NOTE: ozon.ru still does not ship DVDs outside of Russia

Image Entertainment

Region 0 - NTSC

1.78:1 Original Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 4.97 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s

1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio

16X9 enhanced
Average Bitrate: 8.31 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.

Image Entertainment

Film Prestige

Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, Russian DUB Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen letterboxed - 1.78:1

Edition Details:
• Filmography of Antonioni, Vitti and Harris (text screens)

DVD Release Date: September 21, 1999
Snapper case

Chapters 16
 

Chapters 22

Chapters 18

Aspect Ratio:
Widescreen anamorphic - 1.85:1

Edition Details:
• Archive footage in Italian from award ceremony (06.59)
• Archive footage in Italian from award ceremony titled 'Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow' (05.47)
• Biographies and Filmographies (text screens in Russian)
• Info about other titles on Antonioni Collection (text screens in Russian)
 

Chapters 22

I love this film more every time I re-visit it. I could watch it every couple of months if I had the time. I really appreciated those extra Criterion supplements - especially the two interviews and short films. I imagine the region coding will force people to choose whichever disc applicable - but for those zealous enough to have a region free Blu-ray player I think a double dip for the Criterion is justifiable. We, obviously give an enthusiastic endorsement and I am salivating for more Antonioni in 1080P. 

ADDITION: BFI Blu-ray - October 08': Well, it's here! Antonioni, my favorite director, on Blu-ray!

This is a screener from BFI and I can't do a complete review at present but can pass on some information and details. Firstly, I can confirm that this is definitely region B - hence the only way I can view it is through HTPC (BenQ on its last legs) but I am having some difficulty with the audio - not a fault of the Blu-ray, but with my set-up as this is not my preferred method of viewing. I've, admittedly, let it go to pot.

Image-wise the colors are different than all the SD-DVD releases. The image is somewhat darker and expectantly shows more detail. I'm certain I'll be getting emails about the color hues from experts who are more knowledgeable on the original palette than I am. To me it looks magnificent and has far more depth than I have ever seen before. Antonioni's imagery is even more mesmerizing on this new Blu-ray - I could have taken screen captures all day. There is some heavy grain - at times the visuals come forth like they are being shown on a thick plush carpet. Magnificent! I noted a few dirt marks and speckles but overall the image is fabulous - I felt like I was watching it for the first time sitting on the floor of my basement hypnotized by the camera movement, pauses and Monica Vitti's face (even though I have seen Red Desert at least a half-dozen times). I probably only watched about 40 minutes this way and then ran it on my computer monitor to match the captures... with a similar reaction. I noted no DNR or edge-enhancement in this single-layered 1080P transfer. I don't think it is perfect but by far the best it has ever looked on digital.

Audio has a new commentary by Italian film-scholar David Forgacs which I will hope to indulge in soon but I may need to take it to a friends to accomplish this. I was able to view the trailer supplements (both a teaser and one starting with an award ceremony) - both are in HD.

I apologize for the limitations in this review but hope we can complete it soon. Stay tuned!

 - Gary Tooze

****

ON THE SD-DVDs:

ADDITION: Madman - Region 4 - PAL - October 06': NOTE: Thanks to Thomas for providing these comments originally posted on the Criterion message board.

There is a serious flaw in the disc which has not been addressed in your review. Given the fine-toothed attention usually paid to picture quality on your site, I believe the sound quality deserves the same level of attention:

"One thing I have not yet seen commented on is the sound. The sound, unfortunately, is atrocious. Thinking back, for a moment, to the Image R1 DVD, the sound on that disc is very old and worn, with a heavy layer of hiss and a high-pitched whine, not dissimilar to an old 78 record. However, one does at least get used to this constant noise after a few minutes. For the Madman DVD, it seems they have not restored the original audio stems (one must assume these to be lost) but, rather, have applied crude, sledgehammer digital noise reduction to the entire soundtrack, getting rid of the surface noise entirely, but leaving all sounds below a certain decibel level - including all the atmospheres - floating in a wash of digital murk... The sad thing is, with half an ear and a bit of care, the Image track could have been cleaned up a fair way, without such ruinous results - it is all a question of balance... I'm not sure if Madman themselves are responsible for this particular travesty, or if it is a feature of the restoration itself. It should be noted that the R1 No Shame DVD of Story of a Love Affair suffers from the same problem, so I'm inclined to believe that the problem lies with the Italians... the problem is present throughout, but, for an easy comparison, listen to the scene where the little girl is on the beach. listen to the sound of the waves. on the Image disc you will hear a natural wave atmos. on the clavis disc, the waves sound bubbly and artificial, as if listening through a tube. this is what can result if someone carelessly applies a noise-reduction filter, such as Waves.X-Noise."

n.b. with regards to the picture, from the look of your screen-caps, the compression on the Madman disc is inferior to the Russian edition (I do not have this, so cannot comment on the sound).

Kirk says: "I caught a screening of "Red Desert" at Cinematheque Ontario at the end of this summer and it exhibited the exact sound problems described on DVDBeaver's comparison. This was a print I was watching, which looked pretty good at that, but definitely had something "off" about it in terms of the soundtrack. The Cinematheque programme indicates that "Red Desert" was "Copy printed from materials restored by Mediaset - Cinema Forever."

***

Pepsi says:
The Madman DVD is in every way a big step ahead the old Image transfer.

The Madman is generally excellent, but with these faults: It seems that the film negative has shrunk in some parts, making a left to right movement. These parts the digital media can't follow, making heavy aliasing when the picture is in rapid motion. The other occasional problem is that there's some fault's in the color timing: The colors change one frame to early, making the last picture before the cut almost 50% brighter than the picture before. These make the cut "jump" or "blink", as there were some faults in the continuity. It makes some picture changes more clumpy as intended. But these are minor faults, with the overall decent picture.

The sound compared to the image DVD is much more dynamic, and without "hiss". Some minor "pops" from the optical sound can be heard.

The subtitles are in yellow and in my opinion ugly (capture posted soon). Overall recommended!

NOTE: We will comment on the extras and commentary soon!

NOTE: The documentary on the R4 Red Desert is the same as from the Criterion L'ECLISSE disc, called The Eye That Changed Cinema.

***

The Image Entertainment disc has long been one of the most sought after DVDs consistently fetching outrageous prices on EBay and Amazon's Marketplace. Why? Firstly, like many Image Entertainment DVDs, it has had its run and is now out-of-print... and it also appears to be the only commercially digital version with English subtitles in any region at present. Perhaps this comparison can take some of the luster on this coveted, and perhaps frivolous, auctioned purchase.

Firstly, the Image Entertainment disc is cropped on all 4 sides - heavily on both side edges. The image disc has also had some manipulations showing pronounced edge enhancement thus destroying the color scheme - blues have become browns/ grays turned to yellows, skin tones are orange etc etc.. Even the subtitle font is a failure next to the Russian DVD, which by the way, also has better extra features. Of course, the big problem is that the Russian DVD does NOT have English subtitles. Our advice is to wait for a new release hopefully with the acceptable image of the Film Prestige (a port of the Italian disc?) and including optional English subtitles as well as some valued extra features.

 - Gary Tooze