MovieChat Forums > Journey to the Center of the Earth Discussion > Reissued Blu-ray out 3/10/15

Reissued Blu-ray out 3/10/15

posted 10 years ago by hobnob53
52 replies | jump to latest

Twilight Time is issuing a new 4k restoration of Journey to the Center of the Earth. The disc will be released on March 10, 2015 and is available from pre-order as of this date (February 25, 2015).

Unlike most TT releases, JTTCOTE is in a limited edition of 5000 copies instead of their usual 3000. However, they are restricting sales to a maximum of 3 copies per customer. Price is $29.95. Extras include the isolated score and commentary from Diane Baker and two film historians. The film is currently available exclusively from Screen Archives Entertainment.

Here's the link to the film's page on SAE with complete details:

http://www3.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm/ID/28649/JOURNEY-TO-TH E-CENTER-OF-THE-EARTH-1959-LIMIT-OF-3-COPIES-PER-CUSTOMER!/

[–] clore_2 10 years ago

The isolated score makes this a must for me. I'll never forget seeing this for the first time on the day after Christmas in 1959.

One thing that happened then and still comes to mind whenever I see the film...

It's the scene where the Count is eying Gertrude while the others are sleeping. I half expect to scene to morph into a fantasied view of a roasted goose on a plate, surrounded by peas, carrots and potatoes, as would happen if Elmer Fudd would be doing the watching.

It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me
  

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

"Shhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet. I'm hunting duckies!"

The soundtrack was released on CD a few years ago; out of print but still around, so the isolated score isn't a big deal for me.

I don't buy many Blu-rays because I don't intend to replace every DVD I have, but in the cases of a few favorite films or ones that would look especially good with a sharper picture -- like JTTCOTE -- I make exceptions, and have ordered this BD.

I didn't remember until I read an old thread on this site that the film had previously been released on BD by Twilight in 2012. I don't think they've ever re-released a former title, except for some of the standard DVDs from their earliest days showing up on Blu-ray, like Fate is the Hunter and Violent Saturday.

[–] clore_2 10 years ago

The only DVD that I have of Journey is a home-made one from a TCM airing. This film is special enough to warrant getting it on Blu. I've just started getting into BR and have very few overlaps, but in the case of Robinson Crusoe on Mars and The Big Trail, I had to do it and I gave the DVDs away.

It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me
  

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

I have the Fox DVD and it's perfectly good, but a pictorially splashy film like this fits into my Blu criteria. But I don't give my DVDs away!

Of course, today Twilight Time only issues Blu-rays, so of necessity I have some titles from them in that format that I wouldn't have otherwise bothered with in BD. But apart from situations where you have no choice (including having no option but a dual-pack with both a DVD and Blu), like you I'm careful about which titles I decide to upgrade. The Guns of Navarone, for example. And now Journey to the Center of the Earth.

[–] clore_2 10 years ago

I bought the Twilight BR of The Golden Voyage of Sinbad even though it meant double-dipping as I have the DVD in a box set (which I won't give away as I won't break up a set). But in no way was I going to spend 30 bucks for Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger as Harryhausen or not, it's a bore. I doubt that I've even watched the DVD that's part of the set.

As far as giving them away, they go to my son so he can share them with his kids - all five of them (two sets of twins). He'll only inherit my collection anyway, movies and close to 500 books.

When my son was seven, we went to the Museum of Modern Art to see a Harryhausen exhibit that had his models and art work. Eight years later, we went to a convention at which Ray appeared and had our picture taken with him. I had run into the great man in the lobby of the hotel and he was oh so nice.

We just stood there talking for about 20 minutes, he was pleased to be recognized and quite the raconteur. This was a wish come true for me as Harryhausen was a childhood idol, I saw everything from 7th Voyage of Sinbad on in a theater, some of them quite a few times.

It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me
  

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Oh, well, at least you're keeping your DVDs in the family. With no heir apparent, I'm taking mine into the pyramid with me.

Lucky you to meet RH himself! I always heard he was a nice guy and your story confirms that. I must admit I prefer the first decade of his work, up through First Men in the Moon -- which also just came out from Twilight Time yesterday, if you're interested.

But my favorites remain his earliest films, particularly The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms.

I suspect he was not a fan of the lizards used in Journey to the Center of the Earth. This film used them better than any other movie ever used lizards for dinosaurs, but it had the unintended consequence of costing Ray's mentor, Willis O'Brien, his job animating dinosaurs for Irwin Allen's 1960 version of The Lost World. Supposedly, Allen had originally intended to use models of real dinosaurs animated by Obie, but the success of Journey's use of iguanas as dimetredons convinced Fox to cut back on Allen's budget and he shifted to lizards instead -- with disastrous results. O'Brien still got a credit, but only as a "technician". Of course, Allen had used both O'Brien and Harryhausen as animators for his prehistoric sequences in The Animal World in 1956.

[–] clore_2 10 years ago

I asked Harryhausen about why his One Million Years BC had a live lizard in it, saying that I had seen it at a preview and there was some groaning when it appeared. He said that was Hammer's insistence to pay tribute to the original and that he was glad that it was just the one scene and early in the film. I told him that the allosaurus scene in that film was one of his greatest, that I am always in awe when I watch it.

Even when I saw the 1960 version of The Lost World in the theater I was disappointed. I thought that Journey made much better use of them, they had a greater sense of scale somehow. I can't even watch that film.

