A Must-Buy !
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...
Special Features: Blu-ray vs. DVD
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).
And The First Best Picture Oscar...
...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...
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