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| | Product Details | | Actors: | William Hopper, Joan Taylor, Frank Puglia, John Zaremba, Thomas Browne Henry | | Director: | Nathan Juran | | Format: | Black & White, Dubbed, DVD, Original recording remastered, Special Edition, Subtitled, Widescreen, NTSC | | Language: | English | | Subtitle: | English, French | | Number of Discs: | 2 | | Studio: | Sony Pictures | | Run Time: | 82 minutes | | DVD Release Date: | July 31, 2007 | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 65 reviews |
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| | Customer Reviews | Average Customer Review: ( 65 customer reviews )
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75 of 81 found the following review helpful:
 REVIEWING THE 2-DISC COLORIZED 50TH ANNIVERSARY DVD RELEASE ....July 31, '07 Aug 01, 2007
By 2littlemoney
"somuch2buy"
I've just finished watching this 2 disc *COLORIZED* & B&W 50TH ANNIVERSARY SET, released July 31, 2007. I, like many other RAY HARRYHAUSEN fans already have the originally released SINGLE DISC DVD's of his movies (in that case the cover for 20MMTE has the Ymir image over orange "rings"). Is this worth an upgrade? How's the colorization? I'll try to cover this reviewer's opinions on that.
COLORIZATION: THE *MAIN* reason to get this IMHO is to see what a "sanctioned" colorization of an RH B&W film looks like. FOR THE RECORD: Typically, I am more of a "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" kinda guy. In this case, even with RH's blessings, I didn't think 20M *needed* coloring, but I sure wasn't going to argue if the option to get a B&W print of the film was in the same DVD release, which it is. It should be noted here, that while watching this in color, if for any reason you feel too jarred by the whole process, you can switch to the original B&W print SEAMLESSLY via the "ANGLE" button on your remote (so called "CHROMACHOICE")....pretty cool, and this function should be made available on ANY future colorized/re-edited film if ya ask me. I spent the first part of the movie tinkering with this to see the differences. RH has green lit and is totally part of this coloring thing so that is cool. Someone pointed out and asked why is it OK for RH to tinker with his old stuff and not GEORGE LUCAS (RH said if they had the budget, these B&W films would've been in color)....well....HERE, they give us the option of EITHER to watch. Something LUCAS did not originally do, yet insisted with the revisions, that those were THE PRINTS TO WATCH. HERE, it is like watching an old master revisit an old project and watching him tinker with it, yet we still can control how we "percieve" the film (i.e. the way it was, or way it could've been....for those who must hold onto those precious childhood memories EXACTLY as they were...cuz you know you were sitting at home watching these on a DIGITAL WS TV back then...lol;-).
HOW'S THE COLOR?: If you saw the TURNER COLORIZED 1933 KING KONG and were horrified at the PINK TYRANNOSAURUS, then fear not. According to Legend Films, the process is now refined, new system etc etc, and those old school colorization horrors are no more. But the proof is in the viewing. YES, the process is MUCH, MUCH BETTER. I've picked up a number of LEGEND FILMS's other colorized releases (CARNIVAL OF SOULS, HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILLS, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD etc) because the colorization was decent and had the (pretty darn good) B&W masters on them as well. HERE, it is the BEST I've seen the process. Of course, when talking colorization, the film, no matter how good the technology, STILL LOOKS LIKE THE OLD TINTED PHOTOS YOU USED TO SEE IN OLD MAGAZINES & ADS. But then, that is what you get, tinting B&W, so it is essentially part of the look. Growing up on old school stuff, this tinting thing was cool to me so seeing a film this way was never such a big shock to me as it is to some. But again, so long as the option to see the original is there. IF this is what to expect in future RH films, I'll certainly pick up the rest. The colors feel more lush....flesh looks MORE LIKE FLESH, it's still somewhat flat, but there's a richness not present in other colorized films I've seen, and sorry to the purists, the YMIR (the monster) is just cool to see in color finally even if his fins and other lighter details appear a little flat & dulled. I always wondered as a kid what he looked like in color. Many old lobby cards were tinted so this just keeps in line with those, so it works AS A VIEWING OPTION to me.
THE B&W PRINT: Honestly, if you have the original DVD release of this, you may want to rent this first to see if this film is important enough for you to upgrade. THERE ARE DIFFERENCES, i.e. this release appears to have the best of the two DVD released prints, it feels cleaner, BUT, I think those details/plusses will be lost if you have a regular TV to watch this on. I am using a HD WIDESCREEN/LCD and upsampling via HDMI (a glamorous version of "standard" lol!;-) so I can't tell you what the differences would be in standard viewing, but I can't see them being all THAT different to warrant an upgrade, UNLESS like myself you want to see the novelty of colorization at work. The original (orange cover) release had a really good print on it to begin with so I never felt this was needing an upgrade.
BOTH FILM VERSIONS ARE ASPECT RATIO- 1.85:1 ANAMORPHIC. Remastered in HI-DEF. 165min. total. Apparently this was sourced from a different/better source print from Columbia/Sony vaults. SF's are WS.
