Fritz Lang on Blu-ray

[fred25_Ca]

Wow, just finished watching the Fritz Lang Silent films collection (albeit I skipped most of his early dramas, I watched Spiders and then skipped to Destiny).

I had only ever seen Metropolis (and M, which i'm about to rewatch next) so this was pretty much new to me. And wow, what an incredible succession of amazing movies. Spiders was definitely more of a blueprint for what he'd do later on but starting with Destiny till Woman in the moon, they were all masterpieces, imo. Especially Die Nibelungen and Metropolis. It also helps the soundtrack for both of those were spectacular, miles ahead of the other subpar tracks for the other movies. While I liked the first part of Die Nibelungen, I was blow away by the second part. Incredible action pieces and I was rooting for Kriemhild's revenge the entire time (except when she put her own child in deadly danger, obviously...).

I had enjoyed Metropolis the first time I saw it but it was with a few friends and I was slightly disappointed back then, probably because I had seen Tezuka's anime version before and always enjoyed that one. But watching it in the right context and in my Lang Marathon, I fell in love with it. The visuals are just phenomenal. And wow, what a score!

I was a bit disappointed by Spione, the hero at the start of the movie is just so cool but then, instead of going forward on his mission to stop the evil criminal, he spends nearly the whole movie running after a woman who he fell in love with after just one day. He is absolutely obsessed, putting everything at risk and it bored me a bit. The ending was great at least and I ended the movie a lot more satisfied.
But it was Woman in the moon that surprised me the most, I was expecting a pure fantasy about a woman living on the moon going by the title haha and here comes this very slow and interesting sci-fi movies that was so much more impressive. It was also the one movie of Lang that I was moved at the end, with the main character finding the woman he loves waiting for him on the moon. Who knew i'd turn into such a sap for a silent movie ending lol.

Up next i'm watching his last two German movies, M and Testament and then i'm jumping into his Hollywood movies, which honestly don't interest me as much but i'm going in mostly blind and i'm hoping to be surprised (i've got 13 of his Hollywood movies, going mostly by what people recommended here and what I saw while surfing the web). I'll end my marathon with his last Mabuse movie (i'm skipping his two Indian epics, honestly they don't seem that good. I might watch them if you guys recommend them but i can't say i'm that excited).

Took me years but i'm finally discovering why Fritz Lang was such a genius director.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

Wow, just finished watching the Fritz Lang Silent films collection (albeit I skipped most of his early dramas, I watched Spiders and then skipped to Destiny).

I had only ever seen Metropolis (and M, which i'm about to rewatch next) so this was pretty much new to me. And wow, what an incredible succession of amazing movies. Spiders was definitely more of a blueprint for what he'd do later on but starting with Destiny till Woman in the moon, they were all masterpieces, imo. Especially Die Nibelungen and Metropolis. It also helps the soundtrack for both of those were spectacular, miles ahead of the other subpar tracks for the other movies. While I liked the first part of Die Nibelungen, I was blow away by the second part. Incredible action pieces and I was rooting for Kriemhild's revenge the entire time (except when she put her own child in deadly danger, obviously...).

I had enjoyed Metropolis the first time I saw it but it was with a few friends and I was slightly disappointed back then, probably because I had seen Tezuka's anime version before and always enjoyed that one. But watching it in the right context and in my Lang Marathon, I fell in love with it. The visuals are just phenomenal. And wow, what a score!

I was a bit disappointed by Spione, the hero at the start of the movie is just so cool but then, instead of going forward on his mission to stop the evil criminal, he spends nearly the whole movie running after a woman who he fell in love with after just one day. He is absolutely obsessed, putting everything at risk and it bored me a bit. The ending was great at least and I ended the movie a lot more satisfied.
But it was Woman in the moon that surprised me the most, I was expecting a pure fantasy about a woman living on the moon going by the title haha and here comes this very slow and interesting sci-fi movies that was so much more impressive. It was also the one movie of Lang that I was moved at the end, with the main character finding the woman he loves waiting for him on the moon. Who knew i'd turn into such a sap for a silent movie ending lol.

Up next i'm watching his last two German movies, M and Testament and then i'm jumping into his Hollywood movies, which honestly don't interest me as much but i'm going in mostly blind and i'm hoping to be surprised (i've got 13 of his Hollywood movies, going mostly by what people recommended here and what I saw while surfing the web). I'll end my marathon with his last Mabuse movie (i'm skipping his two Indian epics, honestly they don't seem that good. I might watch them if you guys recommend them but i can't say i'm that excited).

