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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r |
directed
by William Friedkin
USA 1973
Controversial and popular from the moment it opened, The Exorcist marks its historic Blu-ray premiere in a 2-Disc Edition featuring Stunning Hi-Def Presentations of the Original 1973 Theatrical Version and the 2000 Extended Director's Cut. The frightening and realistic tale of an innocent girl inhabited by a terrifying entity, her mother's frantic resolve to save her and two priests--one doubt-ridden, the other a rock of faith--joined in battling ultimate evil always leaves viewers breathless. This greatest supernatural thriller of all time astonishes and unsettles like no other movie.***
The year 1973 began and ended with cries of pain. It began with Ingmar
Bergman's "Cries
and Whispers," and it closed with William Friedkin's "The
Exorcist." Both films are about the weather of the human soul, and no
two films could be more different. Yet each in its own way forces us to look
inside, to experience horror, to confront the reality of human suffering.
The Bergman film is a humanist classic. The Friedkin film is an exploitation
of the most fearsome resources of the cinema. That does not make it evil,
but it does not make it noble, either. |
Posters
Theatrical Release: Dec. 26, 1973
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
Comparison:
Warner (25th Ann.) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Warner (Extended Director's Cut & Original Theatrical) - Region FREE - Blu-ray |
Big thanks to Enrique B Chamorro for all the DVD Screen Caps!
(Warner (25th Ann.) - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE vs. Warner - Region FREE -
Blu-ray - RIGHT)DVD Box Covers |
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Distribution |
Warner Region 1 - NTSC |
Warner Region 1 - NTSC |
Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray | |||||
Runtime | 2:03:48 | 2:12:00 | 2:01:55.975 | 2:12:21.141 | ||||
Video |
1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1.85:1 Original Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 34,197,765,962 bytesFeature: 27,453,923,328 bytesVideo Bitrate: 22.14 MbpsCodec: VC-1 Video |
1080P / 23.976 fps Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 44,322,894,152 bytesFeature: 34,117,355,520 bytesVideo Bitrate: 22.00 MbpsCodec: VC-1 Video |
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NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
Warner (25th Ann.)
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Bitrate:
Warner (Alt. Cut)
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Bitrate:
Theatrical Blu-ray
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Bitrate:
Director's Cut Blu-ray
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Audio | English 5.1, French 2.0 |
English 6.1EX & 2.0 |
Theatrical: DTS-HD Master Audio English 3880 kbps 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3880
kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 5.1 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps /
Dolby Digital Audio French 192 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
/ DN -4dB *** DC: DTS-HD Master Audio English 3876 kbps 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 3876 kbps / 24-bit
(DTS Core: 5.1-ES / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) |
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Subtitles | English, French | English, French |
Director's Cut: English, Chinese,
Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek
, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian,
Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish,
Thai, Turkish, none NOTE: There are fewer subtitle options for the Theatrical edition |
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Features |
Release Information: Studio: Warner Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 47 |
Release Information: Studio: Warner Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
• No insert Chapters 48 |
Release Information: Studio: Warner
Edition Details:
• Trailers, TV Spots and Radio Spots
Disc 2: Original theatrical cut (1973
version)
• 3 Trailers (3:54) and 4 TV Spots (3:10)
40-page digibook with color photos, essay
and a personal message leaflet from Friedkin Chapters 48 |
Comments |
NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. ADDITION: Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray - October 2010: Firstly - you get two dual-layered Blu-rays here - one with the 73' theatrical and the other with the 2000 Director's Cut (minus, at least, one effect). No film drains me like The Exorcist. I feel emotionally exhausted after my two Blu-ray presentations. The 1.78 image on the Blu-ray is pretty good (by the way, to make things simpler, the visual quality of both Blu-ray versions are very close - both VC-1 encode - very similar bitrate - same color timing). The video improves in the expected areas - more grain, brighter, a little tighter and far less artifacts. We presume the colors are reporting more faithfully - the Blu-rays are brighter and, at times, very blue (especially in Regan's bedroom scenes where it looks almost filtered). The Blu-ray was stated by Friedkin as ''color-timed by the cinematographer Owen Roizman and myself and represents the very best print ever made of 'The Exorcist". Hopefully, the captures can judge some of the subtle differences. Detail advances - you can see the splashing Holy water across her body in the very last capture - it even has some depth. The only thing of some note that we can report is that at least one of the 2000' version added effects are missing as far as I can tell. When Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) enters Regan's room - there was a brief hokey demon/gargoyle-face effect (see below) that doesn't appear to have made it to the Director's Cut Blu-ray when it was definitely on the DVD. ? I didn't notice any other missing 'additions' that were in the 2000 release. Audio makes some major strides forward with both versions going lossless. Effects are rife with Chris Newman's Oscar-winning sound work, Steve Boeddeker's score plus all the Penderecki pieces and culminating with Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells". It sounded dynamic with some deep bass aggression pulsating under the surface - pretty crisp and clean overall. There are many DUBs and subtitle options (more on the DC for some reason) and my Momitsu has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide. Extras give us everything of value from