SPI Video (frame 514)

SPI Video

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Last modified on Thursday 19th March 2020, 11:44:51 PM

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Label:  SPI Video (Poland)

Region:  2
RCE protection:  No
Copyright protection system:  None

Disc type:  DVD9 (the data occupy 5.90 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames):  2:06:09.00

Video:  PAL
Aspect ratio:  1.30:1 non-anamorphic


Bitrate (min / avg / max):  2.98 / 6.00 / 6.94 Mbps

Bitrate (min / avg / max)

Audio:
 

Czech Dolby Surround / 192 kbps
Polish voice-over in Dolby Surround / 192 kbps

Subtitles: Polish

Menus available in: Polish


Special features:
 

DVD catalogue (70 pages, in Polish)

Notes: To compare with the releases by FilmFour (R2)
& Zeitgeist Video (R0 / NTSC), click here.


Athanor (frame 513)

Athanor

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Last modified on Thursday 19th March 2020, 11:44:50 PM

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Label:  Athanor (Czech Republic)

Region:  2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
RCE protection:  No
Copyright protection system:  CSS / CPPM

Disc type:  DVD9 (the data occupy 6.44 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames):  2:06:12.02*

Video:  PAL
Aspect ratio:  1.34:1 non-anamorphic


Bitrate (min / avg / max):  0.16 / 4.99 / 8.19 Mbps

Bitrate (min / avg / max)

Audio:
 

Czech Dolby Digital 5.1 / 448 kbps

Subtitles: English, German, French, Italian & Spanish

Menus available in: Czech, English, German, French, Italian & Spanish


Special features:
 

  • Trailer I (1:02)
  • Trailer II (2:14, in Czech)
  • Audition for the role of Alžbětka (22:29, in Czech**)
  • Scenes not included in the film (9:52, in Czech**)
  • The fairy-tale (3:39, in Czech**)
  • Poster by Eva Švankmajerová (0:19)
  • Photogallery
    • Stills from the film by Boris Baromykin (28 pages)
    • On-set photographs by Jan Růžička (16 pages)
    • On-set photographs by Boris Baromykin (16 pages)
  • Texts by Jan Švankmajer
    (in Czech, English, German, French, Italian & Spanish)
    • Director's thoughts (3 - 4 pages)
    • "Before We Start Shooting Otesánek,"
      excerpts from Jan Švankmajer's diary (23 - 29 pages)
    • "Jan Švankmajer - The Decalogue" (4 - 5 pages)
  • Creative team (in Czech & English)
    • Jan Švankmajer (4 pages)
    • Jaromír Kallista (2 pages)
    • Eva Švankmajerová (3 pages)
    • Juraj Galvánek (1, resp. 2 pages)
    • Ivo Špalj (1 page)
    • Marie Zemanová (1 page)
    • Bedřich Glaser (2 pages)
    • Martin Kublák (1 page)
  • Production team (in Czech & English)
    • Athanor (2 pages)
    • Illuminations (3 pages)
    • FilmFour (27 pages)
    • Barrandov Biografia (7, resp. 8 pages)
  • About the actors (in Czech & English)
    • Veronika Žilková (2 pages)
    • Jan Hartl (3 pages)
    • Jaroslava Kretschmerová (2 pages)
    • Pavel Nový (4 pages)
    • Kristina Adamcová (1 page)
    • Dagmar Stříbrná (1 page)
    • Zdeněk Kozák (1 page)
    • Jitka Smutná (1, resp. 2 pages)
    • Jiří Lábus (4, resp. 5 pages)
    • Arnošt Goldflam (2 pages)
    • Radek Holub (1, resp. 2 pages)

*2 different video "angles" are provided for the opening title sequence
(1:04, in Czech, resp. English). The choice depends on the selected menu language
**with the same subtitle tracks as the main feature


Moskwood Media (frame 529)

Moskwood Media

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Last modified on Thursday 19th March 2020, 11:44:50 PM

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Label:  Moskwood Media (The Netherlands)

Region:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6
RCE protection:  No
Copyright protection system:  None

Disc type:  DVD9 (the data occupy 7.78 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames):  2:06:10.05

Video:  PAL
Aspect ratio:  1.34:1 non-anamorphic


Bitrate (min / avg / max):  0.24 / 7.14 / 10.00 Mbps

Bitrate (min / avg / max)

Audio:
 

Czech Dolby Digital 2.0 / 192 kbps

Subtitles: Dutch

Menus available in: Mix of Dutch & English


Special features:
 

  • Trailer (0:59)
  • Teaser (2:15, in Czech)
  • Rushes (9:51, in Czech)
  • Short films


Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer (frame 907)

Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Last modified on Thursday 19th March 2020, 11:44:50 PM

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Label:  Athanor (Czech Republic)

Region:  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8
RCE protection:  No
Copyright protection system:  None

Disc type:  DVD9 (the data occupy 6.85 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames):  2:06:23.03

Video:  PAL
Aspect ratio:  1.33:1 non-anamorphic


Bitrate (min / avg / max):  0.24 / 4.98 / 9.60 Mbps

Bitrate (min / avg / max)

Audio:
 

Czech Dolby Digital 5.1 / 448 kbps

Subtitles: Czech for the hearing impaired, English, French,
Spanish, Italian & German

