The Firemen's Ball (1967)
Hoří, má panenko
Comedy • 1h 13m
Overview
The firemen of a provincial Czechoslovakian town throw a ball in honor of the old chief's retirement. There will be music and dancing, a beauty pageant and a raffle. The whole town will be in attendance. However, the proceedings are dogged by difficulty at every step. Workplace injuries, stolen prizes, a shortage of pretty girls... and fire.
Director: Miloš Forman
Cast: Jan Vostrčil, Josef Šebánek, František Debelka, Josef Valnoha, Ladislav Adam, Vratislav Čermák, Václav Novotný, František Paska, František Reinstein, Josef Řehořek, J. Řeháček, Josef Kolb, Milada Ježková, František Svět, Jan Stöckl, Antonín Blažejovský, Josef Kutálek, Stanislav Holubec, Alena Květová, Olga Blechová, Ivana Freiburgová, Marie Slívová, V. Bartošová, V. Janusová, E. Šnajdrová, Hana Kuberová, Miluše Zelená, Anna Liepoldová, Jiří Líbal, Miloslav Balcar, Marie Kovářová, Jarmila Kuchařová, Vlastimila Vlková, Hana Hanusová, Stanislav Dytrich, F. Řehořková, M. Mejsnarová
Arrow 4K Blu-ray in August
Arrow 4K Blu-ray in August
Director: Miloš Forman
Theatrical: WB 4K Blu-ray
Extended: Warner Bros Blu-ray
Theatrical version: Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray: Huge improvement in colors and detail. The restoration was done by the Academy instead of WB MPI which explains that there’s no grain management or issues with colors. They also accessed the original credit optical and scanned that one instead of recreating them digitally
Extended version: Warner Bros Blu-ray
Theatrical: WB 4K Blu-ray, according to Saentz, the 5.0 is a recreation of the original and subsequently 70mm mix from original elements.
Director: Miloš Forman
Theatrical: WB 4K Blu-ray
Extended: Warner Bros Blu-ray
Theatrical version: Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray: Huge improvement in colors and detail. The restoration was done by the Academy instead of WB MPI which explains that there’s no grain management or issues with colors. They also accessed the original credit optical and scanned that one instead of recreating them digitally
Extended version: Warner Bros Blu-ray
Theatrical: WB 4K Blu-ray, according to Saentz, the 5.0 is a recreation of the original and subsequently 70mm mix from original elements.
Mono: Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray
Stereo remix: 1998 R2 WB DVD ? (more detailed)
4K Blu-ray is missing featurettes from the old Blu-ray
Mono: Warner Bros 4K Blu-ray
Stereo remix: 1998 R2 WB DVD ? (more detailed)
4K Blu-ray is missing featurettes from the old Blu-ray
Director: Miloš Forman
Director: Miloš Forman
Director: Miloš Forman
Kino Lorber Blu-ray, 2K master
Director: Miloš Forman
Kino Lorber Blu-ray, 2K master
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: Paul W. S. Anderson
Arrow includes the original theatrical sound mix in all its glory. All previous releases other than the 1996 AC-3 LaserDisc were tamed relative to the original theatrical DTS track.
The disc is authored by Duplitech, but doesn't exhibit any compression issues, though the image is pretty soft, that's likely just down to the stock used.
Old New Line Video LaserDiscs include an exclusive commentary track.
Director: John Woo
Director: John Woo
Director: Richard Fleischer
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: Richard Fleischer
Arrow 4K Blu-ray > StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has solid encode but controversial colors by Hiventy
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Arrow 4K Blu-ray in June
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Arrow 4K Blu-ray in June
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray (FiM encode but the mastering shows signs of DNR albeit only momentarily); all other BDs pretty bad.
Umbrella 4K Blu-ray, but whether in the correct speed/pitch is TBC.
