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Special Features
- Wings: Grandeur in the Sky
- Restoring the Power and Beauty of Wings
- Dogfight!
- Restoring the Power and Beauty of Wings
- Dogfight!
Editorial Reviews
Wings is the story of two men who have gone to war and the girl they both leave behind. Director William A. Wellman makes one of his most humanistic statements as he explores the devastating results of war.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
238 of 250 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Though it's certainly not the 'best' silent film ever made, WINGS, a World War I "war in the air" movie, is my personal favorite silent film. I have waited a VERY long time for the release of this wonderful new beautifully-tinted restoration - you can order it here: Wings [Blu-ray]. It is the best version ever released to the public and, most likely, the best version which will EVER be released to the public! (A DVD version, containing the same new restoration, is also being offered and it can be ordered here: Wings.) Until now, NO ONE (except someone old enough to have seen it in 1927-1929) has been able to view this film in essentially the manner intended by its creators.
I believe that anyone and everyone who has purchased any home video discs for their personal enjoyment should buy this one too - and as soon as possible. This film truly demonstrates Hollywood at its best and shows clearly why Hollywood films matter so much to us. I think WINGS would be the cornerstone of any home movie library.
The story is superb, the directing is superb, the acting is superb, and the aerial scenes - well, they are BY FAR the best and most exciting ever done in the entire history of the movies and they are the best that ever WILL be done. They have never been duplicated nor will they ever be. Why do I make such definitive statements about the flying sequences? Because the flying sequences in WINGS are all real - repeat: ALL REAL! And they sure look it! NO "trickery" can duplicate "real!" Please see below for further details.
I first saw the film in 1969 at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY during the fifth Cinecon (Cinecon is still going strong). We were told that this was the first public showing of the complete film in almost forty years (clips have been used in other Paramount Films, most notably during the beginning of The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition)).
Two years later, WINGS was shown at the Paramount Theater in New York City. I still have the original LIFE Magazine review of that showing. (The lines to get in went around the block!)
In 1985 Paramount released a LaserDisc edition as well as a VHS tape. Until now, these two versions were the only officially authorized home video releases of WINGS, at least in the U.S.A. These editions featured a beautiful organ score newly composed by that master of silent film accompaniment, the late, great Gaylord Carter. Though originally WINGS was shown in tinted prints, this LaserDisc edition was in black-and-white only and, like all prints I had seen until now, it was made from the print which survived in the Cinémathèque Française.
In 2002-3, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ("AMPAS") had a retrospective of all Best Picture winners up to that time. The program began with the second winner THE BROADWAY MELODY. AMPAS saved WINGS for last; it was shown two nights - May 15 and May 16, 2003. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater (cap. 1012) was sold out both nights. I know. My wife and I were there, having flown to Los Angeles especially for this showing - and we attended BOTH nights! (Note: WINGS did not actually win for Best Picture; that category was not instituted by the Academy until several years later. SUNRISE won for Best Artistic Achievement; WINGS won for Best Production.)
This showing was of what was called a 'partially-restored' print; some tinting was in evidence, but not as much as that for which I had hoped. However it was the first time I had ever seen the film with any of its tints present. (None of the Handschiegl color process effects - see below - had been restored at that time.) This print too was derived from that Cinémathèque Française print and was essentially a fifth-generation print. However, the music (and the recreated 1927 sound effects) played, with a live orchestra, was the original music which had been used at the first showings of the film. Gillian Anderson, a wonderful musicologist, had recreated the score (which had been arranged by J. S. Zamecnik, using some fairly well-known classical and popular music) and she conducted the orchestra. I had not thought that anything could match Gaylord Carter's score, but this one did, at least in my opinion. (Adrian Johnston had recreated the sound effects; they were so good that it was possible to distinguish the German airplane engines from the 'American' ones.)
