Casablanca - Humphrey Bogart

directed by Michael Curtiz
U.S. 1942

Not seeing Casablanca for a while can tend to make one forget what a monumental film it is.... how perfectly the plot, characters, Steiner's score and Edson's cinematography mesh to create, what is still regarded by many, as the greatest film of all time. The dialogue has become virtually institutionalized. It is ranked number 2 in The American Film Institute’s Top 100 American Films, and presently stands sixth with voters in the Internet Movie Database’s Top 250. It is on hundreds of Top 10 lists. I'll try not to simply gush... I feel the films lauded success stems from the incomparable screen charisma embodied by the leads Bogart and Bergman. The supporting cast is one of the strongest in cinema history. Bogie was at his zenith in his greatest role and no female could equally exude Ingrid Bergman radiance in Casablanca. I'll admit that I occasionally would get blasé about this film's consistent accolades, but frankly one need only watch it to realize it is fully deserved.

Gary Tooze

Posters (CLICK to enlarge)

Theatrical Release: November 26th, 1942 - USA

Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews

Presently our comparisons with HD DVDs must rely on a more subjective analysis as HD screen captures we produce would have to be blown-up larger than a computer screen to more accurately identify differences.

The equipment used in this comparison is a Samsung HPR4272 42" Flat Panel Plasma TV reviewed HERE), a Toshiba HD-A2 HD-DVD Player (firmware upgraded), a Sekonic L-308S Flashmate, Flash and Ambient, Incident & Reflected Exposure Meter and a Canon PowerShot 7.1 MegaPixel As620 digital camera. The HD screen grabs were obtained with an XBox 360 add-on drive and we can't be 100% sure of their resolution.

DVD Comparison:

Warner - HD vs. Warner (SE) - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC

(Warner - HD - LEFT vs. Warner (SE) - NTSC - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
	The new SE is also available in The Humphrey Bogart - The Signature Collection, Vol. 1 with Casablanca Two-Disc Special Edition / The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Two-Disc Special Edition / They Drive by Night and High Sierra
Packaging: The HD comes in, what is now known as, a standard HD box - slightly shorter and slimmer than an Amaray keep case. There are no additional photo inserts or liner notes beyond an HD advertisement flyer. The SE is housed in a 3-tiered digipak inside a cardboard box. The disc artwork is duplicated with an "HD DVD" logo replacing the 'Disc One" label on the SE. HD spindle holes are smaller.

Distribution	Warner HD	Warner Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC
Runtime	1:42:28	1:42:28
Video	1.33:1/4:3 FullScreen Feature in 1080p NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1/4:3 FullScreen Average Bitrate: 6.10 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Warner R1 (SE)
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), Spanish English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono), French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono)
Subtitles	English (HoH), English, French, Spanish or none.	English, Spanish, French or none.
Features	Release Information: Studio: Warner Aspect Ratio: 1:33:1 original aspect ratio Edition Details: • Commentary by critic Roger Ebert • Commentary by author-historian Rudy Behlmer • Theatrical trailer(s) • Introduction by Lauren Bacall • New digital transfer • Nearly 10 minutes of newly found deleted scenes and outtakes • Bacall hosts two documentaries, "You Must Remember This" and "Bacall on Bogart" • "The Children Remember": parental memories from Stephen Bogart and Ingrid Bergman's daughters Pia Lindstrom and Isabella Rosselini • The Looney Tunes homage "Carrotblanca" • Premier episode from the 1955 Casablanca TV series • Audio-only treasures: "Screen Guild Players Radio Production" with the three stars, plus rare scoring session outtakes • Production history gallery: Photos, press materials, studio correspondence, memorabilia, and more • Full-screen format • Number of discs: 1 DVD Release Date: November 14th, 2006 Standard HD Box Chapters: 32 DVD Encoding: none	Release Information: Studio: Warner Aspect Ratio: 1:33:1 original aspect ratio Edition Details: • Commentary by critic Roger Ebert • Commentary by author-historian Rudy Behlmer • Theatrical trailer(s) • Introduction by Lauren Bacall • New digital transfer • Nearly 10 minutes of newly found deleted scenes and outtakes • Bacall hosts two documentaries, "You Must Remember This" and "Bacall on Bogart" • "The Children Remember": parental memories from Stephen Bogart and Ingrid Bergman's daughters Pia Lindstrom and Isabella Rosselini • The Looney Tunes homage "Carrotblanca" • Premier episode from the 1955 Casablanca TV series • Audio-only treasures: "Screen Guild Players Radio Production" with the three stars, plus rare scoring session outtakes • Production history gallery: Photos, press materials, studio correspondence, memorabilia, and more • Full-screen format • Number of discs: 2 DVD Release Date: 5 August 2003 2- DVD insert in handsome cardboard box Chapters: 32 DVD Encoding: NTSC Region 1

Comments:

The new HD image is totally mesmerizing. I found myself watching it in, what I can only describe as, a kind of hypnotic stupor. It actually looked so good that I had difficulty pausing for a bathroom break. It is, if not the best DVD image I have ever seen, easily the best black and white DVD image I have seen to date.