Director: Brian De Palma
Director: Brian De Palma
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Original: Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs New Line LaserDisc
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Original: Arrow 4K Blu-ray vs New Line LaserDisc
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or New Line LaserDisc for line absent on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Arrow 4K Blu-ray see caps
Dolby Stereo: Arrow 4K Blu-ray or New Line LaserDisc for line absent on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray releases
Info: Arrow 4K Blu-ray is scanned from interpositive film, thus having a softer than the first title.
Director: John Frankenheimer
Director: John Frankenheimer
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Director: Sergio Corbucci
Director: Fritz Kiersch
Director: Fritz Kiersch
More Comedy on Blu-ray
Director: Jean Renoir
The Criterion 4K Blu-ray has marginally better detail and grain structure than ESC 4K Blu-ray
The ESC France 4K Blu-ray is an SDR grade erroneously presented in HDR, but if your player can force the HDR into SDR it looks very good.
Director: Jean Renoir
The Criterion 4K Blu-ray has marginally better detail and grain structure than ESC 4K Blu-ray
The ESC France 4K Blu-ray is an SDR grade erroneously presented in HDR, but if your player can force the HDR into SDR it looks very good.
Director: George Sidney
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
Director: George Sidney
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
2D version: Warner Archive Blu-ray
3D version: Warner Archive 3D Blu-ray
Director: John Waters
Director: John Waters
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
1991 Warner Bros LaserDisc (for original mono track)
1996 Warner Bros 25th Anniversary LaserDisc has isolated music and effects track (incorrectly labeled "music minus vocals") not present on any other release
1991 Warner Bros LaserDisc (for original mono track)
1996 Warner Bros 25th Anniversary LaserDisc has isolated music and effects track (incorrectly labeled "music minus vocals") not present on any other release
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Kino Lorber 4k resto
The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.
Director: Ernst Lubitsch
Kino Lorber 4k resto
The audio on the Kino Lorber Blu-ray comes from a better source than the various DVDs and the previous HD version on streaming. This audio is relatively untampered with, and is likely the best available source as no laserdisc was ever issued.
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Director: Tommy Wirkola
Director: Ken Hughes
MGM Blu-ray's stereo track.
MGM's 7.1 track is a remix with a few flaws and much worse fidelity. Capelight's stereo and 7.1 track are both from the remix.
The movie was originally premiered as a roadshow release, with a a 70mm 6-Track Stereo mix. This mix, unfortunately has not been released on home video.
The closest thing to that mix, is the stereo track included on the 2010 Blu-ray. It sounds great, with high fidelity and little filtering. It's lossy, but that doesn't matter very much.
Both the DVD 5.1 and the Blu-ray 7.1 tracks (identical on both discs) are a new remix, rather than a repackaging of the original mix. The 7.1 track sounds quite muffled, though not evenly so. The Capelight Blu-ray's lossless stereo track uses the same remix, but with higher fidelity than the surround tracks, sounding significantly less muffled. Compared to the original, this remix sounds wider and more "cleaned up". The remix contains a handful of errors, for example the intermission cue fades out, rather than ending correctly.
Comparison samples
Director: Ken Hughes
MGM Blu-ray's stereo track.
MGM's 7.1 track is a remix with a few flaws and much worse fidelity. Capelight's stereo and 7.1 track are both from the remix.
The movie was originally premiered as a roadshow release, with a a 70mm 6-Track Stereo mix. This mix, unfortunately has not been released on home video.
The closest thing to that mix, is the stereo track included on the 2010 Blu-ray. It sounds great, with high fidelity and little filtering. It's lossy, but that doesn't matter very much.
Both the DVD 5.1 and the Blu-ray 7.1 tracks (identical on both discs) are a new remix, rather than a repackaging of the original mix. The 7.1 track sounds quite muffled, though not evenly so. The Capelight Blu-ray's lossless stereo track uses the same remix, but with higher fidelity than the surround tracks, sounding significantly less muffled. Compared to the original, this remix sounds wider and more "cleaned up". The remix contains a handful of errors, for example the intermission cue fades out, rather than ending correctly.
Comparison samples
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