Come And See

[hitch_fan]

Does anybody know the correct aspect ratio of this Russian war movie? It will be released as a 2 disc set on the 23rd of Oct in R1. The specs on the back of the cover say it will be full frame (1.33:1). Would that be the original aspect ratio? Seems a bit strange for a movie from 1985.

[Michael Brooke]

The Russians carried on using 4:3 long after it ceased to be fashionable in the West - throughout the 1960s, 1970s and a fair chunk of the 1980s they basically only came in two flavours: 2.35:1 and 4:3.

I don't know when they stopped using 4:3 (Alexei Balabanov's 1990s films are all 1.66:1), but the Russian Cinema Council DVDs I have of early 1980s films - <I>Torpedo Bombers</I> and <I>Professor Dowell's Testament</I>, both from 1984 - are in 4:3, and I couldn't see any compositional oddities or evidence of cropping at all.

[SimonI]

Oddly enough, although all the sites listing the R1 release say it will be full frame, the Ruscico page for this title lists it as being 16:9. I wish I could remember what it looked like when I saw it in 1985!

[hitch_fan]

Thanks for the info Michael. The R1 will be released by Kino Video and appears to be licensed from Ruscico so it should be correct. I'll take my chance and hope the Ruscico site is wrong. Being a big war movie fan and never having seen this one, I really want to check out what the fuzz is all about (it being labelled as the best and most realistic war movie ever).

[Michael Brooke]

Ruscico often get the aspect ratio wrong on their packaging - <I>Solaris</I> is described as letterboxed 1.85:1, though it's actually anamorphic 2.35:1 - so I wouldn't take anything they say as gospel. The crucial thing is that they do appear to be getting the aspect ratios right on the films themselves, and that's the main thing!

I'd honestly be surprised if they slipped up here, given that their discs are obviously drawn from the best materials available - I've been quite startled by the quality of some of the prints they've uncovered (the 1959 <I>Ballad of a Soldier</I> is virtually pristine), and since they've been presenting 2.35:1 films properly (and anamorphically), I can't for the life of me see why they'd deliberately crop or alter any of their other titles.

[feverpitch96]

Could somebody furnish me with the details of the Ruscico official pages and some suggestions of where to buy their discs from in R2? I want to be on the case by the time a proper version of Potemkin turns up.
:)

[hitch_fan]

Originally posted by feverpitch96
Could somebody furnish me with the details of the Ruscico official pages and some suggestions of where to buy their discs from in R2? I want to be on the case by the time a proper version of Potemkin turns up.
:)

The Ruscico site: http://www.ruscico.com/about_eng.php

Pics from the R1 Come And See (front and back): http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?userid=93116218371886&item_id=40711&tab=5

[Michael Brooke]

Their website is <A HREF="http://www.ruscico.com">here</A> - and they say they'll be offering credit card ordering of individual discs before too long. Actually, they specifically said late September and then mid-October, but since they've been late with everything else they've promised, I won't hold them to that!

At the moment, the best R2 source seems to be <A HREF="http://www.musicbox.fr">Musicbox</A> or <A HREF="http://www.fnac.com">Fnac</A> in France, though obviously these will have French artwork. The discs themselves should be absolutely identical to the ones I review, though - mine offer French-language menus as well as English and Russian ones.

Reviews of <I>Torpedo Bombers</I> and <I>Solaris</I> are imminent, by the way - they should both be up next week.

[Hendrik]

...FYI: I have also ordered RUSCICO discs from this Spanish e-tailer:

http://www.mundolaser.com/ruso.htm

...who promise there are more titles to come...

...I can especially recommend the two-disc AGONIYA a.k.a. Rasputin...

. . . :o . . .

[adamvbarker]

Amazon.com have started selling some Ruscico disks, though none that have not been available from french sites.

Check out their 2 pages of Russian movies, starting here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/284938/ref=pd_fr_bw_/002-2193667-7292863)

They also have the Kino version of Come and See on pre-order at $22.46.

[hitch_fan]

What is Torpedo Bombers like as a movie?

[feverpitch96]

Originally posted by adamvbarker
Amazon.com have started selling some Ruscico disks, though none that have not been available from french sites.

Check out their 2 pages of Russian movies, starting here (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/284938/ref=pd_fr_bw_/002-2193667-7292863)

They also have the Kino version of Come and See on pre-order at $22.46.

Thank you all! :)

[adamvbarker]

Come and See ( Idi i Smotri) shipped by Amazon.com on Friday. But I went for cheap but slow shipping, so others may get theirs first.