Recently, on September 6, 2011, the AMPAS had a special program featuring the newly-restored COLOR print of Georges Méliès' A TRIP TO THE MOON (1902). What a fantastic restoration!! (I am anxiously awaiting the release of this movie on home video; it has been announced by Flicker Alley - I have already ordered a copy - for release sometime in March 2012 [Amazon is now offering it here: A Trip to the Moon Restored [Blu-ray]). You can see a couple of very short clips from this new restoration in the movie "Hugo" [see it in 3D if possible].) My wife and I attended that program and, afterwards, I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Tom Burton, head of the preservation department at Technicolor Los Angeles, who had been in charge of that color restoration project. He told me about the forthcoming release of this new Blu-ray (and DVD) edition of WINGS, of which he was also in charge.
Mr. Burton told me that he and his team, working with the original tinting requirements (which miraculously survive in the Paramount library), would reproduce ALL of the original tints, including the Handschiegl color process effects (a stencil process used for machine-gun fire and flames from shot-down airplanes), and that this edition will look better than anything seen since WINGS' first release. He also told me (and these are his exact words) that I will be "blown away by the sound track."
He was right! On both counts!
The new Blu-ray and DVD will not feature Ms. Anderson's music reconstruction, however. J. S. Zamecnik's original 1927 score has been re-orchestrated and arranged by Dominik Hauser, another musicologist, along with some piano filler played by Frederick Hodges. In 1927, sound effects (machine guns, airplane engines, etc.) were performed behind the screen. Ben Burtt, a noted (and superb) sound engineer has recreated and augmented these effects for the new restoration.
In addition, Gaylord Carter's score will be present on a second audio track (and this is very welcome). When one watches this track, note that the timings are different; this is due to the fact that this track begins immediately with the movie rather than, as on the first track, with the various Paramount logo montage (very beautiful, by the way) and does not include the intermission or the end restoration credits. As far as I can determine, you cannot switch between the audio tracks (at least on the Blu-ray); when you start Play, you must select one 'version' or the other.
This film is being released as the first title in Paramount's 100th Anniversary retrospective and it is one of the 'crown jewels' in Paramount's oeuvre. Paramount has tried its best to ensure top quality for this restoration (Paramount claims the film has been restored frame-by-frame!) and, in my opinion, they have succeeded.
I ordered my copy on November 15, 2011 immediately upon reading Paramount's press release (obviously sight unseen). This new edition, which I watched in its entirety last night [January 24, 2012] has been at least partially created from a duplicate negative, made from an original then-surviving nitrate print, back in the 1950s, an element not used previously (the original negative and all original nitrate prints are long-gone). In all versions I have seen prior to this one, certain scenes appear badly 'washed out' - this is due to fact that all of them have been derived from a print - and a print is NOT a negative (hence the best that can be derived from such a source is a fourth generation print, and that is if no additional work is done - not the case here). Most of these scenes have been at least somewhat corrected for this new restoration but in the scene near the end of the film where "Buddy" Rogers is reading a letter sent to Richard Arlen, there are open areas (where the building was evidently bombed out) in which you can see what's going on outside; this small portion of the scene is still badly 'washed out' and the out-of-the-building view only comes into sharp relief when the scene fades out. But that's the only truly noticeable 'washed out' scene and, as the 'washed-out' portion is only a small part of the background, it does not mar the actual scene in any way. (See below for two other unfortunate but "unfixable" flaws.)
There is at least one 'cut' in all versions I have seen previously: I have been told that Clara Bow's topless scene has had several seconds removed. These frames supposedly exist (in the print owned by the Library of Congress and possibly some other sources). From what I can see in this new edition, the scene looks to be complete but I'll have to check further with some knowledgeable people. [See March 15, 2012 Update below.] (Not that it matters, but Clara Bow is extremely easy on the eyes! Though her role is relatively small [and, in reality, unimportant], she was cast in this film as box-office insurance. And, as in ALL of her films, her acting is superlative - there is no other word for it. Read more ›
I believe that anyone and everyone who has purchased any home video discs for their personal enjoyment should buy this one too - and as soon as possible. This film truly demonstrates Hollywood at its best and shows clearly why Hollywood films matter so much to us. I think WINGS would be the cornerstone of any home movie library.
The story is superb, the directing is superb, the acting is superb, and the aerial scenes - well, they are BY FAR the best and most exciting ever done in the entire history of the movies and they are the best that ever WILL be done. They have never been duplicated nor will they ever be. Why do I make such definitive statements about the flying sequences? Because the flying sequences in WINGS are all real - repeat: ALL REAL! And they sure look it! NO "trickery" can duplicate "real!" Please see below for further details.
