The last film by Jan Švankmajer: Insects (2018)

[Imthebat]

I'm sure this thread is dead, but I got this set in today and figured I'd share as much info as I can.

First off, these are pressed discs. Every movie is on a BD-25 in Czech with Dolby Digital audio. It's definitely disappointing that lossless audio isn't being used for these films, especially considering the BFI release of Alice. Also with Insects being such a new film, one would imagine that a lossless track would be readily available.

It's definitely worth holding onto your BFI release of Alice, and while someone had mentioned the inclusion of Jabberwocky in HD, it's the only short film to appear in the set. It's also worth mentioning that there are no English subtitles for Jabberwocky, so it defaults to an English reading of the poem. Not the worst thing ever, but definitely not my preference.

While Alice does include that short film, most of the special features are written essays by Svankmajer. This is the same for Faust and Conspirators of Pleasure. From Little Otik onward, there seem to be more extras. That particular film has deleted scenes and a casting video; both in Czech with no subtitles. Trailers are included for the films. Lunacy, Surviving Life, and Insects all have making of features with English subtitles. Surviving Life includes the short film "A Film About a Film" in standard definition with English subs.

Despite being on BD-25s, these are clean restorations. Absolutely the best these films have ever looked. The audio is also very clear and very good despite being DVD quality. I'm overall happy with the set, despite how much money it costs. The included Insects book is nice and reminds me of the booklets found in Koch Media releases. Half of the booklet is in English and the other half in Czech, sharing the same text. The photos in both halves are different though, so it's definitely worth looking through the whole thing.