Which is the BEST DVD Version?


I fell in love with this film when I first saw it in December 1975, and would love to own it on DVD. I know there is a version available on both ebay and Amazon. However, I have been dissuaded a little from buying it as some people have said that the picture quality is not very good. Some have even compared it to a recorded VHS video tape!

Does anybody know if a GOOD quality version of this classic movie is available on DVD anywhere? I don't want to fork out for a movie that has poor picture quality.

Why on earth this film has never been released on DVD in the UK, I shall never know!

The Webmaster
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I have the DVD that Universal released, and the picture quality is fine. It retains a certain dated aspect, but the picture is clear and artifact-free. I ordered my copy through Barnes & Noble. Maybe they or amazon can track down a region 2 copy for you.

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I haven't purchased because I also read that the version available for purchase is an edited version; not the entire mini-series from the 70's. Can you confirm this? Are there multiple versions available?

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No idea if it's the edited version. The one I have is 3 hours and 3 minutes, with two sets of credits to introduce each of the two parts.

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The American DVD release is edited- its missing the opening nights story of Victor and his brother Henry, which is instead seen as a couple quick flashes as one would see on episodic TV: "Last week On Frankenstein.." type of summation of the first nights events. A few years ago, the complete version screened up in Montreal as part of the Fantasia Film Festival, and it was advertised that that would be the ONLY time one could ever see the full version again, as it would not be released on home media. I don't know why, and it must have to do with some sort of rights issues with and acotr or music, or something that appeared only in that portion, at least that is my guess. Someone responded to your inquiry by stating they had a 3 hour 3 minite copy, which falls along with the original 185 minute running time. I forget idf they mentioned tape or DVD. I am still hopeing maybe the full version will see the light of day on bluray, but I won't hold my breath.

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Universal has released a region 1 DVD of the entire unedited mini-series (it's unedited from what I can tell and remember about teh film).

It looks decent although it is in desperate need of a restoration.

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[deleted]

The version from Universal DVD is the complete, unedited version. It is over three hours long. It was originally broadcast on TV in two parts. Each part, with commercials, was two hours long. There was an edited version on VHS before the DVD came out that was about two hours long.

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