Menus available in: Czech & English*


Special features:
 

  • Trailer 1 (1:02)
  • Trailer 2 (2:10, in Czech)
  • Photogallery - Movie (1:24, 28 stills)
  • Photogallery - Making of (0:48, 16 stills)
  • Fold-out book (1:12, in Czech & English)
  • Poster (0:30)
  • The fairy tale (3:19, in Czech**)
  • Deleted scenes (9:51, in Czech**)
  • Casting - Alžbětka (22:29, in Czech**)
  • Director's introduction (2 pages, in Czech & English)
  • DVD-ROM features
    • Hi-res poster
    • Director's introduction (PDF, 1 page, in Czech & English)

Notes: Only available in "The Films of Jan Švankmajer" 6-disc set, together with:



Athanor have had the film cleaned up this time - see the example below, but I think I like the look of the original release better; this new one seems a bit green-ish to me:

Athanor | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer

Athanor (frame 1575)

A more serious problem is the way the bilingual opening titles / closing credits sequences are handled - whereas the original release used multiple video angles for this purpose, ensuring "seamless" playback, the new one spreads the sequences over several video title sets, resulting in noticeable pauses at the "joins" [tested only in Oppo BDP-93].

*despite the fact that the disc starts with a selection of 6 languages [flags], the menus are only available in Czech & English (although the choice made here does affect the pre-​selected subtitle track)
**subtitled in English, French, Spanish, Italian & German


Athanor / Blu-ray (frame 907)

Athanor / Blu-ray

Reviewed by dvdfreak

Last modified on Thursday 19th March 2020, 11:44:50 PM

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Label:  Athanor (Czech Republic)

Region:  A, B & C (?)
RCE protection:  n/a
Copyright protection system:  AACS

Disc type:  BD25 (the data occupy 21.68 GB)

Playback time (hh:mm:ss.frames):  2:11:38.16

Video:  MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p24/1.001
Aspect ratio:  1.37:1


Bitrate (min / avg / max):  0.00 / 16.95 / 40.35 Mbps

Bitrate (min / avg / max)

Audio:
 

Czech Dolby Digital 5.1 / 640 kbps

Subtitles: Czech for the hearing impaired, English, French,
Spanish, Italian & German

Menus available in: Czech & English*


Special features:
 

  • Trailer 1 (1:05)
  • Trailer 2 (2:16, in Czech)
  • Photogallery - Movie (1:24, 28 stills, MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p24/1.001)
  • Photogallery - Making of (0:49, 16 stills, MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p24/1.001)
  • Fold-out book (2:25, MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p24/1.001, in Czech & English)
  • Poster (0:35, MPEG-4 AVC, 1080p24/1.001)**
  • The fairy tale (3:28, in Czech Dolby Digital 5.1 / 640 kbps)
  • Deleted scenes (10:15, in Czech)
  • Casting - Alžbětka (23:27, in Czech)
  • Director's introduction (2 pages, in Czech & English)

(Unless noted otherwise, all extras are MPEG-4 AVC, 720p24/1.001, DD 2.0 / 224 kbps.)

Notes: Only available in "The Films of Jan Švankmajer" 7-disc set, together with:



This Blu-ray collection was one of the perks for the supporters of Švankmajer's Indiegogo campaign intended for co-financing his ultimate film, "Hmyz" ("Insect"), and it's not commercially available at the time of this writing.

In terms of presentation, it's great to finally see the 2012 resto in "glorious Full HD 1080p," but... I can't help it, but I still prefer the colour timing of the old Athanor / Moskwood DVD, be it shifted towards the red end of the spectrum or not.
     Other than that, my complaint about the lossy audio remains + I couldn't help noticing that the subtitles for the 3 lengthier featurettes had not been carried over from the 2012 DVD.

To see the screenshots in glorious Full HD 1080, click here.

*despite the fact that the disc starts with a selection of 6 languages [flags], the menus are only available in Czech & English (although the choice made here does affect the pre-​selected subtitle track)
**I failed to locate the hi-res version of the poster advertised in the clip:


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SPI Video | Athanor | Moskwood Media | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer | Athanor / Blu-ray

SPI Video (frame 2502)

SPI Video | Athanor | Moskwood Media | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer | Athanor / Blu-ray

SPI Video (frame 9620)

SPI Video | Athanor | Moskwood Media | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer | Athanor / Blu-ray

SPI Video (frame 19445)

SPI Video | Athanor | Moskwood Media | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer | Athanor / Blu-ray

SPI Video (frame 21854)

SPI Video | Athanor | Moskwood Media | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer | Athanor / Blu-ray

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SPI Video | Athanor | Moskwood Media | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer | Athanor / Blu-ray

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SPI Video | Athanor | Moskwood Media | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer | Athanor / Blu-ray

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SPI Video | Athanor | Moskwood Media | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer | Athanor / Blu-ray

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SPI Video | Athanor | Moskwood Media | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer | Athanor / Blu-ray

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SPI Video | Athanor | Moskwood Media | Athanor / The Films of Jan Švankmajer | Athanor / Blu-ray

SPI Video (frame 134808)

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SPI Video (frame 167141)

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