The Hunchback of Notre Dame Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.5

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Blu-ray Movie Review

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of the greatest masterpieces of silent filmmaking. Produced by Carl Laemmle (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Man Who Laughs) and Irving Thalberg (The Trap, Merry-Go-Round), The Hunchback of Notre Dame had a massive silent-era production budget of one million dollars. Based on the novel by Victor Hugo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame tells an incredible story and the film features the great Lon Chaney in the central role.

Quasimodo (Lon Chaney) rings the bell of Notre Dame. Playing a special role in Notre Dame, Quasimodo is a hunchbacked character who is mocked, ridiculed, and vilified by others. Treated as a monstrosity by most of the people in his own community, Quasimodo nonetheless seeks to be a good member of society.

With a good heart, Quasimodo helps protect the beautiful street dancer Esmeralda (Patsy Ruth Miller) in any way he can. The street dancer is being courted by some cold-hearted men and had a past love affair with Captain Phoebus (Norman Kerry). Quasimodo aims to protect her. Yet trouble brews. What fate awaits Quasimodo?

The Hunchback of Notre Dame simply wouldn’t the same without the fantastic performance of the great actor Lon Chaney. Chaney is such a fantastic and talented performer. Chaney even helped with his own make-up to make the transformation as effective as possible. Chaney pushed the envelope for silent productions with his dedicated performance pushing the boundaries of filmmaking. The role was essential for Chaney and remains an iconic work.

The production featured an unprecedented recreation of Paris circa 1482. Recreating Notre Dame, the production does a great job of highlighting Paris and making the landscape look as compelling for the tale as possible. Under the art direction of Elmer Sheeley (Outside the Law, The Goose Woman) and Sidney Ullman (The Lost Patrol, Dawn to Dawn), The Hunchback of Notre Dame makes the most of its massive production budget. The Hunchback of Notre Dame looks visually wondrous and far ahead of many silent films for authenticity and sense of scale.

Edited by Edward Curtiss (Brute Force, Paris Calling) and Maurice Pivar (Dracula, Frankenstein) with additional editing by Sydney Singerman, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a perfectly paced film. A wondrous edit. The film has such a great sense of rhythm and flow. The editing is so well done. It mesmerizes.

The cinematography by Robert Newhard (A Man’s Fight, The Iron Strain) is one of the most creative and beautiful elements of the production. The Hunchback of Notre Dame has an outstanding use of unique color tinting cinematography. The color tinting certainly enhances the production and makes it feel as surreal and mysterious as the story required. A beautiful effort.

The score composed by Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum and Laura Karpman is brilliant and enhances the film in such a wondrous way. Having seen other presentations of The Hunchback of Notre Dame with some different score selections, I found the score provided by Nora Kroll- Rosenbaum and Laura Karpman inarguably my favorite. The score for this 4K restoration is exhilarating and it helps the tale find an invigorating sense of life. No other score for the silent production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame impressed me more.

The screenplay by Perley Poore Sheehan (The Lost City, The Burglar of Algiers) is entertaining and engaging fun. The storytelling has a great sense of scale. This is an epic tale meant for the big screen. Bringing the words of Victor Hugo to life, the screenplay does a solid job of adapting the story for a silent production. The results impress in spades.

Directed by Wallace Worsley (The Ace of Hearts, A Blind Bargain), The Hunchback of Notre Dame is an incredible artistic achievement. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is one of my favorite silent films and it certainly offers audiences an ambitious production. The massive sense of scale to the filmmaking is exhilarating. There is a lot to appreciate about the film and how ambitious it is – adapting such a treasured tale by the great Victor Hugo is no simple task. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a must-see silent classic.  

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber, The Hunchback of Notre Dame is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition presentation in the theatrical aspect ratio of 1.35:1 full frame. The release is from a brand new 4K restoration. Back in 2014, Flicker Alley released a digital restoration of The Hunchback of Notre Dame struck from a 16mm print and that was the best option at the time. Now, Kino Lorber presents a superior 4K restoration – a presentation that is leaps and bounds superior to the previous Flicker Alley release.

Having seen both of the restorations, the first Blu-ray release doesn't hold up to the level of detail present on the new 4K restoration. The Kino Lorber Blu-ray offers a noteworthy upgrade. The video presentation might not be flawless and it does show some age-related wear (as some footage appears softer than desired).

Nonetheless, the 4K restoration provided to The Hunchback of Notre Dame marks a significant improvement in picture-quality – the color-tinting is fantastic and an enjoyable element of the release. Even though the print still shows some age-related wear, The Hunchback of Notre Dame hasn't looked this good before on home media – ever. A huge upgrade. A fantastic preservation of the silent classic.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 audio presentation. The music-only track is beautiful sounding. The score is well reproduced and is easily deserving of top-marks. This is a five-star audio presentation that engages throughout the entire presentation with great music clarity and detail.

The score by Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum and Laura Karpman is incredible. In my view, it offers a huge improvement over the previous Flicker Alley edition of The Hunchback of Notre Dame, which had a worthwhile score but one that was not as memorable or engaging overall. The new score by Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum and Laura Karpman provides vitality to the presentation and makes the entire film come to life in a way it never did before – making the filmmaking all the more engaging and hypnotic. An essential score and a great addition to the Kino Lorber 4K restoration edition.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

10-page booklet featuring an essay by film historian Michael F. Blake

On disc supplements include:

Audio Commentary by film critic Farran Smith Nehme

"Life in Hollywood" newsreel (HD, 8:49)

16mm home movie footage (HD, 13:11) featuring actor Lon Chaney as taken from the film and video collection archive from UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Publicity Materials and correspondence slideshow (HD, 4:19)

Official program book slideshow (HD, 3:40)

Production stills slideshow (HD, 3:46)

The Hunchback of Notre Dame Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a silent era masterpiece. The filmmaking is beautiful and sophisticated. The production was monumental and with a huge production budget for the time period. The star of the show is the great Lon Chaney, who perfectly delves in to the role of the hunchback Quasimodo. This is a breathtaking performance and one that has to be seen to be believed. The Hunchback of Notre Dame is a wonderful adaptation of the classic by Victor Hugo.

The new 4K restoration presented by Kino Lorber is outstanding. The level of clarity and detail provided to The Hunchback of Notre Dame is unparalleled. The Blu-ray release also benefits from the score by composers Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum and Laura Karpman. This release offers a significantly improved presentation when compared to the previously released Flicker Alley edition. Fans of the film will certainly want to pick up the outstanding 4K restoration. Highly recommended.