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One of the very finest epics produced by Samuel Bronston, equally impressive in terms of script (by Philip Yordan, who mercifully steers clear of florid archaisms) and spectacle. Heston is aptly heroic as the 11th-century patriot destined to die in the fight for a Moor-less Spain, Mann's direction is stately and thrilling, and Miklos Rosza's superb score perfectly complements the crisp and simple widescreen images. Sobriety and restraint, in fact, are perhaps the keynotes of the film's success, with the result that a potentially risible finale (in which Cid's corpse is borne into the realm of legend, strapped to his horse as it leads his men to battle) becomes genuinely stirring. Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE
Director Anthony Mann envisioned the story (which had previously inspired operas
and plays) as a motion tapestry -- an ambition recognized in this version,
which, like "Lawrence
of Arabia" a few years back, revitalizes "El Cid's"
striking visuals and the sweeping score by Miklos Rozsa. Excerpt of review by Richard Harrington of the Washington Post located HERE. |
Posters
Theatrical Release: December 14th, 1961
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Comparison:
Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Miriam Collection (Weinstein/Genius) 2-Disc Limited Collector's Edition - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Koch Media (3-disc Deluxe Edition) - Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
1) Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT 2) Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) Koch Media - Region 'B' Blu-ray - RIGHT
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Box Cover |
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Distribution | Tohokushinsha Corp. - Region 0 - NTSC | Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC |
Koch Media Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
There is a El Cid - 2-Disc Deluxe Edition with the exact same transfer but without all the accoutrement additions to the package. |
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Runtime | 3:04:18 | 2:01:24 + 1:06:20 (includes music interludes) | 3:08:02.270 |
Video |
2.34:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 4.58 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
2.35:1
Original Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.54 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s |
1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 38,668,622,372 bytesFeature: 38,631,653,376 bytesVideo Bitrate: 19.98 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC Video |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate: Tohokushinsha |
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Bitrate:
Miriam Disc 1 |
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Bitrate:
Miriam Disc 2 |
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Bitrate:
Blu-ray |
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Audio | English (Dolby Digital 4.0 Surround) | English (Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround) | DTS-HD
Master Audio English 2078 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 2078 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core:
5.1 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit) DUB: DTS-HD Master Audio German 1785 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1785 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio English 1643 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1643 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1536 kbps / 16-bit) |
Subtitles | Japanese, None | English (CC), Spanish, None | None |
Features |
Release Information:
Edition Details: • Theatrical
trailer |
Release Information:
Edition Details:
• Commentary with William Bronston (Samuel's Son) and biographer Neal
Rosendorf
Disc 2 Featurettes:
• Hollywood Conquers Spain: The Making of An Epic
(23:56) • Trailer Gallery DVD Release Date: January 29th, 2003 Keep Case Chapters: 48 |
Release Information: 1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 38,668,622,372 bytesFeature: 38,631,653,376 bytesVideo Bitrate: 19.98 MbpsCodec: MPEG-4 AVC VideoEdition Details: • Commentary with William Bronston (Samuel's Son) and biographer Neal Rosendorf
Disc 2 Featurettes:
• Hollywood Conquers Spain: The Making of An Epic
(23:56 with optional German subtitles)
• Trailer Gallery
• Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery (6:15)
• Poster/Awards Gallery (2:47)
• Biographies
Disc 3 - Digital Copy (Called 'Copy-To-Go') Blu-ray Release Date: August 21st, 2009 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters: 17 |
Comments: |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were ripped directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION Koch Media (Germany) Blu-ray - August 2009: This new Koch Media Blu-ray from Germany supports the color scheme of the Miriam DVD and things do tighten up. It can go from looking moderately better to extravagantly superior. The higher resolution has certainly benefitted the image and the softness, we are told, is from a poor HD rendering or inferior print. Colors advance but not as the most apparent improvement over the Miriam (we have since dismissed the Japanese disc colors - or rather 'lack of them'). Reds and blues seem more lively in motion and are quite vibrant through my plasma. I suspect this looks much more like the original IB Technicolor. I'm suspicious of the overly smooth look, and lack of grain, - meaning potential DNR - but see no edge enhancement although brightness may have been upped a notch. This, of course, could just be the brilliance of Technicolor. We suggest that this could look a lot better though. We get 2 reasonably strong audio tracks - an DTS-HD Master 5.1 in English at 2078 kbps and the disc defaults to a German DUB: DTS-HD Master 5.1 at 1785 kbps. I listened to the original English track and, to my ear, it sounded excellent - probably a larger jump than the video improvements. Miklos Rozsa's powerful score sounds really wonderful - filling the room with its majesty. The soundtrack is a big part of this film but separation is not exceptionally buoyant - not unlike the previous DVD's 5.1 DD. There are no subtitles available at all and my Momitsu has determined that this is, indeed, region 'B'-locked. It seems we are given all the same extras from the Miriam 2-disc DVD starting with the extensive commentary with William Bronston (Samuel's Son) and biographer Neal Rosendorf. It extols the film beyond its merits in my opinion with specific emphasis on Sam Bronston information that I was less keen on hearing. I applaud them for filling the over 3-hour running time though and there are many intriguing details. Disc two has the exact same five featurettes - all of which have optional German subtitles: Hollywood Conquers Spain: The Making of An Epic runs 24 minutes and discusses the very expensive production details. Samuel Bronston: The Epic Journey of a Dreamer (52:20) is more information supplementing the commentary painting Bronston as a bit of a raconteur. Behind The Camera: Anthony Mann and El Cid is 18 minutes and I was looking for ward to this the most being a big Mann devotee. It includes a rare TV interview with the director just prior to his death. Miklos Rozsa: Maestro of the Movies is half and hour focusing on the wonderful and famous score of El Cid (and other films by Miklos Rozsa) and finally Preserving Our Legacy: Gerry Byrne on Film Preservation and Restoration is about 7 minutes on the restoration process and how the film was preserved over the years. There is also a trailer gallery, behind-the-scenes gallery and poster/award gallery. With this 3-disc Koch Deluxe Edition you get a 'Copy-To-Go' Digital version for use with portable devices... although who the hell would watch this 2.35 scope film on a tiny iPod or Blackberry screen? Not me.