the first 2 DVDs including the commentaries and 1 1/4 hour 1998 documentary The Fear of God: The Making of The Exorcist. What is new is a 3-part documentary on the movie's production and legacy with actual on-set footage of memorable scenes. These include Raising Hell: Filming The Exorcist (30:03), The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now (8:30) and Faces of Evil: The Different Versions of The Exorcist (9:52). Plus we get the Friedkin intro and a slip of paper with his 'personal message statement' inside the impressive 40-page digi-book with color photos, essays etc. !Fabulous package for fans of the film (or should we say films). After seeing it so many times I think I still lean to the theatrical but it's great to have both versions. Speaking of which - with seamless branching technology actually working well on Blu-ray I wonder if both could have been put on one disc? Regardless, value here is unrivaled for what is being offered. You get 2 versions of, debatably, the scariest film ever made - looking and sounding top shelf, with hours of supplements including three commentaries. Circumstance demands we give this our strongest thumbs up! ***
ON THE DVDs: A situation much like Apocalypse Now / Redux, essential two different stories with a common background. The alternate Exorcist attempts to tell the tale with a different emphasis, a different perspective. In an effort to make certain points clear, the images have been retooled to make the intent perfectly, painfully clear. Unfortunately the result is much like using a paint spray-gun to touch up a few strokes on an oil painting. Part of the original fear effectively comes from the viewer's mind saying this can't be happening, perhaps it is just a sick little girl until the end of the movie when the horror becomes undeniably real. A few scenes have been added, some scenes have been digitally modified and one has even been deleted (Regan laughing with the guests at a party). Only a portion of the "famous" spider walk scene has been inserted in the middle of the film. The old documentary provides a longer cut and an example of some of the additional footage not used is captured below (Regan with a snake's tongue). Many of the digital effects are split second events, so seeing them here in still form shows just how obtrusive they can be. The sound has also been baked to try and make a few extra "bumps in the night" happen. It's a shame because the new version has better picture detail on the scenes that remained the same. The benefit though does not out weight the costs. A new run time and different scenes renders the old commentary tracks out of sync and effectively has to be dropped, a major loss. One of the best audio supplements I have ever listened to is after Blatty's commentary track runs out of steam half way along the original version. The audio track continues on with clips of Linda Blair's voice reading her lines matched up with corresponding line given by Mercedes McCambridge. Try listening to just that track in a dark room. The few new text screens on the alternate DVD version fall woefully short of the documentary that has been dropped. Perhaps the best use from the alternate version is an example of how to edit and construct a story like the original version that allows the viewers a chance to think and reach a conclusion before one is forced into their lap. Get the new version as a supplement, an example of the fine acting that none the less, should not supplant the original version. - Enrique B Chamorro |
DVD Menus
(Warner (25th Ann.) - Region 1 - NTSC -
LEFT vs. Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)
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Warner (theatrical LEFT vs. Director's Cut RIGHT) - Region FREE - Blu-ray
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CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Screen Captures
1) Warner (25th Ann.) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Warner (Theatrical) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SECOND 3) Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD 4) Warner (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Warner (25th Ann.) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Warner (Theatrical) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SECOND 3) Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD 4) Warner (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Warner (25th Ann.) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Warner (Theatrical) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SECOND 3) Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD 4) Warner (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
NOTE: Digital effect added - but not on Blu-ray!
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NOTE: New scene added
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1) Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP2) Warner (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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NOTE: Segment not used!
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SCENE NOT IN USED IN EITHER VERSION |
1) Warner (25th Ann.) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Warner (Theatrical) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SECOND 3) Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD 4) Warner (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Warner (25th Ann.) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Warner (Theatrical) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SECOND 3) Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD 4) Warner (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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1) Warner (25th Ann.) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP
2) Warner (Theatrical) - Region FREE - Blu-ray SECOND 3) Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - THIRD 4) Warner (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
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NOTE: New scene added / different take used (note the bird at the bottom of the street sign)
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1) Warner (Alt. Cut) - Region 1 - NTSC - TOP2) Warner (Director's Cut) - Region FREE - Blu-ray BOTTOM |
More Blu-ray Captures
Report Card:
Image: |
Blu-ray |
Sound: |
Blu-ray |
Extras: |
Blu-ray |
DVD Box Covers |
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Distribution |
Warner Region 1 - NTSC |
Warner Region 1 - NTSC |
Warner - Region FREE - Blu-ray |