those magnificent men in their flying machines - a brief word of praise (1 Viewer)

[andrew markworthy]

Took delivery of the R1 DVD of 'Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines' at the weekend. Not one of the greats of cinema, but a pleasant enough family movie to while away a couple of hours (I loved the movie when I was a kid and my eight year old daughter watched it with great delight).

You might be excused for thinking that the disc would be no-frills vanilla. To be honest, that's all I was expecting, especially as it appears to be mid-range price.

Instead, and to my delight, there is:

(1) A fair to good quality print of the movie (including the intermission music), which for its age looks pretty acceptable (I thought the reds looked rather pronounced, but that may just be my set-up which I'm tinkering with at the moment). The sound is good, though the 5.1 mix doesn't give your rear speakers all that much to do.

(2) A director's commentary (I've only heard sections so far, but what I've heard sounds sensible).

(3) Trailers, featurette, photo gallery of vintage planes, storyboard.

All this effort for a middle of the range priced movie that's unlikely to have vast sales. Full marks to Fox for taking the effort.

I'd say that this is worth a casual purchase, especially if you've got a youngish family.

 

[BarryRR]

I saw this as a kid when it was first released--and it was treated like a big roadshow, reserved seat attraction. I was rather in awe of the film at the time, and always held it in high regard. It's somewhat ironic now to see it released on DVD as a bargain priced family film, but who am I to complain? It's a classy comedy which is a rarity to see nowadays.

 

[Randy A Salas]

Actually, preorders for it have placed it among the top 100 sellers at Amazon, which surprised me. The retail price, $14.98, sure is a lure.

 

[andrew markworthy]

I wonder if this is one of those movies that a whole load of people love but can't believe anyone else has affection for it?

BTW, thanks for the information Randy.