We're extremely relieved that WARNER BROS HOME VIDEO is back on track with a large assortment of releases, after a short dry-spell.  The long awaited special edition of the 1954 version, " A STAR IS BORN", couldn't be better!  Judy Garland and James Mason star in this classic movie musical, now finally restored to what is "close" to the original running time.  It was cut by almost 30 minutes upon its initial release for more
potential theater showings.  Film historian Ronald Haver deserves praise for somehow locating all of the lost footage from various sources and restoring the film to its original form.
Garland gives her best performance here, as Esther Blodgett , a singer with dreams of finding fame in Hollywood.  James Mason gives one of his finest performances here as well, playing Norman Maine, a famous film actor, on the verge of self-destruction due to his alcoholism.  After Esther saves Norman from a potentially career-ending drunken display, he
finds her and recognizes her great talent.  The two fall in love, get
married, and after she gets her foot in the door, his career declines just as hers begins to skyrocket.

This Warner Home Video transfer is extremely impressive!  The
CinemaScope 2.55:1 aspect ratio is intact.  Colors are bold, and the image has a sharp look to it, even though some of the elements vary in quality due to the reconstruction process.   The contrast is wonderful with deep blacks and grays.   in comparison to the  has done a very impressive job with their DVD edition of A STAR IS BORN. Performing
digital wizardry, Warner has gotten its reconstructed film elements to look quite good and relatively uniform. Whatever long-term restoration work the film elements still require are not obvious from this presentation. In terms of picture quality, there are certain sequences of the movie that are not ideally matched to the rest of the film, but even these portions of the movie still look quite good on DVD. At present, Ronald Haver and Warner's reconstruction of A STAR IS BORN has
managed to restore the film's length to 176 minutes. This is still five minutes shy of its premiere version and there are a few moments within the movie where only the soundtrack remains intact and stills have been inserted to replace the missing footage.
The film's original 4-channel magnetic stereo soundtrack has beenremastered for a new dolby digital 5.1 sound mix offered here!   There is noticeable separation in the front speakers, but  surround effects are non-existent!  Still, directional effects aren't an absolute necessity here and the musical numbers, while limited in range, are still enjoyable