SPECIAL FEATURES: GONE from before are the HARRYHAUSEN CHRONICLES thankfully, which was on nearly every d@mn RH DVD. Nice the first time, but 5 DVD's in, it was tired. HERE, there's the commentary track which is cool in some parts, but it starts feeling like a plug for the colorization process and fan worship....hearing RH proclaim how the colorization just brings the movie to life repeatedly was a little bothersome, since it is cool/interesting, but hey, it's still a colorization of an originally B&W film, no matter WHOM sanctions the process....but this is RH's film, so I gotta give a little room here. And though I think RH has gone from cult fan favorite to (much deserved) mainstream praise, as another reviewer stated, this praise has started to turn into overkill when having to listen to it, as is the case here. The commentary is riddled with praising of the emotive qualities of the animation work (which is deserved) but after hearing this over and over, the praise just becomes more kissy-kissy feeling than genuine. But then, many RH fans have thought highly of his work already and recognized these qualities so it's like preaching to the choir, so having it beaten into our heads for a whole discs worth of SPECIAL FEATURES becomes a little tedious.
The MAIN SPECIAL FEATURE is 'REMEMBERING 20MMTE"......which was pretty cool to watch a feature just on the film. It was also nice to hear TERRY GILLIUM (Director whose name I can't rememeber how to spell right this second), but hearing him actually say the main reason to watch an RH film was the animation since most of the acting was wooden....lol! I almost can't believe they left that in, but how true! TIM BURTON'S segment was cool the first several minutes.....nice to see him be just a fanboy. But that got long. I also noticed here, that much of the RH features are starting to become retellings of the same stories I've heard over and over. I'm not really complaining, but rehashing is rehashing....and I understand some people aren't buying every d@mn disc like some of us are (*ahem*ahem*). TIM BURTON's piece was welcome though. The JOAN TAYLOR INTERVIEW was a little long considering it is not focused TOTALLY on RH (understandably), though interesting to hear her film background. AND WOW....SHE IS STILL A BEAUTY. Her endcap praise of RH was very nice and shows what a long way in terms of respect RH has come since he started. It's almost odd to hear people didn't really have a clue about what he was doing and the craftsmanship this one man show was up to back in the day.
DAVID SCHECTER's FILM MUSIC UNSUNG HERO piece on the composer whose long name escapes me, but the guy who scored this and other B-movies, mostly the monster theme scores was surprisingly interesting to me since I almost passed on viewing it. That provided some excellent bits of info on the scoring process. But it became waaaaay too much info for me after awhile, my brain started losing places to save all this trivia.
COLORIZATION FEATURE: Interesting to see the process described, though that felt a little self congratulatory, falling into the OK, I GET IT, COLORIZATION HAS COME A LONG WAY category of overkill ideas to pound into the viewer's heads. But still.....interesting to watch, and RH is in this.
OVERALL: This was worth an upgrade for me. The coloring was as excellent as could be, and I won't scream about touching an old B&W film, since the option for watching either is here. You can be sure if LEGEND releases KING KONG colored (their way) I'll pick it up. The praise of RH seems a bit redundant (but AGAIN, this is from someone who's felt he's had this a long time coming and doesn't need to be brought up to speed), but it seems now like every release is trying to catch the rest of the world up with RH's greatness as a creator, so it sometimes is hard to watch as a true diehard RH fan who doesn't need to be told this. The technical stuff is informative.....the old stories etc etc.....but I have to wonder how the next colored releases will fare in terms of content (EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCCERS, IT CAME FROM BENEATH THE SEA) since the process (both animation AND colorization are described in depth here). ALSO, the old stories.........is there really any fresh info to be gleaned at this point? And where are the deleted scenes....even millisecond animation cutting room floor tidbits...anything. Guess we'll see.
But THANKS TO SONY/LEGEND for making an overall, really good DVD release of this film. I'm certainly NOT complaining that I snuck away at lunch yesterday to pick this up:-) !!! IF I just discovered RH, this would be an excellent package. It still holds up well for us diehards....at least this one. Hope this helps some of you out there!
PS: And BTW: AMAZON so far seems to have the best price if you can wait and order online.
PSS: And since I believe Amazon's reviews are PRODUCT REVIEWS, my stars are based on my feelings toward this as a package. THE FILM ITSELF IS MORE LIKE A 3.75/4 (sorry....the acting is fabulously atrocious in parts).
55 of 65 found the following review helpful:
50th Anniversary Edition includes Colorized by Harryhausen version May 24, 2007
By new yorker
"drealyea"
The disc will contain full frame (1.33:1) and anamorphic (1.85:1) digitally-restored versions of the film, as well as a newly-colorized edition supervised by Harryhausen himself. "
Bonus features including audio commentary by Ray Harryhausen, visual effects artists Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett, and producer Arnold Kunert; Remembering 20 Million Miles to Earth, wherein Harryhausen and others discuss the film's production and influence; Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen; The Joan Taylor Interview; Colorization; a video discussion of 20 Million Miles to Earth's 1957 marketing and advertising campaign by producer Arnold Kunert; Mischa Bakaleinikoff: Film Music's Unsung Hero; Colorization featurette and an elaborate still and production art gallery.
