Image of an Assassination: A New Look at the Zapruder Film (Full Screen)

 

 

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Although the subject matter is horrific, this DVD is a great addition to my library. You get 4 different looks at the awful event itself, but the big difference in this DVD vs. the VHS copy is the bonus material! There's an excellent-quality segment on "the WFAA-TV interview" with Mr. Zapruder, made just hours after he filmed the assassination. I have several JFK videos, but I have never seen a lot of this material before! You even get to see about 2 minutes of the program that was interrupted before you get into the "live bulletin" news coverage. And the interview is shown in its entirety, and very clear. Quite chilling. Other extras on the DVD are nice too, including the 1975 "Good Night America" program with Geraldo Rivera, where America first was shown Zapruder's famous film, to the horrified gasps of the live audience members. This "Good Night" segment is quite complete also, with most of the late-night broadcast shown on the DVD. I'm not trying to minimize the actual Zapruder footage shown here (which is indeed quite crisp and clear, albeit with still a lot of dust and artifacts present that were obviously simply impossible to remove), but for me the prize in the package is the bonus material offered, and it makes this DVD a MUST for those like myself who collect about every Kennedy video out there. Because I guarantee you, you won't find lots of this footage anywhere else!

It is important that you know exactly what Image of an Assassination is before you decide to spend your money on it. The entire focus of the DVD is Abraham Zapruder's 26-second, 8 mm film showing the assassination of John F. Kennedy from start to finish. This is not a "who shot JFK?" documentary - there's no place for conspiracy theories or defenses of the Warren Commission conclusions to be found here. This is a new and much improved look at the single most important piece of evidence in the assassination of President Kennedy, complemented by a look at the process behind the digitalization of the film. There is no real analysis of the film, and no allusion to the criticisms some have made about the integrity of the film. Any conclusions to be made are left up to the viewer, and this video gives the viewer the ultimate look at this most famous, most important home video ever made.

The documentary does provide a timeline for the original film's travel across the decades, beginning on the morning of November 22, 1963, when the meek and mild Abraham Zapruder was encouraged to go home and get his camera so that he could film the passing of the Presidential motorcade. You get a brief personal look at Zapruder himself, a most reluctant of celebrities, including footage of the interview he gave to TV station WFAA hours after the assassination. There are interviews with several individuals associated with Zapruder and Time Life, the company which bought the rights to the film in the days after the assassination. You will follow the trail of the original film to the possession of Time Life (oddly, there is no mention of the mysteriously reversed frames that were printed in Life magazine shortly after the assassination) and, in 1975, back to the Zapruder family (it was sold back for $1). Time Life was feeling a little heat from the public for supposedly suppressing the original film itself after an obviously second-generation copy was unveiled to the American television public by ABC on Geraldo Rivera's talk show Good Night America in March of that year. The Zapruder family asked the National Archives to take possession of the film so that it could be stored under optimal conditions, and that is where the original 26-second film remains.

At this point, we get into the recent project to make a digital copy of the original film, one that could be made available to researchers and the public at large. Every time the original film is taken out of cold storage and viewed, deterioration is possible, and indeed some problems have been caused by the copying of the film way back in 1963. It is an impressive, laborious, strictly controlled process of a highly technical, ruthlessly documented nature, but it is much more than that. The digitalization process allowed for the vast improvement of the original film's quality. Each frame was scanned at resolutions up to 1500 dpi so that the footage could be blown up larger, dust and scratches were removed (except for those around the splices, which were just too damaged), and the sequencing is well nigh perfectly done. Best of all, though, we can now view the each frame from one film edge to the other, including all of the sprocket holes. Thus, some details can now be seen for the very first time.

The video is only 45 minutes long, culminating in several normal speed and slow-motion versions of the new and improved Zapruder film. The detail and color is amazing, but is this ultimate version of the 26-second film worth the money to you? If you are a casual JFK assassination nut, perhaps not. If you are serious about your armchair JFK assassination sleuthing, however, Image of an Assassination is a bargain at any price. Hordes of researchers over the years would have given their right arms for a version of the film half as clear as this one. The Zapruder film is the most crucial piece of evidence we have from November 22, 1963; Image of an Assassination gives you access to the Holy Grail of JFK assassination evidence.

You may not agree with all the wild conspiracy ideas, and you may believe in the lone assassin like myself. However, I really think in order to take a stand, you need to read the Warren Report, and have A DVD of the Zapruder film - these are the essentials. Then I would suggest to buy an early period conspiracy book like Six Seconds In Dallas and a book that shows the flaws in the Warren Report like Accessories After The Fact, only then would I suggest getting into the deep conspiracy ideas.

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1.0 out of 5 stars NEVER LOOK AT THE ZAPRUDER FILM
Whether you're an assassination buff or not, this is NOT A GOOD FILM TO SEE, especially understanding that the terrorist attacks of Sept. Read more

Published on Jan 29 2004 by Sanjay N. Iyer

4.0 out of 5 stars HAS THIS FILM BEEN TAMPERED WITH?
IMAGE OF AN ASSASSINATION - A NEW LOOK AT THE ZAPRUDER FILM (MPI,) is an alleged film record of Kennedy's murder. Read more

Published on Nov 21 2003 by Robin Simmons

5.0 out of 5 stars Restored footage of President John Kennedy murdered.
In 1963, decades before there were video camcorders for public use, there were hand-held wide-up, push button movie cameras that used 8 millimeter, 16mm, or Super 8 Kodakrome... Read more

Published on Oct 18 2003 by James McDonald

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, but does nothing to dispel the controversy...
It is very educational and rewarding to gain insights into modern film restoration and preservation techniques. Read more

Published on Oct 7 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars THANK YOU ABRAHAM
Here it is in all it's gory glory. The most important record from that fateful day in Dealey Plaza - the Zapruder film. Read more

Published on Oct 6 2002 by M. R. ZOGLIO

5.0 out of 5 stars Back and to the left, back and to the left...
If you are interested in the Kennedy Assassination, then you must get this DVD. It is much clearer than any version I have seen on TV. Read more

Published on April 29 2002 by R. Robinette

5.0 out of 5 stars THE assasination film renovated using current technology...
This film is for the true Kennedy assasination history buff. Told initially from Abraham Zapruder's perspective, the viewer gets a whole new angle on the assasination that's well... Read more

Published on Mar 11 2002 by Thomas Moody

5.0 out of 5 stars A new view of an old memory
With the Zapruder film no longer publicly available, many will purchase this DVD as one of the few current sources to view 22 seconds of the 1960's September 11th. Read more

Published on Nov 10 2001 by Raindance

4.0 out of 5 stars Correction for Australian reviewer
The reviewer from Australia is incorrect in saying that the producers of this DVD (MPI Home Video) cannot be blamed for the three missing frames, as he claims that this loss of... Read more

Published on Sep 8 2001 by Kevin Nienhuis

5.0 out of 5 stars IMAGE OF AN ASSASSINATION - END OF INNOCENCE
Most people remember what they were doing the moment news broke of the murder of JFK. It changed the lives of our nation, and is the biggest mystery of our time. Read more

Published on July 11 2001 by Neal Williams

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