Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

Lost Horizon Blu-ray Movie Review

Question me an answer.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 3, 2017

As a kid with a rather pronounced love for the music of Burt Bacharach, I was one of the first (and, frankly, one of the only) in line to see the 1973 musical version of Lost Horizon, a film which (as I discuss in that review) became something of an obsession of mine. This was long before the days of home video, and while I had read the source novel by James Hilton, I had to wait many more years before I was finally able to see the original 1937 non-musical film. That screening came when it played at an art house during some special exhibition tied to what I seem to recall was the then recent discovery of additional 16mm elements that helped to get the film back to its original running time after having been shorn of several scenes in the years subsequent to its original release. As I mentioned in the Lost Horizon Blu-ray review, the musical remake pretty much copied the opening of the 1937 Frank Capra version shot by shot, something that I personally think argues against “blaming” director Charles Jarrott for what many see as the huge misfire the 1973 version supposedly was (those who have read my review know that I disagree, at least in part). Interestingly, then, as is referred to in some of the supplements included on this Blu-ray release, it's instructive to remember that even the Capra version had its fair share of trials and tribulations along the way, including what is referred to as a "disastrous" early test screening that led to cuts and actual reshoots. But even those who love the musical version, as I unashamedly do, can find a special and perhaps more emotionally resonant kind of magic in the 1937 version, one that seems to find a kind of prescient power from its very time of production, on the cusp of epochal battles and duelling ideologies that make some of the original version’s anti-war philosophizing seem positively prophetic.

That very anti-war philosophizing led to some of the earliest cuts in Lost Horizon, with some of the pacifist sentiments voiced by Robert Conway (Ronald Colman) being excised even before the film was re-released during World War II. A number of other sometimes baffling cuts also chopped away at the film, including scenes between floozy Gloria Stone (Isabell Jewell) and Chang (H.B. Warner), as well as a longer, later scene between Alexander P. Lovett (Edward Everett Horton) and Henry Barnard (Thomas Mitchell). But even these (and other) cuts couldn’t seriously undermine the evocative tale of a diplomat kidnapped to a remote lamasery where time more or less stands still and where all signs of conflict have been erased. (For more information on salient plot points, I refer you to my Lost Horizon Blu-ray review of the musical version, even if some minor details aren’t exactly the same.)

Lost Horizon is actually a study in rather marked philosophical contrasts, and that’s perhaps one reason why it’s both appealed to misty eyed dreamers while also annoying those who have a more activist sensibility. But Robert Riskin’s screenplay quite smartly addresses the kind of quandary Conway faces when greeted with the opportunity for (more or less) immortal life and constant peace, when he can’t stop thinking about a world in turmoil where his presence might make a difference. That makes this film’s ending especially provocative, for those who care to consider the consequences of Conway’s decision.

Lost Horizon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Lost Horizon is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.37:1. Those interested should most definitely listen to the fantastic (if now somewhat outdated) commentary by Bob Gitt, who worked on this feature for decades, as he goes into some of the provenance of elements utilized as well as then "new fangled" digital techniques utilized to bring them up to snuff. As is mentioned in the pre-commentary text card, certain things have changed in the intervening decades since the commentary was recorded, and this new(ish) 4K restoration shows a marked improvement in resolution of the intermittent 16mm elements which were the only surviving examples of scenes that were reintegrated into the film. That, along with a new minute or so of more recently found footage, represent some of the most noticeable differences in this presentation, one which otherwise shows the exacting care Sony's team tends to take with these restorations. While there's still a probably unavoidable variability in sharpness, clarity and grain structure due to the cobbling together of so many disparate source elements, this new 4K restoration is considerably more homogeneous looking than previous home video releases. The 35mm sections offer generally excellent detail levels and solid contrast and black levels, with finely modulated gray scale. Park Circus' site has the following interesting information on the new discovery as well as the 2014 4K restoration:

In 2014, Sony Pictures Entertainment completed an all digital restoration at Colorworks, using the preservation negative created in 1998 as the primary source, scanned at 4K and integrated with the director's personal nitrate print. Additional material was located in a badly worn 16mm print of the scene of the first meeting with the High Lama, where previously missing footage had been represented by the original soundtrack and still images.

Lost Horizon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

One of the great "finds" in Gitt's decades long search for elements was a complete 132 minute soundtrack, and that provided the source for the generally fine sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track included on this Blu-ray. There's still a bit of boxiness and even a slightly tinny sound in some of the underscore, but overall this is a surprisingly full bodied rendering of an obviously old track, with dialogue delivered cleanly and clearly, albeit with an overall shallow sound and a slight lack of "oomph" in the lower registers.

Lost Horizon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Aside from the production notes (which are offered in a slightly different format within the DigiBook), this release ports over the supplements from the previously released DVD:

• Audio Commentary features Charles Champlin and Bob Gitt and is more or less the same as the one contained on the previously released DVD. However, as is documented in a brief (too brief for me, and I'm a fast reader -- have your pause button handy) text card, the commentary has been edited and some of its references are no longer accurate (with regard to the newer 4K restoration). One of the most interesting tidbits in this text card is that one of the inaccuracies is with regard to photochemical blowup of 16mm elements, since even those elements were scanned for this new restoration.


• Restoration Featurette (480i; 8:36) is kind of an oddly named piece, since what it actually is are the sole remaining snippets of the original camera negative, with a handful of deleted moments without sound (Bob Gitt narrates the dialogue as appropriate from a shooting script).


• Alternate Ending (480i; 2:43) is the finale that Sam Cohn was arguing for before Capra's wishes prevailed.


• Before and After Comparison (480i; 00:59) shows how one especially bad tear and instability from another 16mm element were repaired.


• Opening Credits Comparison (480i; 1:25) is short but interesting comparison of how the main titles changed when the film was released during World War II.


• Photo Documentary (480i; 30:27) is also perhaps weirdly named, since it does in fact include actual moving pictures, along with a surplus of stills, with historian Kendall Miller providing background on the production.


• Theatrical Trailers

  Theatrical Teaser 1 (1080p; 00:33)

  Theatrical Teaser 2 (1080p; 00:48)

  Re-Issue Trailer (1080p; 1:58)

  Theatrical Trailer French (1080p; 4:33)

  Theatrical Trailer Spanish (1080p; 3:16)

Lost Horizon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Hal David's lyric for the title song of the musical version of Lost Horizon begins with the evocative question, "Have you ever dreamed of a place far away from it all?" That dream occurs probably more readily to world weary sorts today than at any previous time, and in a world beset by as much conflict as ours is, the promise of a peaceful refuge hidden high away in a remote valley is probably more alluring than ever. Lost Horizon is still a work in progress, as evidenced by the sequences that have yet to be found and are represented here by still photographs, but the power of the film is remarkably undiminished despite these seeming obstacles. My only qualm with this release is that no new supplementary material was produced. It would have been great to have heard comments about the "new, improved" restoration this release offers. That said, Sony has produced a beautiful restoration of a beautiful film, and Lost Horizon easily comes Highly recommended.