The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Legendary Science Fiction Series (It Came from Beneath the Sea / Earth vs. the Flying Saucers / 20 Million Miles to Earth / Mysterious Island / H.G. Wells' First Men in the Moon)
by Cy Endfield, Fred F. Sears, Nathan Juran, Robert Gordon
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Actor: Frank Puglia, Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor, Thomas Browne Henry, William HopperDirector: Cy Endfield, Fred F. Sears, Nathan Juran, Robert Gordon
Brand: Sony
Writer: Bernard Gordon
Writer: Charlotte Knight
Writer: Christopher Knopf
Writer: Crane Wilbur
DVD: Region Code 99
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); Spanish (Original Language)
Format: Box set, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 446 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-11-30
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Reviews of The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Legendary Science Fiction Series (It Came from Beneath the Sea / Earth vs. the Flying Saucers / 20 Million Miles to Earth / Mysterious Island / H.G. Wells' First Men in the Moon)
DVD Review: Awful, yet fun
Summary: 3 Stars
It's important to recognise that these are 1950s/early 60s sci fi, and not the best sci fi, either. But at $6 a disk you get several hours of silly fun for your money; and the special effects are at points impressive - not because they are fantastic, but because some of them are pretty remarkable given the limited resources that were available. The flying saucers in Earth Vs. are really pretty good. In First Men the effects are good enough to blend into the background (almost) and let you focus on the story and the acting (which turns out to be a mistake, given the deliberately campy acting.)
In terms of the actual movies themselves... First Men is chock full of silly, and at points irritating, overacting and desperate grabs for cheap laughs. It doesn't quite work. But Earth Vs. takes itself seriously, and does well at being a solid sci fi tale. Mysterious Island is a strange mismash of Jules Verne and Robinson Crusoe, mostly the latter. It's notable for the absurdly short skirt they stuffed the heroine into. The remainder are solidly in B movie territory. If you want to see Washngton DC, the Golden Gate bridge and other noteworthy locales smashed up, these are your films. 20 Million is actually quite sad; the alien gets your full sympathy from the first moment he's on screen.
In all of them, scientific accuracy gets a big fat zero, putting them solidly below many other sci fi flicks of the era, which is saying something. (First Men, as a novel, makes an attempt at it, though it had fantastic elements as well. As a movie, almost all of that is eliminated.) These movies are about special effects first and foremost, story second, and science nowhere.
I'll probably re-watch Earth a few times. The others will make good gag gifts.
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Description of The Fantastic Films of Ray Harryhausen: Legendary Science Fiction Series (It Came from Beneath the Sea / Earth vs. the Flying Saucers / 20 Million Miles to Earth / Mysterious Island / H.G. Wells' First Men in the Moon)
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