Olympia: Part One – Festival of the Nations (1938)
Olympia - Fest der Völker
Documentary • 3h 21m
Overview
Commissioned to make a propaganda film about the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany, director Leni Riefenstahl created a celebration of the human form. This first half of her two-part film opens with a renowned introduction that compares modern Olympians to classical Greek heroes, then goes on to provide thrilling in-the-moment coverage of some of the games' most celebrated moments, including African-American athlete Jesse Owens winning a then-unprecedented four gold medals.
Director: Leni Riefenstahl
Cast: David Albritton, Arvo Askola, Jack Beresford, Erwin Blask, Sulo Bärlund, Ibolya Csák, Henri de Baillet-Latour, Philip Edwards, Donald Finlay, Tilly Fleischer, Wilhelm Frick, Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring, Ernest Harper, Karl Hein, Heinz Herman, Rudolf Hess, Adolf Hitler, Volmari Iso-Hollo, Cornelius Johnson, Matti Järvinen, Elfriede Kaun, King Umberto II, Kalevi Kotkas, Gustaf Alfons Koutonen, Luise Krüger, Maria Kwasniewska, Theodor Lewald, Luz Long, Spiridon Louis, John Lovelock, Gisela Mauermayer, Earle Meadows, Ralph Metcalfe, Paula Mollenhauer, Väinö Muinonen, Seung-yong Nam, Henri Nannen, Yrjö Nikkanen, Shûhei Nishida, Paavo Nurmi, Dorothy Odam, Martinus Osendarp, Jesse Owens, Leni Riefenstahl, Mack Robinson, Ilmari Salminen, Julius Schaub, Kee-chung Sohn, Julius Streicher, Gerhard Stöck, Naoto Tajima, Erkki Tamila, Kalervo Toivonen, Forrest Towns, Werner von Blomberg, August von Mackensen, Hans von Tschammer und Osten, Hans Woellke, Sueo Ôe
Director: Leni Riefenstahl
Director: Leni Riefenstahl
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: John Waters
Director: John Waters
Director: Sidney Lumet
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
2011 Criterion Blu-ray is the best. Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has heavily filtered audio
Director: Sidney Lumet
2026 Criterion 4K Blu-ray
2011 Criterion Blu-ray is the best. Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has heavily filtered audio
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
2025 Sony 4K Blu-ray
Director: John Waters
Director: John Waters
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray - subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking
1993 MGM LaserDisc/2000 Region 1 MGM DVD
Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray or Germany Plaion 4K Blu-ray - subtle difference in encoding to the Criterion in encoding, trading blows in different shots, with Plaion taking a slight edge with less highlight blocking
1993 MGM LaserDisc/2000 Region 1 MGM DVD
Criterion's 2.0 sounds muffled due to noise reduction and EQ.
Plaion's 2.0 lacks bass and has a very bright EQ, more resembling the 5.1 remix. Plaion’s 2.0 doesn't have any filtering unlike the Criterion, see https://forum.blu-ray.com/showpost.php?p=23831289&postcount=110
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is closer to the original DVDs than the 2015 Criterion release, not sure about whether the StudioCanal 4K is like the Criterion 4K/original DVD
Criterion 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision, StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has MEL
Director: David Lynch
Criterion 4K Blu-ray is closer to the original DVDs than the 2015 Criterion release, not sure about whether the StudioCanal 4K is like the Criterion 4K/original DVD
Criterion 4K Blu-ray has FEL Dolby Vision, StudioCanal 4K Blu-ray has MEL
Director: Ridley Scott
Capelight 4K Blu-ray has better encode than Criterion 4K Blu-ray
Director: Ridley Scott
Capelight 4K Blu-ray has better encode than Criterion 4K Blu-ray
More Documentary on Blu-ray
2026 Sony/Columbia 4K Blu-ray
2026 Sony/Columbia 4K Blu-ray
2026 Sony/Columbia 4K Blu-ray
2026 Sony/Columbia 4K Blu-ray
Director: Jean Vigo
Director: Jean Vigo
Directors: Jean Vigo & Boris Kaufman
Directors: Jean Vigo & Boris Kaufman
Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Warner Archive 4K Blu-ray 4K restoration from Original Camera Negative
Director: Martin Scorsese
Director: Martin Scorsese
Directors: Robert Flaherty & Frances H. Flaherty
Directors: Robert Flaherty & Frances H. Flaherty
Director: Arthur Dong
Kino Lorber Arthur Dong Collection Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Arthur Dong Collection Blu-ray
Director: Arthur Dong
Kino Lorber Arthur Dong Collection Blu-ray
Kino Lorber Arthur Dong Collection Blu-ray
Director: Erik Nelson
Director: Erik Nelson
Directors: Jimmy Chin & Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
4K Streaming
The Capelight 4K Blu-ray has both German and English audio, defaulting to the former, but only has German subtitles
Directors: Jimmy Chin & Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
4K Streaming
The Capelight 4K Blu-ray has both German and English audio, defaulting to the former, but only has German subtitles
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