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A Few Words About A few words about...™ Things to Come -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

Robert Harris

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William Cameron Menzies' 1936 Things to Come is a huge film -- a collaboration between author H.G. Wells and London Films' top exec Alexander Korda.

Some of the apparent (uncredited) people involved, who would later be at the top of their crafts -- Jack Cardiff and Peter Ellenshaw as Special effects camera operator and assistant matte painter.  Robert Krasker and Jack Cardiff, both as production camera operators.

Things to Come is a multi-leveled film, that may leave some cold, but given an open-minded viewing, tends to stand the test of time quite well.

I have no idea how many times I've viewed this film.  I had a decent 16mm print, with less than stellar variable density audio, as a teen.  And later a nice 35, albeit a couple of generations from original negative.

Now derived from a 35mm fine grain master, held by the BFI, Criterion's new Blu-ray is the best that I've ever seen the film look, and sound.

For those who have not experienced the film, I believe you'll find the whole, far more than the sum of its parts.

Image - 3.5

Audio - 3

Recommended.

RAH

 

Angelo Colombus

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Saw this for the first time as a kid on my local UHF channel and liked it and bought the Image dvd release when it came out. Legend Films did release a blu-ray version along with the movie "She" in 2011 but did not buy it because of the bad reviews on the print used for that released...very happy i waited. Great score by Arthur Bliss and some of the special effects still hold up quiet well.
 

Randy_M

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I find this film quite compelling, and can watch it over and over. Ralph Richardson is terrific as always. Way ahead of its time, in my opinion. Donating my Image release to the library, and replacing it with this. Thank you Criterion!
 

Charles Smith

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I'd never known anything about this H.G. Wells, and had never seen the film, but have been getting to know it via the very nice UK Blu-ray -- and I'm liking it a lot. (I'll get the Criterion as well; the two sets together will be most satisfying.)
 

JoHud

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I have the old Image DVD and the reviews seem to confirm that this one is the quality release we've been waiting for. Hopefully I can pick it up soon.

Hopefully, Criterion digs into more of its London Films gems, including The Ghost Goes West, Fire Over England, and their other underrated H.G. Wells adaptation The Man Who Could Work Miracles.
 

Nelson Au

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I saw this also on TV ages ago in the 1980's. I loved it then and plan to grab both the DVD version and the blu ray version from Criterion.
 

Fritz Nilsen

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atcolomb said:
Saw this for the first time as a kid on my local UHF channel and liked it and bought the Image dvd release when it came out. Legend Films did release a blu-ray version along with the movie "She" in 2011 but did not buy it because of the bad reviews on the print used for that released...very happy i waited. Great score by Arthur Bliss and some of the special effects still hold up quiet well.
Not to mention, the Legend release featured an alternate colorised version! I bought the disc, but also bought the UK Network edition and that will have to do for "Things to Come".
 

Nick*Z

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Things to Come is indeed a movie ahead of its time. It's a compelling watch for all of the aforementioned reasons and for Raymond Massey's undiluted reverence to the subject matter. It's a pity some will view it from a contemporary rubric and find it a static experience. The film engages on an intellectual level and occasionally excels as a work of pure entertainment. Is it perfect? Well, hardly. Is it worth your time - depends on one's point of view, I suppose. Is it a classic - absolutely! Can't wait to have it.
 

ABaglivi

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Just made a comparison with Network, Criterion, and Image editions. The Criterion wins on picture quality (detail, depth, contrast, sharpness).
Both Criterion and Network have iffy tracks. The Image track is better in that it is not overly filtered (you can hear the ambient sounds).
The 16mm prints I have seen were not as detailed as Criterion's image, but their tracks were better (IMO).
 

Lord Dalek

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A lot of that "sharpness" looks like edge enhancemennt.Also the caps on criterionforum are much sharper than the usual blurry caps we've come to expect from Beaver.
 

revgen

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revgen

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Moe Dickstein said:
People are really still relying on Beaver caps? C'mon...
I cannot rent a UK blu-ray from Netflix to check it out myself before I buy. So yes, I will rely on screencaps from a review site.

So far, DVD Beaver has yet to let me down. Foreign versions of DVD's and Blu-Ray's in which screencaps showed higher detail and better resolution than US versions have turned out to be true and accurate in my experience.
 

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