Took me years but i'm finally discovering why Fritz Lang was such a genius director.

I love Woman in the Moon - perhaps my favorite of his silent (or tied with Metropolis) and while I like Spies, I also felt underwhelmed. Maybe we have similar taste-- but I'd say watch his Indian Epic. If you like his work, you'll find something in it to like. I think it's a solid film.

His American work is nothing to scoff at - some is quite great, some is just decent but his talent and quality is still there, even if his creativity from the German expressionism era is held back.

Don't forget his one French film Liliom (1934) — it's very good as well.

[fred25_Ca]

Oh i'm still excited to watch his American movies but, what I loved most about his German movies were how diverse he was in genre films, from pulp serials (Spiders), to gangster epic (Mabuse), to a drama through the ages movie (Destiny) to huge epic fantasy (Die), to pulp sci fi (Metropolis), then spy movie and finally back to sci-fi but totally different approach to the genre than Metropolis (Woman). His Hollywood movies seem to be all Crime movies (obviously that's not true, there are Espionnage and Westerns too) but it all reads so similar. I also think his wife during his German years was pivotal to the quality of his movies so hopefully he found other great writers in Hollywood.
I might give his Indian epics a try afterall, i'll see how exhausted I am of Lang after all of this haha. Halloween is coming and i'm planning a huge Universal horror marathon after this so I need to get going with my Lang watching. :P

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by fred25_Ca

Oh i'm still excited to watch his American movies but, what I loved most about his German movies were how diverse he was in genre films, from pulp serials (Spiders), to gangster epic (Mabuse), to a drama through the ages movie (Destiny) to huge epic fantasy (Die), to pulp sci fi (Metropolis), then spy movie and finally back to sci-fi but totally different approach to the genre than Metropolis (Woman). His Hollywood movies seem to be all Crime movies (obviously that's not true, there are Espionnage and Westerns too) but it all reads so similar. I also think his wife during his German years was pivotal to the quality of his movies so hopefully he found other great writers in Hollywood.
I might give his Indian epics a try afterall, i'll see how exhausted I am of Lang after all of this haha. Halloween is coming and i'm planning a huge Universal horror marathon after this so I need to get going with my Lang watching. :P

He was mostly a director for hire in Hollywood, so I don't believe he had much collaboration with screenwriters, so you may be disappointed in that respect. But again, he has quite a few great movies in that period.

Oh, and when you wrote (Die) which I'm assuming is in reference to Die Nibelungen, "Die" just means "The" in German

[Drake2222]

Is there anything new we can expect to be released for Fritz Lang in the future? Restorations? New scans? Movies not out on blu ray? I know I would like to see Dr. Mabuse the Gambler re-released but with a new score. And like to see the prior version of Metropolis Eureka did on dvd (before they added in all the ultra-damaged scenes on their last blu release) released to blu ray as well

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Drake2222

And like to see the prior version of Metropolis Eureka did on dvd (before they added in all the ultra-damaged scenes on their last blu release) released to blu ray as well

I don't think anyone will ever release that version again. It was knowingly incomplete.

Now that Lang's full version of the film has been discovered, I don't think there would be enough of a market to justify releasing an archival incomplete version of the film, for better or worse.

I've kept my old DVD of that version, but honestly I can't imagine ever watching it again, the rediscovered scenes make such a huge impact on the narrative.

[Drake2222]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I don't think anyone will ever release that version again. It was knowingly incomplete.

Now that Lang's full version of the film has been discovered, I don't think there would be enough of a market to justify releasing an archival incomplete version of the film, for better or worse.

I've kept my old DVD of that version, but honestly I can't imagine ever watching it again, the rediscovered scenes make such a huge impact on the narrative.

Incomplete, but vastly more watchable than the ‘complete’ version

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Drake2222

Incomplete, but vastly more watchable than the ‘complete’ version

The earlier versions were so choppy, I just can't imagine watching them again, and they didn't reflect Lang's vision for the film, they were just the best possible approximation at the time.

