MovieChat Forums > The Tunnel (1935) Discussion > Now on DVD-R from Sinister Cinema (2011)

Now on DVD-R from Sinister Cinema (2011)


Sinister Cinema has finally made Transatlantic Tunnel available on DVD-R. Although they had long had the film in their catalogue, until the spring of 2011 it had only been available on VHS.

Although it's listed in SC's catalogue, and on the DVD case itself, under the film's U.S. title, this is the original, full-length (94-minute) British film entitled simply The Tunnel. But Transatlantic Tunnel, as the film is called in America, is a far better title.

This movie has been very hard to come by, and what few versions existed seem not to have been especially good. Even in its native Britain there is no Region-2 DVD. The only high-quality print of this film I've seen was the one used for Wade Williams's VHS from the late 90s (released through his then company, Englewood Entertainment), but this was among those few Williams titles that did not make it onto an Image DVD (along with Killers From Space, Phantom From Space, Unknown World and a few others). The SinCin DVD-R appears to have been made either from that VHS or from the same source print. (If you look closely, the credits do not dissolve one into the other, as is normal and as they did in the original film; rather, they're individual still shots of each credit, "artificially" dissolved on this print. This was a common if utterly ridiculous and inexplicable practice used on many of Wade Williams's VHS releases.) Otherwise, the print is very good.

Beware any disc running just 70 minutes, which is the heavily edited American version. Up to the 1960s, releasing British films in the States in edited prints was common, almost routine, but cutting over 25% of a picture was extreme. The Tunnel drags in many places and is weighed down by too many soap-opera diversions and lax direction, but it's far preferable to the chopped-up, somewhat incoherent U.S. version. (Sinister used to carry the 70-minute U.S. film but got rid of it in favor of the correct 94-minute original.)

This off-beat, all-star, not entirely successful but interesting film still needs a proper DVD release. Until then (and don't hold your breath), the Sinister disc is quite a good substitute.

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It's also on Netflix streaming. In the US anyway.

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I bought a DVD of this a couple years ago and it was unwatchable. Not sure what version it was but, it had another old film included with it. The picture was terrible, sound terrible. My VHS is 10 times better.

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