John Fords Western-Stummfilm “Das Feuerross / The Iron Horse” [USA 1924] wird am 26. September 2011 in Großbritannien bei Masters of Cinema erscheinen. Leider ist bisher keine Blu-ray des Films in Sicht, die Veröffentlichung erfolgt nur als Doppel-DVD inklusive der originalen US-Fassung und der kürzeren britischen Fassung. Bisher war der Film in Großbritannien beim British Film Institute (BFI) auf DVD erhältlich, allerdings nur in der kürzeren Version mit Virage.

In den USA ist der Film 2007 innerhalb der “Ford at Fox“-Box von 20th Century Fox erschienen. Diese DVD, die auch einzeln erschienen ist, bietet ebenfalls beide Schnittfassungen, außerdem noch einige Extras. Davon wird beim britischen Set der Audiokommentar übernommen, auf die 9-minütige “Scoring The Past: The Iron Horse Sessions with Christopher Caliendo”- Featurette, einen Restaurierungs-Vergleich und eine Fotogalerie muß man hingegen verzichten. Exklusiv kann Masters of Cinema allerdings ein 30-minütiges Video-Essay von Tag Gallagher bieten.

Laut Criterion-Forum konnte Masters of Cinema die Master von 20th Century Fox verwenden.

We do our own encodes from Fox’s masters (both versions). So they’re the same source, but they’re our DVD encodes. It’s clear that the American version of the film is the key version, but unfortunately, it’s not in very consistent shape. Parts look astonishing and would pop in 1080p, other parts are very damaged and soft. On the whole, it’s the best the film’s ever looked, but we all agree it wouldn’t be wise to put a Blu-ray out (even though both versions have been scanned in HD).

It’s going to be a very nice edition. Glad folk are liking the artwork. The Fox DVD sleeve had been heavily touched up, and it looks great, it’s just very different to the original psychedelic ‘mountain range on fire’ artwork which we have used.

Dort wird außerdem erklärt, wieso keine Blu-ray geplant ist.

Simply because “Parts look astonishing and would pop in 1080p, other parts are very damaged and soft.” — 1080p would exacerbate the damaged and soft parts, and counteract the benefits of the other parts that would work in 1080p. Another £20,000 spent on HD restoration might solve things, but Fox haven’t done the work, and we can’t afford to on a title like this (having ponied up to licence it from Fox, and factored in the sales projections).

Our release will use the same masters that Fox issued in 2007 in the USA, which in itself is a pretty big step up from the old BFI edition, which only contained the inferior European cut.

 
The 1924 blockbuster that launched John Ford into Hollywood’s emerging A-list of directors, The Iron Horse is an epic mythification of the American railroad’s birth: a rambunctious blend of historical drama and Western actioner, revenge story and saloon comedy, noble biopic and all-bets-off tall tale. Neighbour to the pre-presidential Abe Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois, young Davy Brandon accompanies his father westward to realise the elder’s dream of a rail line bridging the ends of the continent. Years after Brandon Sr.’s murder and scalping by a two-fingered Cheyenne half-breed, the adult David (played by George O’Brien, three years before his lead role in Sunrise, here in the first of ten films he made with Ford) joins in the effort now underway to lay track and accommodate “the iron horse”. Once more stir the blood and butterflies of Davy’s past as Ford guides his characters’ fates towards final convergence, like the merging of the tracks from east and west. With its expressive compositional prowess, incredible stunt work, and generous humour, The Iron Horse anticipates the bounteous universe that Ford would go on to calibrate perfectly in his greatest works. The Masters of Cinema Series is proud to present The Iron Horse in its US, full-length version for the first time on DVD in the UK. The first smash hit in the career of one of Hollywood’s greatest and most enduringly popular directors: John Ford (The Searchers, Stagecoach, The Quiet Man, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, Fort Apache, etc.), The Iron Horse was one of the great blockbusters of Hollywood’s silent era, with over 6000 extras at work on the film, it is the grandfather of all Westerns.

The Iron Horse is released in a 2-disc DVD set on 26 September 2011.

SPECIAL TWO-DISC DVD EDITION FEATURING

• Original, US, 150-minute version of the film, accompanied by a 2007 score by Christopher Caliendo
• Shorter, UK, 133-minute version of the film (which includes alternate takes), accompanied by an adaptation of the Caliendo score
• Audio commentary for the UK version of the film by scholar Robert Birchard
• New and exclusive 30-minute video essay by Tag Gallagher, author of John Ford: The Man and His Films
• A lengthy illustrated booklet containing vintage press and publicity material, and more!