laureatedvd.com

[Colin East]

Good to read that there will soon be a new Special Edition DVD of Citizen Kane. Last year I bought the Region 1 version on Warner Brothers which is excellent and is probably the best quality print I have ever seen on
home video. I am wondering if your new version can hope to compete in quality. Also, will the extras offer us something different from the Warner version ?

Colin East

[Kevin Kelsey]

Like everyone else, I would welcome a good Laureate presentation of "Citizen Kane" on DVD. I'm fairly certain that Ken Barnes can produce an outstanding account of the Orosn Welles masterpiece ( probably as good as, if not better than, the current U.S. Warner version ). But the finest ever presentation of "Kane" was the Criterion laserdisc of some years ago now long deleted. This is the standard that I am hoping for.

[F.Winstanley]

Now that the DVD is coming into its own as the one true medium for film buffs and collectors, I think we should applaud the fact a major international company like Universal have selected an experienced and conscientious company like Laureate to prduce a special DVD of the classic of classics "Citizen Kane."

At this point in time, it makes no sense to start comparing the anticipated results with versions that are already available in the USA. I've been trying for the last four years to obtain the Criterion Laserdisc of "Kane" and now it's time to face the fact that we'll never see it on the market again. The current Warner version in the USA certainly offers the best print ever seen - and the extras are not bad. But I have a feeling that Ken Barnes will come up with something that will not disappoint. Let's give him a chance.

F.W.

[Jim Patterson]

Like everyone else, I'm looking forward to the new DVD of "Citizen Kane." I made the mistake of buying Universal's previous release of this classic movie- which is the worst copy I've ever seen. Not even up to VHS standard. I can only hope that Ken Barnes will be working from a pristine print.

Everyone, I'm sure, will be wondering what kind of extras will be on this forthcoming edition. But after seeing what Mr. Barnes has done with "Meet John Doe," "The Bounty," "The Man With The Golden Arm" and "Holiday Inn," I'm of the opinion that, as a DVD producer, this man is in a class by himself.

Keep 'em coming, Ken.

J.P.

[D. Quillan]

Do you have a release date for your upcoming DVD of Citizen Kane ?

[KEN BARNES]

Production has only just begun. It will be quite an elaborate DVD with some things never before featured on previous "Kane" VHS or DVD presentations. We're aiming for May or June release. Keep checking the News and Coming Soon pages for info.over the next few weeks.

Ken Barnes

[D.Preston]

Good to know that a new U.K. Special Edition of Citizen Kane
is going to be produced by Ken Barnes. Last year I got the
American Time Warner version and found, in some ways, that I was slightly disappointed with it.

While the picture quality was very clean, it was almost too clean. The image had been over-enhanced to such a degree that the effect was more electronic than filmic. Of the two audio commentaries, I liked the Roger Ebert one but found Bogdanovich dull and sluggish. I trust that the new UK version will carry the usual excellent audio commentary from Mr. Barnes along some well-placed extras.

The extras on the Warner version are dominated by a first class documentary "The Battle for Citizen Kane." While this tells the fascinating story of the clash between the Hearst empire and RKO Pictures, the DVD as a whole tells us little about Citizen Kane itself. And that's what I was looking forward to.

So let's hope that the new UK version scores where the Warner version fails. And, if it's a success, how about The Magnificent Ambersons as a follow-up?

D.P