But the 1925 version was the first full-length feature that I bought in 8mm way back in 1966. I saved my money for weeks and weeks and I must have watched it 24 times in the first year.

It ain't easy being green, or anything else, other than to be me
  

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Hammer insisted on a lizard as a tribute to the 1940 film?! Now that makes a lot of sense.

RH did do great work on that film (as he always did) but I never much cared for it, despite Raquel. Ultimately too plodding. I also found The Valley of Gwangi a big disappointment. Rodeo cowboys and dinosaurs in the old (Mexican) West simply don't mix, at least not interestingly. Too much like Beast of Hollow Mountain.

It's generally agreed that Journey is the one film that used lizards convincingly. If you think about it, while the altered iguanas are called dimetredons, the different giant lizard they encounter in Atlantis isn't called anything except a "monster". Since the whole thing is fantasy you could as plausibly call any big lizard simply a lizard, or a monster, but it didn't have to be a dinosaur.

I first saw the 1960 Lost World on TV in the late 60s, but knew beforehand they only used lizards. I once wrote on that film's site that the main problem in using lizards was Irwin Allen's insistence on calling them by actual dinosaur names -- brontosaurus, tyrannosaurus, etc. -- when any kid of 6 knows what these creatures actually looked like. They weren't even made up to look like the dinosaurs they were portraying, unlike JTTCOTE's iguana-dimetredons, which made things even worse.

Obviously using animated dinosaur models would have been the best solution, but if he didn't have the budget Allen should have simply called his lizards "monsters", not dinosaurs. At least that would have avoided making the movie a laughingstock. That, plus a few other script changes (eliminating the poodle, Jill St. John's stupidity, and lame attempts as comic relief), might have made the film passable entertainment. It had a few decent moments.

The 1925 version remains astonishing for O'Brien's groundbreaking work. Not just the models and the animation, but the character he put into his creatures and his attention to detail. More than enough to overcome the casting of Lewis Stone as a romantic figure!

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

I asked Harryhausen about why his One Million Years BC had a live lizard in it, saying that I had seen it at a preview and there was some groaning when it appeared. He said that was Hammer's insistence to pay tribute to the original and that he was glad that it was just the one scene and early in the film.

Curiously, in Ray's book, he states that the lizard in ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. was his idea. I forget the reasoning, but he was the one to put it in. I will have to re-read that part again.

RH did do great work on that film (as he always did) but I never much cared for it, despite Raquel.

Total opposite for me Hobnob. The very reason today I am interested in dinosaurs and prehistoric life in general was because of ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. After every showing, I just felt the need to go fossil-hunting (and as a child, we lived in an area that was still undeveloped and if one looked closely, you can find some fossils from ancient sea life - our part in So. Cal was covered by the ocean in prehistory. No dino bones though 😥).

And I indeed purchased both JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH and FIRST MEN IN THE MOON blu-ray from Twilight Time. I have the DVDs for these movies, but with the HDTV I have, some of the disks don't look as good. MYSTERIOUS ISLAND was one of them. The blu-ray is exceptionally better! I still keep some of the DVDs but because of space, I am forced to sell others, and usually to "We Buy DVDs" sites on the Internet.

Anyway, looking forward to JTTCOTE on blu-ray!

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

I was interested in prehistoric monsters pre-One Million Years B.C. (and even pre-before-I-first-saw-it-because-I'm-not-that-old One Million B.C.), but it isn't the dinos, or even the lizard, I have an issue with. I just found the movie kind of dull. I found the '40 version a bit dull too but that one was such an early example of special effects that it intrigues me more, though it's not all that great.

Anyway, for me, OMYBC was a late arrival on the dino scene. My reservations about the film have nothing to do with either the dinosaurs or the effects. The lizard is disappointing, considering this is RH, but no big deal.

First Men in the Moon is to me not great Harryhausen and like many of his films suffers from many script issues but it's not bad -- despite lots of sound on the moon. Did you recognize the policeman who comes to the door of the cottage just before take-off and hands Martha Hyer the dispossess notice? It's Peter Finch! He happened to drop by the studio that day to watch the filming and when the actor hired for that small part failed to show up Finch volunteered to do it.

But I'm most looking forward to JTTCOTE...even though I'm keeping my DVDs!

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Well, Raquel and Martine Beswick having that cat fight, I don't consider dull! 😀 I actually met Martine Beswick last fall at a sci-fi / horror convention show, and she could not have been nicer. Total opposite of the characters she played (and I did not realize, she was once married to John Richardson - maybe that fight was authentic!)

With JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH, this will be my third incarnation. I still even have the VHS, which was in one of those big clamshell packages (which one associates Disney videos with). Then I bought the DVD in the 2000s. And now the blu-ray. Don't know if there will be any special features, like a conversation with Pat Boone, but it doesn't really matter, as the only reason I buy blu-ray, is because I want to view it in the best looking visual quality as possible.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

How does Martine look these days? I believe she turns 74 this year. I always found her sexy rather than beautiful, but she had a fair run of such parts in the 60s, and in the 70s played Xaviera Hollander once or twice. Still like her best in her two Bonds, From Russia With Love (another choreographed cat-fight, in the gypsy camp) and her fatal role in Thunderball. Did you notice that in her first Bond she's credited as "Martin" Beswick? I'm sure she was happy about that.

