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The
Holy Mountain
(1926)

This feature-length mountain film, directed by Arnold Fanck, stars Leni Riefenstahl and Luis Trenker, with Ernst Petersen, Hannes Schneider, Friedrich Schneider and Frida Richard.

Kino Classics
2018 Blu-ray Disc edition

The Holy Mountain (1926), color-tinted black & white, 105 minutes, not rated.

Kino Lorber, K23017, UPC 7-38329-23017-3.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region A Blu-ray Disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at 24.8 Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 1.5 Mbps audio bit rate (music), and Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 384 Kbps audio bit rate (commentary); German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; 8 chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 24 April 2018.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 8 / audio: 9 / additional content: 3 / overall: 8.

This Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from a 2014 2K high-definition scan of the 2001 photochemical reconstruction print produced by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung from a color-tinted 35mm nitrate print held by the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv and a 35mm nitrate print held by the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana. No digital stabilization or clean-up has been performed on the scan as there is a typical amount of dust, speckling, fine scratches and scuffing, frame jitters, and other print flaws present in the original source material remain in the picture. With the HD scan utilized here, this release improves on the visual quality of Kino’s 2003 DVD edition noted below.

The film is accompanied by a music score composed by Aljoscha Zimmermann and performed by a small orchestra.

Supplemental material includes audio commentary by film historian Travis Crawford; and interview footage of Leni Riefenstahl and costar Louis Trenker (excerpted from the documentary The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl).

This is our recommended home video edition of the film for North American collectors.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region A Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Masters of Cinema
2019 Blu-ray Disc edition

The Holy Mountain (1926), color-tinted black & white, 105 minutes, BBFC Certification U, with The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993), black & white and color, 180 minutes, BBFC Certification U.

Eureka Entertainment,
EKA70341 (MoC 210), unknown UPC number.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region B Blu-ray Disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate, and LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; insert booklet; standard BD keepcase; £14.99.
Release date: 17 June 2019.
Country of origin: England

This Region B Blu-ray Disc edition has been mastered from a 2K scan of the 2014 reconstruction produced by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung. With the longer running time in this edition, it is likely that additional footage has been restored to the 35mm source material.

The presentation is accompanied by a music score composed by Aljoscha Zimmermann and performed by a small orchestra.

Supplemental material includes audio commentary by film historian Travis Crawford; a complete presentation of the documentary The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (180 minutes); and a booklet with an essay by film critic Kat Ellinger, and an essay by Doug Cummings.

We recommend this home video edition of the film as the best European Blu-ray Disc edition available. North American collectors will need a region-free Blu-ray Disc player to view this edition.

United Kingdom: Click the logomark to purchase this Region B Blu-ray Disc edition from Amazon.co.uk. Support Silent Era.

Kino on Video
2003 DVD edition

The Holy Mountain (1926), color-tinted black & white, 105 minutes, not rated.

Kino International, K307, UPC 7-38329-03072-8.
One single-sided, dual-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at 4.8 Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to 60 fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at 192 Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; 16 chapter stops; two-page insert sheet; standard DVD keepcase; $29.95.
Release date: 12 August 2003.
Country of origin: USA

Ratings (1-10): video: 7 / audio: 9 / additional content: 3 / overall: 6.

This NTSC DVD edition has been mastered from 35mm film elements held by the Bundesarchiv-Filmarchiv and the Fondazione Cineteca Italiana for the 2001 photochenical reconstruction conducted by the Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung. The subsequent full-frame, natural-speed video transfer for this edition looks pretty good, even on high-definition equipment, rendering a reasonably film-like picture when the standard NTSC signal is upscaled to 1080p HD.

The presentation is accompanied by a music score composed by Aljoscha Zimmermann and performed by a small orchestra.

Half supplemental material and half advertisement for their DVD edition of The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993), the disc adds filmed interviews with Riefenstahl and Louis Trenker on the making of The Holy Mountain exerpted from the documentary.

This is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film for North American collectors.

USA: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.com. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

Canada: Click the logomark to purchase this Region 0 NTSC DVD edition from Amazon.ca. Your purchase supports Silent Era.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD edition has been discontinued
and is . . .

Eureka Entertainment
2004 DVD edition

The Holy Mountain (1926), black & white, 106 minutes, BBFC Classification U, with The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993), color and black & white, 180 minutes, not rated.

Eureka Entertainment,
EKA40072 (MoC 210), unknown UPC number.
Two single-sided, dual-layered, Region 2 PAL DVD discs; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 576 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 surround sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate, and Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; German language intertitles, optional English language subtitles; chapter stops; standard two-disc DVD keepcase; £22.99.
Release date: 21 June 2004.
Country of origin: England

This PAL DVD edition from Eureka’s Masters of Cinema series has been mastered from the 2001 35mm restoration print, and features new musical accompaniment in 5.1 surround sound and 2.0 stereo by Aljoscha Zimmerman.

The disc also features the documentary The Wonderful, Horrible Life of Leni Riefenstahl (1993) by Ray Müller.

This is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film for European collectors. North American collectors will need a region-free PAL DVD player capable of outputting an NTSC-compatible signal to view this edition.