Customer Reviews

Cyrano De Bergerac/Captain Scarlett

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

My all-time favorite movie. Worst copy of any movie I've ever seen on any DVD or VHS. However, I e-mailed the manufacturer, and a representative said that he agreed, and that that copy should never have been released. He said that they are coming out with a much better one. ...

Thirty seconds into Cyrano (murkier than any presentation I ever saw on television), I started skipping around in it to see if the quality improved. When it didn't, I hit the Stop button, only to be stunned by the image of the, um, "busty" female mentioned in an earlier review. What on earth were the folks at "Marengo Films" thinking? Were they thinking at all? I cannot imagine.

This DVD has no redeeming feature. I've never been so disappointed with a product, and I hope that someone else releases a good copy of the Ferrer film, because it deserves far better than this.

I was initially excited to get Ferrer's Cyrano de Bergerac, a role for which he rightfully got an Oscar. Unfortunately, Marengo Films did an extremely POOR job of transferring to DVD, with the film jittering and the sound garbled in many places. No attempt was made to clean or restore the film, so the overall experience is disappointing.

This version of Cyrano is my favorite, but the quality of this DVD is very poor - the video is dark and grainy. I have a VHS published by Republic Pictures Home Video which is totally superior.

Also, on my Sony DVD player this DVD overwrites the internal image the player displays when you hit 'stop' - with a picture of a busty woman. Totally unprofessional.

AVOID, and hope someone else puts this wonderful film out on DVD.

To all of you fantastic people who bought this version of Cyrano... please e-mail us via our website at marengofilms.com. We recalled this DVD months ago. Cyrano is a fantastic hero and we found a fantastic version which we paired with The Son of Monte Cristo... a far superior film to Captain Scarlett.

It would be our pleasure to furnish this new DVD to you free of charge... just send us your old Cyrano... we will include another DVD alongside Cyrano as our way of letting you know that we appreciate your business and would be humbled to keep you as a customer.

Cyrano would do no less and neither will we...

Craig Cosgray President Marengo Films

The 1950 version of Cyrano is one of my all-time favorite movies, and I was so excited to see it (finally) offered on DVD. However, there was no attempt made to restore the film, so the result is too dark (be prepared to adjust the brightness / contrast on your television), and worse, it's missing bits and pieces here and there - whole lines of the brilliant dialog have been scrunched, and at one point the screen freezes for several seconds. Watching it made me feel like I had stayed up past 2:00AM to catch it on a rinky-dink UHF station with bad receiption.

I hope that sometime in the future a fully-restored version of this great classic is offered in DVD format. The movie is a faithful rendition of Brian Hooker's wonderful translation of the French play (not a literal translation, but one that captures the spirit and passion of the original), noting that one change in the plot was made to please the 1950's Hollywood standard of censorship. The acting of the entire cast is spectacular, down to the smallest part. In short, a passionate play, most beautifully brought to life.

However, I won't buy any more films from this particular manufacturer. You folks at Amazon, please offer a fully restored version of this film - I'll be waiting to buy it!!

Based on my favorite translation by the American poet Brian Hooker, Jose Ferrer will forever be the image of Cyrano in my mind. Reprising his awarding winning role on stage, Jose wins an Oscar in this lead role of Edmond Rostand's tragic hero.

Ok, I'm really biased so here are other Cyranos of note: Derek Jacobi's version is a close second based on Burgess' translation but good luck finding it. Gerald Depardieu, while lyrical in the original French, was horribly miscast, being overweight (this is especially important in first act where two reference were made about Cyrano's thin frame) and generally bulldozing his way through the film. the 1922/1925 movie, Cirano di Bergerac, while silent is surprisingly well filmed and definitely worth seeing.

The only reason I gave this four stars rather than five is the fact that it's not as clean as the LD version (although better than the VHS). This really is a tightly filmed/edited movie and wonderfully acted by all, with Ferrer completely dominating the role. Hooker's translation took a few liberties and Kramer's production took a few more with the combination resulting in good pacing throughout the film. If you enjoy fine acting and appreciate great dialogue, this DVD will earn a place in your collection.

Oh, there is another movie on this DVD, Captain Scarlett - nothing to write home about but it's there ; )

Great movie, from which a few tried to emmulate. The dialogue inspires greatness in all aspects of life. Wonderful scenes which display charater, intellect, Courage, and love...enjoy!

Cyrana de Bergerac is finally out on DVD! This is one fine classic movie. I have been waiting for a company to release this on DVD and Marengo Films has done an outstanding job. My old VHS tape was a really bad version, not that this looks like it was shot yesterday, but it is clean and the blacks and whites look wonderful. As far as classic films that are hard to find, I would suggest you take a look at Marengo Films. Doug Wood -Video Classics