Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #34086 in DVD
• Released on: 2004-08-03
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Box set, Color, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: German
• Subtitled in: English
• Number of discs: 6
• Running time: 610 minutes

Customer Reviews

Wonderful films, Anchor Bay has a few problems
These are stunning films. "The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser" is one of the classics; the shot of the rye field in the wind alone is worth the price of admission. It's good that Anchor Bay is emphasizing that they'll rectify defective disks, though, because problems abound. Thanks to an earlier reviewer for posting their complaints URL! On my copy of "Kaspar Hauser" the commentary simply won't turn off (and it's not that I haven't figured out how, because it turns off on the other disks). Then occasionally it turns off all by itself, but if you try to get the subtitles, it turns back on -- so you can't watch the film WITH subtitles but WITHOUT commentary. Exasperating! While I was fiddling with commentaries, however, I managed to watch the whole of "Heart of Glass" with commentary. "Heart of Glass" is not the most accessible film -- not because, as Herzog says, it's slow, but because hypnotized actors are more like zombies than actors. But the film with the commentary on is the most surreal, fascinating experience -- the stories behind the making of the film are an artwork in themselves. The same is true of "Kaspar Hauser" -- an unintended benefit of the disk problem. Providing Anchor Bay makes good on their defective disks, this is a great set.

Manufacturing defect?
Has anyone else had a problem with 'Lessons of Darkness/Fata Morgana'? I've tried two different copies of this box set and the same few minutes at the end of Fata Morgana won't play. It skips and goes back to the DVD menu.

Regardless of that, the box set is worth it. An amazing collection of films, well put together. I want to see the end of 'Fata Morgana', but the other six movies are spectacular.

Film experience in some of its purest form
This group of films I would describe as pure cinema in that they are more concerned with image and sound than narrative. As such they seem primal and connect in an electrifying way with primal emotions in the viewer. They are full of suspense because they are full of the unexpected and in that regard are the opposite of the Hollywood, or Bollywood, cinema. They are tantalizing, intriguing and human with tragedy and comedy in their mix. They make for uncomfortable viewing and I want to watch them again and again. To own and return to for many years to see the possibilities in cinema. Brilliant use of music - folk, classical, opera - and powerful clarity of image in the pristine transfers make for a rivetting experience. Brilliant stuff.