I first saw the film in 1969 at the George Eastman House in Rochester, NY during the fifth Cinecon (Cinecon is still going strong). We were told that this was the first public showing of the complete film in almost forty years (clips have been used in other Paramount Films, most notably during the beginning of The War of the Worlds (Special Collector's Edition)).
Two years later, WINGS was shown at the Paramount Theater in New York City. I still have the original LIFE Magazine review of that showing. (The lines to get in went around the block!)
In 1985 Paramount released a LaserDisc edition as well as a VHS tape. Until now, these two versions were the only officially authorized home video releases of WINGS, at least in the U.S.A. These editions featured a beautiful organ score newly composed by that master of silent film accompaniment, the late, great Gaylord Carter. Though originally WINGS was shown in tinted prints, this LaserDisc edition was in black-and-white only and, like all prints I had seen until now, it was made from the print which survived in the Cinémathèque Française.
In 2002-3, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences ("AMPAS") had a retrospective of all Best Picture winners up to that time. The program began with the second winner THE BROADWAY MELODY. AMPAS saved WINGS for last; it was shown two nights - May 15 and May 16, 2003. The Samuel Goldwyn Theater (cap. 1012) was sold out both nights. I know. My wife and I were there, having flown to Los Angeles especially for this showing - and we attended BOTH nights! (Note: WINGS did not actually win for Best Picture; that category was not instituted by the Academy until several years later. SUNRISE won for Best Artistic Achievement; WINGS won for Best Production.)
This showing was of what was called a 'partially-restored' print; some tinting was in evidence, but not as much as that for which I had hoped. However it was the first time I had ever seen the film with any of its tints present. (None of the Handschiegl color process effects - see below - had been restored at that time.) This print too was derived from that Cinémathèque Française print and was essentially a fifth-generation print. However, the music (and the recreated 1927 sound effects) played, with a live orchestra, was the original music which had been used at the first showings of the film. Gillian Anderson, a wonderful musicologist, had recreated the score (which had been arranged by J. S. Zamecnik, using some fairly well-known classical and popular music) and she conducted the orchestra. I had not thought that anything could match Gaylord Carter's score, but this one did, at least in my opinion. (Adrian Johnston had recreated the sound effects; they were so good that it was possible to distinguish the German airplane engines from the 'American' ones.)
Recently, on September 6, 2011, the AMPAS had a special program featuring the newly-restored COLOR print of Georges Méliès' A TRIP TO THE MOON (1902). What a fantastic restoration!! (I am anxiously awaiting the release of this movie on home video; it has been announced by Flicker Alley - I have already ordered a copy - for release sometime in March 2012 [Amazon is now offering it here: A Trip to the Moon Restored [Blu-ray]). You can see a couple of very short clips from this new restoration in the movie "Hugo" [see it in 3D if possible].) My wife and I attended that program and, afterwards, I had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Tom Burton, head of the preservation department at Technicolor Los Angeles, who had been in charge of that color restoration project. He told me about the forthcoming release of this new Blu-ray (and DVD) edition of WINGS, of which he was also in charge.
Mr. Burton told me that he and his team, working with the original tinting requirements (which miraculously survive in the Paramount library), would reproduce ALL of the original tints, including the Handschiegl color process effects (a stencil process used for machine-gun fire and flames from shot-down airplanes), and that this edition will look better than anything seen since WINGS' first release. He also told me (and these are his exact words) that I will be "blown away by the sound track."
He was right! On both counts!
The new Blu-ray and DVD will not feature Ms. Anderson's music reconstruction, however. J. S. Zamecnik's original 1927 score has been re-orchestrated and arranged by Dominik Hauser, another musicologist, along with some piano filler played by Frederick Hodges. In 1927, sound effects (machine guns, airplane engines, etc.) were performed behind the screen. Ben Burtt, a noted (and superb) sound engineer has recreated and augmented these effects for the new restoration.
