‘End Of The World’ (1931) Blu-Ray Review – Early Effects-Driven Narrative Is More Style Than Substance

End of the World (La Fin du Monde, 1931) is legendary director Abel Gance’s (Napoleon) first sound film, and France’s first all-talking feature. It is a multi-million-dollar super-production depicting an approaching apocalypse, presented in a 2K restoration from Gaumont. Following the discovery of a comet heading straight for the Earth, a scientist, helped by his brother, manages to unify all the nations of the world and have a Universal Republic proclaimed.

For thoughts on End of the World, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic: 

[youtube https://youtu.be/oIMXO-PMrZQ?t=3842]

Video Quality

End of the World makes its Blu-Ray debut thanks to Kino Classics with a brand new 1080p transfer from a 2K restoration conducted by the CNC in 2021 courtesy of Gaumont. Although the film is over 90 years old, this presentation is quite a sight even with the occasional unresolved issue with the master. The new transfer shows off a stellar amount of depth and enhanced detail within the film’s composition. The special effects work holds up quite effectively even all these years later. 

This presentation allows for a nice amount of texture on the outfits and within the progressive production design. The black-and-white photography shines in high definition with natural grain intact and resolved well. Black levels are firm with no obvious occurrence of black crush or compression artifacts. The contrast is pleasantly defined, and the track only experiences fleeting instances of flicker and density fluctuation in the print. Most nicks and scratches have been eliminated, but there are still a handful of marks that pop up without ruining the look of the film. Kino Classics has put a nice spotlight on this once again.  

Audio Quality

The Blu-Ray comes with a decent DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track in the original French with optional English subtitles which holds up well considering its age. The experience sounds slightly boxy on occasion, which likely dates back to the age and condition of the source elements. Dialogue and background noises are balanced okay with all competing elements. The is not a music-forward endeavor, but what is present plays well with the other elements. This track presents with a small amount of age related wear and tear and some faint hissing. Kino Classics offers up as steady of an audio track as possible. 

Special Features

• On The Trail Of A Dream: A 39-minute featurette featuring interviews with experts Laurent Véray, Serge Bromberg, Christophe Gauthier and Léon Rousseau. In this piece, the participants discuss how this fits into the career of director Abel Gance, why this film was a monumental shift, the complicated process the director chose to capture the sound, the issues that arose during editing and much more that gives great context for this feature. 

• Trailer: There is a five-minute trailer provided for End of the World.

Final Thoughts

End of the World is an impressive early effects-driven narrative which shines more so for its technical prowess than its narrative drive. While not completely disappointing, the actual story itself leans a bit dull and unfocused compared to the spectacle we get near the end. With a bit more consistency, this could be even more fondly remembered than it is, but as it stands it provides a bit of style over substance even with it providing some fine entertainment. Kino Classics has delivered a Blu-Ray release that sports an admirable A/V presentation and a worthy supplement. If you are intrigued by early technological innovation, you should give this one a shot.

End of the World will be available to purchase on Blu-Ray on July 18, 2023. 

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Kino Classics has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.