Sometimes this is such a beautiful film -
visually and audibly. It really does improve in 1080P even if it could
be even superior. 'El Cid' has a
strong following and those with a decent home theater set-up will
definitely want to indulge as another, better,
Blu-ray is not scheduled
on the horizon.
***
ON THE DVD
ADDITION: Miriam
Collection - January 2008 - Obviously, by looking, the
new 'Miriam Collection' digital rendition, spread over
two dual-layered discs, is far superior to the Tohokushinsha Japanese release. It is the first release
of "The Miriam Collection" label (dedicated to their
mother by the Weinstein Brothers). The IB
Technicolor comes to life quite satisfyingly although it
did look a shade saturated at times (IMHO). I can't add
too much more than the screen captures below represent.
There are very few speckles/marks (I actually captured one
instance in the last large screen image) but otherwise
it looks very clean, bright and quite wonderful. It is
free of the extensive dirt on the Japanese edition and
compared to that release it is truly 'night and day'.
NOTE: The Miriam edition has the musical
interludes (hence the longer running time). The Japanese has the opening
music but only on a blank screen. It has no mid-break or exit music.
Audio is given in a fairly strong 5.1 track with
optional English (CC) or Spanish subtitles.
There is a commentary with William Bronston (Samuel's Son) and
biographer Neal Rosendorf. Also on
disc one are some vintage radio promo interviews, text filmographies and some still galleries (posters,
behind-the-scenes
etc.)
There is also a souvenir program, comic book
reproduction and some postcard-like stills( 6 or 7) from the film
in a handsome custom case.
I've been making a bit of a stance against these DVD
editions loaded with non-digital bells and whistles
(comic books, figurines etc.) - as most of that included
stuff ends up in the garbage. I'll hold similarly with
this - avoid the 2-Disc Limited Collector's Edition and
buy the
2-Disc Deluxe Edition for almost
$10 less. Many have been waiting for a significant
amount of time for this film to come to DVD looking
this good. Some of the featurette extras are
worthwhile and the digital package is a complete one.
It's here. Buy.
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ON THE
Tohokushinsha EDITION:
Just like "The
Fall of the Roman Empire" the biggest benefit for those
who are not yet Region-free (why
though?) - this disc is Region 0 and NTSC (no PAL
speedup) so it can be played on North America standard DVD players.
NOTE:
Gordon has emailed saying his recent order is Region 2
NTSC, but I can assure you mine of Region 0. We are
looking into the discrepancy. On the image front
there are some scratches and contrast flickering that take place mostly
in the Prelude music - it then settles down but still has a few
instances of weakness and artifacts. The sharpness is a small notch
below the other Bronston-Mann epic from Tohokushinsha "The
Fall of the Roman Empire". It is
tight to the frame edge, anamorphic and progressive. Again we have text
extras in Japanese (and liner notes in Japanese) and a theatrical
trailer. The audio is English 4.0 surround and the Japanese
subtitles are removable.
This is another satisfying film with the only available
DVD (to my knowledge).
NOTE: We have reviewed 3 more similarly strong Japanese DVD releases (The
Fall of the Roman Empire,
55 Days at Peking and
Circus World) to include in
a possible group order from Amazon Japan or YesAsia.com.
NOTE:
There is an upcoming UK-PAL edition coming out in September
HERE, it will undoubtedly fill the gap
of the previous out-of-print PAL version, but Universal's track record
here is far from stellar (see DVD Times comment in "The
Fall of the Roman Empire" review . For now, I
am quite content with this NTSC edition.
Gary W.
Tooze
NOTE (FROM EMAIL): Sorry for being cranky, but I just
looked at the EL CID screen captures (Japanese) you've got on the Beaver, and I
think it's worth mentioning that if they're any indication of this
disc's color, then it's actually a pretty weak representation of the
film. It was originally printed IB Technicolor (I've seen a Tech print
recently), and the color of these stills is quite muted and leans
towards gray. (Thanks Peter!) |
Miriam Package
DVD Menus
(Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC LEFT vs. Miriam Collection - Region 1 -
NTSC RIGHT)
Disc 2 (Miriam Collection)
Music Interludes on Miriam + Blu-ray (Overture only is on Japanese disc but it is not labeled)
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Subtitle Sample
NOTE: Not exact frame!
1) Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP 2) Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) Koch Media - Region 'B' Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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Screen Captures
1) Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP 2) Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) Koch Media - Region 'B' Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP 2) Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) Koch Media - Region 'B' Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP 2) Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) Koch Media - Region 'B' Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP 2) Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) Koch Media - Region 'B' Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP 2) Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) Koch Media - Region 'B' Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP 2) Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) Koch Media - Region 'B' Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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1) Tohokushinsha - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP 2) Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE3) Koch Media - Region 'B' Blu-ray - BOTTOM
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More Blu-ray Captures
Box Cover |
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Distribution | Tohokushinsha Corp. - Region 0 - NTSC | Miriam Collection - Region 1 - NTSC |
Koch Media Region 'B' - Blu-ray |
There is a El Cid - 2-Disc Deluxe Edition with the exact same transfer but without all the accoutrement additions to the package. |
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