Silent Era : Home Video : Sky High (1922) Review

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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
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Sky High
(1922)

Tom Mix stars as an American border guard stopping smugglers of illegal Chinese immigrants in Arizona and Texas.

2010 Grapevine Video DVD edition

Sky High (1922), black & white, 58 minutes, not rated,
with An Arizona Wooing (1915), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated.

Grapevine Video, no catalog number, UPC 8-42614-10404-6.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD-R disc, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 20 chapter stops, standard DVD keepcase, $12.95.
DVD release date: August 2010.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 3 / audio: 4 / additional content: 5 / overall: 3.

This edition has been mastered from a 16mm reduction print that was duplicated from a vintage rerelease print. The source print is quite dark, and the 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 recordings that are 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.

The disc is supplemented with a Tom Mix short for Selig Polyscope that looks far better than the main feature.

Wow, it hardly seems possible that this quality is acceptable for home video these days. Mighty rough going, pardner.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from GRAPEVINE VIDEO.

2008 Sinister Cinema DVD edition

Sky High (1922), black & white, 49 minutes, not rated.

Sinister Cinema, no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD-R disc, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 20 chapter stops, standard DVD keepcase, $11.95.
DVD release date: 27 May 2011.
Country of origin: USA

This edition has been mastered from 16mm reduction print materials.

The film is likely accompanied by a compilation of preexisting recordings.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase helps support the Silent Era website.

2010 Alpha Home Entertainment DVD edition

Sky High (1922), black & white, 49 minutes, not rated,
with Just Tony (1922), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Alpha Home Entertainment, no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD disc, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 20 chapter stops, standard DVD keepcase, $7.98.
DVD release date: 30 March 2010.
Country of origin: USA

This edition has likely been mastered from 16mm reduction print materials.

The film is likely accompanied by a compilation of preexisting recordings.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase helps support the Silent Era website.

200? Reel Classic DVD edition

Sky High (1922), black & white, 49 minutes, not rated,
with Wild and Woolly (1917), black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Reel Classic DVD, no catalog number, unknown UPC number.
Full-frame 4:3 NTSC, one single-sided, single-layered DVD-R disc, Region 0, ? Mbps average video bit rate, ? kbps audio bit rate, Dolby Digital 2.0 mono sound, English language intertitles, no foreign language subtitles, 20 chapter stops, standard DVD keepcase, $20.00.
DVD release date: 200?
Country of origin: USA

This edition has been mastered from 16mm reduction print materials.

The film is accompanied by a piano music score performed by Stuart Oderman.

USA: Click the logomark at right to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase helps support the Silent Era website.

Other silent era TOM MIX films available on home video.

Other WESTERN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

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