The African Queen Commemorative Box Set DVD
Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn return once again in the classic adventure love story The African Queen in this commemorative fully restored edition with plenty of extras.
Film making 25/25
Video 23/25
Audio 24/25
Bonus Features 25/25
Total 97/100
Six years in the making The African Queen finally debuts on DVD, yes, the film has never been released on disc before now. Paramount has taken plenty of time and carefully restored the classic love story to ensure maximum profits and a great entertainment package.
Maybe not true for the profits part but the film has been a long awaited DVD release as well as the Blu-ray edition which has less of the bonus extras like the pictures and book of the DVD set. The DVD release I received has two discs, one with the film and bonus content and an audio disc of the African Queen broadcast voiced by Humphrey Bogart and Greer Garson.
Other additions in the Commemorative DVD set include a Senitype card showing the Technicolor process with four film strip examples, 8 prints from the film and the Making of the African Queen book by Katherine Hepburn. The set is a great way to enjoy and experience one of films greatest classic love stories and inarguably one of the best films ever made.
The African Queen stars Humphrey Bogart as Canadian riverboat pilot Charlie Allnut and Katherine Hepburn plays Rose Sayer, a British Missionary. Charlie runs his riverboat up and down river to supply the various villages and missions along the Congo River in now German controlled East Africa.
When World War I heats up the Germans use the gunboat Louisa to block any British counterattacks on the lake that the Congo feeds into. When the Germans attack the mission Rose and her brother Samuel are working in they take most of the people hostage and wound Samuel with a blow to the head when he objects about taking the villagers.
Rose attends her brother as he dies and Charlie returns soon after he has visited several other villages that have also been attacked by the Germans. He returns to see if the missionaries are alright and offer them what help he can but only winds up helping Rose bury her brother.
When they discuss their situation Charlie reveals to Rose that the Germans will dominate East Africa as long as they control the large lake with the gunboat Louisa. Rose automatically takes a stance to use the African Queen as a torpedo boat to sink the Louisa and help the British in Africa gain a foothold.
They start off down river past two sets of rapids and a large waterfall, past a river front fort controlled by the Germans and finally to the lake. When their plan runs afoul during bad weather with Charlie and Rose being captured aboard the Louisa they are branded as spies and are to be executed.
In a classic film move Charlie asks the captain to marry them just before they are hung and while he does the African Queen sits with the makeshift torpedoes sticking straight out the front at the oncoming Louisa. The Louisa sinks from the explosions and both Rose and Charlie swim off into the sunset to enjoy their newly married status.
Made in 1951 with all kinds of technical and location problems the film is a classic in many ways and one well worth watching now that it has been restored and put to DVD or Blu-ray. The movie has a simple story and a great set of actors in Bogart and Hepburn with great direction from John Huston.
Unless you live under a rock you have probably heard about the film but it is well worth a new look and the restored edition is a sure hit for any collection. The film has not aged well but still shows the care and love for acting and directing that started out a great industry.
There are some scenes that are quite telling for its age with some slightly cheesy blue screen effects but the main story and great acting are captured well. I have seen more expensive films and much more recent ones with worse effects so a little action sequence blue screen and actors getting water tossed in their face in a scene here and there is nothing new to filming.
The movie has been painstakingly restored over a four year period from the first film to use Technicolor and brought to both Blu-ray and standard DVD. The film on DVD looks great and aside from a few cheesy looking scenes does look fantastic, not even considering its age.
The opening scene has some great shots of Africa as the boat was sent down river and during the filming they take care to show not only native flora and fauna but well done shots including the actors in front of the scenery. Audio is also well done without any technical problems worth even mentioning.
The African Queen was one of the first films shot on location and the first film shot in Africa on the Congo river other than a few small documentaries. The film has several other notable accolades and awards but you should get it to find out more from the hour long making of feature.
Some of the earlier technical problems from filming on location in England in front of blue screens and then splicing this into the main shots filmed in Africa were corrected so they match perfectly. Other technical issues that were present from the earlier filming and production have been worked out to a point that the film looks fabulous for one that was filmed before I was born.
The African Queen includes an hour documentary on filming the movie with great shots during the filming, several interviews afterward from cast and crew of the film and other great figures in the film industry. While the bonus features are not all that could have been included it is the best of what has been done for a good look at the movie and its history without getting too much that it gets tiring.
They struck a great balance in this collection with both the bonus content on the movie disc and the other extras of the set for a great classic film and enough bonus content that makes it a must have for any film or entertainment collection. This is classic film in a set that includes enough to make it a must have but not too much that makes the commemorative set something only for diehard fans.
The African Queen Commemorative Box Set is the perfect film set for any movie collection, the only question is will you get the DVD or Blu-ray edition.