Mysterious Island on Blu-ray

I love the cover art!

I have the regular DVD version which states: "Presented in a Widescreen Version which preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio, approx 1.85:1." It sounds like they are saying they did not alter it for the DVD version, but the Blu Ray specs say 1.66:1. I'm confused...

Love the coverart as well, and can’t wait, but this also makes it painfully obvious that Disney has completely dropped the ball on its classic features that are not animated. How this I hope will bring about a change, would love to see this and 20 Thousand Leagues Under The Sea both in HD.

 

 

I am "so there" for Mysterious Island!

 

Except Mysterious Island wasn't a Disney film - it was a Columbia film

pre ordered, yes i am well aware of that, i was just stating the fact that Disney is one of the studios that outside of animation, has not gone into its film vault

This is absolutely mine. Love the film, love the score.

MYSTERIOUS ISLAND was shot spherical 35mm open frame and opened in Britain in their 1:66 to 1 widescreen standard. It was projected at 1:85 to 1 (academy standard widescreen) in the USA. Both framings are acceptable. It was originally presented in monophonic sound but was remastered using the stereo music stems by Joseph Caporiccio and Michael Matessino for the Pioneer, special-edition, CAV laserdisc in 1992 with Tom Long of Chace Productions. That edition used a pristine protection Interpositive from England and looked wonderful in 1:37 to 1 format. The laserdisc also contained the isolated stereo music score.
The Columbia-licensed HD master for the Twilight Time blu-ray is probably going to be of the highest quality and well worth the premium pricing!

Is Mysterious Island considered to be some obscure film for which there is little demand? Have Harryhausen films been selling so poorly that the limited edition business model is the best choice? I could get myself to see (if I squint my eyes) the business sense in this model for The Egyptian, but not MI.

All signs point to this.

Yeah the Harryhausen films did not sell particularly well on blu-ray.

Doug

Great news, really looking forward to this.  Thanks for posting and welcome to Home Theater Forum!

 

 

 

 

Really?  How many units sold for each of the films?  and what were Sony's target numbers to either break even and turn a profit?

 

I'm dying of curiosity here.

Considering these are region-free and will be a limited run I'd say grab your copy while you can. They don't make 'em like this anymore, folks.

Does anyone know if there are extras on this release? This is REALLY excessive at $35.00. I will likely purchase it but I'm rather pissed at this price gouging.

The specs have been posted at least twice now. What you see is what you get.

Yep, Twilight Time releases pretty much are lacking on extras, except for a trailer and/or isolated film score.  I am very selective on their titles, but his is one I'll go for.

 

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While this is more expensive than a typical Blu-ray release, and its OK to point that out, I think its important to not use the term price gouging as that is not what is happening.  The cost basis per unit for a major studio is very different than for a small company like Twilight Time.  Between licensing, authoring, and replication they need to that higher retail price for a chance to break even let alone try to turn a minimal profit.  Speaking of profit, having met them I can say that money is not the primary motivation.  Getting high quality, great titles that otherwise wouldn't see the light of day into the hands of enthusiasts is. 
 

 

 

While I'm glad that films like Mysterious Island are getting the Blu-ray treatment, whether or not it's high quality cannot be judged until the audio/video have been evaluated by a qualified reviewer. Has anyone seen this transfer yet?

 

 

While that is true, I think the meaning of the sentence is what Twilight Time reaches for.  I know that their The Egyptian Blu-ray was top notch and they have had several great DVD titles, the transfer for Stagecoach is beautiful.  I also know that Mr. Crisp from Sony would not allow poor elements be used.  I passed on Fright Night for I do not feel the price equals what I will get out of a Blu-ray of the film, but I have pre-ordered Mysterious Island.  If the transfer is anywhere near what Jason & The Argonauts was, then I will be a happy camper.
 

 

While all that may be true, I believe in judging any release on its own merits instead of simply hoping for the best. I've made leaps of faith before and have been burned, so I'll have to hold off on a pre-order of this very expensive title until I have more information.

 

Adam, is Twilight Time going to make a copy available to HTF for review before it's officially released?

I have to repeat what Adam stated. I have worked with Screen Archives and FSM before. I mean have bought their products and have had a dialog with them for at least 10 to 12 years. The people who work their are fans of what they put out and try to put out titles which would never see the light of day from their sound track history. I think this title will be their first sell out. I thinks fans who are want MI should order now or you may loose the chance to buy after it comes out.

I have been buying the titles that I want. The price is high yes. I just think if this is a movie on your top wanted list you will have to pay it. I was never sorry about the price for the Egyptian. I now will wait for Picnic which would be my third purchase of the movie. The upconvert looks great on Picnic but I watch it every Labor Day so it is a must have for me. I have now purchased 3 of the films from Twilight.

Agree with what Adam and Mark have said. It is really not fair to Screen Archives or Twilight Time to describe this releas as 'price gouging'.
I already have my order in for Mysterious Island. Think this will be a sell out.

I'd also recommend for those fans of Bernard Hermann to check out the soon to be released cd of MOBY DICK: A CANTATA / SINFONETTA at Screen Archives.

If I paid the price for this movie, I would feel gouged. The solution is not to pay the price. I still feel that MI is a movie that does not require this business model. Harryhausen movies have been released, followed by another release, followed by another release. If the movies weren't selling, they wouldn't keep releasing them.

But let's not turn this into "The Egyptian, Part II." I've said enough.

I believe the films that were already prepared and manufactured were released. Beyond that I doubt Sony will spend too much more money on the some what lesser known Harryhausen films like Mysterious Island. They just didn't sell well enough to justify the investment. However for a smaller company, doing a limited release, the numbers work better. But in order to make up their investment, they do have to charge more. But it is a specialty product and you would expect to pay a higher price for it.

Doug

 

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Yes.  Rich will be reviewing it as soon as a screener is available.  Tim reviewed the Egyptian and Matt has reviewed several of their releases as well.  You can find links to most of those here: http://www.hometheaterforum.com/Twilight-Time

 

I second Allen's comments about Mr Crisp from Sony being involved being a very good thing.
 

 

Never thought of MI as a lesser known film, as it played on tv as much as Jason and the Argonauts did when I was a kid.

I hope we will get the other two Sinbad movies eventually.

 

Back in the days when film companies kept prints at Film Inspection warehouses around the country, you could always find a copy of Jason for second feature at a Drive-In or Saturday kid show, but MI was always MIA (Missing In Action).  I tried to put together a Harryhausen film weekend at a Drive-In when we were trying to bring the families back.  It was easy to get Jason and Sinbad, but MI would have to be shipped in from LA, as they only had a couple of prints.  The cost was too much compared to what we anticipated the gross would be, so we settled on 20 Million Year, which was still in the New Orleans Depot.  By the way, the triple feature did well enough to move to the rest of the drive-ins one at a time through the summer of 1981.

 

I never thought Columbia considered this one of their classic standards and I would guess they have the sales numbers to back up their thoughts.  But I consider it one and my pre-order is in. I do not want to miss out.    

 

I guess I'm with Silverwook on this. During my childhood, MI was on TV more often than most of the other Harryhausen pictures (part of that was due to it being part of WGN's Family Classics rotation in Chicago). I think we are approaching 'popularity' from two different directions - to you, it was less popular in revival theaters, but to me, it was more popular on TV.

Regardless of where it's popularity lay, it is a good movie

David

I was a huge fan of Harryhausen films, having first seen Jason and the Argonauts on 16mm at a camp when I was a kid in the early 70's. I loved the Sinbad films, but I never heard of Mysterious Island until I got into film school in college in the early 80's. Maybe it was just shown regionally because there was a print available.

Doug