Pandora's Box (Special Edition)

The Umbrella release predates Criterion's by about three years, and was for a time the only commonly available DVD version. It's by no means the equal of the Criterion release, but, since it's often available at something like half the price of the Criterion, it's still an entirely serviceable edition.It has a crisp and clean transfer, though with some compression artifacts, and overall a very nice balance in the black and white images. The music is by Peer Raben, known best for his work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder (some of which has been recycled by Wong Kar-Wai) and whose score is also included, with others, in the Criterion package. It isn't Raben's best work, but for the most part it fits the film well; in my opinion it may be the best among the choices on Criterion. It gets off on the wrong foot with an overly dramatic tone in the fairly light opening scenes, but improves from there, and overall is well-tailored to individual scenes.Probably the biggest detriment to the Umbrella release is in the relative shabbiness of the English title card replacements. They're not very well matched to the style and age of the film, using the "Optima" font, which is out of place in a 1929 context, and decorative corner ornaments in an Art Nouveau style that's also inappropriate for 1929, and particularly for a film that has, in the fashions and decors of its most glamorous scenes, a strong sense of Art Deco. It doesn't help that, where there's more than one sentence on a title card, the last one isn't given a period But what's most annoying about the titles is that they seem to come up jerkily, and usually after a split-second glimpse of the German titles, which can be selected instead of English. The German title cards are a decent-looking set in an old-style serif font that's more dignified in style and more appropriate than Optima. If the viewer is able to understand German, choosing the German titles and skipping the English ones would certainly be the way to go. Either way, quibbling about the title cards, which take up so little space in the course of the film, is secondary to the quality of the film itself, which is exceptional here, there, or anywhere it can be seen.By comparison with the Criterion edition, the Umbrella disc is short on extras, but it does include the documentary 'Looking for Lulu', which is excellent and also included with the Criterion version.Pandora's Box is for all time one of the great landmarks of film, and it's presented by Umbrella in a good, if not entirely perfect, quality release. If your interest in silent film, or this film in particular, is at the margins, or if you're simply curious about this film that's held in such high regard by so many, the Umbrella Entertainment DVD should suit your needs at a budget price. (Of course, note that this is a PAL, not NTSC release -- if you're uncertain whether your DVD player can accomodate a European DVD, and most players in America and Canada CANNOT, do your due-diligence thing and make sure you can view this disc on your player BEFORE ordering a copy! Unless an Amazon seller has failed to indicate that a DVD is other than Region 1 (United States and Canada), it's unfair for the seller to get negative feedback because the buyer can't play the disc!)

What a beautiful film. I am totally in love with Louise Brooks - she is a doll. This film is her "Sergeant Pepper" as it showcases her at the peak of her creative career in every way.Why there is no DVD release of this mega-classic film is a sin! If any silent film deserves the "Criterion treatment", this is the one! Until its release, we must depend on VHS versions of the film such as this one. The film is presented un-tinted, in true black and white, with a piano score that is quite suitable to the "feel" of the time period.For me, this movie works best as a short-hand overview of the roaring twenties and their demise. In the first act of the picture, gorgeous young Lulu (played brilliantly by Brooks, who looks and acts so incredibly "modern" throughout), is having a real ball being the girl about town. But after her husband's death, she tragically predicts the market crash of 1929 almost prohetically, by her poverty in England and her untimely demise at the end of the film.My favorite scene is where she is caught frolicking backstage with another woman's fiance. Brooks, with hair disheveled, has that "I've been [messing]-around with your man, but so what" deliciously guilty expression on her beautiful face. Brooks plays it like a woman who's been there/done that, and looks absolutely sexy in the act.Louise Brooks earns my vote as the sexiest actress of all-time; and this, her landmark role proves it!

I bought this particularly because I admire Louise Brooks after reading her history... I wanted to see her perform. It’s so long ago I guess it is hard to appreciate some of their values, but she is very beautiful to be sure!

The film itself is amazing and should be required viewing for all film lovers, I took a star off for the actual DVD since it won't play in standard US DVD players despite being listed as All Regions. I ended up watching it on my laptop, which is fine but not the same experience. I wanted the Criterion edition but it's out of print and being sold at astronomical prices.

Film was entertaining to watch and showcases Louise Brooks' talents as a silent film actress with all her usual charms. She was know for her stunning looks and distinct haircut which are prominently displayed in this film. The only problem I had was technical. The disc would not play in our DVD player. There is something different about the formatting of it that made my player not able to read it. As a result, we have to view it on a personal computer which is kind of a pain as it's a smaller screen. Other than that it's a great introduction to the silent noir genre of films with one of the most provocative actresses ever.

I purchased this movie because I think Louise Brooks is one of the most beautiful women on the 20th century and wanted to see some of her work. I found that in this day and time I had to really work at trying to get into the idiom of this silent film, and never totally succeeded. The gestures and dramatic conventions from so long ago are hard to fathom. Louise is lovely to look at, but the story line is rather predictable, but that may be a function of nearly 80 years' refinement of that plot. It may have been quite fresh and daring back in the twenties, but I couldn't get my mind there. If you wish to see a movie nearly as old that was very racey at the time and has wonderful usage of symbolism, I would recommend "Ecstacy" with Heddy Lamarr.

An infamous movie in 1929, Pandora's Box still manages to radiate uncontrolled sexual tension more than eighty years later. That tension is mostly due to Louise Brooks, who is the heroine and villainess of a story that starts as light comedy, but gradually descends into full-scale destruction, bringing down anyone who comes in contact with her. And they do: as the prostitute Lulu, Brooks can't keep the cast's men (and one woman) away from herself, and she doesn't want to. They, on the other hand, sacrifice happiness, wealth and self-respect to get close to her before they are invariably burned. Lulu herself fares little better, and her trials, if a bit phoney in their melodrama, are nothing but heartbreaking. Nevertheless, she is more monster than victim. Her seemingly childish personality, effortless charm and flirting unreliability conceals a genuinely remorseless and amoral person who gives no great attention to the consequences of her actions, and preys on others in ways that suggest parallels with movies like Nosferatu, even if her victims die slightly happier.The power of the movie mainly hinges on Louise Brooks' charged performance, but she is helped by great secondary characters - the old and worldly vagrant Schigolch (who might be Lulu's father or first pimp), the wealthy and respected Dr. Ludwig Schön, and his son, the unhappy Alwa. Uncharacteristically for the period, Lulu's loves include Countess Augusta Geschwitz, who may be the film's second strongest personality, captured in her own tragic love for Lulu. Much can be written about the raw images on the screen: shadows and light infused with a glittering light that show 1920s movie techniques at their finest, maybe only exceeded by some of Murnau's sequences.As human drama goes, this is a grand film; and as a demonstration of technical expertise, its accomplishments are no less impressive. Brooks, of course, is an icon of her age - although at the time she was neither among the most famous nor among the most respected, her stature has grown into one of the greatest women captured in the pictures. This DVD features excellent image quality (for a movie made in 1929), and comes with the full-length documentary Looking for Lulu, which would be recommended viewing even on its own.

B/W silent films are seen as poor cousins to contemporary movies. This one proves they're not. And Louise Brooks is - simply - riveting.

So boring, intellectually unengaging.

A genuinely stunning film, beautifully shot and wonderfully acted by Brooks. Great transfer to DVD, I wonder if Criterion will eventually bring it to bluray?

Had the makings of the silent film