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I've had good luck with them in the past. Shipping to the United States took a couple weeks. Be prepared for some spam in your inbox, though!

Perkins Cobb wrote:

MichaelB wrote:Bizarrely, it looks as though the original non-anamorphic Czech release is still the one to go for: the subtitles drift out of sync briefly at one point, but at least it has them.

The Dark Sky edition of Cremator is anamorphic and has English subs, of course.

Sorry - only just seen this. That DVD Freak comparison explicitly says that the Dark Sky and Second Run releases are inferior to the Czech Bonton release, despite the latter being the only non-anamorphic version.

it's anamorphic, but the PQ is still lacking compared to that of the 2005 non-anamorphic (!) Czech release. Beats me how these people do it - apparently, Dark Sky Films' version is based on the old Czech master, just "re-formatted" (and slightly cropped), but I can do better than they did using an "ancient" (2003) freeware video editor

The Dark Sky is clearly better than the Second Run, but there's a strong hint that both the "anamorphic" releases were simple upconverts from a letterboxed master - which is why the Bonton release seems to show more detail, however counterintuitive that may seem.

And all three releases have English subs - it's just that they briefly drift out of sync in the middle of the Bonton version (only for a few seconds, though, if I remember rightly).

I had a dream last night that there was a Blu-Ray release of The Cremator and woke up to be extremely disappointed. It's in my all time top 10 list.

Good to know regarding Cremator ... but if the Bonton can't be zoomed on a widescreen TV without obscuring the subtitles, then I'd cast my vote with the best anamorphic edition, although we're getting down to personal preference, obviously.

John Edmond wrote:DVDBest are now stocking the Marketa Lazarova blu-ray.

That's excellent news - I've used them several times, and they're fast, reliable and their packaging could withstand a Monty Python-style 16-ton weight dropping on it en route. They'd definitely be my preferred supplier - and it's well worth picking up a bunch of Slovak Film Institute discs as well, as they're ludicrously cheap.

Are there any other Czech Blu-Rays worth picking up?

MichaelB wrote:That's excellent news - I've used them several times, and they're fast, reliable and their packaging could withstand a Monty Python-style 16-ton weight dropping on it en route. They'd definitely be my preferred supplier - and it's well worth picking up a bunch of Slovak Film Institute discs as well, as they're ludicrously cheap.

Yep, 100% agree.

Though there is a problem at the moment (as I've just discovered). They seem to be charging double their normal shipping rate of 8.9 Euros if you order Marketa Lazarova and some DVDs to go with it - I'm pretty sure it's because for the moment Marketa is still a pre-order and so they're splitting the order into two. Their site says they expect stock by the 20th so hopefully it clears up then.


Edited because I originally wrote that their shipping rate was 13 Euros, when that is their shipping rate in US dollars.

Calvin wrote:Are there any other Czech Blu-Rays worth picking up?

The third Fimfárum (animated versions of Jan Werich's fairy tales) is available on blu-ray with English subtitles (can't really comment since I haven't seen it).

John Edmond wrote:

Calvin wrote:Are there any other Czech Blu-Rays worth picking up?

The third Fimfárum (animated versions of Jan Werich's fairy tales) is available on blu-ray with English subtitles (can't really comment since I haven't seen it).

I haven't watched it properly yet, but I have it and can confirm that it does indeed have English subtitles.

John Edmond wrote:

MichaelB wrote:That's excellent news - I've used them several times, and they're fast, reliable and their packaging could withstand a Monty Python-style 16-ton weight dropping on it en route. They'd definitely be my preferred supplier - and it's well worth picking up a bunch of Slovak Film Institute discs as well, as they're ludicrously cheap.

Yep, 100% agree.

Though there is a problem at the moment (as I've just discovered). They seem to be charging double their normal shipping rate of 13 euros if you order Marketa Lazarova and some DVDs to go with it - I'm pretty sure it's because for the moment Marketa is still a pre-order and so they're splitting the order into two. Their site says they expect stock by the 20th so hopefully it clears up then.

Thanks for the tip, just bought 6 Jakubisko-films plus the Marketa Lazarová BD

And sorry to be a little OT, but you seem like the guy to ask. Do you know anything about the quality of the Blu-ray of Sanatorium pod klepsydrą available here?

My take is that it's not available there.

The release date is for 2011 which is a bad sign in 2012. Merlin.pl (a more reliable online store) doesn't mention this release which is another bad sign. The cover looks nothing like the recently released DVD cover, and since image shown is the film's original poster art I would say it's certainly a placeholder. And the DVD release of The Hourglass Sanatorium came without English subtitles so it would be surprising if the blu-ray release came with English subtitles - even if other pro-motion blu-rays have received English subtitles.

