2nd placeFANNY AND ALEXANDER(Criterion, USA) with 12% of all votes 
A Criterion release of Fanny and Alexander has been speculated
on for years and it finally became reality last November. It was well
worth the wait as the resulting box set is top-notch both in its
image quality and sheer breadth of its supplements. This is in fact
not the first time the original 5-hour cut of the film has appeared on
DVD (two such sets were published in 2002, one in the UK and one in
Poland) but this is the first time a high-definition transfer was used
for an anamorphic DVD edition. This edition also marks the video debut of
the long version in the US. The voluminous extras are responsible for
the set's size: 5 discs offering both the 5-hour and the 3-hour
versions of the film, the 1983 documentary The Making of Fanny and
Alexander, an entirely new set of interviews with cast and crew,
the 1984 interview Ingmar Bergman Bids Farewell to Film,
Bergman's introductions (shot for Swedish TV in 2003) to 11 of his
films... the list does not end here!
The unprecedented audio and video quality makes us appreciate
Bergman's attention to detail even more: the rustle of women's
dresses, the crunching of snow, the smoke from the magic lantern, the
amazing art direction. Fanny and Alexander is considered the
culmination of the great artist's work and Criterion did it full
justice with this magnificent definitive DVD edition. — Jan Bielawski
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3rd placeTHE BATTLE OF ALGIERS(Criterion, USA) with 7% of all votes
MoC reader Gary Wilson writes: "This is the year in which a rising breed of digital artisans and entrepreneurs are proving that DVD is more than a matter of old wine in new bottles, imagining the medium as a vehicle for interactive exploration by viewers intent on an enhanced view of the conditions under, and the world in which, a given film first came to light. The Battle of Algiers set from Criterion arrives fitted out with an array of exemplary contextual resources that illuminate both the film's origins and its urgent relevance to the present historical moment. More than any other disc released in 2004, this set embodies the evolution of DVD as an increasingly innovative means of engaging cinema." — Gary Wilson
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4th placeTHE LEOPARD (Criterion, USA) with 5% of all votes
5th placeTHE RULES OF THE GAME(Criterion, USA) with 4.8% of all votes
6th placeMORE TREASURES FROM THE AMERICAN FILM ARCHIVE(National Film Preservation Foundation, USA) with 4.6% of all votes
7th placeUN CHIEN ANDALOU / L'AGE D'OR boxset(bfi, UK) with 4.2% of all votes
8th placeEARLY SUMMER(Criterion, USA) with 3.5% of all votes
9th placeTHE LAST LAUGH(Eureka, UK) with 3.3% of all votes
10th placeWERCKMEISTER HARMONIES / DAMNATION(Artificial Eye, UK) with 3% of all votes
11th placeFLOATING WEEDS / THE STORY OF FLOATING WEEDS (Criterion, USA) with 2.8% of all votes
12th placeAU HASARD BALTHAZAR(Nouveaux Pictures, UK) with 2.5% of all votes
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Titles that received 5 or more votes each: (in alphabetical order):
THE ALAN CLARKE COLLECTION (Blue Underground, USA)
DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (Criterion, USA)
DR MABUSE: THE GAMBLER (Eureka, USA)
THE EDGE OF THE WORLD (bfi, UK)
EL SOL DEL MEMBRILLO (Fnac, Spain)
EYES WITHOUT A FACE (Criterion, USA)
FORTY GUNS (Optimum, UK)
THE GENERAL (MK2, France)
HEIMAT (Tartan, UK)
HITCHCOCK SIGNATURE COLLECTION (Warners, USA)
IKIRU (Criterion, USA)
JUDEX (Flicker Alley, USA)
BUSTER KEATON COLLECTION (THE CAMERAMAN, etc) (TCM/Warner, USA)
LADY OF MUSASHINO (Artificial Eye, UK)
THE LOWER DEPTHS (Criterion, USA)
M (Criterion, USA)
KENJI MIZOGUCHI COFFRET 2 x box sets (Opening, France)
THE MONSTER LEGACY COLLECTION (Universal, USA)
MOUCHETTE (Nouveaux, UK)
OFFRET (SFI, Sweden)
ON THE FRONT LINES: THE WAR YEARS (Walt Disney Treasures, USA)
SHORT CUTS (Criterion, USA)
SUMMER INTERLUDE (Tartan, UK)
STAGE AND SPECTACLE - Renoir - (Criterion, USA)
STRAY DOG (Criterion, USA)
SUNRISE (Eureka, UK)
THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE (Criterion, USA)
3 WOMEN (Criterion, USA)
VIDEODROME (Criterion, USA)
THE COMPLETE JEAN VIGO (Artificial Eye, UK)
WARNERS NOIR COLLECTION (Warners, USA)
UNIVERSAL NOIR COLLECTION (Universal, USA)
[Thanks to all those who voted.]