I just saw that Shout! is coming out with a Blu-ray double feature of -- get this -- Tentacles and Reptilicus! Yes, I always wanted to see Reptilicus in the best-looking visual quality possible, which in this case is probably "OFF".

It would be nice if TT had included as an extra on JTTCOTE still photos of Clifton Webb in costume tests for Professor Lindenbrook. I know some were taken before Webb was forced to withdraw from the role on doctor's orders due to exhaustion. (I think at almost 70 he was way too old for the part anyway; Mason was far better suited for it.) But as far as I know they don't have anything that interesting.

Their BD of Solomon and Sheba is also a major disappointment on the extra front, since they missed yet another golden opportunity to include some of Tyrone Power's scenes. I saw a couple of them over 40 years ago on the program That's Hollywood and I assume the footage still exists in some form, but evidently they didn't even bother to try.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Martine Beswick looks a lot different than from what we pictured her from the past.

Here is her Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/MartineBeswick

She shared the same booth with Caroline Munro (both are good friends), and it is Caroline who has actually changed very little. Both were wonderful to meet however (for Caroline, it was the second time around).

I haven't seen REPTILICUS in like a 1000 years! I am pretty sure it was in the 1970s on my local Million Dollar Movie channel one afternoon after school. The jury is still out on me buying that blu-ray.

For JOURNEY, extras won't really matter, though I did not know that they originally tapped Clifton Webb for the part of Lidenbrook. James Mason was perfect for this role, and of course, he was already in another big adaption of a Jules Verne novel.

I could have done without Gertrude, but apparently, she was popular enough to set a trend for 20th Century, to put small animals in their adventure and sci-fi movies.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Oh my God. I will never forgive you for providing that link to Martine's Facebook page! She looks dreadful. Not her face, but that horrendous hair style!

Glad to hear Caroline Munro is still looking good. I've seen fairly recent photos of other Brit sex symbols of the 60s, and it can be a shock. I know all about aging, but some do it better than others. Look at some of the Bond girls. Shirley Eaton looked terrible, with long, stringy gray hair and terrible skin. Honor Blackman, by contrast, looked pretty good last photo I saw of her, and she's the oldest of them all. So did Urusla Andress. On the other hand, Eunice Gayson (Sylvia Trench in the first two films) has gotten very matronly and old looking.

I don't think I'll do a Reptilicus Blu...although, you never know. I think it might be widescreen, which the DVD was not. A few years back on that film's site someone provided a YouTube link to the Danish version, or rather a portion of it, where Reptilicus flies. I had heard he flew in the Danish film, and that AIP cut those scenes from the American release because -- they looked too fake!!! Yeah, totally unlike the rest of the movie. Actually, it looked pretty good to me. That movie is so badly done I like it.

Interestingly, I just bought a book called Ib Melchior: Man of Imagination by the effects expert Robert Skotak, and it's pretty good. He goes into all Ib's films and TV work, Repty included, though in my view he could have given more non-tech detail about some of the films than he does. Melchior seems to have led a fascinating and diverse life, however.

I like Gertrude! In fact, I didn't go to check, but I believe you can click on her name in the cast list here and get a biography of her. I am not kidding. The real thing. Apparently after her co-starring role in Journey Gertrude was sent to live in peaceful retirement on a duck farm in Italy. I am not making this up. I have no idea why they would send a duck from California to Italy, but that's the tale, as it were. Maybe her story is in the TT liner notes!

But I'm glad I was able to tell you something you didn't know about a movie -- namely, Clifton Webb. I seldom get a chance to surprise you, my friend, the way you much more often catch me!

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Sorry about that Hobnob, but one could not meet a more nicer person than Martine. And I do have to concur with you about Shirley Eaton. SO sexy in the 60s, but she is one of those who has not aged at all well. But we will always have GOLDFINDER or AROUND THE WORLD UNDER THE SEA, or any other features she was in the 1960s.

Ironically, I do have TENTACLES, so perhaps I will upgrade with the REPTIICUS / TENTACLES blu-ray. And with those rare exceptions, blu-rays usually do come in their right format, so hopefully it will be the widescreen edition.

Well, I as I stated, Gertrude would set a trend for 20th Century. We would have Frosty the next year in THE LOST WORLD, that little dog, who's name I forget in VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, and though I have never seen it, I am pretty sure there is some small animal in Irwin Allen's FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON. So Gertrude is indeed a pioneer! Heck, the JOURNEY would also begin the trend for casting the teen idols of the day in these adventure features - Pat Boone, then later on with Frankie Avalon and Fabian. Only THE LOST WORLD is the exception, but we did get to hear Fernando Lamas sing a bit, and he looked marvelous! 

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

I really wonder how much Gertrude influenced Irwin Allen in putting animals in his sf films. Quite possibly, but then I think Irwin was capable of doing idiotic things like that on his own.

I mean, in The Lost World Jill St. John was supposed to be an experienced hunter, and had all the skills and knowledge of the outdoors that any mere man had...yet she hauls a toy poodle and endless make-up bags into the Amazon, then falls apart screaming at the slightest danger. Very convincing.

Michael Ansara's dog in Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea was almost incidental. We just saw him a couple of times. Unlike Frosty the poodle the unnamed pooch in Voyage stayed out of the way. But what an Arctic research scientist was doing with a small dog on an ice flow at the North Pole is beyond me. (And he seemed to have survived the fire in the sky far better than his master!) But Irwin also put Barbara Eden in high heels on a submarine, which even she questioned.

