ADDITION: Criterion (REISSUE) - August 06' - Criterion's original release of Amarcord (the phonetic translation of the Italian words 'mi ricordo' in the dialect of Emilia-Romagna, the birthplace of director Federico Fellini, where the film takes place. It means "I remember" in English) was one of their first 10 DVDs - way back in 1998. It was actually spine #4 - non-anamorphic and may not have even been progressively transferred. It desperately needed updating. In the interim Warner (in both France and Germany) put out anamorphic PAL DVD packages that were an improvement.

How it looks - to compare I watched about 15 minutes of the same scene of each of the four discs on a plasma system and the Criterion is definitely the better edition image-wise. It has far less grain/artifacts - colors are brighter (I don't necessarily know that they are more accurate - although they certainly look more true to my eye). The screen captures that seem to best identify this superiority and the very last ones (see below) - look at the pink/mauve in the flag and the blue sky (upper right). Also the first capture - the lady at the right in the white sweater and blue blazer. The Criterion has improved immensely from its initial release with a striking anamorphic, progressive upgrade. Probably the most noticeable difference is how much cleaner it is - and slightly sharper. There is some movement in the frame (picture from the original Criterion has shifted left a bit at times) but any observed cropping was not an issue. The Criterion also has the highest bitrate of the four editions. On the Criterion website it states:

'This new high-definition digital transfer was created on a Spirit Datacine from a 35mm interpositive. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, and scratches were removed using the MTI Digital Restoration System. To maintain optimal image quality through the compression process, the picture on this dual-layer DVD-9 was encoded at the highest-possible bit rate for the quantity of material included. The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from a magnetic track print...'

The off-white-black-bordered subtitle font on the Criterion is the most appealing to me. It is large enough to be easily read (the Warners were a shade on the small side) and not as large an cumbersome as on the original release.

How it sounds - the Criterion track again adds an optional English DUB - the European Warner DVDs offer different selections of language DUBs as well. The REISSUE Criterion audio sounded very clear and consistent to me. It states on their website:

'The soundtrack was mastered at 24-bit from a magnetic track print, and audio restoration tools were used to reduce clicks, pops, hiss, and crackle.'

Supplements - well the Criterion have vastly exceeded their competitors yet again. The Brunette and Burke commentary is excellent - very thorough and interesting. Although alternately named there is one overlap featurette with the French edition (see Magali Noël capture), but Criterion add so much more including a book featuring a new essay by scholar Sam Rohdie, author of Fellini Lexicon, and the full text of Fellini’s 1967 essay, “My Rimini". I won't discuss the other features in detail as discovering them is a joy - but personally I really enjoyed 'Fellini’s Homecoming'.  

NOTE: For the audio commentary menu on the Criterion REISSUE they list film scholar Frank Burke affiliated with "Queen's College, Ontario". That should read "Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario."

Conclusion: the Criterion package is another beautiful keepsake and it is the one to own for just about every reason I can think of. Only the issue of color variances from the other three would crop up as a negative if I could verify it - which I cannot. It looks greatly improved - the extras are endless - a devastating digital tribute.

- Gary W. Tooze

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ADDITION: Warner (French) - June - 2005 - Firstly there are differences between this and the 2 PAL Warner's in film portion, but the image seems to be the exact same. There are differences in subtitle and audio DUB options (noted above). If my contribution sources are correct the UK/German is region 2,5 and the French 2,4,5.

Upon reflection, and some extensive zooming in, I notice some edge enhancement on the non-anamorphic Criterion - meaning the colors of the Warner are probably more accurate. To my eye though the Warner does look a little vertically stretched and is still slightly cropped next to the Criterion. The big bonus' of the French DVD are the valued featurette extras on the second disc - all with English subtitles. Regardless of our continued debate on the image the French DVD is a must own for Fellini fans.

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There is negligible cropping - by Criterion on the left and top edges and by the Warner on the bottom and right edges. The Criterion is sharper than the anamorphic Warner. The Warner looks to have deeper blacks and better contrast. I would say as colors are only minutely different (the Warner haze may affect appearance - Criterion ocean looks greener- walls look browner), that the sharpness would be the deciding factor. It is enough in this case to chose the Criterion. It is possible that widescreen and projection viewers may notice a benefit to owning the Warner, but it would really depend on the specifics of the system. As it stands the Criterion has the best image. I prefer the less intrusive font of the Warner. The Warner also has more subtitle and dub options. if this is important. The Criterion restoration demo is interesting and beats out the Warner trailer. Both menus seem a little gaudy, but there you go. Even though the Criterion was only there 4th via spine number and came out in 98', and is not anamorphic, I would still say it is the edition to own. Price may be a consideration, but the Criterion is still sharpest.

- Gary W. Tooze