT)

(Universal - Region 1 -NTSC LEFT - Fox Video (Brazil) Region 4 - NTSC - RIGHT)

Subtitle sample

(Criterion - REISSUE - single disc - Region 1- NTSC TOP vs. 20th Century Fox (UK) Region 2 - PAL 2nd vs. Criterion - Region 0 - NTSC - 3rd -. Universal - Region 1 -NTSC 4th - Fox Video (Brazil) Region 4 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

Criterion REISSUE coming eventually

Screen Captures

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Report Card:

Image Anamorphic:	Criterion (REISSUE)
Image non-anamorphic:	Universal Region 1
Sound:	-
Extras:	Criterion original
Menu:	Criterion

DVD Box Covers

Distribution

Criterion Collection (REISSUE - Single Disc) Spine # 51

Region 1 - NTSC

20th Century Fox

Region 2 - PAL

Criterion Collection Spine # 51

Region 1 - NTSC

Universal - Region 1 -NTSC LEFT - Fox Video (Brazil) Region 4 - NTSC - RIGHT)

Universal Studios

Region 1 - NTSC

Fox Video (Brazil)
Region 4 - NTSC