If I recall I think there was the inevitable chimp in Five Weeks in a Balloon, who did have a name. But at least this was Africa.

And Irwin had that cat in The Towering Inferno who was rescued by O.J., which is the last time Juice saved a life, so that's historic.

Anyway, compared to these animals, Gertrude had personality and guts, to the latter of which at least Count Saknussem -- not an Icelandic name, by the way -- could attest!

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

I mean, in The Lost World Jill St. John was supposed to be an experienced hunter, and had all the skills and knowledge of the outdoors that any mere man had...yet she hauls a toy poodle and endless make-up bags into the Amazon, then falls apart screaming at the slightest danger. Very convincing.

Yes, and all in pink pants! Not sure if Irwin Allen was trying to somehow emulate Bessie Love and her pet monkey Jocko from the 1925 film, but at least in that one, Jocko did a great deed! (and Bessie Love's character wasn't some spoiled dimwit either).

That dog in VOYAGE really served no purpose other than giving Alvarez some brief moments of humanity and not be that dome and gloom guy throughout.

Imagine if 20th Century had given Allen FANTASTIC VOYAGE, no doubt a small animal would have accompanied the surgical team! 😷

And Irwin had that cat in The Towering Inferno who was rescued by O.J., which is the last time Juice saved a life, so that's historic.

That is TOO funny and brilliant, I had wished I would have thought of that myself, LOL!

I guess in the end, Gertrude did herself well, but would set a bad precedent!

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Ah, yes, Jill's pink pants. Typical survival gear of a rugged outdoorswoman and experienced safari member.

Yeah, it's occurred to me in the past we were fortunate that Irwin did not produce Fantastic Voyage. I never thought about it, but you're absolutely right, had he done so I'm sure we would have had Raquel in high heels, lots of sparky explosions accompanied by springy "boi-yoy-yoy-yoy-ing!" sounds, the minisub thrashing back and forth as the crew gets bounced around in opposite directions, and Corpuscle the Wonder Mouse in his little tiny glass cage, rescued by Stephen Boyd at the last moment as he abandons ship when Donald Pleasance is engulfed ("C'mon, Corpuscle, you're with me!"), and brought back to full size along with the rest of them, the last scene showing Corpuscle escaping from his glass box and scurrying over to a piece of cheese unaccountably lying on the otherwise sterile floor of the operating room, with Steve and Raquel suddenly turning in mid-embrace to look at him and, with everyone else, bursting into overly-prolonged laughter at the sight of Corpuscle standing on his hind legs, his little nose and whiskers twitching back and forth in joy at the slab of Velveeta at his feet, as the movie ends happily.

That's "happily", with an h, not an s.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Oh man Hobnob. You should write of draft of that and submit it to 20th Century Fox or which ever studio is looking to remake FANTASTIC VOYAGE. Do it in the memory of Irwin Allen! I will back you up with ALL the credit! 

I will come back here after I finally get the JOURNEY blu-ray and had a chance to see it, and share my thoughts. Hopefully that process won't take forever. ✌

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

If there is such a thing as The Estate of Irwin Allen I'm sure they'd sue. Of course, next year is his centenary so maybe we can pull it off as a hundredth-birthday tribute or some such phony excuse.

I read on SAE's site that there may be delays in shipping JTTCOTE and the other recent TT titles due to weather-related issues. So far I haven't received notification of their being sent and the official release date was March 10. This affects all TT releases that were due out that day.

Including Irwin Allen's Production of The Bounty, in which the titular vessel is taken over by aliens in silver face-paint and black leotards who suddenly appear on the poop deck with a boy-yoy-yoy-yoy-ying amid a bunch of sparks and demand in a monotone that Captain Bligh use the ship to help them conquer the world, only to be thwarted by Bligh's seagoing pal, Christian the Porpoise, who acting as the crew's secret waterborne pilot leads the unsuspecting aliens onto the rocks around Pitcairn Island, where the ship runs aground and sinks and the aliens, hitherto unaware of the nature of salt water, discover too late that they dissolve in it, and the film ends with Bligh and the rest waving good-bye to Christian as he swims off to bring word of the crew's whereabouts to his friend the King of Tahiti, Bligh calling out "See you soon, Christian!" as the little guy does a flip in the ocean, plunges in and resurfaces with a happy "Ee-ee-ee-hee-abba-abba, ee-ee-ee-hee-abba-babba", just as one of the crew reaches underneath his shirt and finds the note they wrote for Christian to take to the King, Bligh sees it and does a double-take and they all begin to laugh uproariously as the movie ends.

I believe it was a revisionist interpretation.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Since I am closer to Hollywood, I will forward your synopsis to the studios and see what feedback I can get! Hey, if they can green light anything from Adam Sandler, this (which is more coherent), should be a breeze! 

I have seen some elsewhere stating that they have received an e-mail indicating that JOURNEY is on the way. That has not happened to me! I have yet to receive any e-mail. Nothing! I have to go back and see if I actually ordered this thing (I am pretty sure I did). This was the first time I ordered directly from Twilight Time, so I hope that you are right Hobnob, that it is weather issues that are causing the delay.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Adam Sandler?! Adam Sandler couldn't play the porpoise.

