Emperor of the North Blu-ray

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

(aka 'Emperor of the North Pole')

Directed by Robert Aldrich
USA 1973

Director Robert Aldrich and screenwriter Christopher Knopf bring us a spectacular Depression-era tale, Emperor of the North (1973) featuring a pair of stalwart veteran actors, Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine, as, respectively, a jaunty hobo determined to ride a train and the vicious conductor equally resolved to prevent this eventuality. Also starring Keith Carradine as the train-jumper’s young protégé, and featuring a potent score by Frank De Vol.

***

Gritty story of the Depression, railways and hoboes. With a tough performance from Ernest Borgnine as the guard who won't let any freeloaders onto his patch

This is a wonderfully dark and realistic tale of the never-ending battle between railwaymen and the hoboes who try to use their beloved trains for free rides.

Centring on Borgnine's sadistic guard and his determination to prevent freeloader Marvin from making a fool out of him, the tale quickly becomes violent. Director Aldrich's initially quaint story turns into a brutal cat and mouse game.

Even if the script occasionally fails to make the goings on in this insular little world relevant to larger issues, The Emperor Of The North Pole is an unusual, uncompromising and much underrated film.

Excerpt from Channel 4 located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 23rd, 1973

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Comparison:

20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC vs. Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray

1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT

Box Covers
Distribution	20th Century Fox Home Video - Region 1 - NTSC	Twilight Time Region FREE - Blu-ray
Runtime	2:00:16	2:00:25.468
Video	1.85:1 Aspect Ratio Average Bitrate: 7.54 mb/s NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s	Disc Size: 34,701,280,095 bytes Feature Size: 34,331,904,000 bytes Total Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate:
Bitrate: Blu-ray
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0), English (Mono), DUBs: French (Mono), Spanish (Mono)	DTS-HD Master Audio English 1899 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1899 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Commentary: DTS-HD Master Audio English 1737 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1737 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit) Isolated Score: DTS-HD Master Audio English 2003 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 2003 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 24-bit)
Subtitles	English, Spanish, None	English (SDH), None
Features	Release Information: Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Video Aspect Ratio: Original Aspect Ratio 1.85:1 Edition Details: • Commentary by film historian Dana Polan • Theatrical trailer • TV Spots (2) DVD Release Date: June 6th, 2006 Keep Case Chapters: 24	Release Information: Studio: Twilight Time Disc Size: 34,701,280,095 bytes Feature Size: 34,331,904,000 bytes Total Bitrate: 29.99 Mbps Dual-layered Blu-ray MPEG4 - AVC Edition Details: • Audio Commentary with Film Historian Dana Polan • TV Spots (1:32) • Original Theatrical Trailer (3:39) • Isolated Score Track • 8-page liner notes by Julie Kirgo Limited to 3,000 units Blu-ray Release Date: September , 2015 Transparent Blu-ray case Chapters 24

Comments:

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

ADDITION: Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray September 15': The captures speak for themselves - the new 1080P is far ahead of the old DVD - notably in terms of color, detail, contrast and more information in the frame - it's quite lopsided. This is dual-layered with a very high bitrate and looks pretty impressive in-motion.

Frank De Vol's (The Dirty Dozen, Kiss Me Deadly, The Big Knife (1955), What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?, McLintock) score is able to shift to the film's lighter and darker moments gracefully and sounds superb in the DTS-HD Master, lossless, audio transfer. There are optional English subtitles and the Blu-ray disc is region FREE.

Extras from the DVD are duplicated plus some - same Dana Polan commentary, trailer and TV Spots but Twilight Time add the optional isolated score and Julie Kirgo liner notes. A great package of a special film. Strongly recommended!

***

ON THE DVD: Talk about films staying with you - I saw this in the theatre when I was, I suppose, 11 years old. The film reminds me of another depression era violence-based adventure saga called Hard Times with Charles Bronson and James Coburn. It also focused on the extension of extreme means of survival in impoverished times, although they both had a different spin.

This DVD image is fabulous - minor, but fairly fine, digital noise at times but it is extremely sharp and colors are very bright. Aldrich uses a lot of closes ups and it really brings out the detail of the image. Audio comes with a mono and stereo flavor in English and two mono DUBs. The optional subtitles are great and this anamorphic and progressive DVD, with commentary insights by Dana Polan, is a steal at under $10. Borgnine and Marvin both give super performances. Even with its macho underpinnings we recommend!

Gary W. Tooze

Menus

1) 20th Century Fox - Region 1 - NTSC - LEFT

2) Twilight Time - Region FREE - Blu-ray - RIGHT