A very nice package, this one, veeery nice! Bildstörung appear to have had a new transfer made, or at least acquired a master not as brightness / contrast boosted as Bonton's [used by Second Run too] (see e.g. the curtains in frame 8602). Extras-wise, we get a pretty interesting commentary (greetings to Mr. Bird, if he still remembers me ;-)), an alternate soundtrack PLUS the original one on the second - CD-DA - disc, two featurettes and a music video, and a hefty booklet... Bildstörung must love Valerie a lot! (c: And I would be only happy if more Czechoslovak New Wave films received the same kind of attention.

What can I say? So far, this is the only release WITH progressive transfer and WITHOUT hardcoded subtitles (unfortunately, the only subtitles provided are Czech). In comparison with the Japanese release, the colours are more saturated, but the brightness (or contrast) is too high, causing a loss of detail - check e.g. the curtains on the shot of Valerie's bedroom. Overall, however, the transfer is much cleaner, and it simply does look better.

"(DE)FLOWER POWER!," a 1-page comic by Rick Trembles (from the book "Motion Picture Purgatory"), summarizing the film's contents (2:02, in English)

More info on the comic here & here.

This appears to have been converted from a magnetic tape, as evidenced by the kind of horizontal dropout typical for VHS:

For English audiences, this is a no-brainer - Second Run is the way to go. Czech speakers have to decide what's more important for them - the extra extras ;-) on Bonton's release, or Second Run's a teeny bit better encode, preserving more film grain, or texture, or whatever else you want to call it...