ADDITION: Criterion (Individual Release) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray May 2021: We have compared to Criterion's Thirty-Two Blu-ray Special Edition boxset transfer of the multi-directed Visions of Eight. This is comparable to Criterion moving their Tokyo Olympiad to an individual release (see our comparison HERE.) Likewise this is a new transfer advertised as "New 4K digital restoration" but here is a significant upgrade - a much higher bitrate and reds (flags, uniforms, suits) and greens are bolder. Side by side it is quite an improvement. The audio is the same - a linear PCM mono track with optional English (SDH) subtitles and the Blu-ray disc is still Region 'A'-locked.

Criterion augment the single release Blu-ray with a new audio commentary by podcasters Amanda Dobbins, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan of the website the Ringer that covers popular culture and sports. They have fun as well as exporting plenty of interesting details on each director, the sports sections and more. Another significant new supplements addition is a fifty-four-minute 2021 documentary, entitled, "Munich '72: The Making of Visions of Eight" that explores the social and political context of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, as well as behind-the-scenes stories from the production of Visions of Eight. It features director Claude Lelouch; supervising editor Robert K. Lambert; Ousmane Sembene biographer Samba Gadjigo; Munich Games historian David Clay Large; producer David L. Wolper's son, Mark Wolper; and director Arthur Penn's son Matthew Penn. It is describe don IMDb as "Munich '72" goes behind-the-scenes of this one-of-a-kind project, culling from hours of archival footage as well as contemporary interviews with filmmakers, editors, scholars and relatives, to give a full picture of how this cinematic jewel came together. Released in June 2021 in conjunction with The Criterion Collection's reissue of "Visions of Eight," "Munich '72" is a fascinating look at a once-in-a-lifetime cinematic project that will forever live in shadows of that Olympic's tragic terrorist murders." It is fascinating! Also added is a six-minute promotional film was made to coincide with the film's release in 1973. The individual release has liner notes with a 1973 article by author George Plimpton, excerpts from David L. Wolper’s 2003 memoir, and a new reflection on the film by novelist Sam Lipsyte. It sports a new cover design by La Moutique.

There is plenty to like about Criterion's individual Blu-ray release of Visions of Eight; notably improved video, a new commentary and a wonderful extensive documentary. Those who hesitated on Criterion's Thirty-Two Blu-ray Special Edition should definitely consider this large upgrade for a brilliant Olympic documentary by eight renowned filmmakers. Strongly recommended!  

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ADDITION: Criterion (100 Years of Olympic Films) - Region 'A' - Blu-ray September 2017: Criterion's Thirty-Two Blu-ray Special Edition is so large (6253 minutes) that we will review piece-meal as we are able to view individual discs. This is the 18th Blu-ray of the boxset. and it contains two films; Visions of Eight and Sapporo Winter Olympics. So there is over 4.5 hours on this dual-layered Blu-ray disc. I enjoyed both films - and loved the visuals of Sapporo Winter Olympics.

Visions of Eight is another 4K restoration and looks significantly improved over the Olive DVD. Colors become far more realistic - Vasily Alekseyev's attire is no longer orange but red (as many will remember), skin tones improve and detail rises - it is evident in the matched screen captures below. Linear PCM mono (24-bit) and the great Henry Mancini (Hatari, Experiment in Terror, Charade) scored Visions of Eight and it sounds well-supported in lossless. It has English (SDH) subtitles and the Blu-ray is Region 'A'-locked.

With the 2 films and a full disc there are no digital extras on this Blu-ray - but the full package has a 216-page hardcover book, featuring notes on the films by cinema historian Peter Cowie; a foreword by Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee; a short history of the restoration project by restoration producer Adrian Wood; and hundreds of photographs from a century of Olympic Games, but I only have the screener discs at present.

Quite the film with creative visions by the likes of great directors; Milos Forman, Kon Ichikawa, Claude Lelouch, Yuriy Ozerov, Arthur Penn, Michael Pfleghar, John Schlesinger and Mai Zetterling.  Another valuable part of Criterion's Thirty-Two Blu-ray Special Edition.

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ON THE DVDs: Olive Films almost exclusively are known to release Paramount films but Visions of Eight - a Wolper Productions - was released on VHS around 1980 by Columbia. I don't think it has seen the digital light - until now. It evokes memories of Kon Ichikawa's Tokyo Olympiad of the 64' games. I found it very interesting and loved the individual styles. There is some strong nostalgia value here too with this impressive documentary.

The film was originally in 1.85: aspect ratio but, as they are prone to do, Olive Films have transferred it at 1.78. Like all Olive Film DVDs to date this is dual-layered and progressive. It is also anamorphic and the image quality, naturally, varies with some rougher footage with speckles but the transfer seems 'true' without digital manipulation. Colors are modest and the DVD gave me an enjoyable, if not always stellar, presentation. I'd say this is above standard for the medium and age and source condition of the feature.    

The unremarkable audio is mostly narration with some extraneous sounds depending on the sequence. It's flat but supports the film well enough. There are no subtitles on the region 1 - NTSC DVD.

The film has a lot of appeal. I didn't find it annoyingly poetic or contrived in any way. I was the most impressed with the Claude Lelouch piece ( as I was with 11 09 01'). But with Visions of Eight I liked that the directors weren't restrained with a specific time. This was most engrossing DVD-films I have seen in many months. We give it a strong recommendation.   

Gary W. Tooze