14 of 14 found the following review helpful:
 Another Harryhausen classic and one of his best creations Dec 24, 1999
By The Creature Critic
This is the type of film I love. Good story,good effects and a GREAT monster THE YMIR to boot. This is what hollywood needs to do is go back look at films like this and realize that its substance to a movie not CGI effects that tell and make a story. Im 24 and have a old school style when it comes to sci-fi/horror which I TRULY LOVE. If you are a monster fan or a sci-fi/horror movie collector this is a must see and have movie either for the first time or for your movie collection. To me this is one of Harryhausens best creature designs and the creature himself has substance that makes you want to root for him. For the sci-fi lover in you rent this or buy this but whatever you do see this masterpiece from the golden-age of science fiction. Bring back the old school!
9 of 9 found the following review helpful:
20+ Million Miles to Earth Dec 13, 2007
By Phil Smoot
Really fun film, but should be titled 25 Million Miles to Earth, as a Creature from Venus would have to travel at least that far to get to Earth (when our planet and Venus are as close as they get). I can accept colorized movies today as it usually means that they first do High Definition restoration on the black & white version (and offer that option on the dvd as well) before colorizing the film. In this case, the color looks great except for the fleshtones (which, with just about all colorized films that I have seen, they always get skin color a bit yellow, as if everyone has a liver problem -- Can't understand what the problem is with that, because if you can get closer to a real flesh tone, then one is more willing to accept the rest of the colors). At least see the Creature battle the elephant in color! Unlike many such films, this one has action throughout and seldom gets slow. Excellent transfer for this 1957 film -- So, despite some bad science, a dated rocket (in the opening scene) and some 50's hokum, this is an exceptionally good action film for its time and remains so over 50 years later.
11 of 12 found the following review helpful:
Ray Harryhausen's classic Sci-Fi Creature Creation May 15, 2003
By Simon Davis
"Twenty Million Miles to Earth" is a superb example of 1950's sci-fi story telling and special effects at their very best. The film has so many different things to offer a sci-fi buff like myself, top notch work by genius Ray Harryhausen, wonderful on-location photography in the beautiful Eternal City Rome, and one of the best monster creations of the entire 1950's decade in the famed "Ymir" from Venus. Indeed "monster" is not really an appropiate title in this case for this visitor from beyond the stars is a creature very much in the "King Kong" mode of being a sympathetic victim of man's lack of care and understanding in bringing him out of his own environment into a strange new world he does not understand."Twenty Million Miles to Earth" tells the tale of the return to Earth of the first exploration spaceship to reach the planet Venus. Unfortunately the ship crash lands into the sea just off the coast of Sicily killing all crew members with the exception of Col. Robert Calder (William Hopper). Just prior to it sinking the local Italian fishermen manage to save the Colonel and one of the local boys Pepe (Bart Braverman in an endearing performance)finds a strange capsule washed up on the coast after the ship sinks. Unaware of its strange contents which in actual fact is a baby creature found on Venus by the crew and preserved in a liquid, it is sold off to Dr. Leonardo (Frank Puglia) who decides to take the strange creature to Rome. However what is soon discovered is that the creature begins to grow at an alarming rate until it is twenty feet tall and then breaks loose and roams the countryside looking for food and protection. Many memorable moments occur as the creature tries to cope in its new world from the unforgettable attack in the farmers barn to its eventual capture under an electric net by the army. Once taken to Rome where it is housed in Rome's Zoo the creature revives and goes on a frantic rampage throughout the city destroying famous sites in the eternal city along the way. The climax of the story in shades of "King Kong", takes place atop the Colosseum where after a stirring fight the poor creature is shot down by the army. Ray Harryhausen excelled himself with his creation for this film. The Ymir from Venus, despite its scaley appearance and threatening reptilian manner takes on a whole character of its own and in the scenes of it going on a rampage you can almost feel its frustration and panic as it is cornered and pursued by soldiers and shot at. It certainly is one of Harryhausen's greatest creations and a real joy for Sci-Fi buffs and there numerous wonderful stop motion scenes created for this classic story. Memorable are the creatures rampage through the old Roman Forum, his battle with the elephant in the streets of Rome and all the scenes that take place at the climax within the Colosseum. Actors and storyline really take second place to the action particulary in the second half of the film but William Hooper and romantic female lead Joan Taylor do well in their respective roles which may not be too challenging but are delivered with a certain degree of conviction. For all lovers of 1950's science fiction "Twenty Million Miles to Earth" is one of the very best examples of movie making in this genre. Long before computer generated special effects removed any real artistry from monster construction, efforts like this showed the brilliance of earlier film makers who worked for months often to create their special effects that have a charm and vivacity all their own. This is a classic "monster on the rampage" story but it is one with a fascinating "Lead Monster" who will definately get you on side. Enjoy classic 1950's Sci-Fi adventure with the Ymir from Venus in "Twenty Million Miles to Earth".
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