In addition, Gaylord Carter's score will be present on a second audio track (and this is very welcome). When one watches this track, note that the timings are different; this is due to the fact that this track begins immediately with the movie rather than, as on the first track, with the various Paramount logo montage (very beautiful, by the way) and does not include the intermission or the end restoration credits. As far as I can determine, you cannot switch between the audio tracks (at least on the Blu-ray); when you start Play, you must select one 'version' or the other.
This film is being released as the first title in Paramount's 100th Anniversary retrospective and it is one of the 'crown jewels' in Paramount's oeuvre. Paramount has tried its best to ensure top quality for this restoration (Paramount claims the film has been restored frame-by-frame!) and, in my opinion, they have succeeded.
I ordered my copy on November 15, 2011 immediately upon reading Paramount's press release (obviously sight unseen). This new edition, which I watched in its entirety last night [January 24, 2012] has been at least partially created from a duplicate negative, made from an original then-surviving nitrate print, back in the 1950s, an element not used previously (the original negative and all original nitrate prints are long-gone). In all versions I have seen prior to this one, certain scenes appear badly 'washed out' - this is due to fact that all of them have been derived from a print - and a print is NOT a negative (hence the best that can be derived from such a source is a fourth generation print, and that is if no additional work is done - not the case here). Most of these scenes have been at least somewhat corrected for this new restoration but in the scene near the end of the film where "Buddy" Rogers is reading a letter sent to Richard Arlen, there are open areas (where the building was evidently bombed out) in which you can see what's going on outside; this small portion of the scene is still badly 'washed out' and the out-of-the-building view only comes into sharp relief when the scene fades out. But that's the only truly noticeable 'washed out' scene and, as the 'washed-out' portion is only a small part of the background, it does not mar the actual scene in any way. (See below for two other unfortunate but "unfixable" flaws.)
There is at least one 'cut' in all versions I have seen previously: I have been told that Clara Bow's topless scene has had several seconds removed. These frames supposedly exist (in the print owned by the Library of Congress and possibly some other sources). From what I can see in this new edition, the scene looks to be complete but I'll have to check further with some knowledgeable people. [See March 15, 2012 Update below.] (Not that it matters, but Clara Bow is extremely easy on the eyes! Though her role is relatively small [and, in reality, unimportant], she was cast in this film as box-office insurance. And, as in ALL of her films, her acting is superlative - there is no other word for it. Read more ›
101 of 105 people found the following review helpful
Format:Blu-ray
For you buyers mulling over which version (Blu-ray vs. DVD) to purchase, note the difference in the "Special Features" content offered on each release.
The Blu-ray version includes three (3) special features: the making-of documentary "Wings: Grandeur in the Sky," as well as "Dogfight," a featurette covering early aeronautics, and "Restoring the Power and Beauty of Wings," which details the film's restoration process.
The DVD version includes only one (1) special feature, the aforementioned "Wings: Grandeur in the Sky" (the "making of" documentary).
The Blu-ray version includes three (3) special features: the making-of documentary "Wings: Grandeur in the Sky," as well as "Dogfight," a featurette covering early aeronautics, and "Restoring the Power and Beauty of Wings," which details the film's restoration process.
The DVD version includes only one (1) special feature, the aforementioned "Wings: Grandeur in the Sky" (the "making of" documentary).
48 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
...goes to WINGS! That was back in 1927. It remains one of the great anti-war films even though the war is World War I. It also marks the apex of the careers of its three stars: Clara Bow, Charles "Buddy" Rogers, and Richard Arlen. Buddy Rogers would later marry Mary Pickford and concentrate on Big Band music while Clara Bow made only a few sound films before retiring in 1933 at the age of 28. Richard Arlen stayed in movies a bit longer but is best remembered today as the hero of 1932's THE ISLAND OF LOST SOULS with Charles Laughton. The director William Wellman would go on to quite a distinguished career making such films as THE PUBLIC ENEMY with James Cagney, the 1937 A STAR IS BORN and 1943's THE OX-BOW INCIDENT. He made his last film, LAFAYETTE ESCADRILLE, in 1958.