Who did you order from, Big-G -- SAE or TT itself? I didn't think you could order from TT but only through SAE. (You can get their stuff from Movies Unlimited and Amazon but only much later and at much higher prices.) I'm guessing you meant SAE. And no, I haven't received any shipment notification either. With SAE you do have to take care not to order items that are on pre-order or for some other reason will take longer to ship because they normally hold up an entire order until every item in it is available. (I had a two-month wait last year, in an order without any pre-orders, and got no notice of what was going on until I finally contacted them.) So I make sure to order any pre-orders separately from anything else, and including in each order only items coming out or available at the same time.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

You are right, it was Screen Archives Entertainment. And as it turns out, I thought I had ordered it, but I just went back to SAE, logged in and saw nothing in my order history! I then went online to my bank statements, and did not see any purchase from SAE. Needless to say, I had to order again and this time I got verification! I did go to Movies Unlimited, but their retail price is $39.99, where as SAE has it for 10 dollars less (and I am buying both JOURNEY and FIRST MEN IN THE MOON).

This is a good lesson and thankfully there were still copies of both movies (and if you may remember, I did not buy the Sinbad movies on time last year and it ended up costing me even more. This time, I know Twilight Time's game!)

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Oh, good, I'm glad you checked. Yes, I remember the Sinbad movie problem. You do have to be careful about placing orders with SAE -- they're generally reliable but they do sometimes screw up and they have those inconvenient ordering rules that are not like most places. (In fact, I think I'll go check when I'm done here!)

Normally if you place an order with, say, MU or Amazon or most outfits, they ship you whatever merchandise they can as soon as possible, and if there's something not in stock that will be delayed they notify you but don't hold up the rest of the order waiting for it. Also SAE simply does not get in touch if an order is delayed, even if it's for a long time, as happened with me last year. I order from them regularly (mostly music) but they can be difficult and their almost complete lack of providing customer information is a black mark to me, though it doesn't usually wind up being an issue.

As you saw TT's releases of both JTTCOTE and FMITM were produced in a run of 5000 discs, vs. TT's usual 3000 limit, in anticipation of higher orders; this is also why SAE has limited purchases to just three per customer, a not-uncommon practice for them. They've done that with two or three other titles. I remember that when Twilight's BD of the film Christine was announced, on the very day -- the very hour, 4 PM EST -- it was available for pre-order it was already listed as sold out. I've never figured out how it could not have even been listed for sale, even if only for a few minutes, before being sold out. I believe that happened with one other title as well. I didn't happen to want it, but the speed of what occurred mystifies me. Honestly, I've never been a fan of TT even though they've put out some very good films.

Addendum: I checked my order on SAE. Yes, it's there. "Pending", of course!

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Yes, Fright Night (which I think also had a run of 5000) sold out quickly, which is very unusual for TT titles.

Of course, JTTCOTE is a reissue by TT, albeit apparently because the original wasn't done as well as it should have been. I think they may have reissued another BD title but I'm not sure. They have put out a couple of their early DVDs on Blu (such as Violent Saturday and Fate is the Hunter). Apparently they don't ordinarily intend to reissue BDs, but I suppose in the case of fast sellers they might make an exception. But most of their titles normally stick around for three or four years, or longer, before selling out.

I don't think in general they have a great grasp of which titles would really sell and which wouldn't, though they seem to be getting better at it. A couple of years ago I read an interview with one of the founders who said that one of their titles was such a poor seller that they think it will take 20 years to sell off all the copies. (I suspect he was talking about Woman Obsessed, a lousy, little-known film that was their fourth release on DVD back in 2011.) Of course, it's easy to predict that sci-fi, fantasy and horror films will be much in demand, and the handful of titles they've struck 5000 copies of are all in those categories. I met someone on IMDb last year who knows the men who founded TT and says they're experienced, dedicated and knowledgeable. Maybe, but I think the label is still a bit erratic.

Big-G, as you'll see, your post got put up twice. I replied to the first one so you can delete the duplicate. (Or is it a reissue?!)

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Yes, I didn't realize I posted twice! I got rid of one of them!

I think it is just a a matter of getting use to their game, but when 5000 copies sell out quickly, it is like you are the second person in line, but the guy in front of you, ends up buying all of the tickets!

I guess I just need to be more heads-up TT's business matters. Thankfully, they still had JOURNEY and FIRST MEN available that I was able to purchase just yesterday. And a great many of their titles seem to be from Sony /Columbia Pictures. THE THREE WORLDS OF GULLIVER is the last of the Harryhausen/Colubmia features not available on blu-ray. Perhaps that will be the next release for TT.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Hey, you got rid of the wrong post! Now it looks like I'm talking to myself while your post hangs out down below!!



No problem, of course!

Yeah, TT's original arrangement was with 20th Century Fox. They get to pick titles from a list the studio provides them. Since Fox now handles the Columbia library (in terms of producing or licensing discs, not ownership of them), after a year or so TT also got access to the Columbia library, and more recently United Artists as well (since Fox also handles MGM/UA titles). Kino also has access to the MGM/UA library, and they're reissuing that library's titles on both DVD and Blu-ray. However, while they're soon coming out with new DVDs of Inherit the Wind and Judgment at Nuremberg, they won't be issuing Blu's because Twilight has the BD rights to those films (and has recently released both).

It does get complicated.

