Sinbad and other Harryhausen movies? (1 Viewer)

[Gary->dee]

I didn't know it was made in 1977.

I thought it was interesting that after the TCM presentation of Golden Voyage, Robert Osbourne made it a point to mention that it took Ray 2 years(!) to complete the stop motion animation for the movie. So it's possible that Eye of the Tiger was filmed 2 years earlier in 1975 but was finally finished in 1977. Perhaps someone who knows more about this than me can verify. Either way, Ray has an extraordinary amount of patience!

 

[Larry Talbot]

"Either way, Ray has an extraordinary amount of patience!"

Well, it is stop motion after all, one of the most pain stakingly time consuming activities imaginable...

 

[CraigF]

If you were only going to get 2 of the Sinbad movies, which 2 would they be?

[I'll tell you why: I'm not keen on "sequels", especially after the first sequel in a series, just my general experience. And the 3 disc Sinbad set is no bargain around here, unlike most sets where you essentially get (say) one disc for "free" in a 3 disc set, compared to the single prices.]

 

[Gary->dee]

If you were only going to get 2 of the Sinbad movies, which 2 would they be?

For me it would be Golden Voyage and Eye of the Tiger.

 

[DeeF]

As fun as these movies are, do people really like the DVDs? I think all of them are pretty atrocious transfers, and it still remains to be seen what the precise OARs are.

I own them all, incidentally. But these kinds of special effects look particularly bad on my high-def plasma.

I'm not criticizing the movies, but the video versions of these movies could be better.

I'd like the Bernard Herrman scores in stereo, too.

 

[CraigF]

Well, that's sort of what I was getting at, but I didn't want to criticise the DVD's sight unseen since they seem so beloved to everybody in this thread (I have seen one of these movies when a kid). I mean, when a '77 movie only has a mono soundtrack, I get to wondering about overall disc quality...even though mono is correct (I think) on these movies. And these are not new transfers, and I haven't read they were especially cleaned up or restored. So I was thinking of picking up single(s) to see first: I do have the Sinbad set here, but got to thinking after I brought it home...

 

[Dick]

DeeF: I absolutely agree that the DVD transfers of some of Harryhausen's work is abysmal. GOLDEN VOYAGE, EYE OF THE TIGER, and 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH look decent to me, as does FIRST MEN IN THE MOON. But the first and best SINBAD, JASON, MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, GULLIVER'S TRAVELS look crappy as hell and indicate that Columbia just doesn't give a rat's ass about releasing definitive editions of some of cinema's finest fantasies.

 

[Larry Talbot]

"Well, that's sort of what I was getting at, but I didn't want to criticise the DVD's sight unseen since they seem so beloved to everybody in this thread"

My impression is that it is the movies themselves that are beloved, not the DVDs.

 

[Larry Talbot]

"If you were only going to get 2 of the Sinbad movies, which 2 would they be?"

Based strictly on how much I enjoyed seeing them in the theaters, I would have to say Seventh Voyage and Golden Voyage.

 

[Randy B A]

Anybody see price markdowns in the B&M's yet?

 

[CraigF]

My impression is that it is the movies themselves that are beloved, not the DVDs.

Yes, of course you're correct.

As to B&M markdowns, I guess they've happened around here, FWIW. But the set is still IMO darn expensive at B&M's. It was *ridiculously* expensive before the markdown, totally unrealistic for DVD's that apparently no special effort have gone into.

Online, in Canada, the best price I have found is ~US$12 each, ~US$33 for the 3 disc set with free shipping, no big saving if you really only want 2 of them.

I don't want to sound like a real cheapskate, but I've been doing significant double-dipping lately, and I'm getting wary of buying "old" transfers if potentially better ones are imminent. Geez, I just paid a small fortune for The Seven Samurai (in Canada Criterions are pricey) like a week before the new version was announced. So when I start seeing price drops on a title...get my drift?

 

[Mark Zimmer]

I see that Gwangi and Beast from 20,000 Fathoms are on the calendar for October 14.

 

[soop.spoon]

Mark... what schedule did you see them on?

Thanks