Battleship Potemkin [Blu-ray]

When I heard that "Battleship Potemkin" was about to be released in a way that's as close as to the actual film premier together with the original film score as well I thought I'd take a risk just to find out what all the fuss was about and I am left mostly satisfied. My previous experiences with Kino was through their silent-film dvds the quality of which left me pretty underwhelmed and so I was first off pleased to be surprised by just how good this the first Kino blu-ray release that I've ever seen is. From the menu screen all the way to the packaging it is clear that Kino is trying to be a serious competitor to Criterion at least in the restoration and release of classic films. The 8-page colour booklet was very informative and attractive and so is the slipcase.Given the age and poorly preserved masters don't expect pristine picture quality because you are not going to get it. Right near the beginning for example there is one jarring frame where a big white patch comes up right in the middle of a frame. I suppose they did the best they could but scratches especially the vertical line variety abound on most frames among other assorted imperfections strewn throughout. For me though these were obviously noticeable they were not overly detrimental to the overall enjoyment of the film but I have to say that 1080p does really bring black and white films to life. I could see the lines on the faces and the hair on the hands of some of the sailors. Can the picture quality be improved even more? Possibly if a very expensive frame-by-frame clean up is done but until then this is probably the best picture quality of Potemkin that exists out there.The score is also brilliant as if any film can be used as an example of how important the sound effects/score is to the success of a film bringing its story across "Battleship Potemkin" has to be it. The music is powerful and how it heightens the suspense at the end or amplifies the brutality on the Odessa Steps has to be experienced to be fully understood and appreciated. "Battleship Potemkin" has to be among the most "eloquent" silent films ever made; as a call-to-arms film it certainly does a very good job at it and even today it stirs the viewer to action. The depictions of brutality both on board and especially on land are so vivid that you can't help but feel like to want to get up and do something. Depicting events that occurred in 1905 it is sad that this film is still relevant today when you look at events in the Middle East and you feel that if you want to rouse the spirits of Libyan rebels just let them watch this film with Libyan intertitles and you'll get the desired effect. I wonder what effect a screening of this film in North Korea would have?This film has influenced countless future films and I could see some of the depictions of brutality on the ship being borrowed for Gable's "The Mutiny on the Bounty" and the baby pram on the Odessa Steps being borrowed for Costner's "Untouchables" for example. I liked the fade ins and fade outs that show the crowds gathering on the steps as a way to speed up the action as well as the many facial close-ups of the sailors and the victims. One scene on the ship where the officer addresses the sailor in the steam room the play with light and shadows reminded me a lot of what future directors like Kubrick and Wilder would take to the next level with regards this particular technique. I'm very impressed with these old time directors who didn't have existing examples to work with or film schools to learn directing from and yet through their own brilliant minds were still able to tell such great stories so well with film. Eisenstein, Lang, Keaton, Von Stroheim, Murnau, Chaplin, Merian C. Cooper, Willis O'Brien, De Mille et al my sincere respects and kudos go out to you!Not perfect picture quality but as good as you are going to get for now, excellent 5.1 surround sound original score, excellent film makes this an easy recommendation.Highly recommended!

It's hard to think of a more important silent film or any major work of world cinema that has taken as long to be issued in a definitive version than BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN. It took many years and the combined efforts of several different film archives to put POTEMKIN back together again but it has been worth the wait for now it is possible to finally see the most influential movie ever made the way it's creator Sergei Eisenstein intended.Ever since the premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in 1925, POTEMKIN has been subject to censorship in one form or another. Not only was the film cut but the original score by German composer Edmund Meisel was discarded after the film's initial run and this had a huge impact as we can now see and hear in this restoration. The images will always retain their power but they are doubly enhanced by Meisel's propulsive driving score which sounds like Shostakovich who was 19 at the time and must have been influenced by what he heard here. It's ironic that for the film's 50th anniversary (the version most readily available until now) the music of Shostakovich provided the background and the film was cut to fit the music. All of this is covered in the excellent documentary TRACING BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN that comes with this 2 DVD set.As for the movie itself, it has never looked this good. Images are sharp and clear, the contrast of the black and white photography is excellent and the colorization of the raising of the red flag has been restored. Most important of all is the return of the edited material which changes the look and feel of certain scenes. The famous "Odessa Steps" sequence is longer, has different points of view, and is more violent than before. The recording of the original score is top notch and, as I said earlier, adds immeasureably to the total film experience. Overall this is a truly astonishing set and one no lover of film should be without.My only complaint, and it's a minor one, is that I wish they had included the 1976 50th anniversary edition as the second disc (instead of the new version with Russian title cards) so that we could see the differences between the two and could note the changes made to bring BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN back to Eisenstein's vision.

Review of the Kino single disc Blu Ray. Region free. Lovingly restored, the picture quality sparkles with fine detail here and natural film grain. I backed the sharpness off on my TV, just a tad, to reduce the grainy appearance. There are a lot of fine scratches but I don't think anything much can be done about those with present day technology, at least not without considerable expense. One day an AI might be able to do it easily!The soundtrack I listened to what orchestral and bounced the movie along nicely.The film - well there is no denying it's a classic and much beloved of film scholars and historians and rightly so but does the average silent movie punter like me like it as much? I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle and the love this restoration has been shown. But it's more like watching a very well made docudrama. There is zero character development here. No individuals story to engage you emotionally and hang your hat on. Maybe that was Eisenstein's intention, the old Soviet Union was not exactly big on individualism were they?So a great film but it could have been so much greater if the events had unfolded via some characters perspectives and not just the cameras. I don't think you can call yourself a film buff if you haven't watched this one but maybe it's more for the buffs.

"Potemkin" is one of the most famous films in cinema history. A Soviet propaganda film from the silent era, it tells the story of the failed Russian revolution of 1905 through the events that happened on the battleship Potemkin and in Odessa. Shot in 1925 by Sergei Eisenstein, "Potemkin" contains one of the most famous scenes (the Odessa Steps massacre) in film history. In addition, Eisenstein's editing techniques for this film were revolutionary, designed to cause maximum impact on the audience. It has influenced and inspired numerous film directors ever since.Whilst still considered to be one of the greatest films of all times, I agree with one of the previous reviewers that the film has not aged well. I found the film dark, very slow and at times boring. This is partially caused by the fact that the "Potemkin" is made up of five long drawn-out scenes, in my opinion a result of the whole script being written on a single piece of paper. As such "Potemkin" is not a film to be watched for pure entertainment.The DVD shows the completely restored film, but misses the extras that make for instance the Eureka! / Masters of Cinema - series so exciting. A pity, since there is considerable additional information to relay about the "Potemkin". All in all, "Potemkin" is an important film and should be part of any film historian's or early movies fan's collection.

This film is one of the all time greats. While by todays standards not a slick film everything is there. It tells a very powerful story in beautifully composed shots in glorious black and white. Plus it was made 85 years ago, before CGI, before complex editing facilites and yet leaves an everlasting impression.The pity is that many of the film makers of today have so little idea of the history and the language of the medium in which they work. It is all very well to break all the rules but first you have to know them!This film is a masterpiece in film making.Battleship Potemkin will always have a place in the history of the moving picture as well as world history. A film where the emphasis is on the story being told and not the "skills" of the film maker.

This is a black and white silent film, depicting a time so long past, it's great as a historical document. After about an hour though, I'm a little ashamed to admit that I found it a bit boring.

This is a well-shot, directed, and put together slice of Russian history and it needs no sound to explain what it is about. The 'steps' scene is famous in the cine' world and one can almost hear the bullets flying into the crowd trying to escape.