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With
time having passed and perspective having come into
focus, we can now look upon the defining films of the
counter cultural late 60s and early 70s and see which
movies really captured the zeitgeist and spirit of this
turbulent era. One look at Michelangelo Antonioni's
(almost) film maudit "Zabriskie Point" should answer all
the questions to an open-minded viewer. |
Posters
Theatrical Release: February 9th, 1970
Reviews More Reviews DVD Reviews
DVD Comparison:
Complete Media Services - Region 2 - PAL vs. Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL vs. Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC
DVD Box Cover |
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Distribution |
Complete Media Services Region 2 - PAL |
Warner (France) Region 2 - PAL |
Warner (US) Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC |
Runtime | 1:46:56 (4% PAL speedup) | 1:46:36 (4% PAL speedup) | 1:53:36 |
Video |
4:3 Aspect Ratio |
2.35:1 Letterboxed Average Bitrate: 8.98 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s |
2.35:1
Aspect Ratio |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate: Media Services |
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Bitrate: Warner (France) |
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Bitrate: Warner (US) |
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Audio | English, German (Dolby Digital 2.0) | English, French (Dolby Digital 1.0) |
English (Dolby Digital 1.0), DUB: French (Dolby Digital 1.0) |
Subtitles | None | French, None | English, French, Japanese, None |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: Complete Media Services Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 (cropped) Edition Details:
• none Chapters 16 |
Release Information: Studio: Warner (France) Aspect Ratio: Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: December 3rd, 2008 Keep case inside cardboard sleeve Chapters 12 |
Release Information: Studio: Warner (US) Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: • Trailer (1:56 in 4:3 letterboxed) DVD Release Date: May 26th, 2009 Keep case Chapters 22 |
Comments: |
ADDITION: Warner - US - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC: May 09': On the visual front this is great news - taken from the recent restoration - this is dual-layered, progressive and, finally, ANAMORPHIC! It looks significantly better - even beyond the 16X9 enhancement. Colors - flesh tones lose the orange-ness of the PAL editions and everything else seems more true although perhaps a little green. Generally it has a tighter feel and stronger detail. The French transfer looks boosted beside the US edition. I've never seen this theatrically - but it again has no 'acid rock' closing - it's Roy Orbison to the sunset (sunrise?) and no end credits. Just this: The audio is consistent English mono with an optional French DUB and there are subtitles available in English, French or Japanese. No extras but a 2 minute trailer - 4:3 letterboxed. I think after all we have gone through this has to be considered a victory with the film in NTSC running time, anamorphic and looking very true. Some extras would have been nice and I'll let the experts debate the ending. I'm certainly more, digitally, content than I have ever been for this title. NOTE: Amazon has this as a June 30th release date, but Amazon Canada has it as May 26th (which I suspect is more accurate - I expect the former will alter soon). Gary Tooze **** ADDITION: Warner - France - Region 2 - PAL: (written December 08'): Well, what is this? A course on how to tease Antonioni fans? Yes, This new French release is finally in the proper 2.35:1 aspect ratio - but it's non-anamorphic!?!!? The dual-layered bare bones DVD actually looks pretty good with a healthy bitrate - the colors are overly vibrant for SD (boosted?) - but why it is not 16X9 enhanced is anyone's guess. This appears to be the best version right now - but we will continue to wait for a decent DVD transfer (or Blu-ray) with some viable extras (any?) Where are you Criterion? NOTE: This doesn't have the complete acid-rock finale - there are no ending credits (just 'the End'). NOTE two: My computer and both my region-free DVD players did not force the French subtitles when the English audio was selected. Gary Tooze ON THE GERMAN EDITION (written April 2008): Being one of many passionate Antonioni fans around the world, I was anticipating this German DVD release of "Zabriskie Point" very enthusiastically. Amazon.de informs us that the image is 16:9, but that's flat out misinformation. The image is actually cropped to fit an older 4:3 TV screen. What disastrous consequences this has on Antonioni's cinemascope compositions are rather obvious. The frame is cropped to such a drastic degree that we lose very important information on the left and right, which is clearly not the right way to watch this masterpiece.
The transfer itself is not ideal
either. The colors are much stronger and more vivid than those of our
already reviewed bootleg, but there's still a fair amount of grain
inherent in the image. There's also a notable lack in sharpness and
detail. So this is certainly not on par with Sony's very fine work on
"The Passenger". |
DVD Menus
Complete Media Services - Region 2 - PAL LEFT vs. Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL
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Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC
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Screen Captures
1) Gary's VHS Bootleg (reviewed HERE) TOP 2) Complete Media Services - Region 2 - PAL SECOND 3) Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL THIRD 4) Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM |
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1) Complete Media Services - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL MIDDLE 3) Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM |
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1) Complete Media Services - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL MIDDLE 3) Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM |
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1) Complete Media Services - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL MIDDLE 3) Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM |
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1) Gary's VHS Bootleg (reviewed HERE) TOP 2) Complete Media Services - Region 2 - PAL SECOND 3) Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL THIRD 4) Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM |
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1) Complete Media Services - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL MIDDLE 3) Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM |
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1) Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM |
1) Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM |
1) Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM
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1) Warner (France) - Region 2 - PAL TOP 2) Warner - Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC BOTTOM |
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DVD Box Cover |
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Distribution |
Complete Media Services Region 2 - PAL |
Warner (France) Region 2 - PAL |
Warner (US) Region 1,2,3,4 - NTSC |
Michelangelo Antonioni films on DVD (NTSC) - CLICK COVERS or REVIEW BUTTON for more information
Recommended Books for Michelangelo Antonioni reading (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)
That Bowling Alley on the Tiber: Tales of a
Director by Michelangelo Antonioni |
Antonioni, Or, the Surface of the World by Seymour Chatman |
My Time With Antonioni: The Diary of an
Extraordinary Experience by Wim Wenders, Michael Hofmann |
Antonioni: The Poet of Images by William Arrowsmith, Ted Perry |
Antonioni by Sam Rohdie |
The Films of Michelangelo Antonioni
(Cambridge Film Classics) by Peter Brunette, Ray Carney |
Michelangelo Antonioni by Seymour Chatman, Paul Duncan |
L'Avventura (B.F.I. Film Classics) by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith |