"Young Frankenstein" Twentieth Century Fox (Special Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. 20th Century Fox (Special Edition) - Region 2

(aka "Frankenstein Jr." )

directed by Mel Brooks
USA 1974

Frankenstein quickly returns to Transylvania and the old ancestral castle, where he is awaited by the faithful houseboy Igor, the voluptuous lab assistant Inga, and the mysterious housekeeper Frau Blucher, whose very name causes horses to rear in fright. The young man had always rejected his grandfather's medical experiments as impossible, but he changes his mind after he discovers a book entitled How I Did It by Victor Frankenstein. Now all that's involved is a little grave-robbing and a trip to the handy local Brain Depository, and the Frankenstein family is back in business.
In his two best comedies, before this,The Producers and Blazing Saddles, Brooks revealed a rare comic anarchy. His movies weren't just funny, they were aggressive and subversive, making us laugh even when we really should have been offended. (Explaining this process, Brooks once loftily declared, "My movies rise below vulgarity.") Young Frankenstein is as funny as we expect a Mel Brooks comedy to be, but it's more than that: It shows artistic growth and a more sure-handed control of the material by a director who once seemed willing to do literally anything for a laugh. It's more confident and less breathless.
That's partly because the very genre he's satirizing gives him a strong narrative he can play against.

Excerpt from Roger Ebert's review located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: December 15, 1974

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DVD Comparison:

Twentieth Century Fox (Special Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. 20th Century Fox (Special Edition) - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Henrik Sylow and Mathias Nielsen for the Screen Caps!

(Twentieth Century Fox (Special Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. 20th Century Fox (Special Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

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Distribution	Twentieth Century Fox Region 1 - NTSC	20th Century Fox Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	1:45:32	1:41:18 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	1:83:1 Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 5.11 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1:85:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 4.61 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Twentieth Century Fox (Special Edition)
Bitrate: 20th Century Fox (Special Edition)
Audio	2.0 Dolby Digital Mono English, DUBs: 2.0 Dolby Digital Mono French, 2.0 Dolby Digital Mono Spanish	2.0 Dolby Digital Mono English
Subtitles	English, None	Czech, Danish, English for the hearing impaired, Finnish, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Swedish
Features	Release Information: Studio: Twentieth Century Fox Aspect Ratio: Widescreen - :83:1 Edition Details: • Audio Commentary by Mel Brooks • Making of 'Young Frankenstein' (41:50) • Trailers • 7 deleted scenes (16:44) • Mexican interviews • with Marty Feldman (3:45) • with Gene Wilder and Cloris Leachman (3:45) • Outtakes (5:00) • Production Photographs DVD Release Date: June 3, 2003 Keep case Chapters 29	Release Information: Studio: 20th Century Fox Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 1:85:1 Edition Details: • Making of Young Frankenstein • Director's Commentary (Mel Brooks) • Trailers (Showrama Trailer, Trailer A, Trailer B, International Trailer, Re-Release Trailer) • TV Spots (60 Second Spot, 30 Second Spots, 10 Second Spots) • Deleted Scenes (7) • Mexican Interviews (Marty Feldman + Gene Wilder & Gloris Leachman) • Outtakes DVD Release Date: October 30, 2000 Keep Case Chapters 28

Comments

Aside from the poor quality subtitles on the PAL disc, there is very little difference between these two editions, even though the Region 1 is not anamorphic and the PAL edition is.. The NTSC has some foreign language DUBs and the PAL has a mass of subtitle options. As far as the transfer goes it looks identical to my eye - both acceptably good with decent sharpness and good contrast levels. Unless the DUBs or subtitles are important to you I would buy the cheapest edition you can (of these two).

Gary W. Tooze

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(Twentieth Century Fox (Special Edition) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. 20th Century Fox (Special Edition) - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)