Review by Gary Tooze

Production:

Disc:

Video (both):

Audio:

• Pathe's Screen Beauty Competition (1920, 2:00)
• Around the Town: British Film Stars and Studios (1921, 2:30)
• The Lovely Hundred (1922, 0:25)
• Secrets of a World Industry - The Making of Cinematograph Film (1922, 7:49)
• Meet Jackie Coogan (1924, 10:41)
• Starlings of the Screen (1925,15:29)
• Opening of British Instructional Film Studio (1928, 3:44)
• Stills and Special Collections Gallery (2016, 6:22)
• Original screenplay (downloadable PDF, DVD only)
• Illustrated booklet with essays by Bryony Dixon, John Altman, Henry K Miller and Chris O'Rourke, and full film credits

DVD included (region 0)

• Stills and Special Collections Gallery (2016, 6:22)

Bitrates:

 

Description: Shooting Stars is a must for any Silent cinema fan. Offering a rare insight into the workings of a 1920s film studio, there are location scenes, comic stunts and an on-set jazz band which demonstrate just what life was like in the early days of cinema.

Despite the directing credit going to veteran filmmaker A V Bramble, Shooting Stars is universally acknowledged to be the directorial debut of rising talent Anthony Asquith. Asquith wrote the original story, deliberately choosing the subject of movie-making itself as his theme, and the dynamic cinematographic style and professional approach to the design and lighting was introduced by Asquith himself, based on his experiences at Chaplin's studio. The script is sophisticated, incorporating iconic counterpoint and containing very few inter-titles, a trope of Asquith's work.

Presented on DVD and Blu-ray in a new restoration by the BFI National Archive, this key film of the Silent era marked a step change in the quality of British features on a par with Hitchcock's work at Gainsborough, and anyone enamored with the glamour of film will relish the knowing humour and style of this long-unseen classic.

 

 

The Film:

Excerpt from SilentsareGolden located HERE

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

Shooting Stars is restored (2K resolution) and gets a new Blu-ray transfer from BFI.  The 1 3/4 hour film is housed on a dual-layered disc with a strong bitrate. Contrast and black levels are not as rich as I was hoping but I understand the surviving sources used - one reel of negative, two nitrate prints and a master positive (theatrical, French etc.) - were the best available. The 1080P supports a decent image in-motion although less than pitch in terms of black levels but still imperfect. The frame rate has been adjusted to 24 fps without noticeable artefacts (ghosting, combing etc.). There are some scratches and marks - nitrate decay, but some detail in close-ups is impressive.  I don't doubt that this Blu-ray is the best that could be done to bring the film to us. It's wonderful and I think we should be appreciative.

Kino's release of 1928's "Shooting Stars" is the same 2K transfer as the previous BFI Blu-ray disc. The Kino has a lower supportive bitrate though, due to this being a silent film (less frames means frames are repeated to reach 24 fps) there is hardly a noticeable difference in motion.

Audio :

BFI add a number of extras - many short clips like the 2-minute Pathe's Screen Beauty Competition from 1920, Around the Town: British Film Stars and Studios from 1921, 25-seconds of The Lovely Hundred (1922), 1928's Opening of British Instructional Film Studio as well as longer Silent era pieces like Secrets of a World Industry - The Making of Cinematograph Film from 19223 running just shy of 8-minutes and a 10-minute short of Meeting Jackie Coogan as well as Starlings of the Screen from 1925 (15-minutes). There is a new 6-minute Stills and Special Collections Gallery and from the included DVD you can access a PDF of the original screenplay and the package contains an illustrated, 30-page, booklet with essays by Bryony Dixon, John Altman, Henry K Miller and Chris O'Rourke, and full film credits.

 Kino - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

BOTTOM LINE:
Once again the BFI bring us a masterpiece from the Silent Era to Blu-ray.  Shooting Stars is essential cinema for those keen on this genre. It's rare in that few have ever seen this gem. The BFI Blu-ray package offers a lot of value and certainly something you can re-visit and cherish through the years. This is easy to put in the 'must-own' and 'don't hesitate' category for Silent aficionado digital librarians everywhere (it's region FREE!). Recommended! 

North Americans may be pleased to pick-up this Silent Era gem for domestic delivery. The BFI is Region Free and you do get the extra supplements. It's always nice to have options.