I’ve spent more than a few hours in the company of Ray Harryhausen over the years. I’ve handled many of the original armatures and have seen the original hand drawn storyboards and conceptual drawings he had created for most of his films. We’ve had many talks about this and all of his other films. I treasure those moments as I treasure seeing 20 Million Miles To Earth finally in hi-def.
You can read more about one of those meetings and see my review of the film itself here:
Let’s talk about this new transfer and the colorized version in this review.
Of course, you can see the plates shift and backgrounds tend to wobble at times. The truth is there are plenty of flaws even more visible with this hi-def transfer. To the modern spoiled eye the film might even be laughable. I see it an entirely different way. I’m able to look beyond the flaws of a 50 year old f/x process and see the charm and artistry within. Ray Harryhausen was not just an f/x worker. He was a craftsman who used textures in just the right way. He animated his creatures with a careful eye to the minutia that bring these lifeless models to life, if only in our minds. Sure, we know it’s a trick. But with these films we are willing — no, demanding — to be tricked. I was skeptical of seeing it in color. That was until I saw the process that Legend Films developed. My initial exposure was over this past holiday season when I was asked to review the colorized version of It’s A Wonderful Life. For that review I researched the process and approached it as analytically and critically as I could. Earlier attempts at colorization were disastrous and quite fake in appearance. I can tell you that this system is unlike any you’ve seen before. If you haven’t had a chance to see Legend Films’ process, you owe it to yourself to check it out. I must say that it really does look like it was shot in color. I’ve read many of the detractors who site this problem or that, but look at any older color film and you run into some of the same problems. This print accurately reflects the color films of its time. For more on this process be sure to check out the review of :
It’s A Wonderful Life (Two-Disc Collector’s Set) (B/W & Color)
20 Million Miles To Earth has always been one of my favorite films and often the topic of my conversations with Ray. The Ymir is both a monstrous and sympathetic figure. Ray admits the King Kong influences readily, and he certainly reproduced that empathy we finally feel for the creature. The best horror films have never been about good vs. evil. The best horror films have always been about good vs. misunderstood. The Ymir never intended to be a destructive killer. It was taken from its home and thrust into an environment immediately hostile to it. Maybe it’s because of those talks with Ray that I have such an understanding of this creature. Or maybe Ray was actually having that conversation long before we ever met as I was watching 20 Million Miles for the first time.
Video
20 Million Miles To Earth is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. That alone is worth quite a bit, but you get so much more. For starters you can watch the film in either black & white or the newly colorized presentation. What’s more, you don’t even have to commit to one or the other. Using your player’s angle button you can toggle between the two as often as you like, and it’s nearly seamless. Both prints are in the best condition they have ever been. Print artifacts are remarkably almost non-existent. As I’ve already mentioned, the color looks natural enough for a 1950’s film but would not match up to a more modern color production. The 1080p image is crisp and clean, providing more detail than perhaps is even a good idea. You see far more plate and rear projection flaws than you might otherwise have noticed. You get a constant bit rate in the upper 20’s mbps. Naturally the black & white image is a bit more crisp. Black levels are certainly far stronger in that version as well. Both are processed with AVC-MPEG-4 encoding for a picture that contains no noticeable compression artifact at all.
Audio
The film contains a sweet Dolby TrueHD 5.1 track. Of course, the original film was recorded in mono, so there is only so much separation that can be achieved here. Still, you’ll find a good job was done here of giving the film some depth to it in sound. Mostly you’ll hear musical cues and some roars filling the sound field by use of some clever pan work. I am a little disappointed that the original Mono track was not included for historical purposes.
There is a fabulous commentary track here. Ray Harryhausen from London joins Arnold Kunert, Dennis Muren, and Phil Tippett via satellite to discuss the film. Ray is a sheer delight, and you can tell how honored these guys feel to be watching the movie with him, even if it is not in person. They bring out some wonderful memories and anecdotes. Ray reveals a lot of his secrets here. Fans simply can’t afford not to listen in. I’ve heard these stories in person, and I still enjoyed the track.
Special Features
- Remembering 20 Million Miles To Earth: In this 27 minute feature Ray Harryhausen talks intimately about the film, from its origins in Nordic mythology to his desire for a Roman holiday resulting in the film’s location. People like Stan Winston and other notable directors talk about how Ray influenced them into their careers. There are many cuts from this colorized version of the film.
- The Colorization Process: Meet the folks at Legend Films who approached Ray to do these colorized films. Ray was directly involved with the process and had final approval on everything. He’s quite happy with the results.
- Tim Burton Sits Down With Ray Harryhausen: Tim Burton has almost single-handedly kept the art of stop motion alive and well, so he was the perfect choice to chat with Ray here. Throughout the interview Burton is simply giddy and makes no attempt to hide his admiration. He is so excited at times he stumbles over his words. This is a very animated interview and a lot of fun to watch.
- Interview With Joan Taylor: Taylor talks a lot about her own career as well as sharing some wonderful moments on the set of 20 Million Miles To Earth and Earth vs. The Flying Saucers.
- Film Music’s Unsung Hero: Frank Schecter explains the studio system of using stock music for B pictures with maybe a little original material. Mischa Bakaleinikoff put together these pieces and added enough originality to help animate the monster. It’s nice that something often so overlooked in these classic films gets a little attention here.
- 20 Million Miles More Comic Book: Ray Harryhausen’s films are also being revived with new original stories presented as comics. These stories expand the universes of these films and even bring some together. You get a comic here that’s a little hard to read on a television screen about a female Ymir created through some DNA experiments.
- There is also a rather extensive gallery and an original trailer for the film.
Final Thoughts
My father introduced me to monsters, and it might well be the best gift he ever gave me. He’s gone now, but I can’t help but feel like he would have enjoyed this resurrection, of sorts, of 20 Million Miles To Earth. I’ll bet there are many parents eager to share these old favorite films with younger generations with little tolerance for black & white or dated f/x. It is my hope that these new colorized prints might make the film more accessible to that younger generation. I wish I could have met Ray back when he was “cooking over a hot monster all day”.
