Essentials from Germany

[Stefan Andersson]

Anolis announces their edition of The Lost Continent (1968, Bestien lauern von Caracas):
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.ph ... 55&page=27 (scroll down to Ivo Scheloske´s announcement posting)

This version is supposedly 100 mins. at 24 fps, two minutes longer than the previous integral version (=Anchor Bay?). Taken from an old archive German print.

[Stefan Andersson]

Koch Media is now Plaion Pictures - relevant links:
https://plaion.com/en-uk/film
https://shop.kochmedia.com/shop/de_DE/c ... M&nav2=NEW

[Stefan Andersson]

Abschied (Robert Siodmak, 1930) to be released on Blu and dvd in Germany:
https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=19905

[kompromiss]

Six-disk blu-ray box-set "Margarethe von Trotta - Die frühen Filme" from Arthaus includes six films:
- Die verlorene Ehre der Katharina Blum (a.k.a. The Lost Honour of Katharina Blum) (1975) (4K restoration, english subtitles for the main feature)
- Das zweite Erwachen der Christa Klages (a.k.a. The Second Awakening of Christa Klages) (1978) (2K restoration, english subtitles for the main feature)
- Schwestern oder Die Balance des Glücks (a.k.a. Sisters, or The Balance of Happiness) (1979) (4K restoration, german subtitles only)
- Die bleierne Zeit (a.k.a. Marianne & Juliane) (1981) (4K restoration, english subtitles for the main feature)
- Heller Wahn (a.k.a. Sheer madness) (1983) (4K restoration, german subtitles only)
- Rosa Luxemburg (1986) (the same disk as in the UK - 4K restoration, english subtitles for main feature and extras).
+ 30-page booklet in german only.

[Stefan Andersson]

The German ARTE Edition line of DVDs and blurays will be discontinued as of Dec. 31, 2023, as per info from absolut Medien:
https://www.stummfilm-magazin.de/aktuel ... dition-ein

Die Goldene Stadt, Harlan, now restored and on Bluray, including the original "director´s ending", with German subs replacing the lost soundtrack:
http://www.murnau-stiftung.de/news/die- ... uf-blu-ray
https://www.murnau-stiftung.de/news/pre ... dene-stadt
https://www.murnau-stiftung.de/stiftung ... dene-stadt

[Peacock]

Wow very exciting Stefan! I wonder if Kino might take a look at releasing this one in their war-time German cinema line as it’s a pretty packed release. A couple of websites mention English subtitles but the back of the case and majority of places say it’s German only.

[Stefan Andersson]

Hard Target, three versions incl. workprint:
https://shop.plaionpictures.com/harte-z ... exkl.-shop
https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=20761

Hard Boiled on blu incl. long version, with original Cantonese and English mono:
https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=20706

[nicolas]

Hard Target, three versions incl. workprint:
https://shop.plaionpictures.com/harte-z ... exkl.-shop
https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=20761

Not recommended at the moment due to audio issues (the surround channels are mixed up) in the 5.1 tracks but Plaion are investigating and maybe perform a replacement program but nothing is explicitly confirmed for now.

Also important to know, due to the FSK 18 rating, Plaion are not allowed to ship this internationally as they’re required to verify the recipient’s age via an ID upon delivery.

The UK Universal 4K UHD is currently the best version in picture and sound compared to the Kino.

[FlickeringWindow]

I took a chance with ordering the Anolis German Blu-ray of Hellzapoppin (In der holle ist der teufel los) from JPC...

Despite the "Region B" indicator, it's at least Region A/B. Seems to be a fairly raw scan of a fine-grain or print with minimal cleanup, but it has great image quality otherwise. The disc defaults to the German dub and there's only German subtitles available, but the original English audio sounds terrific. There's an audio commentary (in German), as well as the German title sequences.

I believe Diabolik carries the disc as well, but ordering from JPC wasn't that expensive at all.

[Stefan Andersson]

Izbavitelj (Krsto Papic, Yugoslavia/Croatia 1976), based on the novel The Pied Piper by Alexander Grin, released on German DVD in Sept. 2024 w/ English subs:
https://www.schnittberichte.com/news.php?ID=21456

[Michael Kerpan]

>> Izbavitelj

The trailer has German dialog -- was the original version in Croatian?

[Stefan Andersson]

>> Izbavitelj

The trailer has German dialog -- was the original version in Croatian?

Wikipedia and ImdB says the dialog is in Croatian/Serbo-Croatian.
Slovenian Film Database also says the language is Serbo-Croatian: https://bsf.si/en/movie/izbavitelj/

German DVD seems to be dubbed into German w/ English subs:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Redeemer-Izbav ... B00HFMQRQW

The film is up on YT w/ English subs; dialogue sounds Serbo-Croatian to me.