No word on The Three Words of Gulliver but I suspect you're right -- a Blu-ray will most likely come from Twilight Time, if and when.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

I'm glad your order is in place Hobnob. This was the first time, or rather the second time, I ordered anything from them. Not too crazy about SAE for the issues that you listed (except that their retail price was lower than MU).

Another movie I wanted to get from Twilight Time was FRIGHT NIGHT (the one from 1985, not the remake), but that one also seems to be sold out. I am curious if TT will ever re-issue some of their sold out products.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Well, I deleted the second of that duplicate, thinking that would be the one! Now it looks weird!

I just went back to SAE to make sure everything was a ok. The status of my order is "Pending", but I have seen that from other sites as well. I give it a couple of weeks (now if they say all copies have been sold out and they are no longer available, I am going to write a strongly worded letter to these guys!).

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

No, as long as your order has been confirmed you should have no problem. When a CD or DVD gets sold out they yank it immediately, including from your cart if you haven't actually placed the order yet.

I will say that in the case of TT discs, SAE does send out emails advising customers if a disc is in low supply -- usually when there are 500 or fewer copies available, then again at 300 or less, then 200. But after that they generally don't advise you, I suppose because near the end supplies run out fast. I assume this is done at TT's instigation.

Unfortunately SAE never sends out similar advisories about anything else they sell. Granted this isn't easy to do, but if you have an item in your cart that's not yet ordered, and it's close to disappearing, I think they should alert you then. I've lost a few things that way, with no hint that the supplies of the item were about to run out and that that was it.

It would also be helpful if, when you order something that's already gone, you got to a page telling you that. At present, if you type in a title and it's no longer around -- even if it was there a few hours earlier -- you get nothing, as if the item never existed. They should also tell you if something's been deleted from your cart, which they don't. It's up to you to remember it was there before and realize it no longer is.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Well,I just got an e-mail from SAE confirming that my items have now been shipped! They stated that I should receive the movies in 10 days or less (probably less). I am just glad to know that everything came out OK.👍

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Hey! They didn't notify me!! Why those.......  

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Well, I checked the tracking number and Monday is the expected delivery date.

Hobnob, I don't know what to say. Hopefully, you will get an e-mail soon (probably best to check on your SAE account).

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

I took your suggestion and checked my SAE account directly. Yep, the order's been shipped. Yet still no email about it. Strange. But anyway, it's coming. Yippee-kay-yay, mothe--- oops! Wrong movie.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Glad to hear that, though it is quite odd that you did not receive any e-mail. With an e-mail you get the tracking number, which I always have habit to check out every now and then. Don't recall if there is a tracking number on the SAE account.

Regardless. Everything is on their way!

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

I got the email this evening. Years ago (with a different outfit) I got an item I had ordered, followed almost immediately after by a notice that its delivery would be delayed by three weeks! In fact it had arrived on time and even before the rest of the order, which came within an hour. Nice surprise at least.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Well, rather than Monday, the movies came over the weekend. I am holding them in my hands as I'm typing this (actually, I need both hands to type - I am not the six-armed Kali! ).

I've only seen the intros. FIRST MEN, looks great! JOURNEY the same. The special features for JOURNEY is an isolated sound track and commentary by Diane Baker and film historians Steven C. smith & Nick Redman. Odd they could not get Pat Boone. Love Diane, but her screen appearance is at best minimal.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

All the TT discs have an isolated score track. In fact, that's usually the only extra, although they've been branching out a bit over time with a few others on some discs. I find the isolated score weird. It's like watching a silent movie with not enough background music. I tried it only once, on one of TT's earliest releases, Violent Saturday, and had to stop it after a few minutes. Luckily I have the CD instead (of both VS and JTTCOTE). DVDs and Blus are for movies. Still, I suppose it's nice to have the option.

Mine haven't arrived yet, but probably tomorrow. No hurry.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Keep us updated. Don't know why mine came first, and if you recall, I only ordered them a week and a half ago.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Hey Big-G: Got my discs a couple of days ago, and all is fine.

I did want to alert you that TT is having a sale (through SAE only) of most of its titles that lasts until this Friday, April 3 (2015, for late arrivals!). Click onto SAE's link labeled "Company Labels" on the left side of the home page, then from there click Twilight Time. You'll get the whole list of TT titles, in reverse order of release (newest first, earliest last).

Don't fret: the latest releases are not included, so you wouldn't have saved any money on JTTCOTE or FMITM by waiting! But almost every title still in stock that hasn't been released in just the last couple of months is on sale. Prices vary; some are down just $5, many by $10, a few poor sellers by $15, and their three remaining DVD titles are $10 off, at $9.95.

This is their once-a-year sale commemorating TT's "birthday" (four years now), and since their discs are never on sale otherwise (and cost much more from MU or Amazon), this is the best opportunity to get any title you may want.

Addendum: I just went to check my emails and found another message from SAE regarding this sale. Here is the pertinent information plus all the titles on sale:

**********

TWILIGHT TIME turns 4! Help us celebrate by participating in the very popular birthday promotion, which this year will commence on Wednesday, March 25th at 4 pm EST, and continue through 4 pm EST on Friday, April 3rd. You asked for it to be bigger and better this year, and TT delivers with a wide variety of releases old and new ˜ if you were looking to plug those gaps in your collection ˜ this 4th birthday celebration is just the time and place.

