Journey to the Center of the Earth (1 Viewer)

[oscar_merkx]

my copy arrived this morning and absolutely great to watch.

Hermann's soundtrack is simply awesome indeed

 

[dpippel]

Post Edited By Administrator - Please, Don't Name Retailers that Break Street Dates.

My retailer came through! My copy of Journey to the Center of the Earth was delivered yesterday. Despite some relatively minor edge enhancement issues it looks absolutely MARVELOUS. The restoration work is awesome. I grew up watching MAR versions this film on TV and have never before seen it in the correct aspect ratio. Wonderful! Yes it's a bit hokey, Pat Boone sings, and there's the whole Gertrude thing, but it's a guilty pleasure. James Mason and Arlene Dahl are both excellent in their roles (and anchor the film in my opinion), Hermann's score is fantastic, and overall it just works. Ten dollars well spent!

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

order from Amazon.ca for a mere $10.06 Cdn,

They have two listings. Be warned that the "Journey to the Center of the Earth" listing is the animated version. "Journey/Center of the Earth" is the correct one, and is a dollar more.

 

[SteveP]

Just had a wonderful evening tonight watching this with a friend.

This was the first video I ever watched in Hi-Fi Stereo--(Beta Hi-Fi)in about 1985 and it's great to see it looking and sounding so well.

Beautifully produced and excellently performed!

Good for Fox for actually doing so much restoration work on FILM these days--explained to my friend tonight what B&W separation protection elements are--and she seemed to understand!

 

[Mark_TS]

Thanks! Jeff-- I caught the order in time. Since the 'wrong' version was also listing a March 4 relase date, had no info/cover art yet, and was the only one that came up in title search, I had assumed that it was the real thing....


at $ 8.50 usd incl (prorated)postage, still a good deal.
Mark

 

[Eric F]

I just received mine. I have to say that the DVD cover art is some of the best I've seen. I'm quite impressed by this and the photo on the back.

 

[Jim Robbins]

I went looking for this today and no one has it, not even Suncoast. He said it didn't ship. Has anyone else had bad luck finding it?

 

[Mark_Wilson]

I bought mine from HTF sponsor http://www.lasersedge.com/

Great transfer!

 

[William D Cavender]

This is obviousley not a "restoration" using B&W seperations, nor is it any kind of restoration. The aspect ratio is not the original theatricals, and it is not the full length as there is still over 2 minutes cut from the theatrical. The difference between this and the laser is the laser disc had a "jump cut" and the DVD was redone to make the scene change a disolve or fade. I not seen the UNCENSORED UNCUT since 1960 and wonder what FOX did with that footage and why it was removed.

 

[Patrick Sun]

Costco was selling this title (along with 4 other Fox Sci-Fi releases) for $9.99. Find a friend who's got a Costco membership if you need to to get in on the deal.

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

This is obviousley not a "restoration" using B&W seperations, nor is it any kind of restoration.

The restoration demo on the disc says otherwise. It says, in part: "...superior results were achieved by manufacturing a new 35mm negative from one of the existing preservation elements, a set of BLACK AND WHITE YCM silver separation masters from 1959." It sure looks like it came from seps, the image is great.

As for your aspect ratio comment, the film was photographed in 1958 in 35mm CinemaScope with an aspect ratio of approx. 2.35:1; the DVD appears to have that ratio. What's the problem with it?

What scene was cut? I find no reference to it anywhere.

 

[Thomas T]

I, too, am most interested in what Mr. Cavender thinks was cut from the film's original 1959 release. I first saw the film as a tiny tyke in '59 and have watched it close to a dozen times or more since then and all versions have been the same as the 1959 cut.

 

[Mark_Wilson]

The back of the cover says "THIS FILM HAS BEEN MODIFIED FROM ITS ORIGINAL VERSION. IT HAS BEEN FORMATTED TO FIT YOUR SCREEN". But there is only a widescreen version on the disc. Down a little lower it says its presented in the widescreen aspect ratio of its theatrical exhibition. I'm guessing the MODIFIED line is a typo.

 

[Richard Gilmore]

The back of the cover says "THIS FILM HAS BEEN MODIFIED FROM ITS ORIGINAL VERSION. IT HAS BEEN FORMATTED TO FIT YOUR SCREEN".

Wow - I saw that after opening up the package and it scared me until I saw the rest. Thought I had bought another panned and scanned by mistake.

 

[DeeF]

It has already been determined that a song, "The Faithful Heart," has been removed from this movie (if you read this thread). The song isn't on the DVD, but its name does appear in the credits.

We don't know why it was removed, but perhaps it was for time considerations, or perhaps, it was just very bad.

There is a difference between editing and censoring. Nothing in this movie has been censored.

I saw this movie as a young child (in the early 60s) and the movie on the DVD meets my expectations in every way.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

If a song was removed, it is most likely due to licensing considerations. If the publisher is being extortive in their demands, the song gets cut, since not doing so affects the production budget, and ultimately the street price.

 

[Bill Huelbig]

We don't know why it was removed, but perhaps it was for time considerations, or perhaps, it was just very bad.

Actually "The Faithful Heart" is a very nice song. Herrmann incorporated its melody into the score a couple of times. It's heard when we first see the Professor's house and we meet Diane Baker as Jenny. Also, Pat Boone plays it on his concertina just before they hit the whirlpool at the center of the earth.

--Bill

 

[soop.spoon]

OK, bunkies, here goes...

"Two other James Van Heusen-Sammy Cahn tunes were filmed for Journey, but failed to survive the final cut. The jaunty song "Twice as Tall" was sung by Boone during his isolated travels through the grott; the gentle ballad "The Faithful Heart" was performed by Boone during the explorers' raft journey (only a few bars of its introduction on accordian survive in the film, although Herrmann briefly incorporates the melody early in his score to suggest the romance of Pat Boone's character with Diane Baker). Both deleted songs have been rescued from obscurity for this CD release"

The above is from Steven C. Smith's liner notes for Varese's release of the soundtrack CD.

It seems quite clear that this song was removed before the theatrical run. Perhaps it didn't test well or the filmmaker's just didn't like the pacing... who knows. Anyway, I think it's safe to say this DVD is a fair representation of what was shown theatrically.

 

[William D Cavender]

The song "The Faithfull Heart",was in the original street release. On the DVD it would have existed in between chapters 31 and 32. The aspect ratio was not 1:2.35 in its original theatrical releas, it was 1:2.55. To call this DVD a restoration is very inaccurate as it did not restore that which was there in its original final cut

 

[Peter Apruzzese]

The song "The Faithfull Heart",was in the original street release. On the DVD it would have existed in between chapters 31 and 32. The aspect ratio was not 1:2.35 in its original theatrical releas, it was 1:2.55. To call this DVD a restoration is very inaccurate as it did not restore that which was there in its original final cut

Please cite a source for the 2.55 aspect ratio on this film; by 1958/59, they had pretty much standardized on the 2.35 ratio. There's no evidence that the song was in the final cut, as the liner notes to the record (quoted above) state. The film *is* restored - please watch the demo on the DVD for what the term "restored" means in this case.