The difference in quality between the sections is less than ideal, but at least we're seeing the film he wanted us to see, which nobody ever thought possible for almost a century.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by Drake2222

Is there anything new we can expect to be released for Fritz Lang in the future? Restorations? New scans? Movies not out on blu ray? I know I would like to see Dr. Mabuse the Gambler re-released but with a new score. And like to see the prior version of Metropolis Eureka did on dvd (before they added in all the ultra-damaged scenes on their last blu release) released to blu ray as well

There are remarkably few of his films not out on blu-ray:

(1) His first two films, Halbblut and Der Herr der Liebe are lost.

(2) The Last Will of Dr. Mabuse, a French-language version of The Testament of Dr. Mabuse filmed at the same time, was on the Criterion DVD of Testament. Whether it'll get upgraded when/if Criterion decides to upgrade Testament is anyone's guess (mine is "probably not").

(3) Fury needs a lot more restoration work before it's ready for blu-ray. Probably the same with Rancho Notorious and Clash by Night.

(4) No idea of the status of You and Me and The Blue Gardenia.

(5) American Guerilla in the Philippines is lost in the FoxMaus maw.

[Pecker]

Definitely Fury, his first American film.

It's ripe for exactly the sort of work WB have been doing on other titles.

[MifuneFan]

For those that can play region B Blu-rays, Eureka are having a Fritz Lang sale, with their titles going for 2 for 20 GBP, or 12.99 GBP each. Shipping is free worldwide.




https://eurekavideo.co.uk/promotions/fritz-lang-sale/

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by jayembee

(4) No idea of the status of You and Me

The Kino Lorber Insider believes this one is with another US label, as it was unavailable for them to license from Universal.

[MifuneFan]

Warner Archievs will be releasing Lang's first American film Fury (1936) on Blu-ray on November 9th

Joe Wilson (Spencer Tracy) is an innocent man wrongly accused of a horrible crime while on his way to meet his fiancée, Katherine Grant (Sylvia Sidney). Held at a local jail, Joe is confronted by a frenzied mob and presumed dead after a massive fire. When his attackers aren't brought to justice, Joe, who narrowly escaped the blaze, resurfaces, intent on revenge. Katherine tries to dissuade him from carrying out his vengeful plan, but Joe's anger isn't easily dampened.

https://www.importcds.com/fury/883929783267

credit to Akijama

[filmlover22]

Wow! I already heard the source elements were too problematic for a blu-ray release. Very excited for this one.

[Gunsnroses092789]

Originally Posted by filmlover22

Wow! I already heard the source elements were too problematic for a blu-ray release. Very excited for this one.

It seems that, fortunately, a lot of titles whose elements were dubbed too problematic by WAC are making their way to Blu-ray Perhaps technology and cost-efficiency are improving, as well as the technicians' skills. Maybe even improving sales, which allows for higher budgets?

[Richard--W]

Only six (6) days to go.

[edmonddantes]

Watched M last night. I've seen it several times but it always strikes me how modern it feels. The justification or explanation M gives when he's confronted in the final judgement is nothing short of astonishing for the time, and it is one of the most chilling performances I've ever seen. Peter Lorre really understood the character at his most tortured self. Also loved how intelligent is the chase and how neat and organized are the beggars to catch M.

Metropolis is also superb but I think this is Lang's masterpiece. The highly detailed procedural of M makes me think Lang would've been a great director for a sherlock holmes movie.

Watched the eureka version, pretty nice , great PQ, I wished it had more extras, but thats just my usual whinging.

[Hilliard]

I wish that The Blue Gardenia was on Blu-ray.....

[MifuneFan]

Kino has announced a Blu-ray release of You and Me (1938), sourced from a new 2K master.

Coming Soon on Blu-ray!
Brand New 2K Master!

You and Me (1938) Starring Sylvia Sidney, George Raft, Barton MacLane, Harry Carey & Robert Cummings – Shot by Charles Lang (Some Like It Hot) – Screenplay by Virginia Van Upp (Gilda) – Produced & Directed by Fritz Lang (Metropolis

An ex-convict (George Raft) marries a department-store co-worker (Sylvia Sidney), unaware she's on parole.

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by Pecker

I would love Blu-ray Disc releases of Fury (1936) and Beyond a Reasonable Doubt.

Steve W

It's always fun to see old wishlists like this 2014 post and know they eventually happened.

I just watched Fury, stunning film!