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

ADDITION: Masters of Cinema Blu-ray (July 2023): Masters of Cinema have transferred three Andrzej Żulawski films; The Third Part of the Night (1971,) The Devil (1972) and On the Silver Globe (1988) to three separate dual-layered Blu-rays (this is contrary to the way it was initially advertised as being on two Blu-ray discs.) I received three screeners. It is cited as being from "new 4K restorations". We had reviewed Second Run's DVD of The Third Part of the Night in 2007, HERE. We reviewed a DVD of The Devil by PolArt, back in 2007, HERE. We have compared screen captures with those SD editions and done new ones for On the Silver Globe. I cannot speak to the colors of these films. Obviously the detail/grain rises quite remarkably in the 1080P transfers. The Third Part of the Night can appear, comparatively de-saturated where The Devil looks so much better than the ultra-soft, very dark, DVD and while On the Silver Globe leans blue-green, the film has some remarkable cinematography by Andrzej J. Jaroszewicz. Close-ups, make-up and costumes are immensely impressive in the HD presentation. 

NOTE: We have added 96 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Masters of Cinema use linear PCM 2.0 channel tracks (24-bit) in the original Polish language. There are certainly effects and aggressive moments in all three films - that come through with sneaky depth via the uncompressed transfer. On all three films, The Third Part of the Night, The Devil and On the Silver Globe the broad-styled scores were by Andrzej Korzynski (Zulawski's Cosmos, Possession, Andrzej Wajda's Man of Iron and Man of Marble) sounding, innovative, bold, at times psychedelic, but full and buoyant in supporting Zulawski's unique, visual, cinema. Masters of Cinema offer optional English subtitles, from translations by Daniel Bird and approved by director Andrzej Żuławski before his death in 2016, on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The Masters of Cinema Blu-ray offers a new audio commentary on On the Silver Globe by Daniel Bird who recognized as an expert on East European directors, a co-producer of the restoration of the film, assisted in color grading and subtitles. On the Silver Globe is a long films and later he is asked question by the director Stephen Sayadian. He talks about how the films is adapted from adapted from The Lunar Trilogy by Jerzy Żuławski (a great uncle of the director) from 1901-1912. Bird tells us about the inserts of contemporary Warsaw anchoring the film to Polish reality of the 1980s, differences from the book, the director's 'love triangles' and a wealth more on the production and Żulawski. He clears up some of the plot details that I was unsure about and I strongly recommend listening to it after viewing the film. There are two new video pieces on The Third Part of the Night + The Devil by film historian Michael Brooke. He discusses the director's life and career, attending the Sorbonne, becoming assistant of the filmmaker Andrzej Wajda, many of the performers, the mise-en-scène, composer Korzynski etc. - with astute observations on the two films. I like Michael - he is always great to listen to - these are valuable, well-written/researched pieces. There is a brand new interview with Lukasz Żulawski on The Devil for 20-minutes. He acted in the film, as Aktor, and is a brother to Andrzej. He shares his memories of making the film, the cinematography, music, authorities spying on the production etc. There is also a brand new 20-minute interview with Adam Żulawski on author Jerzy Żulawski. Adam is also related, I think, as the grandson of the Polish painter, graphic artist Marek Żuławski and second cousin to Andrzej Żuławski. It's rather confusing - also as there are so many named 'Andrzej' - a director, an actor, a cinematographer, a composer etc. Return to the Silver Globe directed by Dobrotka Więckiewicz, has 2019 footage of cinematographer Andrzej Jaroszewicz revisiting the Polish salt mine used as a filming location for On the Silver Globe. NOTE: not to be confused with Kuba Mikurda's Escape to the Silver Globe documentary about Żulawski from 2021. The Cinematography of On the Silver Globe and Lunar Futurism are new documentaries by Daniel Bird. The package has a limited edition 60-page collector’s book featuring The Enigmas of Żulawski, a new essay by Philip Kemp; Unidentified Film Object, Daniel Bird’s revised and edited notes for a presentation on the production history and restoration of On the Silver Globe; a new essay by Andrew Graves; a transcription from a 1979 samizdat journal criticizing the official Polish coverage of On the Silver Globe; and an archival letter written by the crew of On the Silver Globe. 

Masters of Cinema's Blu-ray package of three Andrzej Żulawski films is highly anticipated. He is known as the enfant terrible and a maverick of Polish Cinema. The Third Part of the Night is a psychological drama / horror set in Nazi-occupied Poland. It was inspired by the experiences of Zulawski's father, and involves an 'illegal vaccine' using lice (see the Rudolf Weigl's Institute in Lwow,) second chances, hallucinations and is totally haunting in its viewing impact. The Devil is a historical drama with plenty of horror and starts with the bloody Prussian invasion of Poland in the 1790s. It has a frantic prison break, satanic character, symbolic nun, nymphomaniacs and the film was banned for 17 years in Poland as the government didn't take kindly to be represented as Beelzebub. The dystopian epic science-fiction On the Silver Globe is as fascinating as its production history being 'interrupted' by Janusz Wilhelmi, vice-minister of cultural affairs. It has dissident astronauts, a new human race, telepathic bird-like humanoids, partially feral inhabitants, false messiahs and is a visual wonder. A masterful Blu-ray boxset from Masters of Cinema of a mind-bending filmmaker. It is one of the most notable sets of the year. Strongly recommended!

Gary Tooze