- Joined
- Feb 8, 1999
- Messages
- 18,424
- Real Name
- Robert Harris
Full disclosure. I saw Invaders from Mars as a kid and hated it. It was an ultra-low budget affair in a color process that looked like crap. Even then I noticed shadows as actors walked too close to the background cyc.
I saw it on DVD years later, and that didn't solve anything.
Now, well over a quarter of a century after its release, the film has undergone a body-off restoration, with every nut and bolt affected, using all of the available original negative, plus bits and pieces of other film to round out the 73 minutes.
And at least to these eyes, it's a different film.
The reason is two-fold.
And the two go hand-in-hand.
The use of the 1953 OCN for a large part of the film works beautifully as the early 5248 stock holds up far better than later 48. The color is all there.
On top of that, the fact that Scott MacQueen has supervised the work, with a beautiful image harvest by Roundabout Entertainment, and created a Blu-ray that exceeds my expectations.
It also doesn’t hurt that David Mackenzie did the compression.
Even more so, as with full grain structure in projection, I was assured that I was viewing 4k.
I wasn't.
The Blu-ray variant has so much information that (as with so many films of this era) I'm comfortable leaving 4k for those who revel in seeing another 4k disc on their shelf.
Dupes are still dupes, and they are what they are, but I never noted anything with real problems. A bit of digital clean-up that may have gone a touch too far, but again, nothing that will either be problematic or been even noted from a normal viewing distance.
The disc is also laden with extras which I'll not get into.
I'm certain that fans will be more than pleased by the efforts of Ignite.
And for the record, this review is based upon a physical Blu-ray disc and not any type of streaming. So... for those who have ordered, discs should very soon be in hand.
Image – 4
Audio – 5
Pass / Fail – Pass
Works up-rezzed to 4k - Yes
Upgrade from DVD - Yes
Highly Recommended
RAH
I saw it on DVD years later, and that didn't solve anything.
Now, well over a quarter of a century after its release, the film has undergone a body-off restoration, with every nut and bolt affected, using all of the available original negative, plus bits and pieces of other film to round out the 73 minutes.
And at least to these eyes, it's a different film.
The reason is two-fold.
And the two go hand-in-hand.
The use of the 1953 OCN for a large part of the film works beautifully as the early 5248 stock holds up far better than later 48. The color is all there.
On top of that, the fact that Scott MacQueen has supervised the work, with a beautiful image harvest by Roundabout Entertainment, and created a Blu-ray that exceeds my expectations.
It also doesn’t hurt that David Mackenzie did the compression.
Even more so, as with full grain structure in projection, I was assured that I was viewing 4k.
I wasn't.
The Blu-ray variant has so much information that (as with so many films of this era) I'm comfortable leaving 4k for those who revel in seeing another 4k disc on their shelf.
Dupes are still dupes, and they are what they are, but I never noted anything with real problems. A bit of digital clean-up that may have gone a touch too far, but again, nothing that will either be problematic or been even noted from a normal viewing distance.
The disc is also laden with extras which I'll not get into.
I'm certain that fans will be more than pleased by the efforts of Ignite.
And for the record, this review is based upon a physical Blu-ray disc and not any type of streaming. So... for those who have ordered, discs should very soon be in hand.
Image – 4
Audio – 5
Pass / Fail – Pass
Works up-rezzed to 4k - Yes
Upgrade from DVD - Yes
Highly Recommended
RAH
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