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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Hexenkessel" )

directed by Martin Scorsese
USA 1973

The breakthrough film for Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel and of course, director Martin Scorsese. A common story of small time hoods, familial bonding, pervasive violence and the religious overtones while surviving in New York's Little Italy. We would see much more advanced, superior and mature works from all three in their future films and collaborations.

Posters

Theatrical Release: 2 October 1973

Reviews                                                                               More Reviews                                                                 DVD Reviews

Comparison:

Warner Home Video (USA) (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC vs. E.M.S. (Germany) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray vs. Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray

Big thanks to Gregory Meshman and Pavel Borodin for the DVD Screen Caps!

Box Covers

 

Coming to Blu-ray and 4K UHD by Criterion in November 2023:

 

Distribution

Warner Home Video (USA)

Region 0 - NTSC

E.M.S. (Germany)
Region 2 - PAL
Carlotta
Region 'B' -
Blu-ray

Warner

Region FREE  - Blu-ray

Runtime 1:51:48 1:47:00 (4% PAL speedup) 1:51:31.250 1:51:56.751
Video

1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 5.74 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s

1.82:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 5.54 mb/s
PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,189,305,810 bytes

Feature: 29,234,485,248 bytes

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Total Video Bitrate: 29.86 Mbps

1.78:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 21,843,822,604 bytes

Feature: 21,152,913,408 bytes

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Total Video Bitrate: 21.96 Mbps

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Warner Home Video (USA)

Bitrate:

E.M.S. (Germany)

 

Bitrate: Carlotta

 

Blu-ray

 

Bitrate: Warner

 

Blu-ray

 

Audio English (Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono)

English (Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono), DUB: German (Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono)

LPCM Audio English 768 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit
LPCM Audio French 768 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit
DTS-HD Master Audio English 1055 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1055 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Dolby Digital Audio Portuguese 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Subtitles English, French, Spanish, None German, none French, none English (SDH), French, Portuguese, Spanish, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Warner Home Video (USA)

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.78:1

Edition Details:
• Commentary by Martin Scorsese and Amy Robinson
• Vintage Featurette: Back on the Block
• Theatrical Trailer

DVD Release Date: August 17, 2004
Keepcase

Chapters 33
 

Release Information:
Studio: E.M.S. (Germany)

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.82:1

Edition Details:
• ' Wunderbare Visionen auf dem Weg zur Hölle' Documentary (ca. 40 min)
• US-Trailer
• Slide show
• Production notes
• some other text info

 

DVD Release Date: January 31, 2002
Keepcase

Chapters 22

Release Information:
Studio:
Carlotta

 

1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 48,189,305,810 bytes

Feature: 29,234,485,248 bytes

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Total Video Bitrate: 29.86 Mbps

 

Edition Details:
• "Voyage à travers Mean Streets" : entretien audio avec Martin Scorsese sur la genèse du film (HD - 26:50)
• "De Little Italy à Hollywood" : Kent Jones, critique et cinéaste, livre un regard personnel sur Mean Streets (HD - 20:47)
• "Lumière instinctive" : Kent Wakeford, directeur de la photographie, se souvient du processus de tournage et de sa rencontre avec Robert De Niro et Harvey Keitel (HD - 18:15)
• "De retour dans son quartier" : Martin Scorsese revient à Elizabeth Street, au coeur de Little Italy (HD - 6:56)
• "Les rues de Mean Streets" : visite guidée du quartier de Little Italy d'aujourd'hui (HD - 6:00)
• "Home Movies" : montage inédit supervisé par Scorsese des films Super 8 qui ouvrent Mean Streets (HD - 10:34)
• Bande-annonce (HD)
• Court métrage : "Italianamerican" de Martin Scorsese, qui interroge ses parents sur l'histoire de sa famille et sur son quartier (HD - 1974 - Coul./N&B - 47:15)
 

Blu-ray Release Date: April 6th, 2011
Standard Blu-ray in slipcase

Chapters 16

Release Information:
Studio: Warner Home

 

1.78:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 21,843,822,604 bytes

Feature: 21,152,913,408 bytes

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

Total Video Bitrate: 21.96 Mbps

 

Edition Details:
• Commentary by Martin Scorsese and Amy Robinson
• Vintage Featurette: Back on the Block (6:57)
• Theatrical Trailer (3:41)

Blu-ray Release Date: July 17th, 20
12
Standard Blu-ray case

Chapters 33

 

Comments NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Warner - Region FREE- Blu-ray - June 12': I can't state with any certainty the original color scheme of Scorsese's Mean Streets but I do lean to the new Warner Blu-ray as looking more natural in terms of skin tones. Is that greenish/teal hue supposed to be there? I haven't a clue. Reds seems more prominent. The 1.78:1 US Blu-ray is single-layered with a smaller bitrate than the French disc. It offers English (and other subtitles) as well as the featurette and commentary that was on the original SD-DVD. Bottom line this is significantly more reasonably priced (almost 50%) than the European 1080P and is region FREE. Certainly recommended!

