Unconquered Blu-ray - Gary Cooper

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille
USA 1947

Cecil B. DeMille's noted fondness for the good old-fashioned life and for the good old-fashioned way of making movies out of good old-fashioned stuff has never been manifested in a franker nor more disarming way than it is in his latest lavish picture, "Unconquered," which hit the Rivoli yesterday. For here is adventure drama of the sort that we got in silent films—except that it's done in Technicolor—and dialogue such as that we used to read. Here is unblushing employment of the oldest dime-novel clichés. And it will probably reward its producer with a tub full of good old-fashioned gold.

That is because the smiling gentleman who has been doing this sort of thing for years has thrown so much into his picture that it has a strange magnetic pull. Laugh as one may—and one does laugh—at such accumulated old stuff as Indian fights, tavern brawling and a canoe going over a waterfall—and hoot as one may at such brave lines as "I've killed men for less than that!" and "This is greater than you or me or both of us"—two hours and twenty-five minutes of such cannot be blinked.

Excerpt from NY Times located HERE

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Theatrical Release: September 24th, 1947

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Comparison:

Universal - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Elephant Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray vs. Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Covers
			BONUS CAPTURES:
Distribution	Universal Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC	Elephant Films - Region FREE - Blu-ray	Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:26:50	2:27:02.522	2:27:17.829
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.86 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 39,026,016,432 bytes Feature: 32,421,826,560 bytes Video Bitrate: 25.01 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video	1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 49,293,365,729 bytes Feature: 47,339,735,040 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate Elephant Films: Blu-ray
Bitrate Kino: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital Mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio French 1447 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1447 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1344 kbps / 16-bit) DTS-HD Master Audio English 1404 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1404 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1344 kbps / 16-bit)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1557 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1557 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit) Commentary: Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps / DN -31dB
Subtitles	English, French, None	French, None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Universal Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Robert Osborne Introduction (2:08) DVD Release Date: May 22nd, 2007 Double-lock Keep Case Chapters: 30	Release Information: Studio: Elephant Films 1.33:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 39,026,016,432 bytes Feature: 32,421,826,560 bytes Video Bitrate: 25.01 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • Presentation du film par Eddy Moine (13:39) • Cecil B. DeMille par Jean-Pierre Dionnet (10:11) • Trailers for 6 other films • Gallery (1:29) DVD Blu-ray Release Date: May 2nd, 2018 Transparent (thick) Blu-ray Case inside cardboard sleeve Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Kino 1.37:1 1080P Dual-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 49,293,365,729 bytes Feature: 47,339,735,040 bytes Video Bitrate: 38.93 Mbps Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Edition Details: • NEW Audio Commentary by Film Critic Nick Pinkerton Theatrical Trailer (2:42) Blu-ray Release Date: July 20th, 2021 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters 9

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Kino Blu-ray (July 2021): Kino have transferred Cecil B. DeMille's Unconquered to Blu-ray. Like many DeMille epic on Blu-ray (The Ten Commandments, The Plainsman, The King of Kings, Union Pacific, Cleopatra, The Sign of the Cross, Samson and Delilah etc.) it looks wonderful in 1080P. Impressive image quality on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. It advances on the French Elephant Blu-ray release looking tighter (colors) and has a shade darker, richer, image exporting the grain more effectively The Kino transfer has more than 50% of the bitrate of the Euro HD release and this shows in the below compared stills and in-motion.

NOTE: We have added 57 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Kino use a DTS-HD Master dual-mono track (16-bit) in the original English language. Unconquered has relatively few aggressive sound effects with the Indian captures and later gunfire. It comes through clean and tight with a very supportive and occasionally romantic score score by Victor Young's (Calcutta, The Accused, Strategic Air Command, The Sun Shines Bright, Johnny Guitar, China Gate etc.) Kino offer optional English subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Kino Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Nick Pinkerton. He talks about Unconquered being the last of a cycle of 'Americana' epics that De Mille made that are less-remembered than his biblical epics. How he was a celebrity director rarely seen before or since - one of the most commercially successful producer-directors in film history. Nick is magnificent in imparting extraneous and interesting details of cast, crew (there other films), critical response, minutia on the filmmaker, House Un-American Activities Committee, blacklisting, the film's poor response at the box-office, a focus on indentured white slavery, Neil H. Swanson's novel and much more. There is also a trailer for Unconquered and for other the films including The Plainsman, The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, Desire, The General Died at Dawn as well as others.

Unconquered is another very appealing epic dealing with rivalry, fascinating historical context, frontiersman-ship, romance and the shaping of the United States. I was engaged the entire 2.5 hours and vintage era, Copper, Godard etc. fans will see plenty of benefit in this Kino Blu-ray presentation and the detailed Pinkerton commentary. was so glad to see via the exceptional HD presentation on the . At the writing of this review it has a ton of value at 34% OFF. Absolutely recommended!

***

Elephant Films have brought Cecil B. DeMille's new-world-epic Unconquered to a new Blu-ray package. It's on a dual-layered Blu-ray in 1080P with a supportive bitrate. Colors appear a bit muted beside the SD but I think this darker look is more accurate. Some colors do shift (flesh tones more accurate) and they hold some depth and richness not present on the DVD (that now looks a shade brightened). The texture is another attribute and there is an impressive film-like quality to the HD-rendered image.

The film is presented in a 2.0 mono, with a 16-bit DTS-HD Master Audio track in original English as well as the option of a similarly encoded French DUB.The audio quality is representative of the age but the effects (fighting sequence, guns, canons etc.) carry some weight in the lossless. There are optional French subtitles on this Region FREE Blu-ray.

Extras are French-only and consist of an 14-minute introduction by Eddy Moine plus a piece with Jean-Pierre Dionnet discussing Cecil B. DeMille for 10-minutes. There are trailers for 6 other films, a photo gallery and a second disc PAL DVD.

Gary Tooze

ON THE DVD: Another dual-layered, yet pragmatic package from Universal. The color image looks very good - as good as I have seen from this era. There is some occasional digital artifacts but nothing excessive. Advertised as De Mille's most expensive spectacle to date at $5 million - it is certainly a film that is rife with grandiose backdrops, multitudes of extras and beautiful scenic vistas. There are very few speckles and overall the image is quite strong. It is progressive and sports optional English (hoh) or French subtitles. Audio is mono but clear and consistent enough to interpret the dialogue easily.

No extras save the short Robert Osborne introduction, but I think it has some merit for vintage film fans and the price, around $10, makes it an easy purchase decision.

Gary W. Tooze

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