MovieChat Forums > The Lost World (1925) Discussion > The DVD

The DVD

posted 19 years ago by Askur
8 replies | jump to latest

I see on the information that this movie was hand colored and tinted in its time. Is the DVD the colored version or the original black-and-white?

And what about this?

"The Lost World was truncated for rerelease in the 1930s and the original negative was subsequently lost. David Shepard meticulously "rebuilt" the film using material from eight different surviving prints from all over the world, cleaning and restoring along the way. The result, which is 50 percent longer than previously extant prints, is still not complete but closer than any version since its 1925 debut. The difference is not merely in restored scenes but in a rediscovered sense of grace in scenes filled out to their original detail and pace. The film moves and breathes once again like a silent film."

Does it still feel like a whole movie?

[–] The-Silent-Photoplayer 19 years ago

The DVD is quite complete and is tinted. Only one scene was hand-colored and it was of little importance. Since then, a full print has surfaced and shows that Film Preservation Associate's (David Shepard) edition of the film was on the money for the most part.

-J. Theakston
The Silent Photoplayer
http://www.thephotoplayer.com/

[–] Askur 19 years ago

Thanks for the info. Maybe I will buy it some day in the near future.

[–] christopher_greenleaf 18 years ago

Askur, the film is in the public domain and available for free download at http://archive.org enjoy!

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] gishpuppy-pk 18 years ago

The DVD is quite complete and is tinted. Only one scene was hand-colored and it was of little importance. Since then, a full print has surfaced and shows that Film Preservation Associate's (David Shepard) edition of the film was on the money for the most part.

What complete print? I Googled it and found nothing.

[–] AlonsoChaney 18 years ago

I wrote this on the "Silents" message board:

Watched the 1925 film The Lost World on DVD and loved it. However, was shocked to read this on the back cover:

“In 1929 The Lost World was withdrawn from distribution, only 4 years after it’s release. Silent movies had instantly become obsolete in the light of the new dawn of “talking pictures”.

All known prints and export negatives were destroyed in favour of a possible sound remake. The remake appeared in 1933 as the infamous King Kong. The sole domestic negative of the original film - apparently decomposed - was discarded in the 1940’s.

In the coming years it appeared that some fragments of the film remained from which Eastman Kodak released a 16mm home movie abridgement - excerpts of which were used as instructional film on prehistoric life. Collectors were found to have preserved the original trailer and some demonstration reel, but the breakthrough came when a photographically beautiful 35mm print of the Czech version was found to exist in Prague.

Following digital mastering and repair to eliminate scratches, punch marks, splice lines and other intrusive defects, all these elements were combined to produce the longest and most complete story for more than 70 years”

We’ve had examples of film makers in the silent era destroying a lot, if not all, of their stock (Meliers, springs to mind), but for a studio to do it, that’s outrageous, isn‘t it? I wonder what everyone connected with this film thought of that, particularly Willis O’Brien?

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] chuck-526 9 years ago

...the DVD...

???
So far I've discovered eight different DVD editions currently available. Which one is "the" DVD?
About all I can say is the two "restorations" have reputations for "better" tinting.