Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
Copyright © 1999-2026 by Carl Bennett
and the Silent Era Company.
All Rights Reserved. |
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Sky High
(1922)
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Tom Mix stars as an American border guard stopping smugglers of illegal Chinese immigrants in Arizona and Texas.
In 1998, the film was listed in the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress’ National Film Preservation Board.
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 Undercrank Productions
2023 Blu-ray Disc edition
Sky High (1922), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 58 minutes, not rated, with The Big Diamond Robbery (1929), black & white and color-tinted black & white, 65 minutes, not rated.
Undercrank Productions,
no catalog number, UPC 7-45808-09983-1.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc (BD-R BDMV); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $21.98.
Release date: 25 July 2023.
Country of origin: USA
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This Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition has been mastered in 2K high-resolution from an archival 35mm safety duplicate negative held by the Library of Congress. The negative was struck in the 1970s from a nitrate positive print that was in the beginning stages of decomposition.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Ben Model.
This is our recommended home video edition of the film.
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This Regions ABC Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition is available from
UNDERCRANK PRODUCTIONS through . . .
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 Undercrank Productions
2023 DVD edition
Sky High (1922), black & white, 58 minutes, not rated, with The Big Diamond Robbery (1929), black & white, 65 minutes, not rated.
Undercrank Productions,
no catalog number, UPC 7-45808-09984-8.
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; $19.98.
Release date: 11 July 2023.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered in 2K high-resolution from an archival 35mm preservation print held by the Library of Congress.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on virtual theater pipe organ by Ben Model.
Even sight unseen, this is the best DVD home video edition of the film we know of.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
UNDERCRANK PRODUCTIONS through . . .
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 Grapevine Video
2010 DVD edition
Sky High (1922), black & white, 58 minutes, not rated, with An Arizona Wooing (1915), black & white, and color-tinted black & white, 15 minutes, not rated.
Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10404-6.
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 5.0 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 mono sound encoded at 224 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 20 chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $12.95 (raised to $14.95).
Release date: August 2010.
Country of origin: USA
Ratings (1-10): video: 2 / audio: 3 / additional content: 5 / overall: 3.
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a fair 16mm reduction print that was duplicated from a vintage rerelease print. The source material is quite dark, and the analog video transfer seems at times to not be able to capture enough light through the print to maintain a stable image, but at very least the intertitles remain readable.
The film is accompanied by a soundtrack of preexisting monaural music recordings with some of them so digitally compressed that they playback with a metallic ringing (a sure indicator of overcompression). The audio is sometimes isolated in the right channel exclusively.
Supplemental material is limited to a Tom Mix short for Selig Polyscope that looks far better than the main feature. For information about the other film in this edition, see our An Arizona Wooing on home video page.
Wow, it hardly seems possible that this quality is acceptable for home video these days. Mighty rough going, pardner.
This review was updated in 2025.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Sinister Cinema
2008 DVD edition
Sky High (1922), black & white, 49 minutes, not rated.
Sinister Cinema, W329, UPC 8-83629-53634-7.
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; $11.95 (reduced to $8.95).
Release date: 27 May 2011.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from 16mm reduction print materials.
The film is likely accompanied by a compilation of preexisting recordings.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Sinister Cinema
202? DVD edition
B Western Collections: Tom Mix, Vol. 1 (1915-1922), black & white, ? minutes total, not rated, including Sky High (1922), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Sinister Cinema, BC01, unknown 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; $9.95.
Release date: 202?.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print.
The film is likely to be accompanied by a soundtrack compiled from preexisting music recordings.
For information about other films in this collection, see our B Western Collections: Tom Mix, Vol. 1 on home video page.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .
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 Alpha Video
2010 DVD edition
Sky High (1922), black & white, 49 minutes, not rated, with Just Tony (1922), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.
Alpha Home Entertainment, distributed by Oldies.com,
ALP 6332D, UPC 0-89218-63329-3.
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 mono sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $7.98 (raised again to $9.99).
Release date: 30 March 2010.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from 16mm reduction print materials.
The film is likely accompanied by a compilation of preexisting music recordings.
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This
Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
ALPHA VIDEO through . . .
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 Reel Classic DVD
200? DVD edition
Wild and Woolly (1917), black & white, 63 minutes, not rated, with Sky High (1922), black & white, 49 minutes, not rated.
Reel Classic DVD, no catalog number, UPC 7-62185-05402-4.
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; $19.98.
Release date: 200?.
Country of origin: USA
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This DVD-R edition has been mastered from 16mm reduction print materials.
The film is accompanied by a music score composed and performed on piano by Stuart Oderman.
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This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available from
REEL CLASSIC DVD through . . .
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Other silent era TOM MIX films available on home video.
Other WESTERN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
Other AVIATION FILMS of the silent era available on home video.
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