There has long been speculation as to which is the best version of Atoll K to buy/watch.
I own five prints of the film, and all of them are with varying degrees of quality.
I have captured the title cards from each print plus the opening shot of the Houses Of Parliament in London.
Here's my official verdict, with screencaptures of the same scenes from each print.
The winner is the RUSSIAN print (bottom).
The German DVD is a close second and the version with the original title card and credits (top) is third.
Don't bother with the UK DVD ("Utopia") or the Italian DVD "Atollo K" - which ends on an upbeat scene and cuts out the final moment of Stan and Ollie losing all their posessions.
I have made absolutely no alteration to the screencaptures, no colour, brightness or contrast enhancements whatsoever - what you see is exactly how I captured each still.
KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN BECAUSE I HAVE A FRIEND, BEN RALPH, WHO IS CURRENTLY COMPILING AN "ATOLL K: DEFINITIVE FANS EDITION DVD" DUE SOON.
THIS DVD WILL HAVE AN EXCELLENT UNCUT PRINT OF THE FILM PLUS LOTS OF EXTRAS NEVER BEFORE RELEASED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC.
ANYONE INTERESTED IN THIS DVD CAN CONTACT EITHER ME OR BEN DIRECTLY AT: alexali363@hotmail.com.
All messages received by me will be passed on to Ben.
Special thanks to Thomas Schober for helping me with a print of Atoll K.