Where to start... A title card preceding the feature claims that what we're about to see is what the moviegoers saw back in the day:

But I find that statement problematic, because the severe instability / jitter that frequently plagues the picture makes the film very unpleasant to watch (the following is a JavaScript animation):

And I don't believe ↓ these ↓ are an integral part of the movie that had to be preserved for future generations :-P, especially the splices between black frames:

Overall, a very disappointing release, and there's not much hope for anything better, as nobody is going to restore the film again anytime soon...

Firstly, special thanks to LeoH, a regular @ the Zóna discussion board, for making this comparison possible! (c:

And nooooow, to paraphrase a handy film title: "What Have You Done to Old Czech Legends?" :-O As if the botched restoration alone wasn't enough, to add insult to injury, Artus scrubbed the picture clean of every last bit*** of grain, the horrible banding that now sticks out like a sore thumb being the icing on this cake fart... I never thought I would be recommending a mediocre 2016 DVD over a 2019 Blu-ray, but there you have it - avoid the latter like the proverbial plague!

Oh, I almost forgot about the difference in aspect ratio - is the Czech DVD squeezed, or is the Blu-ray stretched? Your guess is as good as mine, but given that the other NFA restorations are all 1.37:1, I'd say the AR is the only aspect (pun intended ;-)) of this release that Artus Films got right...

**the original French dub being incomplete, some scenes are presented in Czech with French subtitles