GROUP 1: Retail price point: $24.95

PICNIC
PAL JOEY
BITE THE BULLET
BELL, BOOK, AND CANDLE
BYE BYE BIRDIE
IN LIKE FLINT
MAJOR DUNDEE
THE BLUE MAX
CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS
USED CARS
THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO / THUNDERBIRD 6

GROUP 2: Retail price point: $19.95

RAPTURE
ROOTS OF HEAVEN
SWAMP WATER
DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS
DESIREE
THE WAYWARD BUS
COVER GIRL
HIGH TIME
THE SOUND AND THE FURY
THE RAINS OF RANCHIPUR
BONJOUR TRISTESSE
BELOVED INFIDEL
LOST HORIZON
THE BLUE LAGOON
EXPERIMENT IN TERROR
NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA
PONY SOLDIER
THE SONG OF BERNADETTE
PHILADELPHIA
THE ONLY GAME IN TOWN
LOVE IS A MANY SPLENDORED THING
SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE
THE DISAPPEARANCE
SEXY BEAST
DRUMS ALONG THE MOHAWK
ALAMO BAY
THE OTHER
MINDWARP
JANE EYRE
OLIVER
THE WAY WE WERE
ROYAL FLASH
ZULU
KHARTOUM
TITUS
MAN IN THE DARK 3-D
THE FRONT
THE EDDY DUCHIN STORY
CONRACK
ALL THE KING‚S MEN
EQUUS
BROADWAY DANNY ROSE
MR HOBBS TAKES A VACATION
FATE IS THE HUNTER
TWO RODE TOGETHER
THE MECHANIC
HEAVEN KNOWS MR ALLISON
THE MAN FROM LARAMIE
BRANNIGAN
RADIO DAYS
VIOLENT SATURDAY
BORN YESTERDAY
RIFF RAFF / RAINING STONES
FOLLOW THAT DREAM
THE SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIA
MAN HUNT
THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY
CHE!
THE KILLER ELITE
THE DOGS OF WAR
LA BAMBA
SALVADOR
THE VANISHING
THE BELIEVERS
UNDER FIRE
AUDREY ROSE
FLAMING STAR
WHEN THE WIND BLOWS
BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ
BUNNY LAKE IS MISSING
THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI
FUNNY LADY
THE PRIME OF MISS JEAN BRODIE
THE FORTUNE
INHERIT THE WIND
HEAVEN AND EARTH

GROUP 3: Retail price point: $14.95

FEVER PITCH
RITA SUE, AND BOB TOO
THE FIRM
RESURRECTED
SAVE YOUR LEGS!
BANDIT QUEEN

GROUP 4 (DVD): Retail price point: $9.95

THE KREMLIN LETTER
VIOLENT SATURDAY
WOMAN OBSESSED

[–] Eric-62-2 10 years ago

Got my copy. The picture is terrific but the commentary track is a waste. Diane Baker's presence is a distraction as it means too much of the commentary veers off into matters of her own career that aren't terribly interesting and it also means we have to have the others explaining rudimentary facts about Bernard Herrmann to her. I didn't want to have a commentary give a lengthy discourse about Herrmann's falling out with Hitchcock (irrelevant to this film) just because Baker had never heard the story before. Since Baker's presence is minimal in the film, the need to have her (if Pat Boone or Arlene Dahl could not be had) is even more unnecessary IMO.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Thanks for that warning, Eric. Which is a major reason I seldom bother with commentary tracks to begin with! You or I or Big-G could do a better job than 90% of the inane commentators I've heard...even if we'd never seen the movie!

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Glad to hear everything is in order Hobnob. Yes, I got that e-mail as well and there are some titles I want such as INHERIT THE WIND and HEAVEN KNOWS MR. ALLISON, but can really only afford one at this time. 😞

And double thanks Eric. I have yet to see the whole movie and of course, have not heard the commentary, but I had stated that I was surprised that they got Diane Baker, instead of Pat Boone, to do the commentary when her appearances were minimal. Love Diane, but Pat would have given us a lot more behind-the-scenes info, including working with James Mason.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

The problem with every movie of this vintage is that most of the principles have passed, so the pickings for commentators are slim. Unfortunately, oftentimes the "experts" they choose are just as awful as some star. I've probably missed some good commentaries over the years but because of the poor quality of most of what I have heard, usually I can't be bothered listening.

Oddly, one commentary track I do keep meaning to listen to (two, actually), but have never gotten around to yet, are the tracks for the Criterion releases of Gojira and Godzilla, King of the Monsters. I did listen to the tracks on the CM release of both films, which were pretty good, but have so far just never managed to sit down and run through the Criterion discs. The CM comments on Gojira were almost flawless, but oddly their commentary on GKOTM had a number of mistakes, though nothing glaringly awful as I recall. (The one I remember came from Terry Morse, Jr., who said that GKOTM was his father's only sci-fi film. Not so: he helmed 1951's Unknown World. But that was typical of the kind of minor errors I found on that track.)

But I thought you'd appreciate that, Big-G!

[–] Eric-62-2 10 years ago

Boone or Dahl I'm sure would have contributed more, but I suspect that the Twilight Time people might have considered them outside their price range to do it whereas Baker, let's face it, probably wouldn't have asked for as much. Her stories about her career would have been fine for a magazine interview but not for film commentary where her accounts have nothing to do with the film.

