The 7th Voyage of Sinbad- Blu ray.

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What a treat, Harryhausen et al’s greatest film, well I think so at least. This is one of those films I watch through the same un-jaded eyes as when I first wondered at it as a kid, it’s a true fantasy jewel, perhaps the crowning jewel itself. From the rich and colourful titles, with Herrmanns literally striking overture, the film punches you straight into action, and what a beginning. Sinbad (Kerwin Matthews) and crew are lost in a dense fog at sea, Sinbad is visibly tense and Herrmans scoring is perfect. Soon they happen upon the island of Colossus, and from here the the story starts, I’ll try not to get too carried away and rant on too much, but if you’ve made it this far, well done and read on!

There are many reasons to re-visit this film, not least of course is the fabulous animation from Ray Harryhausen. The main actors do a fine job doing their part too. Sinbad is played by the enthusiastic Kerwin Matthews, he takes it all seriously and gives a fairly intense performance, in the fog scene at the very start of the film, at the wheel of his ship, his eyes pierce with such a believability you’re totally pulled into the scene and are gripped at that point onward.

The top acting honors though go to the amazing Torin Thatcher, he is simply incredible as the evil wizard, intent on regaining the magic lamp, lost to a Cyclops on Colossus when he’s rescued by Sinbad and his merry crew and taken to Baghdad. Torin was a stage actor and had been making films for over 20 years and the turn he does in this is real acting (I hope), I mean over the top theatrical magician, with all the expressions and gestures you’d have imaged from such a character as a kid, archetypical I guess, but with such gusto he’s awesome.

Ray Harryhausen’s creations are, of course amazing, and in Technicolor for the first time too, since his budgets with producer Charles Schneer so far had only afforded black and white features. I can’t go on about each creature or shot, we’ll be here forever, and I’m just not articulate enough to express my joy when I see Rays work. But, we all know how fine it is of course. Just as an aside, I really get pissed of when people say today about CGI: “oooh, it just looks so fake, you can tell it’s CGI”. Well I say to those people, “Good, I wanna see the fakery, I like to work out how it’s done, I want the effect to have a different quality from the ‘live action’ stuff. We know it’s not real, even if it may appear so, it’s the techniques that matter, good or bad.” It’ll probably sadden Harryhausen to hear that, but that’s how I enjoy my sfx.

So to the Bluray presentation: When this arrived I was almost at fever pitch imagining how incredible a clean print of this in HD would look, I’ll tell you it looked pretty awesome in my head. I was very disappointed when I put it on, very grainy and some really poor quality scenes. BUT, on reading up on the picture issues, it seems that this is totally representative of the original feature quality. It was a cheap movie, using cheap technicolor film stock, and coupled with the Harryhausen backplate techniques it seems I was being harsh, it’s a top quality representation to be proud of. A truly great film, now presented in such a striking quality never really seen before, it takes some getting used, but it’s really worth it.

Mandalorian Hoodie!

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I wear hoodies all of the time, hoodies are snuggly, practical and fuckin Old School!!! Boba Fett is cool, his armour is rockin’ and we all know that, Boba Fett is fuckin’ Old School!!! Well, we now have a practical solution, ’cause hoodies are practical and fuckin’ Old School. A Mandalorian Hoodie, well not strictly Mandalorian, customized cool as fuck Mandalorian. I want one of these, god damn I need one. As if hoodies weren’t badass enough. You can get arrested for wearin’ a hoody, bring it on y’all, the authorities will think twice when dealing with a Mandalorian hoodie. An army of Fett hoodie wearing uber geeks!!! Enrol Now!! get one here

Akira Anime set for BluRay.

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Hip hip Hoo-f**kin’-ray. This, along with ‘The Day the Earth Stood Still’ Bluray announcement has got me in quite an excited dizz! At last, following the cancellation from July 2007, AKIRA will be released in February 2009. It’ll boast a superior soundtrack, TruHD et al. and a modest roster of extra features, well just trailers actually, a little disappointing I guess, but it will have a 20 page booklet, containing some of Otomos’ storyboards, treat on!

It will come as no surprise to learn that I love this film, I saw it first back in ‘92 I think when it first came to the UK on VHS, and it completely blew me, along with many others, totally away. I’ve recently read the Manga series, one of the finest things I’ve read, and I’m gonna read it again real soon. So, a welcome announcement indeed, and a day to look forward to. Let us now pray that the transfer lives up to my very high expectations. KANEDAAAAAAAAAA!

The Day the Earth stood Still, on Bluray DEC 2nd. 08.

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Oh my f**king God. When I decided to go Blu, last year, there were very few Bluray titles available that actually interested me, releases seemed to be aimed in most part towards 14-30 year olds, i.e. dumb action flicks and popcorn summer hits. But, as the year went on, things seemed more promising for the SF geeks and general lovers of good films when titles such as 2001:A Space Odyssey were dropped on us, and I for one lapped them up. We got Close Encounters and 20 Million miles to Earth, to name just two, but actually things started to slow down for that sort of thing for a while, with the odd announcement exciting the crowds from time to time, such as A Nightmare Before Christmas for one (can’t wait for that).

