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Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)
Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927) poster

Berlin: Symphony of a Great City (1927)

Berlin, die Symphonie der Großstadt

Documentary • 1h 5m

Director: Walter Ruttmann

Cast: Paul von Hindenburg

Best English-friendly release

Updated 1 year ago

Best video release


About the film

A day in the city of Berlin, which experienced an industrial boom in the 1920s, and still provides an insight into the living and working conditions at that time. Germany had just recovered a little from the worst consequences of the First World War, the great economic crisis was still a few years away and Hitler was not yet an issue at the time.

TSPDT
2026: #978
2025: #1030
2024: #989
2023: #970
2022: #970

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Director: Victor Sjöström

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Flicker Alley Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Blu-ray with a new score composed and performed by Matti Bye

Director: Ernst Lubitsch

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Flicker Alley DVD

Director: Marcel L'Herbier

Best English-Friendly:

Flicker Alley Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Same 4K restoration but no comparison available

Director: Frank Urson

Best English-Friendly:

Older Restoration: Flicker Alley Blu-ray

2026 Restoration: YouTube 4K Streaming

Best Video:

Older Restoration: Lobster Films DVD

2026 Restoration: YouTube 4K Streaming

Video Notes:

Older Restoration: Lobster Films DVD > Flicker Alley Blu-ray (Flicker Alley Blu-ray/DVD has every 25th PAL frame deleted)

Director: Lewis Milestone

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Flicker Alley Blu-ray

Video Notes:

2K scan of a surviving 35mm safety fine grain provided by the Academy Film Archive

Director: Lewis Milestone

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Flicker Alley Blu-ray

Director: Erich von Stroheim

Best English-Friendly:

Flicker Alley Blu-ray

Best Video:

Flicker Alley Blu-ray new 4K restoration

Director: Harry O. Hoyt

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Upcoming Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar

Director: Herbert Brenon

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Upcoming Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar

Director: James P. Hogan

Video format: 1080p Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Flicker Alley Blu-ray Focus on Clara Bow according to their calendar

More Documentary on Blu-ray

Director: János Zsombolyai

4K · Disappointing
Best Video & English-Friendly:

Sony Music 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

AI upscale but color and HDR grading is improved as it's way more subdued see caps

Director: Vivian Kubrick

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Best Audio:

Mono: 1999 WB DVD
5.1: Criterion 4K Blu-ray

Director: Werner Herzog

Best Video & English-Friendly:

2015 UK Lionsgate Blu-ray

Upcoming Release:

Criterion Blu-ray scheduled for Dec 2026 release

Directors: Frank Capra & Anatole Litvak

Best Video & English-Friendly:

US Periscope Blu-ray OOP

Director: Steve James

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray and UK Dogwoof Blu-ray probably similar

Director: Leos Carax

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion Blu-ray

Director: Hal Ashby

4K · Solid
Best Video, Audio & English-Friendly:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray

Video Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has excellent master in SDR and a good encode. BD caps here.

Audio Notes:

Kino Lorber 4K Blu-ray has poor audio: The 2.0 is fine but unremarkable, the 5.1 is presumably an upmix with a botched, strongly raised LFE channel which makes the entire track unlistenable on well-tuned equipment. Audio graphs here.

Director: Preston Sturges

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Criterion The Palm Beach Story Blu-ray extras

Video Notes:

While it's included on both Criterion The Palm Beach Story extras and Arrow's Sullivan's Travels' extras, Criterion uses a different source and is vastly superior, see caps

Director: Mitra Farahani

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

Director: Ebrahim Golestan

Best Video & English-Friendly:

Radiance Treasures from the Golestan Film Studio Blu-ray

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· last reviewed 1 year ago

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