Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright ÂĐ 1999-2026 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Chang
A Drama of the Wilderness
(1927)
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This documentary-drama feature, directed and photographed by Ernest B. Schoedsack and Merian C. Cooper, features native Siamese (Thai) actors Kru, Chantui, Nah and Ladah, with Bimbo the monkey.
A Lao family protects their home and domesticated animals from leopards, tigers and elephants in the jungles of Siam.
The film is one of the most important cinema documents of the silent era.
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 The Milestone Collection
2025 Blu-ray Disc edition
Grass: A Nationâs Battle for Life (1925), black & white, color-tinted black & white, color-toned black & white, and color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 64 minutes, not rated, with Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (1927), color-tinted black & white and color-toned black & white, 68 minutes, not rated.
Milestone Film & Video, distributed by Image Entertainment, K27182, UPC 7-38329-27182-4.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (3840 x 2160 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in HDR HEVC format at 39.4 Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 1.6 Mbps audio bit rate (music), and Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate (commentary); English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 18 November 2025.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 8 / additional content: 8 / overall: 8.
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This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from a 2K high-definition scan of archival film materials, with some digital clean-up having been performed. Many examples of flaws have been removed, with a few instances of dust, speckling, mild print warping, and other minor print flaws remain. The results are an impressive, long overdue improvement over the previous DVD edition from Milestone.
The film is accompanied by a traditional and quite pleasing Thai music score composed by Bruce Gaston and performed on traditional Asian instruments and on synthesizers (with Thai vocals) by the ensemble Fong Naam.
Supplemental material includes audio commentary on Chang by film historian Rudy Behlmer; a Rudy Behlmer audio interview with Merian C. Cooper on Grass (99 minutes); and a Chang color test (4 minutes). A substantial amount of background information on the filmmakers and on the production itself is presented in the late Behlmerâs pleasant and entertaining voice.
If you do not have Chang in your collection or you are thinking of upgrading your existing copy, this is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc edition is available directly from . . .
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 The Milestone Collection
2000 DVD edition
Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (1927), color-tinted black & white, 69 minutes, not rated.
Milestone Film and Video, distributed by Image Entertainment, ID5922MLSDVD, UPC 0-14381-59222-1.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; snapper DVD case; $29.99.
Release date: 21 November 2000.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 6 / additional content: 6 / overall: 6.
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This DVD edition of Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsackâs Chang has been mastered from a very-good 35mm print, but the older analog video transfer itself is soft, even slightly blurry.
The film is accompanied by a traditional and quite pleasing Thai music score composed by Bruce Gaston and performed on traditional Asian instruments and on synthesizers (with Thai vocals) by the ensemble Fong Naam.
Supplemental material includes audio commentary by cinema historian Rudy Behlmer.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .
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 Loving the Classics
2026 DVD edition
Chang: A Drama of the Wilderness (1927), black & white, 90 minutes, not rated.
Loving the Classics, no catalog number, no UPC number.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $14.99 (raised to $15.49).
Release date: 4 April 2026.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is likely accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
Note that this company apparently has a history of pirating other home video editions or pirating television network recordings to produce their products. Be aware that purchasing pirated home video editions does not benefit the original edition producers nor the composers whose music is often pirated as well.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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Other DOCUMENTARY FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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