Well, the new 'Great Dictator' DVD is in hand
.
This is due to be released in March in the States, but was released a few weeks ago in France (as a region 2 DVD - unless you have a multi-region player, don't buy this because you won't be able to play it!).
All in all, it's a very appealing package. The film itself looks great. There seems to be far more detail than the previous DVD and, while there is still some damage here and there, I get the distinct impression this is as good as it's ever going to get. The soundtrack has been remixed into 5.1 surround sound (the original mono track is also included). I have not been able to check out this aspect since my all-region player with surround sound capability is in the shop.
This is a 2 disc special edition from MK2 Editions (Warner Brothers), with a second disc full of supplements. This includes 'The Tramp And the Dictator' documentary (55 min.), plus 25 minutes of Sydney's color silent films shot on the set (bravo!). The 'Sunnyside' outtake is also included here. This was on the previous DVD. There's also a somewhat purposeless extract from Monsieur Verdoux, clips from the various other Chaplin films in this series (which aren't out yet, of course), and a gallery of images. No complaints on any of this, although I did have to switch to English subtitles whenever one of the Germans were interviewed in 'The Tramp And The Dictator' (understandable, given the multi-language availability here, but a pain in the ass nonetheless).
This is available in two editions - a normal 2 DVD set, and a 'deluxe' edition which comes with 20 more pages in the booklet, and a handful of large postcard-sized photos in a square box. This is quite nice, but not worth the extra $10 or so they're asking for it (by the way, it was originally announced as having a piece of film from an actual Great Dictator print, but this was not included in my copy - and was seemingly not included in ANY copies).
Anyway, based on this, it looks like a nice year ahead for Chaplin DVD
