Immortal Story and Ambersons DVD questions

[Kevin Loy]

Does anybody know of a good online source for the Italian Immortal Story DVD? Likewise, is the French DVD of The Magnificent Ambersons still the best version out there? I remember reading somewhere that there was a planned UK version from Warner...but then again, I also remember reading that there was, at least at one point, a Brazillian family who claimed to have a 16mm print of The Magnificent Ambersons, which might be the one that was sent to Orson in Brazil. Of course, there was also some talk about it eventually seeing release on DVD in the US, but I haven't heard anything about that for, well, years.

[TheMcGuffin]

Here is the place I got my copy of the Magnificent Ambersons. I remember there being a way to view the page in english, but i cannot remember how to do so.

http://www.dvdshoppingcenter.com:80/film-dv....e=&cat=

[Kevin Loy]

I was checking on Amazon.fr as well, and I came across two different Amberson DVDs:
http://www.amazon.fr/exec....5862564
and
http://www.amazon.fr/exec....5862564

Aside from the obvious price and packaging difference, does anybody know if there is a difference in content between these two? A difference in image/sound quality? A difference in extras? From what I can gather, Amazon doesn't have much to say about either of them...though you'll notice that the lower-priced one has a much higher sales rank in contrast to the more expensive one (377 versus 4,396). Has anyone even seen this variant before?

[Wilson]

The second one you linked to should just be a re-issue of the first, but I can't confirm all the extras would be the same. The first one, which is the one I have, comes in a large box with a booklet, and the disc comes in a digipak. The second release comes in a thinpak type case, as does the release of JOURNEY INTO FEAR, part of the same series.

[catbuglah]

There's some bootleg Immortal Story DVD's on ebay.com - by the way; The one from Mr. Light ain't that great, there's another version that's better, not great, but not bad.

[Kevin Loy]

The second one you linked to should just be a re-issue of the first, but I can't confirm all the extras would be the same. The first one, which is the one I have, comes in a large box with a booklet, and the disc comes in a digipak. The second release comes in a thinpak type case, as does the release of JOURNEY INTO FEAR, part of the same series.

Well, I ordered it from Amazon.fr, since it was cheaper than getting the other version from either Amazon or the site that was mentioned in a previous response to this. If you're interested, I'll definitely let you know about it once it arrives.

[Kevin Loy]

The second one you linked to should just be a re-issue of the first, but I can't confirm all the extras would be the same.

Well, as you cited, it does come in a slimline plastic DVD case. As far as extras are concerned, well, there's a brief introduction in French (shades of Tony Curtis' odd, pointless, but humorous intro to Mr. Arkadin, perhaps...but this guy wasn't wearing black gloves...and I am not fluent in French, so it may have been quite a bit more straight-laced), and that's it. You do get three viewing options for the film, though: English, French (I'm not sure, though I would assume that you can activate subtitles for this one), and English with French Subtitles. There's no alternate audio track with the extracts from "This Is Orson Welles" in this version or trailer (though, thankfully the [excuse the pun] Magnificent Ambersons web site has the trailer available for viewing, even if they did chop it up into several pieces). So, it is a less expensive alternative to the deluxe version, but after seeing just how incredible the film really is (despite the choppiness during the second half), I do wish that I had went for the deluxe version. But then again, I do still hold to that whimsical notion that maybe a print of the full version will turn up someday and be released on DVD...

Anyway, as a general observation of the soundtrack...has anybody else noticed a Stravinsky influence creeping in during some of the earlier cues? It was somewhat amusing to think that Herrmann would deliberately compose in this manner in evoking an American era (which is a much different sound than, say, Aaron Copland, who spent quite a bit of time doing the same thing in a different manner), though I have to say that the cues were excellent.

[atcolomb]

Wasn't Universal home video in England to release a Orson Welles region 2 box set which includes The Magnificent Ambersons? I thought i did read somewhere it was to be released in september but i checked Amazon.uk and saw nothing.