MoC Series DVDs were excluded from this vote. Obvious organized voting rings were excluded too.
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Compiled by Nick Wrigley, December 2004
Copyright © 2004 mastersofcinema.org
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MORE TREASURES FROM AMERICAN FILM ARCHIVES (National Film Preservation Foundation, USA)
The set presents the expanse of silent American film to the people and makes it not "old-timey" or quaint but dynamic and vital.
— Rebecca Collins
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THE LEOPARD (Criterion, USA)
The choice is very tough this year, but I have to go with Criterion's The Leopard because of the anticipation, the beauty of the disc — it is quite possibly the most beautiful I have ever seen — and the comprehensiveness of the presentation.
— Glenn Kenny
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VIDEODROME (Criterion, USA)
Yep they have done it again. A great master plus intelligent extras. My only reservation is the cover. A great release of an under-rated (at least here in the UK) film.
— Erich Sargeant
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LA HABANERA (Kino, USA)
Masterpiece!
— Satoshi Yada
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HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR (Arte Video, France)
I don't expect many others on this English-speaking website to vote for this unsubtitled two-disc set. But what a dream release! The superb sound and image; the elaborate reproduction of 20 pages of Alain Resnais' correspondence to Duras, sent from Japan (complete with location-scouting photos and newspaper clippings) in the accompanying booklet; the interviews with Resnais and Emmanuéle Riva; best of all, a second disc containing Resnais' Toute la mémoire du monde and Resnais and Chris Marker's finally uncensored Les statues meurent aussi. In short, a major event.
— Jonathan Rosenbaum
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THE MONSTER LEGACY COLLECTION (Universal, USA)
In this age of nonsensical slasher flicks, how refreshing to be able to revisit the immortal monster movies, the ones that championed imagination above all else. Universal saw fit to release volumes dedicated to Frankenstein, Dracula and The Wolf Man, then followed up later in the year with sets honoring The Mummy, The Invisible Man and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Only debit: Introductions by director Stephen Sommers, whose wretched Van Helsing turned out to be part of the problem rather than the solution.
— Matt Brunson
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MORE TREASURES FROM AMERICAN FILM ARCHIVES (National Film Preservation Foundation, USA)
Even better than the first boxset as it contains "More" extras — notably, highly enlightening audio commentaries. As an Englishman I wish the BFI could do a British equivalent.
— Brian Serpa
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DR MABUSE, THE GAMBLER (Eureka, UK)
Another peerless restoration from the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, beautifully presented in a good-looking digi-pack and with some decent extras. For me the year has been slightly disappointing in the UK with the promise of the DVD format being undercut too often by needlessly shoddy presentation, poor transfers and unnecessarily fixed subtitles. If only all worthwhile films were presented with such care!
— Graeme Hobbs
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DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST (Criterion, USA)
The digital transfer and overall restoration of this film were exceptionally well done; the image quality is simply superb. this release serves as an example of what homeviewers stand to gain from DVD purveyors who refuse to cut corners. An arguably misguided voice-over notwithstanding, I believe Criterion have successfully shouldered the tremendous responsibility of remaining faithful to Bresson's artistic vision. (e.g., their avoidance of using a Claude Laydu "star" image as the cover art; their tasteful omission of deleted scenes; their well-translated subtitles, considerably more accurate than other versions of Diary of a Country Priest I've seen at home or in the
theater.)