***

ADDITION: Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray: The new 1080P transfer from Carlotta in France represents a solid upgrade from the previous DVDs. Colors support the NTSC transfer with some green and brown hues which tend to make the German E.M.S. SD edition possibly look boosted. It seems like the stock used for the production may have been a less-effectual one and it gives the film a very rough appearance - which, may be an intentional, or rather, authentic to original, look. The Blu-ray image tightens up from the DVD with better detail and grain with blocky noise. It is dual-layered with a strong bitrate. There is a shade of movement in the frame but the new transfer shows at least as much information as the US DVD - but often more on all 4 edges. Simply, with far less artifacts - this Carlotta is vastly superior to the previous digital editions.

Audio goes lossless with a linear PCM track but it is fairly docile - yet sounding a less scattered. There are French subtitles which can be removed with the 'Subtitle' button of most remotes. The disc is region 'B'-locked.

There are well over 2 hours of extras - we lose the Scorsese commentary from the 2004 DVD but most of what is available here is in English (with forced French subtitles) including pieces with De Niro, Keitel, Scorsese and Kent Jones.

Fans of the director should probably seek this out as the best home theater representation of his early film plus the supplemental inclusion of Scorsese's 1974 Italianamerican documentary made right after Mean Streets. It is fascinating to discover that only 3 years later Scorsese would make Taxi Driver (now also available on Blu-ray).  

***

ON THE DVDs: There are two versions of EMS disc: the normal one and the 2-disc limited edition with the full screen version of the movie with only German soundtrack on the second disc.

The documentary on the E.M.S. 1st disc is quite interesting, it shows Scorsese during preparing and filming of "The Last Temptation...", but it's with German voice-over.

 - Pavel Borodin

I can only guess there is something unusual with the available print for this early Scorsese film. It's hard to know what to think... they both look poor but may be a representation of the meager budget. The region 1 is cropped on top and the Region 2 is cropped on the bottom as well as the both sides. It seems uneven so I would think some zooming may have taken place. The German is hazier and has been brightness boosted. I *think* the region 1's colors may be more accurate, but skin tones are too red and it has a greenish tinge. Both are ineffectual, but perhaps as good as we will get, after all it is is the (SE). Hopeful fans for it to improve drastically on the initial release will be disappointed. True Scorsese devotees may want both for the Region 2 documentary and the Region 1 commentary. As it stands now, we say the Region 1 SE is the best available edition.

 - Gary W. Tooze



DVD Menus

(Warner Home Video (USA) (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. E.M.S. (Germany) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
 

 

Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

 

 

Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray

 


 

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

Subtitle Sample

 

 

1) Warner Home Video (USA) (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) E.M.S. (Germany) - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 


Screen Captures

 

1) Warner Home Video (USA) (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) E.M.S. (Germany) - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 


 

1) Warner Home Video (USA) (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) E.M.S. (Germany) - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 


 

1) Warner Home Video (USA) (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) E.M.S. (Germany) - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 


 

1) Warner Home Video (USA) (Special Edition) - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) E.M.S. (Germany) - Region 2 - PAL - SECOND

3) Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - THIRD

4) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

More Blu-ray  Captures

 

 

1) Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

 

1) Carlotta - Region 'B' - Blu-ray - TOP

2) Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


Hit Counter


Report Card:

 

Image:

Warner Blu-ray

Sound:

Blu-rays

Extras:

Blu-rays

 

Box Covers

 

Coming to Blu-ray and 4K UHD by Criterion in November 2023:

 

Distribution

Warner Home Video (USA)

Region 0 - NTSC

E.M.S. (Germany)
Region 2 - PAL
Carlotta
Region 'B' -
Blu-ray

Warner

Region FREE  - Blu-ray

 

 


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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Gary Tooze

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