Then, at the end of last week, Fox announced THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, on Bluray…..again, oh my f**kin’ God. This is my favourite classic SF movie, right there at the top of my list of awesome greatness fantastical lushity. For those who’ve not seen this masterpiece, yeah, masterpiece I say, then sort yourself out and don’t wait for the up-coming remake with Keanu f**kin’ Reeves. Shit, all of those people who are gonna see that at the flicks, with no prior knowledge of the original, well I’m sure they won’t be too bothered, I am though, I’m gonna have to try and sabotage every screening of the remake with a copy of the original. And you gotta know how tough thats gonna be, sheeeeeaaaat!

Well, let us, the fan’s of the original join virtual hands, come on all of you, and you! And praythat Fox has got a transfer to knock our socks off, cause this film deserves it. Oh Christ, I just thought, Herrmanns amazing score, it’s gonna sound frakin’ lush.

As for the extras, I’m sure I read a list somewhere, ah here it is:

RELEASED DECEMBER 2nd in the US, no info yet on a UK edition:

Blu-ray edition Bonus Features:
-Audio Commentary by director Robert Wise and Nicolas Meyer
-Audio Commentary by film & music historians John Morgan, Steven Smith, William Stromberg & Nick Redman
-Isolated Score Track in DTS-HD MA 5.1
-The Making of The Day The Earth Stood Still
-Decoding “Klaatu, Barada, Nikto” (Science Fiction as Metaphor)
-A Brief History of Flying Saucers
-Edmund North: The Man Who Made The Earth Stand Still
-The Astounding Harry Bates
-Farewell to the Master: an Audio Presentation of the original short story
-1951 Fox Movietone News (featuring the film’s premiere)
-Restoration Comparison
-Original Theatrical Trailer
-Shooting Script
-Construction Blue Prints for the ship
-US & UK Pressbooks
-Posters, Lobby Cards, Spaceship Model and Gort
-Behind-the-Scenes
-Blu-ray Disc Promo trailer
-BD-J Interactive Feature
-TBD D-Box (capable)
-BD-Live Portal

I CANNOT WAIT

KLAATU, BARRADA, hurry the f**k up!

Blu ‘Ape’ Moon.

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Ooooohhhh! Terrible title, shameless, yet there! THIS IS GREAT NEWS. All five Apes films on Bluray. In a boxset that will cheese off anyone who likes order on there shelves. This oversized set looks great, sports plenty of new extras to keep us ‘Apes’ fans happy for a few hours, and by the looks of it, a tasty little book too. BUT, here’s the best bit: 8 extra minutes to Conquest, this new unrated cut restores footage not seen for, well I dunno, years I guess, this is the first I’ve heard. Harry Knowles over at aintitcool.com saw it this past weekend at Fantastic Fest:

“This director’s cut was being shown off of the upcoming Fox BLU-RAY of the PLANET OF THE APES saga. I’m sure the last time I saw CONQUEST was when Fox put that big DVD set out – but I have to say, I’ve never loved CONQUEST, until this screening. The film is bloody, apocalyptic and the scariest anti-whitey film ever made (although BROTHERHOOD OF DEATH is pretty fucking awesome too!)

And the way the film ends – it pretty much completely negates the need for BATTLE. The audience got into it… cheering Caesar on with ape grunts – it was fabulous and the experience made me wish Fox had me on their Blu-Ray list, because waiting for the actual release date for this disc and it’s brothers is going to be the longest short wait of the year.”

So, lookin’ pretty f**kin’ good. I for one cannot wait. I love the apes films, each and every one of ‘em, they’re f**kin’ ace. I love the TV show too, jeeeez what a TV show that was, ahhhhh!! anyway, here are some specs

Disc Features:
• Audio Commentary by Composer Jerry Goldsmith
• Audio Commentary by Actors Roddy McDowall, Natalie Trundy, Kim Hunter and Makeup Artist John Chambers
• Text Commentary by Eric Greene and Author of “Planet of the Apes as American Myth”
• Documentary: “Behind the Planet of the Apes”
• Behind the Planet of the Apes Promo (1988)
• Planet of the Apes Makeup Test with Edward G. Robinson (1966)
• Roddy McDowall On-set Footage
• Planet of the Apes Dailies and Outtakes (No Audio)
• Planet of the Apes NATO Presentation (1967)
• Featurettes: “Planet of the Apes Vintage Featurette,” “A Look Behind the Planet of the Apes (1972),” “Don Taylor Directs Escape from the Planet of the Apes,” “J. Lee Thompson Directs Conquest of the Planet of the Apes”
• Six Original Theatrical Trailers
• Original Sketches by Costume Designer Morton Haack
• Still Galleries: “Photo Gallery,” “Planet of the Apes Timeline,” “Interactive Pressbooks,” “Vintage Apes Newspaper Galleries,” “Advertising and Lobby Card Galleries,” “Behind-the-Scenes Galleries”

HD Exclusive Content:
• “Science of the Apes” picture-in-picture (Bonus View)
• Interactive Game: “Beyond the Forbidden Zone Adventure Game” (BD-Java)
• “A Public Service Announcement From ANSA”
• Featurettes: “Evolution of the Apes,” “Impact of the Apes,” “The Secret Behind Escape,” “Riots and Revolutions: Confronting the Times,” “End of an Epic: The Final Battle”
• Isolated score track in 5.1 DTS Master Audio for each ‘Apes’ sequel