On the Polish film thread there was discussion of recently restored films such as The Hourglass Sanatorium, and Ford's Knight's of the Teutonic Order (another mirage blu-ray stocked by Punkt44) getting blu-ray releases, but they seem to have fallen through. I'm guessing this is a legacy from then.

So I probably wouldn't pre-order it, at least not with anything you wanted anytime soon.

On the other hand, going by other people's reactions to the DVD release of The Hourglass Sanatorium restoration, when/if this release happens it will probably be of a high standard.

I've had that thought also (since it's not available on any of the other polish onlinestores i use to buy from) but it doesn't say pre order anywhere on the page?

Krzyzacy is also on the site but not available to order: http://www.punkt44.pl/blu-ray/62550,krz ... -ray).html

So the price and availabilty to order makes me think it may be released?

But in the box where it should provide information on stock availability it says something along the lines of release date to be announced in 2011. My guess is they don't have enough information to provide a proper pre-order.

Here's the relevant section of the Polish Film thread.

And here's the blu-ray.com discussion.

The good news is that on re-reading the threads it's clear that DVD and blu-ray releases are by separate companies and so there is no reason why any eventual blu-ray release of The Hourglass Sanatorium shouldn't have English subtitles.

John Edmond wrote:My take is that it's not available there.

The release date is for 2011 which is a bad sign in 2012. Merlin.pl (a more reliable online store) doesn't mention this release which is another bad sign.

I won't quote the rest because I agree with every word. A whole load of Blu-rays of the Kadr restorations were announced for late 2010, and three of them actually emerged (Ashes and Diamonds, Night Train, Austeria), but from what I understand the release schedule was indefinitely postponed thanks to a deal with Gazeta Wyborcza whereby the restorations could come out on exclusive DVDs with lavish booklets attached, which happened in early 2011. I bought three or four, and the improvements are truly startling, but they don't have subtitles.

I have no doubt that the Blu-rays will eventually emerge, but I don't think they've been rescheduled.

My Marketa Lazarova Blu just arrived and it is simply stunning. The collaborative effort required to restore and release it should be applauded and they had the kindness to include English subs!

My Marketa Lazarova blu from gorila.sk just arrived today!

Eclipse Series 32: Pearls of the Czech New Wave http://www.criterion.com/boxsets/870-ec ... h-new-wave" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The 'In the Net of Time' documentary on the Marketa Blu-Ray is fantastic, fascinating it really helps you understand Vlacil. It also has some clips from his films in better quality than available on home video (such as the White Dove)

MichaelB wrote:A fraction of the very beginning is cut off affecting the start of Liška's music. Trivial but irritatingly sloppy, as the Second Run disc doesn't do this (obviously, as I wouldn't have known otherwise)

I do not understand, what do you mean by this... Music should be complete on BD.

Please, could you specify where and how was the music is affected (cut off?) on the BD? Music should be complete there... Thank you.

jzahradnicek wrote:

MichaelB wrote:A fraction of the very beginning is cut off affecting the start of Liška's music. Trivial but irritatingly sloppy, as the Second Run disc doesn't do this (obviously, as I wouldn't have known otherwise)

I do not understand, what do you mean by this... Music should be complete on BD.

Please, could you specify where and how was the music is affected (cut off?) on the BD? Music should be complete there... Thank you.

OK, this is interesting - I've just played the opening of the disc again on my Toshiba BDX-1200, with exactly the same result (i.e. the start of the music is fractionally cut off)...

...but it plays fine on my Playstation 3. Or rather, it's still a bit tight (the Second Run DVD allowed about a second of black screen before the music started), but you do at least hear every note.

So it's clearly a player-related issue - has anyone else had a similar problem with a different player?

It plays fine on my Technika BRSS10 and PS3 as far as I can tell.

MichaelB wrote:OK, this is interesting - I've just played the opening of the disc again on my Toshiba BDX-1200, with exactly the same result (i.e. the start of the music is fractionally cut off)...

...but it plays fine on my Playstation 3. Or rather, it's still a bit tight (the Second Run DVD allowed about a second of black screen before the music started), but you do at least hear every note.

So it's clearly a player-related issue - has anyone else had a similar problem with a different player?

The music is all there for sure [I planned to add this to my review, but had no time for that yet]:



My idea was that your receiver is the culprit - my Denon receiver "drops" maybe up to a second of audio when the codec changes, and, in this case - the menus are PCM, the main feature DTS-HD MA, so... But if you get different result on two different players and the same receiver...

Tomáš Luňák
Alois Nebel, 2011

Did anyone order Marketa Laszarova from dvdbest.sk? have you got your disk? i ordered one month ago but it has been backordered ever since :/