Arch of Triumph Blu-ray - Ingrid Bergman

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

(aka 'Triumphbogen')

Directed by Lewis Milestone
USA 1948

Paris 1938, city of last resort for the stateless, including a surgeon (Boyer) whose obsession with a Nazi sadist (Laughton) leaves him vulnerable to deportation and ill-prepared for romance with Ingrid Bergman. The original Remarque novel is too hefty to fit into two hours screentime, and if Milestone chooses to focus on the tale of the doctor's revenge and his doomed romance, he also breathes life into an assembly of supporting roles: concierge, café proprietor, a general reduced to night-club doorman, none of whom is played for comic relief. Bergman seems out of place as an Italian/Romanian good-time girl, but Russell Metty gives harsh light and inky shadow to seedy hotel rooms we'll see again in Touch of Evil ten years on.

Excerpt from TimeOut Film Guide located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: February 17th, 1948

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Comparison:

Kinowelt Home Entertainment - Region 2,8 - NTSC vs. LionsGate - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

1) Kinowelt Home Entertainment - Region 2,8 - NTSC LEFT

2) LionsGate - Region 1 - NTSC MIDDLE

3) Olive Film - Region 'A' - Blu-ray RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	Kinowelt Home Entertainment - Region 2,8 - NTSC	LionsGate - Region 1 - NTSC	Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:12:28	2:12:20	2:13:02.975
Video	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.36 mb/s NTSC 720x576 25.00 f/s	1.33:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 6.46 mb/s NTSC 720x576 25.00 f/s	1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 22,985,616,433 bytes Feature: 22,907,793,408 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 20.96 Mbps
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Kinowelt
Bitrate: Lionsgate
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 1.0), DUB: German (Dolby Digital 1.0)	English (Dolby Digital 2.0)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 840 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 840 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles	German, None	English, Spanish, None	English, None
Features	Release Information: Studio: Kinowelt Home Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • Documentary on Ingrid Bergman (1:09:32 in English) • Discussion of Sternberg and Remarque (in German - no subtitles) • trailers (mostly in English) DVD Release Date: July 6th, 2007 Custom Digipak (see image below) Chapters: 18	Release Information: Studio: LionsGate Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 Edition Details: • LionsGate adverts DVD Release Date: October 14th, 2008 Keep case Chapters: 12	Release Information: Studio: Olive Films Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray Disc Size: 22,985,616,433 bytes Feature: 22,907,793,408 bytes Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video Total Video Bitrate: 20.96 Mbps Edition Details: • none Blu-ray Release Date: July 15th, 2014 Standard Blu-ray Case Chapters: 8

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Olive Films - Region 'A' - Blu-ray - July 14': I don't know if I matched all the captures to the SD exactly. Short story on this HD release - obviously it advances handily beyond the flawed SD transfers (chroma and interlaced combing not present - see examples below.) The 1080P has superior contrast and some of the textures are supported - but the imperfect source is inconsistent and has plenty of speckles and light damage - it really requires a film-level restoration. Audio is lossless and original mono - it is an improvement but less-noticeable. The Olive Blu-ray disc is bare-bones (no subtitles or extras.) This may be as good as it gets for Arch of Triumph digitally and this does make most of the fatal flaws of the DVD disappear. This should be considered a 'buy' for fans of the film, Bergman and world cinema in general.

***

ADDITION: Lionsgate - Region 1 - NTSC (Oct 2008): Lionsgate continue to impress us as the most inconsistent of DVD labels. A progressive transfer (and some extras) would have been such a welcome benefit to putting Arch of Triumph on this dual-layered DVD. But alas, it is fraught with errors - some the same as the Kinowelt and also some new distractions. Like the German edition - it has prevalent combing and instances of chroma bug. The Lionsgate image is softer and although contrast is not exceptional it improves on the sepia tinge of the European release. The Kinowelt looks brightness boosted and the Lionsgate shows more damage. Pretty disgraceful overall.

The Kinowelt has bountiful extras where the Lionsgate is bare-bones but priced accordingly.

Bottom line - both are suitable for CRT viewing and if you might be keen on the German edition's supplements - that is the way to go. If not - the Lionsgate is probably worth $10 for the film alone. It really is a shame that they can't get their act together though. Sigh.

***

ON THE KINOWELT: NOTE: The Feature is in NTSC and the bonus features are in PAL!

This dual-layered transfer is only suitable for CRT viewing - it is rife combing (an interlaced source) - see last capture. There is also horizontal banding producing abundant macro-blocking and some chroma bug evident (see capture identifying below). None of these deficiencies should hinder television tube viewing to any strong degree. English mono audio is acceptable but not stellar and there is a German DUB optional as are German subtitles. The film is a good war-romance and Bergman's visage steals the show, although some decent camerawork makes it pleasant viewing.

Supplements on disc two include a good hour+ long documentary (in English) on Ingrid Bergman with input from many of her colleagues, contemporaries and friends. This vaults the DVD into recommendation territory. For those keen on the era, or Bergman herself, you will appreciate the package - the only digital edition of the film at present.