The BFI have announced a suitably epic but reasonbaly priced Werner Herzog Blu-ray box set. Promising digitally remastered High Definition presentations of classics such as Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972); The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974); Nosferatu, the Vampyre (1979) and Fitzcarraldo (1982) plus many of Herzog’s hugely acclaimed short films. Extras include Jack Bond’s long-unseen South Bank Show on Herzog from 1982 and Les Blank’s Burden of Dreams. Of particular interest to us personally is the 1975 documentary “The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner” which has a rarely heard Popol Vuh soundtrack.

According to the release’s page on amazon, the set comes out on July 21st and contains the following:

The Unprecedented Defence of the Fortress Deutschkreuz (1967)
Last Words (1968)
Precautions Against Fanatics (1969)
Handicapped Future (1970)
Fata Morgana (1971)
Land Of Silence and Darkness (1971)
Aguirre, Wrath of God (1972)
The Enigma of Kaspar Hauser (1974)
The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (1975)
Heart of Glass (1976)
How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (1976)
Stroszek (1977)
Nosferatu, the Vampyre (1979)
Woyzeck (1979)
Huie’s Sermon (1980)
God’s Angry Man (1980)
Fitzcarraldo (1982)
Cobre Verde (1987)

Special features:
All films remastered to High Definition
Alternative German and English versions of Nosteratu, the Vampyre
Nosferatu On set documentary (1979, 13 mins)
Burden of Dreams (Les Blank, 1982, 95 mins)
South Bank Show: Werner Herzog (Jack Bond, 1982, 50 mins)
Illustrated booklet with extensive essay by Laurie Johnson; full film credits
Full-length audio commentaries with Werner Herzog on selected titles