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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

directed by John Huston
USA 1948

Gold in the hills, avarice in the hearts of men. Two hard-luck drifters (Humphrey Bogart and Tim Holt) and a grizzled prospector (Walter Huston) discover gold. Then greed and paranoia set in. John Huston won Academy Awards for his direction and screenplay. And his dad took the Best Supporting Actor Oscar. Without awards, but with enduring acclaim, is Bogart's performance, transforming from a likable hobo to a heartless thug simmering in greed. Treasures place on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 American Films list reaffirms it's still a powerful movie.

***

For once, Bogart plays a really vicious bastard, Fred C Dobbs, in this, the first of two movies he made in 1948 with Huston. It's a sort of lifeboat drama for three, with Holt the young innocent and director's dad Walter as the wise old buzzard, flanking Bogart's bravura paranoia. Director Huston tries to yank the basic elements - gold lust in a Mexican wilderness - into the spare eloquence of a fable, and tends to look pretentious rather than profound. In any case, outrageously Oscar-seeking performances like actor Huston's, coupled with director Huston's comparative conviction with action sequences, work against any yearning for significance. There's a quite enjoyable yarn buried under the hollow laughter.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: January 6th, 1948 - USA

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Comparison:

TBMC - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Warner - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray

(TBMC - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Warmer - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE vs. Warner - Region FREE Blu-ray  - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers

 

Distribution

The Best Movie Collection (Taiwan)

Region 0  - NTSC

Warner Studios
Region 1 - NTSC
Warner Studios
Region FREE -
Blu-ray
Runtime 2:05:12 2:06:00 2:06:08.602
Video

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 4.54 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s

1.33:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 5.25 mb/s
NTSC 704x480 29.97 f/s

1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 37,568,530,710 bytes

Feature: 21,800,669,184 bytes

Video Bitrate: 19.05 Mbps

Codec: VC-1 Video

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

Bitrate:

TBMC

 

Bitrate:

Warner

 

Bitrate:

Warner Blu-ray

 

Audio English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)

English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1069 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1069 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps /
24-bit)
Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Dolby Digital Audio French 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Dolby Digital Audio German 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
Dolby Digital Audio Spanish 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -4dB
Subtitles Chinese, English, Indonesian and none English, Spanish, French and none English, Danish, Finnish, French, German, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and none
Features Release Information:
Studio: TBMC (Taiwan)

Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1

 
Edition Details:
•None


DVD Release Date: 2000
Keep Case

Chapters 6

Release Information:
Studio: Warner Home Video

Aspect Ratio:
Full Screen (Standard) - 1.33:1

Edition Details:
• Commentary by author/historian Eric Lax
• All-new transfer from restored picture and audio elements
Warner Night at the Movies, 1948 introduced by Leonard Maltin including trailers, newsreel, short subject and cartoon "Hot Cross Bunny"
• Humphrey Bogart trailer gallery
• New documentary, Discovering Treasure: The Story of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (2003)
• Documentary John Huston: The Man, the Movies, the Maverick (1989)
• Galleries: Dressed-set photos, storyboards, cast/crew photos, & publicity
• Audio vault: Lux Theatre broadcast of "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"
• Cartoon "8 Ball Bunny"
• Number of discs: 2
 

DVD Release Date: September 30, 2003
Digi-pak in handsome slipcase

Chapters 19

Release Information:
Studio: Warner Home Video

 

1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 37,568,530,710 bytes

Feature: 21,800,669,184 bytes

Video Bitrate: 19.05 Mbps

Codec: VC-1 Video

Edition Details:
• Commentary by Bogart biographer Eric Lax

Leonard Maltin Introduction (3:46)
• Featurette: Discovering Treasure: The Story of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
(49:57)
• Feature-length documentary profile John Huston (2:08:11)
• Outtakes
• Classic cartoon 8 Ball Bunny
• Warner Night at the Movies 1948 short subjects gallery
Newsreel
• Joe McDoakes comedy short So You Want to Be a Detective
• Classic cartoon Hot Cross Bunny
• Trailers of this Movie and 1948's Key Largo
• Audio-only bonus: Radio show adaptation featuring the movie's original stars
 

Blu-ray Release Date: October 5th, 2010
Standard Blu-ray case

Chapters 38

 

 

 

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - September 2010: The Warner, predictably, looks pretty sweet - a higher level of detail, slightly better contrast and grayscale, and there is strong sense of depth in some scenes and grain is more apparent - not overly abundant but a nice even sheen. Please view the matched screen captures to identify where the superiorities lie. Ohhh - you may notice the information at the top of the frame - previously lost on the DVD transfer - has returned in the dual-layered Blu-ray!

Audio has the lossless improvement but thankfully remains mono and sounds... flawless - even in that original limitation. There is some perceived depth and sounds a shade better than I was excepting - and includes an option of 4 foreign language DUBs and a list of subtitle options including English identifying the Region FREE disc as the international Blu-ray.

Extras duplicate the DVD as far as I can determine including the Eric Lax commentary and, very thorough, two hour documentary on Huston, the 45-minute Discovering Treasure: The Story of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre plus the two cartoons, Joe McDoakes short, trailers etc - but nothing is in HD. It is somewhat gratifying to have all of these extras on the same lone disc. The Huston documentary seems worth the price alone.

I LOVE older films, especially classic s of this nature, in 1080P. It feels like watching Warner Brother's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre for the first time - and with the room pitch black I imagine its an o-r-i-g-i-n-a-l theatrical viewing. You can't really have a digital library without this gem - filled with iconic lines - Bogie, Huston..... Great price - essential value in my mind. Recommended!

****

ON THE DVD: Well this bootleg I bought in an Asian Mall, probably ported from the Laser Disc, has, despite the chroma, served me well over the past 3 years, but I am overjoyed at the new Warner package. The TBMC DVD was barely serviceable at the time I received it... being single layered from an analog source, but by looking at the new Warner I can now use it as a coaster. The Warner has great contrast and audio, endless extras... it's only flaw is it is slightly cropped on top as this comparison is effective in indicating. That is all she wrote... I suggest buying the Warner disc of course. It is wonderful.

 - Gary W. Tooze




DVD Menus

(
TBMC - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)


 

 

Warner - Region FREE Blu-ray

 

 

 


 

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

 

Subtitle Sample

 

 

Screen Captures

 

1) TBMC - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Warner - Region FREE Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

In every capture you can notice the Warner Region 1 image is slightly cropped on top.


1) TBMC - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Warner - Region FREE Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


1) TBMC - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Warner - Region FREE Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


1) TBMC - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Warner - Region FREE Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


1) TBMC - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Warner - Region FREE Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 


1) TBMC - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP

2) Warner - Region 1 - NTSC - MIDDLE

3) Warner - Region FREE Blu-ray - BOTTOM

 

More Blu-ray Captures


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Image:

Blu-ray

Sound:

Blu-ray

Extras: Warner / Blu-ray

DVD Box Covers

 

Distribution

The Best Movie Collection (Taiwan)

Region 0  - NTSC

Warner Studios
Region 1 - NTSC
Warner Studios
Region FREE -
Blu-ray



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Gary Tooze