| The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Special Collector's Edition) | 
 enlarge | Director: Robert Wiene
Actors: Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt, Friedrich Feher, Lil Dagover, Hans Heinrich Von Twardowski
Studio: Image Entertainment
Category: DVD
List Price: $19.99
Buy New: $9.49
You Save: $10.50 (53%)
New (18) Used (13) Collectible (4) from $9.49
Avg. Customer Rating:  83 reviews
Sales Rank: 34303
Format: Black & White, Color, Dvd-video, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), Japanese (Dubbed)
Rating: Unrated
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 76
Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
DVD Layers: 1
DVD Sides: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.4 x 5 x 0.6
MPN: IMED4099D
ISBN: 6305075492
UPC: 014381409925
EAN: 9786305075493
ASIN: 6305075492
Theatrical Release Date: March 19, 1921
Release Date: October 15, 1997
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
A milestone of the silent film era and one of the first "art films" to gain international acclaim, this eerie German classic from 1919 remains the most prominent example of German expressionism in the emerging art of the cinema. Stylistically, the look of the film's painted sets--distorted perspectives, sharp angles, twisted architecture--was designed to reflect (or express) the splintered psychology of its title character, a sinister figure who uses a lanky somnambulist (Conrad Veidt) as a circus attraction. But when Caligari and his sleepwalker are suspected of murder, their novelty act is surrounded by more supernatural implications. With its mad-doctor scenario, striking visuals, and a haunting, zombie-like character at its center, Caligari was one of the first horror films to reach an international audience, sending shock waves through artistic circles and serving as a strong influence on the classic horror films of the 1920s, '30s, and beyond. It's a museum piece today, of interest more for its historical importance, but Caligari still casts a considerable spell. --Jeff Shannon
Product Description
This milestone film known for its expressionistic sets and techniques tells the strange tale of a sleepwalker under the spell of the mysterious and evil dr. Caligari. One of the great horror classics dr. Caligari features a new music score. Studio: Image Entertainment Release Date: 08/20/2002 Starring: Werner Krauss Lil Dagover Run time: 72 minutes Rating: Nr
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| Customer Reviews: Read 78 more reviews...
 The Best DVD Version of Dr. Caligari October 19, 2008
The print is outstanding, the Jazz score is amazing and the toning of the print is excellent. This is also a 35mm print from Germany. Everything is done right with this film. I'm glad Kino took the time. I've never seen Dr. Caligari look so good and sound so good. Kino did an exemplary job. If you haven't seen the film, you've got to, it's too good to not see at least once in your lifetime. It should really be many times.
The stuff nightmares are made of.... October 1, 2008
This is an eerie movie which tells the story of doctor and his charge...a somnambulist named Cesare who mostly sleeps but sometimes wakes up to tell scarey fortunes (like you're going to die tomorrow) or kill people.
Though admittedly Cesare ranks much lower on the scare-o-meter than say his contemporary Nosferatu, he's nonetheless significant for having inaugurated an era when movies could be really scarey.
Though there are those who feel confident that the doctor and Cesare were reality (along with their bad deeds) part of the wierdness of this movie for me came from the idea that maybe the dividing line between reality and nightmare wasn't so strong. And maybe it doesn't have to be either because even though we know we've just woken up from a nightmare, it's still a scarey experience...like this movie...because of the inherent terror that exists even in frightening possibilities.
Caligari is a Masterpiece! May 3, 2008
Made at the height of the German Expressionist movement, Caligari is a true classic and a magnificent gem. As a silent film fanatic, this film is on par with other greats such as Nosferatu and the REAL Phantom Of The Opera with Lon Chaney. Kino has done a great restoration job on this piece and I highly recommend this version over many other low-budget restorations I've seen over the years.
 Image or Kino? February 29, 2008
20 out of 20 found this review helpful
I'd like to add my two cent's worth here. Not going in to the film itself, I just want to discuss the 2 main versions out there, the Image "Special Collector's Edition" disc from about 10 years ago and the new Kino "Restored Authorized Edition". I watched both side to side (2 TVs & 2 DVD players)
Despite some raves about the Kino version (which I can't really understand), the Image version wins hands down. Kino, which normally puts out a superior product whatever movie they are releasing, I believe really dropped the ball with this one. For one, they went totally overboard with tinting...most scenes now appear to be a deep, dark blue, and the black areas have a weird, mottled, speckley, "wavy" look, like TV reception that isn't quite coming in. Granted, this is mostly only really bad during the first reel, in the opening garden scene, improving slightly as the film goes on, but it's still annoying.
The Image disc, by comparision, is brightly lit, scenes being either a "regular" grey like you see on the usual b/w silent film, or an amberish tint that still shows up fine. The entire Kino version just seems too dark & murky. The intertitles of both are in that funky, abstract font, but each has slightly different wording for the same scenes (and I don't know which is actually more accurate to the original, but both convey basically the same information). For example, one may say "Listen while I tell you a story" while the other says "I will now tell you a story" (I made both those up, but it was to get the idea across!). However, the intertitles on the Kino version are, again, much darker than the Image disc. Also, the Image print in general just seems much sharper & clearer than the Kino, and the musical score is much better & more fitting. Kino gives you a choice of 2 musical scorings & both are atrocious and do not seem to fit the "mood" of the story.
On the other hand, Kino does have more extras, particularly a much longer segment of GENUINE: THE TALE OF A VAMPIRE (43 minutes) while Image gives you about a 3-minute snippet. Also, and most important, that annoying horizontal line that cuts across the top of certain scenes on nearly every version out there (including the one shown on TCM) has been removed on the Kino disc. Long considered to be a flaw in the original film, it's most likely a goof in the converting process somewhere, and this shows that we DO have the technology to remove it, which we did not have back when the Image disc was made. Quite frankly, this was the ONLY main advantage I could find in the Kino print, and it does not make up for a blue, murky, dark movie. I'd much rather have a clean, crisp, clear, brightly lit film & deal with the line (it's not in every scene in the movie, just certain ones anyway).
I guess the best of both worlds would be if Image put out a new version, using it's same print but removing the line as Kino did. THAT would really be the "Ultimate Edition" in my opinion.
Distorted Reality February 3, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is famous for being a prime example of German Expressionism, a strange artistic movement in the 1920s that emphasized mood more than story. This film is filled with strange angular sets, heavy reliance on shadow, and a psychological theme. It is a film enthusiast's delight, especially if said enthusiast believes in the artistic content of silent films.
Dr. Caligari (Werner Krauss) is a spider-like man who creeps around on his cane peddling his great find. Cesare (Conrad Veidt) is a Somnambulist, a man in a hypnotic state who tells the future. He also has murderous tendencies, or so we learn when several people in the town are killed late at night. Everything is not as it seems, however, and the twist ending will leave you breathless.
The default music on the Kino DVD might put off traditional silent film fans. It relies heavily on guitar, which makes the suspenseful scenes even moreso and adds to the strangeness of the film, but it might be unfavorably jarring. Thankfully there is an alternative score.
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