The Sissi Collection Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

The Sissi Collection Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman November 7, 2017

Peter O’Toole will enter the cinematic record books for any number of reasons, including the fact that he remains one of the most Oscar nominated actors to never receive an “official” award (O’Toole was feted with an honorary Academy Award in 2003, perhaps precisely because he had never “really” won). O’Toole’s second and third nominations for Best Actor made history in a different way, for in 1964’s Becket and 1968’s The Lion in Winter, O’Toole was playing the same real life historical character (at different ages), King Henry II. There have been at least a few other performers who have played the same character in different films, and some of them, like Bing Crosby in Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary's, or Al Pacino, in The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II, have also garnered Oscar nominations for each film, like O'Toole, though by and large those performances have been of fictional characters. One of the few other times the same performer has played the same real life historical character in otherwise unrelated films was when Romy Schneider "recreated" her take on Empress Elisabeth of Austria for Luchino Visconti's Ludwig , years after she had taken on the same role in a series of films that became known as The Sissi Trilogy ("Sissi" was the diminutive nickname family members called Elisabeth). This in and of itself is kind of a fascinating "trivia" phenomenon, since I personally can't think of another example where one performer essayed a role based on a real life historical figure in a "series" and then played the same role years later in a completely unrelated film. There are of course other manifest differences between the series and the Visconti film, due not just to the different eras in which they were produced, but also due to the fact that Ludwig is an often provocative, even trenchant, entry, while all three Sissi films tend to exploit a glossy quasi-"Hollywood" style where happily ever after is never too far out of reach.

For reviews of the four feature films included in this set on Blu-ray discs (see the Supplements section below for other DVD presentations included in this set), please click on the following links:

Sissi Blu-ray review

Sissi - The Young Empress Blu-ray review

Sissi – Fateful Years of an Empress Blu- ray review

Victoria in Dover Blu-ray review

The Sissi Collection Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each release is assessed in the above linked reviews. This review includes a sampling of screenshots from all four films that are on Blu-ray discs in this set.

The Sissi Collection Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each release is assessed in the above linked reviews.

The Sissi Collection Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

While none of the four Blu-ray discs included in this set offer any supplemental materials, there is a Bonus DVD which includes the following:

• Forever, My Love (480p; 2:25:12) is an English language "redaction" of the three Sissi films, getting in all the major plot points (not that there are a ton of those, mind you), while leaving out some of the bit players and sidebars. This is sourced from a pretty problematic old print (replete with the Paramount logo). Colors have faded badly and there is prevalent damage, including quite a bit of warping and other image instability. The English language dubbing is okay if never completely convincing, but this film has a special surprise for music lovers of a certain iconic American team who, in 1962 when this version was released, hadn't quite erupted into the cinematic mainstream yet (for a hint, see the film I mention when I reference screenwriter William Goldman in the Sissi - The Young Empress Blu-ray review).


• From Romy to Sissi (480p; 19:21) is an enjoyable vintage featurette that has some fun candid footage (in black and white) along with scenes from the film in (faded) color. The insert booklet included with this release states this dates from 1956.


• Sissi's Great-Grandson at the Movies (480p; 4:21) is a brief piece featuring Sissi's progeny watching the film. This has some odd audio prioritization issues where the English narration is buried beneath the German language soundtrack of the film being seen.

Additionally, the Bonus DVD offers some trailers for other Film Movement releases.

The Sissi Collection Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

All three of the Sissi films might be thought of as prime examples of the German genre known as Heimatfilm, i.e., "homeland film", offerings that are typically extremely scenic but also probably a bit on the saccharine, even syrupy, side. While there's bona fide history at play in all three films, things are fictionalized pretty heavily, to the point that the first two films especially play almost like fairy tales. All three films feature some good performances, and Romy Schneider certainly is regal and incredibly gorgeous in the title role. The reviews for the individual titles in this set discuss some of the technical issues at hand, but taken as a whole, The Sissi Collection comes Recommended.