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3D Blu-ray Review The Bubble 3-D Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Todd Erwin

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The Bubble 3-D Blu-ray Review

Coming on the heels of Dragonfly Squadron, the 3-D Film Archive has restored another lost 3-D classic, Arch Oboler’s The Bubble. Kino’s release also marks the first time this film has been released on home video in it’s original aspect ratio of 2.50:1.

Posted Image


Studio: Kino

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC, 1080P/MVC

Aspect Ratio: 2.55:1

Audio: English 2.0 DTS-HDMA

Subtitles: None

Rating: PG

Run Time: 1 Hr. 31 Min.

Package Includes: 3D Blu-ray

Amaray keepcase

Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)

Region: A

Release Date: 11/18/2014

MSRP: $34.95




The Production Rating: 3/5

A young couple, Mark (Michael Cole) and Catherine (Deborah Walley), and a pilot, Tony (Johnny Desmond), make an emergency landing in a remote town as Catherine goes into labor. Upon landing, they are met by a taxi driver, who only says, repeatedly, “Cab, mister?” At the hospital, the doctor is in a similar trance, just coherent enough to complete his necessary tasks, as are the rest of the townspeople. Mark, Catherine, and Tony escape from the town and take shelter in an abandoned mine, later venturing to the outskirts of the community, only to find themselves trapped within a transparent dome of some sort. The three attempt to investigate the dome and find a way to escape, slowly realizing they must be part of an alien science experiment.If this plot sounds familiar, it should, as many have cited that author Stephen King may have (consciously or subconsciously) been influenced by Arch Oboler’s 1966 science fiction 3-D extravaganza when writing his novel-turned summer replacement TV series Under the Dome, although King did a much better job at structuring the plotline and developing the characters for the novel than Oboler did for The Bubble. The main reason, though, for The Bubble’s existence was to promote a revolutionary new process dubbed SpaceVision, a single-camera 3-D system that recorded the left and right eye images on a single frame of 35mm film, utilizing what is now commonly referred to as the top-botttom method, that would become the standardized way of shooting and exhibiting 3-D films until the birth of Digital 3-D.On a technical level, The Bubble is a marvelous achievement, providing a great sense of depth and pulling off many of its 3-D gimmicks quite successfully. As a film, though, it never quite communicates its plot coherently to its audience, and the performances of its key players, quite notably Michael Cole as the heroic lead, are a bit flat. And when seen in 2-D, the gimicky shots where actors thrust items out of the screen and at the audience seem even more gratuitous than they do in 3-D, and that’s because they feel out of place and serve very little to the plot.


Video Rating: 4/5 3D Rating: 4/5

The 3-D Film Archive has, once again, completed what was considered impossible. The Bubble was an independently produced feature that over the years had changed hands many times, and was never properly stored. In fact, the only existing element was the original camera negative, and that had been sitting in an outdoor storage trailer, baking in the Southern California sun, for several years. The negative was cleaned and transferred, then color-corrected with additional clean-up to help reverse much of the damage, which included color fading and emulsion dirt. And because the negative was not properly edited, white splice lines were visible at every cut, and had to be removed. The result is spectacular, with the film looking better than it ever has, and presented on a home format for the first time in it’s intended 2.50:1 aspect ratio. Colors are consistent and accurate, although a tad on the brown side. Contrast is good, with decent black levels that never crush and whites that don't clip. Detail is quite good, especially in closeups. Some may complain about the level of grain visible, but that is inherent in the camera negative, and side effect of the SpaceVision process.The 3-D version is included on the same disc, with the same qualities as the 2D version, but with incredible depth with many popout effects where telephone poles, airplane wings, brooms, trays, etc. all appear to leave the front plane of the television screen and are often thust at the viewer. I did notice some ghosting and crosstalk issues on my Samsung 60F7100, even after adjusting the 3D settings on the TV and using XpanD Universal RF 3D glasses rather than Samsung’s included battery-operated ones. This is more likely an issue with my display than with the disc itself.



Audio Rating: 3.5/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono soundtrack does what it needs to do, present the film with enough clarity and fidelity to provide a pleasant experience. Dialogue is clear and comprehensible, while never becoming lost in the music and sound effects.


Special Features Rating: 4/5

Alternate Opening (1080p; 0:31): The 1976 re-issue title sequence (with the new title Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth), available in either 2D or 3-D.Restoration Demonstration (1080p; 1:42): Brief sequences are presented, before and after restoration efforts by 3-D Film Archive, viewable in either 2D or 3-D.Essay by Bob Furmanek: This can be found as a PDF file on the BD-Rom portion of the disc. The disc's menu also provides the URL to access the essay online.Screenplay Excerpts of Deleted Scenes: Still frames of the film’s screenplay detailing some of the sequences that were cut from the film.Stills Gallery (1080p): In familiar Kino fashion, the viewer can select from thumbnails of various posters and promotional stills on the left side of the screen and view a larger version on the right side.Original 1966 Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:41): More of a teaser than a full trailer, this is nothing more than a text crawl trying to build excitement over the film’s “groundbreaking” process with no footage from the film whatsoever.1976 Re-issue Trailer (1080p; 1:12): This is a more traditional trailer, under the moniker Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth.

Original 1966 Theatrical Trailer

1976 Re-issue Trailer


Overall Rating: 4/5

Fans of classic 3-D films should purchase this blindly to support the restoration of other 3-D films from this era. The 3-D Film Archive has done another fantastic job at bringing this film to home theaters, in a format that allows viewers to experience the film much closer to the way it was always intended to be seen.


Reviewed By: Todd Erwin


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Persianimmortal

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Fans of classic 3-D films should purchase this blindly to support the restoration of other 3-D films from this era.
Exactly what I've done. It's winging its way to me right now from Amazon, so it'll be at least another week before I watch it, but the review has really whetted my appetite :)
 

Bob Furmanek

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Todd is right. Good sales on THE BUBBLE and DRAGONFLY SQUADRON will convince the studios there is sufficient interest to release more vintage 3-D on blu-ray.

If it doesn't happen now with the capability to finally see good quality 3-D at home, it may never happen.
 

SFMike

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Watched mine last weekend and really enjoyed the 3D effects. So different than the tentative ones we see in the current 3D features. If only directors would have a little creative fun with the process as shown by Obler in The Bubble maybe 3D would be more popular with the masses.
 

Panman40

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I wonder if this will come to the uk region free?, I'm ok regarding regions but my parents watch my 3D collection to so region a/b or free is good.
 

DFurr

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Any Forum member living in the Riverside County, CA. area who wants to see this on a big screen in our HT, send me a message. We'll make it happen.
 

3D Projectionist

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Just watched and was a wonderful view up on the big 3D screen so very well done 3-D Film Archive, Kino and all involved for making this happen to Blu-Ray.
Highly recommended viewing from 1966.
 

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