"The Tin Drum" Criterion - Region 0

(aka "The Tin Drum")

directed by Volker Schlöndorff
Germany 1979

Danzig, Germany, 1924. Oskar Matzerath is born with an intellect beyond his infancy. As he witnesses the hypocrisy of adulthood and the irresponsibility of society, Oskar rejects both, and, at his third birthday, refuses to grow older. Caught in a baffling state of perpetual childhood, Oskar lashes out at all he surveys with piercing screams and frantic poundings on his tin drum, while the unheeding, chaotic world marches onward to the madness and folly of World War II. Honored with the Palme d’Or at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival and the 1979 Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language film, Volker Schlöndorff’s The Tin Drum (Die Blechtrommel) is a truly visionary adaptation of Nobel laureate Günter Grass’ acclaimed novel, an unforgettable fantasia of surreal imagery, striking eroticism, and unflinching satire.

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 3rd, 1979 - West Germany

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DVD Review: Criterion - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover

We Recommend:

Distribution

Criterion Collection - Spine # 234 - Region 0 - NTSC

Runtime

2:21:35

Video

1.70:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 7.5 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

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

Bitrate:

Audio

German (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)

Subtitles

English, None

Features

Release Information:
Studio: Criterion Collection / Home Vision

Aspect Ratio:
Original aspect Ratio 1.70:1

Edition Details:

• Theatrical trailer(s)
• Audio commentary by director and cowriter Volker Schlondorff
• Isolated music track, featuring the score by Academy Award-winning composer Maurice Jarre
• Rare deleted scenes
• Volker Schlondorff Remembers The Tin Drum, a 21-minute audio/video montage
• An illuminating collection of video interviews, including Schlondorff
• "The Platform", a rare 1987 German recording of Grass reading an excerpt from his novel The Tin Drum
• Reprinted excerpt of the screenplay's original, unfilmed ending
• Banned in Oklahoma, a documentary by Gary D. Rhodes following the child pornography lawsuit revolving around The Tin Drum
• Production sketches, designs, and promotional art
• Widescreen anamorphic format
• Number of discs: 2

DVD Release Date: May 18th, 2004
Keep Case
Chapters: 23

Comments:

From our comparison HERE, we can see that the new Criterion release rivals (if not exceeds) the non-English subtitled Region 2 Kinowelt release. the film has some dark moments but the Criterion contrast is perfect making everything visible. I see the image is a shade soft at times. The subtitles are of typical Criterion perfection. Second disc of Extras for true fans to bury themselves in. I see a slight yellowish tinge in some scenes but have no idea whether this was intentional. To see if anything has been cropped we will do a full comparison with other releases in the near future. Right now it looks very good. out of