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Reviews of silent film releases on home video.
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Pioneer Trails
(1923)

This western feature, directed by David Smith, stars Cullen Landis and Alice Calhoun, with Bertram Grassby, Otis Harlan, Dwight Crittenden, Virginia True Boardman, Aggie Herring, Nelson McDowell and Joe Rickson.

Harpodeon
2019 DVD edition

Pioneer Trails (1923), black & white, 34 minutes, not rated, with The Fatherhood of Buck McGee (1912), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated, Smashing Barriers (1919) [1932 serial abridgment], black & white, 11 minutes, not rated, Attacked by Redskins (1923) [Pioneer Trails excerpt], black & white, 2 minutes, not rated, The Runaway Coach (1923) [Pioneer Trails excerpt], black & white, 2 minutes, not rated.

Harpodeon, no catalog number, UPC 1-91092-97797-1.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R BDMV); 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in pillarboxed 16:9 (1920 x 1080 pixels) 24 fps progressive scan image encoded in SDR AVC format at ? Mbps average video bit rate; LPCM 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Mbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard BD keepcase; $19.99.
Release date: 2019.
Country of origin: USA

This BD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print abridgment of the film.

The film is accompanied by a music score compiled from preexisting MIDI files.

Supplemental material includes two brief 1932 home video excerpts from Pioneer Trails, a Vitagraph short, and a one-reel serial western abridgment.

For now, this is our recommended home video edition of the film.

This Region 0 Blu-ray Disc (BD-R) edition is available directly from . . .

Harpodeon
2019 DVD edition

Pioneer Trails (1923), black & white, 34 minutes, not rated, with The Fatherhood of Buck McGee (1912), black & white, 15 minutes, not rated, Smashing Barriers (1919) [1932 serial abridgment], black & white, 11 minutes, not rated, Attacked by Redskins (1923) [Pioneer Trails excerpt], black & white, ? minutes, not rated, The Runaway Coach (1923) [Pioneer Trails excerpt], black & white, ? minutes, not rated.

Harpodeon, no catalog number, UPC 1-91092-63596-3.
One single-sided, single-layered, Region 0 NTSC DVD-R disc; 1.33:1 aspect ratio picture in full-frame 4:3 (720 x 480 pixels) interlaced scan image encoded in SDR MPEG-2 format at ? Mbps average video bit rate (capable of progressive scan upscaling to ? fps); Dolby Digital (AC3) 2.0 stereo sound encoded at ? Kbps audio bit rate; English language intertitles, no subtitles; chapter stops; standard DVD keepcase; $16.99.
Release date: 2019.
Country of origin: USA

This DVD-R edition has likely been mastered from a 16mm or 8mm reduction print abridgment of the film.

The film is accompanied by a music score compiled from preexisting MIDI files.

Supplemental material includes two brief 1932 home video excerpts from Pioneer Trails, a Vitagraph short, and a one-reel serial western abridgment.

For now, this is our recommended DVD home video edition of the film.

This Region 0 NTSC DVD-R edition is available directly from . . .

Other WESTERN FILMS of the silent era available on home video.

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