7.3 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
A roving film projector repairman saves the life of a depressed psychologist who has driven his Volkswagen into a river, and they end up on the road together, traveling from one rural German movie theater to another. Along the way, the two men, each running from his past, bond over their shared loneliness.
Starring: Rüdiger Vogler, Hanns Zischler, Lisa Kreuzer, Rudolf Schündler, Marquard BohmForeign | 100% |
Drama | 98% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.66:1
German: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 5.0 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Winner of FIPRESCI Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, Wim Wenders' "Kings of the Roads" a.k.a. "Im Lauf der Zeit" (1976) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new video interviews with actors Rudiger Vogler, Hanns Zischler, and Lisa Kreuzer; outtakes; and archival audio commentary with director Wim Wenders. The release also arrives with a 48-page illustrated book featuring Michael Almereyda's essay "Between Me and the World", Allison Anders' essay "A Girl's Story", James Robinson's essay "Utter Detachment, Utter Truth", and Nick Roddick's essay "Keep on Truckin'". In German, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".
The travelers
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.66:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Wim Wenders' Kings of the Road arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.
The following text appears inside the book provided with this Blu-ray release:
"Wrong Move and Kings of the Road are presented in their original theatrical aspect ratios of 1.66:1. These new digital transfers were created from the original 35mm negatives and scanned in 4K resolution on an ARRISCAN film scanner. The films were also color corrected in 4K resolution.
Scan and restoration lab: ARRI Media, Berlin.
Transfer supervisors: Wim and Donata Wenders.
Colorist: Philipp Orgassa.
Commissioned by: The Wim Wenders Foundation, with support from the German Federal Film Board (FFA).
Financing and coordination: Laura Schmidt, Francesca Hecht, Bernd Eichorn, Johanna Muth, Dominik Bollen."
Kings of the Road is the best looking of the three films in The Road Trilogy. The wide panoramic shots look wonderfully balanced and boast outstanding depth and clarity. During close-ups minor details and nuances are also exceptionally easy to identify. Perhaps the biggest improvements, however, will be noticed by viewers with large screens and projectors since fluidity is now drastically improved -- the fuzziness, the jittery transitions and edge flicker that are noticeable on previous DVD releases of the film are completely eliminated. Grain is very well distributed and resolved. There are no traces of sharpening adjustments or contrast boosting. Lastly, there are no damage marks, cuts, debris, stains, or warped frames to report in our review. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).
There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: German DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (with a few small lines in English). Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature.
It immediately becomes obvious that the audio has been fully remastered because depth is outstanding. Clarity and balance are also excellent. There are quite a few sequences where scattered sounds and noises are now much easier to identify, and in some cases the background audio is actually a lot clearer (see the theater footage). The music is lush and well rounded. The dialog is stable, clean, and very easy to follow.
Wim Wenders' Kings of the Road has preserved the spirit of an era during which Germany was divided by polarizing ideologies. It is by no means a political film, but it is difficult not to examine the fascinating contrasts in it without acknowledging the fact that many of them were in fact created by political decisions. After Paris, Texas it is arguably Wenders' most visually enthralling film. Criterion's new Blu-ray release, which is part of The Road Trilogy, is sourced from an outstanding new 4K restoration of the film which will remain its definitive presentation on the home video market. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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