Differences:

Image: Image difference could be as little as a 10-15% improvement over the Special Edition but it amounts to a huge disparity if you consider how strong the SE looks - and how little room for improvement there appeared to be. The HD visually looks smoother, sharper and what I can only describe as having 'more depth'. Certainly much more film-like. Contrast is at perfection levels I have never seen. The previous restoration gave us an almost flawlessly clean image, but this HD transfer has bumped it up a healthy notch.

There is some very minor contrast flickering on the SE that is not present on the HD.

There were two instances where I noted digital artifacts in the image on the SE (see screen captures below). Oddly enough these remain in the new HD. They are minor but do exist and I thought worth noting.

Menus: Some who have entered the HD arena may be aware of the difference in how DVD menus are displayed. They appear as transparent pop-ups directly over the moving (or paused) image. A series of toggle arrow manipulations are usually required to enact usage, but they certainly appear efficient and professional looking (see sample below) although initially I found them cumbersome. Some HD DVDs have a startup menu as well as the above mentioned pop-ups, but the Casablanca HD does not.

After an HD advertisement (which can be passed by with one chapter button stop) the film immediately starts.

Audio: Still mono, the HD offers a new Spanish DUB, on top of existing choices, and inconsequentially, the sound level is slightly higher on the new HD DVD.

Subtitles: The HD DVD sports hearing impaired and standard English subtitles as well as French and Spanish. On the HD they are slightly larger, clearer (brighter white) and set lower on the screen than on the Special Edition. Neither are totally literal translations, but get the job done.

Extras: Extras are exactly the same on both editions although the available 15-17Gig (34 if dual layered, 51 if triple-layered!) on the HD allows it to remain on only one disc. The HD supplements are only 480 (standard) definition.

Of the many extras the commentaries are excellent (I, personally, lean towards Behlmer's over Eberts) - the Bacall intro (2:00) is a nice touch, as is Bacall on Bogart feature (1:23:20), and there are enough digital supplements to keep even the most devout fan content. I love the cartoon inclusion - Corrotblanca (8:00).

Reflecting recently on what my 100 'desert island DVDs' would be - this Casablanca HD would definitely be included. The new HD has become my new 'demo' DVD for guests who venture to my home theater! In a pitch black room it looks (and sounds) unbelievably rich and full.

Gary Tooze

****

Robert Harris says about the SE (standard) release:

"Someone has handled digital cleanup properly as while the grain structure is still very much intact and similar to that of the previous release, the dupe sections now look appreciatively better, with a better rendition of gray scale and better contrast values.

Both visually and sonically, the new Casablanca is a treat and is highly recommended. It's the best that I've seen it look..."

- Gary W. Tooze

DVD Menus

(Warner - HD - LEFT vs. Warner (SE) Region 1 - NTSC - RIGHT)

Screen Captures of visible digital artifacts

NOTE: 2 minor instances of digital artifacts are present on BOTH DVD editions, although virtually invisible on the small images below, they do exist in the area within the rounded rectangles.

(Warner - HD - TOP vs. Warner (SE) Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

SUBTITLE SAMPLE

(Warner - HD - TOP vs. Warner (SE) Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

NOTE: Marginally 'bright spots' on the SE

(Warner - HD - TOP vs. Warner (SE) Region 1 - NTSC - BOTTOM)

NOTE: The following two images are NOT screen captures from either DVD. This is a scanned promotional still not found in the film (although it's close). What I have done is try to establish a framework to envision the difference between the two digital transfers (based on viewing through my equipment). It may be slightly exaggerated but the pristine image on TOP represents the HD DVD and the grainier one on the BOTTOM is meant to represent the Standard SE. It is my opinion that both look even better than the represented jpg images.

DVD Box Covers
	The new SE is also available in The Humphrey Bogart - The Signature Collection, Vol. 1 with Casablanca Two-Disc Special Edition / The Treasure of the Sierra Madre Two-Disc Special Edition / They Drive by Night and High Sierra