It was released on spain recently and I bought it hoping it was, as the artwork said, the complete 275 minutes version. Sadly , it´s the 206 min one /which I´ve already seen) and worst of all, the subtitles didn´t match the words and the extras weren´t that good so...At least it didn´t cost me the 50$ it costs you if you buy it via internet, so be carefull about this one.
Anyone out there has seen the complete version and could tell us which are the main diferences?
Ruscico DVD has also incorrect aspect ratio. The film should be presented in 2.2:1 format as it was intended to be shown in blow-up 70mm prints.
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Excuse me, but what exactly are you talking about? I was there at Mosfilm studios when they actually shot the picture. It was never intended to be shown at 1,37:1 ratio, except for 16 mm prints. The film was shot in soviet compatible Super35 system. Also the editing tables used in production were all marked 2.2:1, and all answer prints were 70mm. As for the length, the first director cut run almost for 6 hours, and later been shortened to 123 (part one) and 139 minutes (part 2) for local release. However both Ruscico and Kino releases are shorter international version presented in Cannes. Take a look at Mosfilm's site about film's specs: http://www.mosfilm.ru/index.php?File=catalog/main_eng.php&Lang=Eng&Film=1009&SESS=9c17416f59c07119ca814d98123ce5df
Just so you know in Russian Wide Frame means 70mm (2.2:1) and Wide screen means anamorphic 2.35:1.
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I'm not quite sure which DVD version I've brought, but I'm pretty sure the film screen extended fully to my television display...undoubtedly not widescreen....And the duration was no more than 200 mins: two disks, each with about 98 mins...
As for the 6-hour version shown in Cuba, I'm really longing for that. The 200-min cut is not adequate for such an epic.
What made the universe made me.
I agree with perrote. I rented the Ruscico DVD from my local library looking forward to enjoy this movie: the Spanish subtitles are not synchronised with the images, two-lines subtitles appearing just for a split of a second making impossible to read more than half sentence, the lyrics of the songs were not translated.... what a pity for what it is supposed to be a collectors edition. It just ruined the whole experience of watching this otherwise surely enjoyable movie. At the end, as I was watching the movie with a non english speaker, I have to watch the two last DVD dubbed in Spanish: a horrible experience too. The English subtitles appear to be better, though. So the problem with the Spanish subs may be the fault of Divisa, the spanish distributor for this DVD. First time it happens to me and truly shocking: had I bough this DVD, I would have asked for my money back.....
shareThe US Kino Region 1 NTSC release dated 2007 is on two discs. The total timing of "Parts 1 & 2" of the movie on disc 1, excluding the menu but including the Kino logo, equals 129 minutes 22 seconds; the timing of "Parts 3 & 4" on disc 2 equals 131 minutes 34 seconds, which together add up to 261 minutes including the brief Kino logos, so 260 minutes would be correct.
On each disc the two "parts" are separated into chapters, but combined into a single title. There are no extras included on either disc. The English subtitles are aligned properly with spoken dialog, and appear to be relatively complete; the lyrics of at least some songs are translated in subtitles, in italics. The subtitles are removable rather than burned in. Contrary to some sources, the film does not have closed captions.
I have no way of directly determining the aspect ratio, but throughout the film, negligibly narrow and unnoticeable black bands display across the top and bottom of a standard shape screen.