— Dave Andrae
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L'ATLANTIDE both Feyder and Pabst's versions (MK2, France)
Feyder's original silent version is not only extremely rare but also an especially important early example of Western Orientalist cinematic representations that would be reworked time and again
by everyone from Joe May and Herbert Brenon to Fritz Lang.
MK2 has given us the wonderful restoration by the Lumière Project. The fact that Pabst's French version of his sound remake is included is just icing on the cake.
— Michael Baskett
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THE LAST LAUGH (Eureka, UK)
A beautifully restored print of a great film. What makes the package unmissable is the exceptional documentary that comes with it - seeing the three different versions side by side remains one of the most interesting elements I have seen in years.
— Nicolas De Lisle
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THE LEOPARD (Criterion, USA)
Criterion has given this film a transfer which makes its lush colors feel palpable. The accompanying documentary is not just informative, it's charming — it merits multiple viewings in its own right. Finally, Peter Cowie's commentary is the penetrating lecture that Visconti's gorgeous, intellectual epic deserves. Short of Criterion securing rights to reprint Lampedusa's novel and including it in the package, I couldn't be more pleased.
— Peter Henne
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MONTEIRO BOX SET Joao Cesar Monteiro - L'Integralite de son oeuvre - 11 DVD Box Set
Gemini Films - Region 2 PAL - Portugal and France
This should set the standard for DVD box-sets — the totality of a director's body of work, accorded pristine transfers and collected in one tastefully designed totem; presented with subtitles in multiple languages (including English!); and accompanied by superb video testimonials, spoken with passion and poetry by some of the world's most interesting cinema critics. Also included here: a tribute from none other than Abbas Kiarostami. That Monteiro has gone unrecognized outside of Europe for so long is shameful, but hardly surprising; may this box set of all of the late Portuguese master's highly personal and fantastically brilliant films (features -and- shorts!) go far in righting, at the very least, this wrong...
— Craig Keller
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Warner Brothers FILM NOIR Collection vol. 1 (Warners, USA)
Although there have been more "worthy" films this year than those included in this box, not least from Criterion: Rules of the Game, Battle of Algiers and the Cassavetes set amongst others, Warner Brothers did something special here. They produced immaculate transfers of 5 films considered as some of the best examples of their genre, included commentaries, attractive art work and screen designs and priced the lot at little more than one upper tier Criterion. Hopefully the success of the set will encourage Warner to continue what they have started and others to emulate their treatment of important back catalogue that does not immediately shout "cash".
— Charles Girdham
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AU HASARD BALTHAZAR / MOUCHETTE (Nouveaux Pictures, UK)
These are breakthough releases we were thirsting for...not merely better
transfers of films already existing on dvds...but fine transfers of canonical films
that didn't exist in the dvd medium anywhere until these appeared. My bravos
and my vote.
— Jerry Gerber
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SEALED ORDERS / BLIND JUSTICE (Danish Film Institute, Denmark)
Two major feature films (totalling over 3 hours) on one disc from a neglected master of silent cinema. Beautiful prints with appropriate piano scores (no horrible synthesizers!) Another great disc from the enterprising DFI.
(expecting something from the overrated and overpriced Criterion Collection to win!)
— Jonathan Sanders
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THE LEOPARD (Criterion, USA)
I am aware that my choice won't be among the most mercurial and
surprising votes counted this year, but we must give to Caesar what
is Caesar's, and there isn't much doubt that Criterion's marvellous
release of The Leopard deserves this honor. Concerning the label,
there isn't any superlative I can find that hasn't already been
attributed to Criterion, and I think their release of The Leopard crowns
their entire work and dedication of this year. Long live Criterion!
— Emanuel Mihaiescu
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EARLY SUMMER (Criterion, USA)
Can't stop watching it. It puts a smile on my face from the beginning to the end.
— Thomas Rohnacher
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Above and beyond work from Criterion. Alongside the MORE TREASURES FROM AMERICAN FILM ARCHIVES set, the Criterion Cassavetes set is perhaps the year's most lovingly compiled release. The deserving winner. Here are some voter comments: