Big Picture Big Sound

The Films

Ray Harryhausen is considered by many in the filmmaking industry has the father of special effects.  Now Sony Pictures has brought together four of Harryhausen's classic films in this Ray Harryhausen Collection that showcase the earl days of stop-motion animation and B-movie creature features at their finest.

The four films on offer here are It Came from Beneath the Sea, Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers, 20 Million Miles to Earth and The 7th Voyage of Sinbad.  None of the films offers much depth in their plots, but that is not what they were intended for. These were strictly meant to be fun, adventure/sci-fi films to pass the time with and wow with spectacle on low budgets. They didn't call them "B-movies" for nothing.

It Came From Beneath the Sea involves a giant octopus roused from the depths of the sea by H-Bomb tests that has stopped eating its normal diet and instead begun to attack ships and humans in search of a new food supply. The film's famous scene involves the giant creature tackling the Golden Gate Bridge. There is also a razor-thin love triangle subplot that was probably better left out.

Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers is a typical piece of 1950's Cold War paranoia wrapped in the guise of alien invasion with self reflection on humanity's actions and responses under the worst of circumstances. When a series of satellites sent up into orbit fall back to Earth, it is discovered there is an alien race waiting to invade the planet. The military's typical knee jerk response causes the eponymous flying saucers to attack. The dilema of what kind of force to use (read: atomic weapons and mutually assured destruction) to defend the planet is always implied but never explicit.

20 Million Miles to Earth features a reptilian-like monster egg that is brought back from Venus on a U.S. rocket ship returning from a mission. The creature hatches and begins to grow too large to be contained. It begins to terrorize the people of Rome and the U.S. military must work with Italian officials to bring the creature down before it grows so large it cannot be controlled and harms too many people

Lastly, there is The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, which I had the opportunity to review previously. In The 7th Voyage, in order to return the Princess Parisa (Kathryn Grant) -- who has been miniaturized by the villainous magician Sokurah (Torin Thatcher) -- to her normal size, Sinbad (Kerwin Matthews) must obtain the shell from a fabled roc's egg for the magician to use in his potion. Along the way, he battles a barrage of mythological beasts -- a Cyclops, an army of skeletons, a two-headed roc and a fire-breathing dragon.

The Picture

Each film in the collection has been transferred to Blu-ray Disc in a 1080p/24 high definition AVC/MPEG-4 encoding from Sony in its original theatrical aspect ratio. Additionally, It Came From Beneath the Sea, Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers and 20 Million Miles to Earth, all originally filmed in black and white, are available on disc in both their original black and white and newly colorized versions. Viewers can easily toggle between the two editions during playback in what Sony is calling "ChromaChoice" by using the "Angle" button on their player's remote control. 7th Voyage of Sinbad is the only one of the four films in the collection originally filmed in color and is featured on the disc in its full TechniColor version.

As for the picture quality, none of the films looks absolutely spectacular. There is a lot of wear that is still apparent, heavy and sometimes inconsistent grain and flickering in the source. These films were obviously and rather unfortunately not kept in the best of condition. Having recently reviewed the new James Bond Collection Blu-ray releases, I am very familiar with exactly what can be achieved during a restoration process. Lowry Digital did a brilliant job restoring James Bond for MGM, Sony has only halfheartedly restored these films.  Legend Films, the company responsible for handling the colorization of the Harryhausen films, says that their software is also capable of restoring the image by removing dirt and scratches, etc. They didn't do a very good job of it.

The Legend Films colorization process is a more advanced process that is supposed to result in more natural colors. Admittedly, the color palette of the colorized versions did look a little more natural than some of the colorized films I've seen in the past, but, still, they do not come close to the real thing. The flesh tones are still completely fake and pasty; eye color looks like bad contact lenses and there are still artifacts caused by the process that pop up on occasion. At times, one can spot color bleeding and other anomalies. I'd also mention that the colorized versions of the films exposed the faults in the source far more than the black and white versions. I would recommend to anyone watching these films to avoid the temptation and to watch them in black and white, where the picture looks more detailed, the blacks are very solid and the source looks cleaner.

The Sound

Each film has had its original soundtrack remixed into 5.1 and appears on Blu-ray disc in a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless mix.  None of the mixes will set your home theater's sound system ablaze, but they do offer a more expansive and dynamic soundfield than the original mono mixes, with good solid, if not booming, low frequency extension. The dialogue can sometimes sound a bit thin, but it's always clear. The surrounds are effectively used with good amounts of audible ambient effects for a wide and cohesive mix. Sadly, Sony opted to include the original English mono mix only on 7th Voyage of Sinbad. The other titles come with varied dubbed versions, except It Came From Beneath the Sea, which includes only an English Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix.

The Extras

Each release in the Ray Harryhausen Collection comes with an audio commentary that includes Ray Harryhausen and an ample amount of extras exploring the film's development and production, Ray Harryhausen's status in the industry as a special effects and stop-motion animation pioneer, and even the actors and composers who worked on the films. There is an unfortunate amount of duplicated material across the discs. Many of the features appear multiple times.

Each disc in the collection is also BD-Live enabled, but there is nothing pertaining to the films on the BD-Live features only promos and trailers for other Sony Blu-ray Disc releases.

The extras available in this collection are:

It Came From Beneath the Sea:

• Remembering it Came From Beneath the Sea (1.78:1/standard definition) --  Ray Harryhausen discusses the inspiration and evolution of the film and various filmmakers, including many established visual effects artist, discuss the film and Harryhausen's influence on their work.
• A Present Day look at Stop Motion (1.78:1/standard definition) -- Kyle Anderson, a film student at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts demonstrates modern techniques of stop-motion animation.
• Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen (1.78:1/standard definition) -- In a sit down discussion at Harryhausen's home, Tim Burton and Ray Harryhausen discuss the visual effects on Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers amongst other things.
• David Schecter on Film: Music's Unsung Hero (1.78:1/standard definition) --  Soundtrack producer David Schecter talks about the differences in the way A films and B films were scored at Columbia in the 50's. For B films, many times, scores were pieced together from already composed pieces of music from other films. Russian-born film composer Mischa Bakaleinikoff, in particular, was known for scoring many B films and was often the go-to many for writing themes for "monsters" in films.
• Galleries:
  • Ad Art Photo Gallery
  • Production Photo Gallery
  • Ray Harryhausen's Artwork Photo Gallery
• BD-Live

Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers:

• The Hollywood Blacklist and Bernard Gordon (1.78:1/standard definition) -- This is quite an interesting feature that explores the blacklisting that was taking place in Hollywood during the McCarthy era, when these Harryhausen films were released. In particular, screenwriter Bernard Gordon, who worked on Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers, was one of the many people in Hollywood who were blacklisted. At the time that meant it was hard to find work and when one did it had to be done under an alias. Gordon continued to write for many Hollywood productions but could not use his own name, so he was forced to use the name of a friend. Through extensive research and verification, for the first time ever Gordon's real name has been restored on the credits for this release and on many other films to which he contributed.
• Remembering Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers (1.78:1/standard definition)-- Ray Harryhuasen reminisces on the creation and production of the film.
• Interview with Joan Taylor (1.78:1/standard definition) -- The actress speaks at length on her work in Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers and 20 Million Miles to Earth and reminisces on her career in film and the theatre.
• The Colorization Process (standard definition) -- This featurette gives viewers a look at Legend Films colorization process that was used to colorize Earth Vs. the Flying Saucers, It Came from Beneath the Sea and 20 Million Miles to Earth.
• Original Screenplay Credits
• Flying Saucers Vs. The Earth --  An interactive comic book authored in BD-Java based on Ray Harryhausen's film.
• Galleries:
  • Ad Art Photo Gallery
  • Production Gallery
• Trailers:
  • Blu-ray Disc is High Definition! (1.78:1/high definition/Dolby Digital 5.1)
  • 20 Million Miles to Earth (1.85:1/high definition)
  • It Came From Beneath the Sea (1.78:1/high definition)
  • The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1.78:1/high definition)
• BD-Live

20 Million Miles to Earth:

All the same extras from Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers plus:

• "20 Million Miles More" Comic Book -- An interactive comiv based on the Harryhausen film authored in BD-Java.
• Trailers:
  • Close Encounters of the Third Kind: Ultimate Edition (2.35:1/high definition/Dolby Digital 5.1)
  • Coming to Blu-ray (1.78:1/high definition/Dolby Digital 5.1)
• BD-Live

7th Voyage of Sinbad:

• Commentary with Ray Harryhausen, visual effects experts Phil Tippet and Randall William Cook, author Steven Smith, and Arnold Kunert -- The men offer very detailed information on the filmmaking and stop-motion animation process as the film goes by in a very conversational manner. Ray Harryhausen, in particular, offers up many informative anecdotes about the film's production. One interesting bit of trivia that can be gleaned form the audio commentary is the fact that Harryhausen had not actually met the film's young actor Richard Eyer (The Genie) until only a couple of years ago. Because of the scheduling, all of the location filming in Spain, where Harryhausen was, used a young Spanish double in his Eyer's place, while Eyer did all of his filming on the set in the US with director Nathan Juran.
• Remembering The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1.78:1/standard definition) -- Ray Harryhausen reminisces on the production of Sinbad and his inspiration for doing the film. In the process, he offers up much information on the special effects techniques he employed during the filming.
• The Harryhausen Legacy (1.78:1/standard definition)-- John Landis and many visual effects artists speak of Harryhausen's influence on their work.
• The Music of Bernard Herrmann (1.78:1/standard definition) -- Music historian Steve Smith offers up an historical account of the legendary composer's music and tells of how he and Ray Harryhausen first came to collaborate.
• Photo Gallery -- A montage of stills from The 7th Voyage of Sinbad set to the film's score by Bernard Hermann.
• "Sinbad May Have Been Bad, But He's Been Good to Me" Music Video -- A promotional 45rpm recording created for the 1958 holiday season release ad campaign for Sinbad. The song is played back to a montage of promotional posters.
• A Look Behind the Voyage (4:3/standard definition) -- This is an archival television documentary on the career of Ray Harryhausen.
• This is Dynamation (Special Effects) (4:3/standard definition) -- A classic 1958 promo highlighting the film's special effects.
• Ray Harryhausen -- Interviewed by Director John Landis (4:3/standard definition) -- John Landis interviews Ray Harryhausen in what is am ore a friendly discussion in which Landis it is obvious that Landis holds Harryhausen in very high esteem. Harryhausen once again details much of the techniques he used in the filming of The 7th Voyage of Sinbad and many of his other films.
• Previews (high definition) -- Promotional spots for upcoming and currently available Sony Blu-ray releases:
  •  Casino Royale -- Promo for the upcoming 2-Disc Collector's Edition
  •  Men in Black
  •  CJ7
  • The Waterhorse: Legend of the Deep
• BD-Live

Final Thoughts

Although the picture quality is lacking and the visual effects may seem crude by today's standards, this set offers a great introduction into the world of 1950's B-movies and the groundbreaking stop-motion animation work of Ray Harryhausen. It will be a delight for any true cineaste and for those who group up on these films.

Where to Buy

• The Ray Harryhausen Collection on Blu-ray Disc (Amazon.com)

Product Details

• Actors: Kevin Matthews, Kathryn Grant, Richard Eyer, Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor
• Directors: Nathan Juran, Fred F. Sears, Robert Gordon
• Format: Box set, Black & White, Color
• Audio/Languages: English Dolby TrueHD 5.1, English Mono,  French Dolby TrueHD 5.1, Spanish Mono
• Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1, 1.78:1, 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 4
• Rating: Not Rated
• Studio: Sony Pictures
• Blu-ray Disc Release Date: October 7, 2008
• Run Time: 578 minutes
• List Price: $74.95
• Extras:
  • Audio Commentaries
  • Featurettes and Galleries
  • Ray Harryhausen Interactive Comic Books
  • BD-Live