Wellman had actually flown planes during the Great War and so he wanted to make sure that this film captured what it was like to fly and to engage in combat up in the skies. One of the film's great strengths is the outstanding aerial photography which Howard Hughes would copy for HELL'S ANGELS three years later. Another strength is the story itself. While basically one of the first buddy films, WINGS manages not only to capture the horrors of war but the innocence of pre-WWI America as personified by the three main characters. Clara Bow gives a remarkable performance showing that she was more than just a 1920's sex symbol when given a good script and placed in the hands of a capable director like Wellman. By the time the film is over you long for its beginning. The final scenes are among the most moving in all of silent film with an ending that you have waited the whole movie for.
After years of bootleg copies from Asia simply transferring the old VHS edition to DVD, Paramount is finally giving WINGS the quality restoration it deserves. Available on both Blu-Ray and DVD, the release will include the film's original orchestral score in a new recording, the old Gaylord Carter organ score from the VHS copy, color tints like those used in 1927, and period sound effects. This is scheduled to be the first of several restorations by Paramount of a number of the studio's legendary films to coincide with the company's 100th anniversary in 2012.
POST SCRIPT: With THE ARTIST winning Best Picture this year, that marks 84 years since a silent film has had that honor.
Wellman had actually flown planes during the Great War and so he wanted to make sure that this film captured what it was like to fly and to engage in combat up in the skies. One of the film's great strengths is the outstanding aerial photography which Howard Hughes would copy for HELL'S ANGELS three years later. Another strength is the story itself. While basically one of the first buddy films, WINGS manages not only to capture the horrors of war but the innocence of pre-WWI America as personified by the three main characters. Clara Bow gives a remarkable performance showing that she was more than just a 1920's sex symbol when given a good script and placed in the hands of a capable director like Wellman. By the time the film is over you long for its beginning. The final scenes are among the most moving in all of silent film with an ending that you have waited the whole movie for.
After years of bootleg copies from Asia simply transferring the old VHS edition to DVD, Paramount is finally giving WINGS the quality restoration it deserves. Available on both Blu-Ray and DVD, the release will include the film's original orchestral score in a new recording, the old Gaylord Carter organ score from the VHS copy, color tints like those used in 1927, and period sound effects. This is scheduled to be the first of several restorations by Paramount of a number of the studio's legendary films to coincide with the company's 100th anniversary in 2012.
POST SCRIPT: With THE ARTIST winning Best Picture this year, that marks 84 years since a silent film has had that honor.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Must have 1st Academy Awards® best Picture Winner
If you been trying to put together a collection of all 85 Best Picture Oscar® winners, you will know that there are two titles that have been impossible to find. Read more
Published 5 days ago by M. Francis
5.0 out of 5 stars
This movie had a great story line.
Great movie, very well made for 1926. I have a friend who is 94 and started his flying in a bi-wing plane. I sent him the movie and he really injoyed it.
Published 6 days ago by D. Berry
3.0 out of 5 stars
Wings was the first "Oscar" film.
To watch "Wings" one would have to appreciate the silent film genre. Watching this made me yearn for sound, instead of having to put up with reading subtitles and listening... Read more
Published 8 days ago by Bobby G. Hudson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing film!!!!
Considering it is before talk films, it is one of the best films I've ever seen of the First World War and especially the part airplanes played in it!!!
Published 9 days ago by Maurice A. Enderle
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wings
The aerial photos in this movies are outstanding in this movie. These are actual air to air combat films of world war I. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Bernard Buccola
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous Silent Movie
Fabulous movie, enjoyed every minute of it! Highly recommend it to everyone especially those who have never seen a silent movie.
Published 26 days ago by Marilyn Black
4.0 out of 5 stars
Classic
The blue ray process only improves this movie. If your a fan of the classic silent movies this is a must see. Read more
Published 27 days ago by Rw Scolari
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome... sums up how I feel
Perfect image quality, Stunning. A great movie (of the era), original winner of the Academy award for "Best Picture". Well worth the price in Blu-ray.
Published 1 month ago by Concerned by the Hate
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous
Star Wars is the Wings of its generation. This one of the greatest films ever made and the restoration presented in this Blu-ray package is stellar.
Published 1 month ago by M. Gale
5.0 out of 5 stars
As clear as 1927
Excellent restoration of a classic. As clear as the day it was released. AFI did an excellent job. Great movie better then I expected.
Published 1 month ago by Jesus Colon
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