Hey, you North American readers! Ever heard of the UK home video label Eureka? How about their Masters of Cinema series of DVDs and Blu-ray discs. Well, they’re kind of like the Criterion Collection for Region 2 (or Region B, if you’re talking Blu-ray) and they’re amazing. If you take a look at their list of titles, you’ll actually find that their catalogue is a good combination of Criterion and Kino titles, augmented with a selection of brilliant Asian cinema and European favourites. Luckily for us, a lot of their titles are Region Free so hop on over to Amazon.co.uk and get ordering and importing!
MOC’s most recent announcement is the upcoming release of F.W. Murnau‘s silent masterpiece, Sunrise, hitting Blu-ray and DVD on September 21. You’ll find both the American Movietone version and the recently unearthed silent Czech version, both in restored high-def transfers. This is super exciting news for me! I don’t own any silent films on Blu yet but I would sell body parts to have Murnau’s Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens in high-def. Perhaps Sunrise is a sign that Eureka and/or Kino will consider making my film-nerd dreams come true…sigh…
SUNRISE (MASTERS OF CINEMA – UK)
(September 21, 2009 – MSRP: £24.99)
Video: 1.20:1 1080p
Audio: TBA
Special Features:
- • Full-length audio commentary by ASC cinematographer John Bailey on the Movietone version
• Outtakes with either John Bailey commentary or intertitles
• Murnau’s 4 Devils: Traces of a Lost Film: Janet Bergstrom’s updated 40-minute documentary about the lost Murnau film
• Original theatrical trailer
• Original ‘photoplay’ script by Carl Mayer with Murnau’s handwritten annotations (150 pages in pdf format)
• 68-page illustrated booklet with numerous essays including a new reprint of a piece by Dudley Andrew
[...] to find out what’s going to be on the M disc. If the incredible MOC edition of Murnau’s Sunrise is any indication, we’re in for a real treat with this next batch of releases. Guess I better [...]