[Michael Kerpan]

Stefan -- Thanks

[vertovfan]

Re: Izbavitelj, I can confirm that this release from EightyFour Entertainment has both German and Serbo-Croatian audio tracks, and English subtitles:

https://www.blu-ray.com/dvd/Izbavitelj-DVD/79470/

The announcement article mentions the publisher Supreme Film / Cargo Records, while the Amazon listing above indicates EightyFour Films, like the earlier release.

[Michael Kerpan]

>> Izbavitelj

I wonder why the price is so extraordinarily high for this release?

[TechnicolorAcid]

>> Izbavitelj

I wonder why the price is so extraordinarily high for this release?

I’m not an expert but when dealing with a lot of foreign DVDs because they’re so exclusive and not publicly available they don’t sell many copies (especially for something as relatively obscure as this), and as such occasionally those who are willing to sell them believe that they’re these rare artifacts and sell them at really high prices.

[Stefan Andersson]

Die Grosse Sprung (Fanck, 1927, w/Leni Riefenstahl, Luis Trenker) restored in 2005 by Murnau Stiftung; DVD release in Germany, w/ score by Neil Brand:
https://ucm.one/de/produkt/der-grosse-sprung/
https://ucm.one/de/produkt/der-grosse-sprung/
https://www.murnau-stiftung.de/filmthea ... sse-sprung

Original score by Werner Richard Heymann is lost.

[rockysds]

It has a US Blu-ray from Kino.

[Stefan Andersson]

OK, thanks for the update!

[Finch]

If anyone ever gets their hands on Plaion's German BD of Robot Dreams and could confirm if they fixed the banding and compression issues plaguing the UK and US releases and if it's uncensored, that'd be appreciated. I don't think there's German subtitles (as there is no dialogue), but if there is any for sign translations etc, are the subs optional or enforced? The Spanish edition is not out until late December.

[Calvin]

Does anyone know if the Blu-Ray releases of Konrad Wolf's Solo Sunny and Wolfgang Staudte's Die Mörder sind unter uns have English subtitles? I can't see any listed, but they are listed on the DVD releases from the same label so it would be odd (though not unheard of) for them to be dropped.

They don't.

Interestingly, it looks like The Murderers Are Among Us has just been re-released on Blu-Ray and English subtitles are listed this time. I've not seen any reviews or confirmation though.

To celebrate the centenery of Konrad Wolf, it looks like the brand new 4K restorations of Stars and Solo Sunny that have been shown at festivals will be made available in a complete box set...on DVD-only. Hopefully Eureka sort something out for the UK/US

[Aunt Peg]

Does anyone know if the Blu-Ray releases of Konrad Wolf's Solo Sunny and Wolfgang Staudte's Die Mörder sind unter uns have English subtitles? I can't see any listed, but they are listed on the DVD releases from the same label so it would be odd (though not unheard of) for them to be dropped.

They don't.

Interestingly, it looks like The Murderers Are Among Us has just been re-released on Blu-Ray and English subtitles are listed this time. I've not seen any reviews or confirmation though.

To celebrate the centenery of Konrad Wolf, it looks like the brand new 4K restorations of Stars and Solo Sunny that have been shown at festivals will be made available in a complete box set...on DVD-only. Hopefully Eureka sort something out for the UK/US

I just checked The Murderers Are Among Us listing on Amazon's German site and they have a photograph of the back cover and it states English subtitles.

[Lowry_Sam]

I think I'll wait before double-dipping just to get the subtitles. I'm surprised no one has picked this up yet. If there's a DEFA title worthy of being in the collection it's this one, but maybe they need time to put together an extras package that it deserves.

[Stefan Andersson]

"As of December 31, 2025, Universal Pictures Home Entertainment will cease the distribution of physical media in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The major has previously released not only its own titles, but also films and series from Constantin Film, Warner Home Video, and Paramount Home Entertainment on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K UHD.

Independent Plaion Pictures has already taken over distribution of Warner Bros. releases this month, while Leonine Distribution GmbH will handle Constantin Film starting November 1, 2025. Plaion will have its hands full in the coming year, as it has now been officially announced that the company will also distribute Universal Pictures releases in the DACH region starting January 1, 2026."

Source - post 145 here:
https://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.ph ... 812&page=8

[domino harvey]

That’s shocking. Doesn’t Germany have, per capita, the highest rate of Blu-ray consumption in the world?