Silent Era Home Page > DVD > The Battle at Elderbush Gulch DVD Review
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Reviews of silent film releases on DVD home video.
Copyright © 1999-2008 by Carl Bennett. All Rights Reserved.
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The Battle at
Elderbush Gulch
(1914)
on
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D.W. Griffith’s thrilling pioneer drama is a prime example of his mastery of suspense.
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 2002 Kino International edition
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1914), black & white, 29 minutes, not rated, with The Adventures of Dollie (1908) black & white, 12 minutes, not rated, Corner in Wheat (1909), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, The Sealed Room (1909), black & white, 11 minutes, not rated, Those Awful Hats (1909), black & white, 3 minutes, not rated, The Unchanging Sea (1910), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, The Usurer (1910), black & white, 18 minutes, not rated, Enoch Arden (1911), black & white, 33 minutes, not rated, His Trust (1911), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, The Last Drop of Water (1911), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, The Miser’s Heart (1911), black & white, 16 minutes, not rated, The Burglar’s Dilemma (1912), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated, Friends (1912), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, The Lesser Evil (1912), black & white, 13 minutes, not rated, The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), black & white, 18 minutes, not rated, The New York Hat (1912), black & white, 16 minutes, not rated, One is Business, The Other Crime (1912), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated, The Painted Lady (1912), black & white, 12 minutes, not rated, The Sunbeam (1912), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated, An Unseen Enemy (1912), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated, Death’s Marathon (1913), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated, The Mothering Heart (1913), black & white, 23 minutes, not rated, and The Massacre (1914), black & white, 30 minutes, not rated.
Kino International, K268, UPC 7-38329-02682-0.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, two single-sided, dual-layered DVD discs, Region 1, 4 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, double keep case, $29.95.
DVD release date: 10 December 2002.
Country of origin: USA
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We have not viewed this edition, but we can say that, sight unseen, this and the Image edition below are the best available of The Battle at Elderbush Gulch on DVD home video.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
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Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
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 2002 Image Entertainment edition
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1914), black & white, 29 minutes, not rated, with A Corner in Wheat (1909), black & white, 14 minutes, not rated, The Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), black & white, 18 minutes, not rated, The New York Hat (1912), black & white, 16 minutes, not rated, and 18 other films.
Image Entertainment, ID1270DSDVD, UPC 0-14381-12702-7.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, two single-sided?, dual-layered? DVD discs, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, chapter stops, double keep case, $39.99.
DVD release date: 10 September 2002.
Country of origin: USA
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We have not viewed this edition, but we can say that, sight unseen, this and the Kino edition above are the best available of The Battle at Elderbush Gulch on DVD home video. Originally prepared for laserdisc release in 1996 by producer David Shepard, we have seen this program on laserdisc and are generally pleased with the quality of its presentation.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
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Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 1 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
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 2003 VCI Entertainment edition
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1914), black & white, 20 minutes, not rated, with The Great Train Robbery (1903), black & white and color-tinted and color-toned black & white, 12 minutes, not rated, The Heart of Texas Ryan (1917) [1923 rerelease version], black & white, 60 minutes, not rated, and Tumbleweeds (1925) [1939 rerelease version], black & white, 82 minutes, not rated.
VCI Entertainment, 8297, UPC 0-89859-82972-7.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, dual-layered DVD disc, Region 0, 5 Mbps average video bit rate, 192 kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, no chapter stops, keep case, $19.99.
DVD release date: 16 December 2003.
Country of origin: USA
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 Our first look at this edition reveals a sound-speed transfer of what appears to be a 35mm print of a 1920s rerelease version of the film. With D.W. Griffith normally having shot his early films at approximately 12-14 frames per second, the film runs entirely too fast here.
The print is generally in very-good condition, with moments of beginning decomposition and a lengthy vertical scratches to the negative, which produces dark vertical lines in the print.
The film is presented with a pipe organ score taken from an LP records, dust pops and all. The music is far too upbeat during the beginning of the attack.
USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.com. |
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Canada: Click the logomark at right to purchase
a Region 0 NTSC DVD of this edition from Amazon.ca. |
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Other D.W. Griffith films available on DVD home video:
America (1924)
The Battle of the Sexes (1928)
Biograph Shorts (1909-1913)
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
Dream Street (1921)
D.W. Griffith, Director, Volume 1 (1908-1909)
D.W. Griffith, Director, Volume 2 (1909)
D.W. Griffith, Director, Volume 3 (1909)
D.W. Griffith, Director, Volume 4 (1909)
D.W. Griffith, Director, Volume 5 (1909-1910)
D.W. Griffith, Years of Discovery (1909-1913)
The Idol Dancer (1920)
Intolerance (1916)
The Love Flower (1920)
Orphans of the Storm (1920)
Sally of the Sawdust (1925)
True Heart Susie (1919)
Way Down East (1920)
Other silent era Lillian Gish films available on DVD home video:
The Battle at Elderbush Gulch (1914)
Biograph Shorts (1909-1913)
The Birth of a Nation (1915)
Broken Blossoms (1919)
D.W. Griffith, Years of Discovery (1909-1913)
Intolerance (1916)
Orphans of the Storm (1920)
Romola (1924)
True Heart Susie (1919)
Way Down East (1920)
The White Sister (1923)
Other silent era western films available on DVD home video:
The Bargain (1914)
Behind Two Guns (1924)
Blue Blazes Rawden (1918)
Born to Battle (1927)
The Buckaroo Kid (1926)
Bucking Broadway (1917)
The Cradle of Courage (1920)
Custer’s Last Fight (1912)
The Deerslayer (1920)
The Devil Horse (1926)
The Films of William S. Hart (1915)
The Great K&A Train Robbery (1926)
The Great Train Robbery (1903)
The Heart of Texas Ryan (1917)
Hell’s Hinges (1916)
The Iron Horse (1924)
Jesse James Under the Black Flag (1921)
Just Tony (1922)
The Last of the Mohicans (1920)
The Man from Texas (1915)
The Martyrs of the Alamo (1915)
Pioneers of the West (1927)
Redskin (1929)
The Return of ‘Draw’ Egan (1916)
The Son-of-a-Gun! (1918)
The Square Deal Man (1917)
The Squaw Man (1914)
Straight Shooting (1917)
Thundering Hoofs (1924)
The Toll Gate (1920)
Tumbleweeds (1925)
The Vanishing American (1925)
Wagon Tracks (1919)
Wild Beauty (1927)
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