To me, the best commentaries I've heard have been when a true expert gives us the inside-out on the production details and maybe has a production person that he can jog the memory of effectively. Even better is if the commentators have watched the film or the TV episode *before* they do their commentary and do some preparation about what they should say. Too often, I hear people do spontaneous stuff that can land like a thud when they get carried away with watching it or they will fish for details (and sometimes get them wrong like the "Caine Mutiny" commentators who after taking three minutes to remember the name of Whit Bissell then had him playing Dr. Bellows on "I Dream Of Jeannie").

OTOH the absolute worst ones for me are ones done by "film scholars" who will get overly analytical and subjective with every last camera shot or waste my time with their psychoanalysis of the proceedings. The Criterion one on "Spellbound" bored and repelled me so much I shut it off after 15 minutes. There was another insufferable one on "Fourteen Hours" I also shut off. I can also remember a bad one on "Ben Hur" where the commentator was proving first his ignorance about Roman history and then getting overly pretentious on other matters.

John Fricke I remember had an outstanding one on the old LD boxed set of "Wizard Of Oz" that unfortunately was truncated in the DVD releases.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

Or, maybe Boone and Dahl declined. Dahl (whom I saw at a private screening of Designing Woman co-hosted by Lauren Bacall four years ago) looked a bit frail then, so she simply might not be in good health at 87.

I should probably listen to more commentary than I do, but my bad experiences aside it's just not something that's on my radar most of the time. While I have listened to some good commentary, I've also been warned about enough abysmal commentaries that it wards me off the whole business.

Here are my two favorite bad commentary experiences.

One was in Executive Suite (1954), one of my favorite films, where Oliver Stone gave the commentary -- I assume only because he had done Wall Street. I got about five minutes into it when he started misidentifying a couple of the major cast members. That did it, and I shut off the rest.

The other was on the DVD of a Clark Gable film, Soldier of Fortune, from 1955. The commentator was some "film scholar" from one of what H.L. Mencken once termed "one-building universities". The story is set in Hong Kong, with Gable agreeing to sneak into China to free a captive American. This "scholar" stated that, of course, in the 50s, we all referred to the country as "Maoist China". Huh? Red China, Communist China, but never, ever in my life have I ever heard anyone but this lunkhead call it "Maoist China". Okay, you say, he's a film scholar, not an historian...except near the end he talked about how this was one of two films Gable did for Fox after leaving MGM. The second film, he told us, was a western originally called The Tall Men, but later retitled The King and Four Queens to take advantage of Gable's being known as "The King". I listened to this and, I promise you, exclaimed out loud, "What?! They're TWO DIFFERENT MOVIES, you idiot!" Gable made The Tall Men, then made an entirely separate film called The King and Four Queens the next year -- a film he did, not for Fox, but UA, through his own production company. What a goddamned moron.

I mean, where do they find these people? Not to mention no one vets what they say, so any half-wit can blabber on inaccurately about a movie and the company just sticks it on the disc regardless. That's the worst thing of all: no one pays any attention. You'd think someone would listen and say, this stuff is ridiculous, and pull it. Better no commentary than a lot of uninformed rubbish. But no one has the guts, sense or interest to do so.

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Or, maybe Boone and Dahl declined. Dahl (whom I saw at a private screening of Designing Woman co-hosted by Lauren Bacall four years ago) looked a bit frail then, so she simply might not be in good health at 87.

I keep forgetting that Arlene Dahl is still with us, but as you said Hobnob, she is probably gotten along in years. Pat Boone was in special features segment and I think he even did commentary on a NIGHT GALLERY episode he was in called "The Academy" where he wanted to take his troubled son in a military school and apparently, they stay there forever!

The worst commentary I ever heard was in THE GIANT BEHEMOTH, provided by Dennis Muren and Phil Tippet. Great special effects guys, but lousy commentators, film historians, etc. Of course, they mostly dismissed the movie, expect for the stop-motion, could not remember the name of the lead actor (Gene Evans) and even got some facts wrong in another movies. They thought that the elderly scientist in THE BEAST FROM 20,000 FATHOMS was the same actor who was in THEM! I will admit, there are similar characteristics in Cecil Kellaway and Edmund Gwenn, but Gwenn was actually an Oscar winner (MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET). They needed a historian, someone like Tom Weaver, to have been a participant.

On those Criterion Godzilla commentaries, I've only listed to GKOTM, and thought David Kalat did quite a good job.

I generally like the commentaries where they talk about the movie itself, certain scenes, etc. Listening to someone like Rudy Behlmer, while his Hollywood knowledge is second to none, he always goes off on a tangent and talks about an actor's LONG resume, while critical scenes in the movie are passing us by. The best commentary I've ever listened to was in METROPOLIS. I don't recall the narrator's name, but it was all about scenes in the movie, what it meant, (or could have meant) and how it was accomplished. No going off an tangents, or anything like that.

[–] hobnob53 10 years ago

It's funny you brought up The Giant Behemoth, because when writing my previous post that was the film I had in mind when I mentioned being warned away from some terrible commentaries. I've never listened to TGB's commentary, because I'd read lots of reviews of it and it was universally panned as one of the worst and most ignorant ever. You've just provided some additional details to reinforce that view, and my decision. They do sound like a couple of dolts.

If people are paid for these things there ought to be clauses in their contracts requiring total or at least substantial accuracy in all factual claims, that the commentators confine themselves as much as possible to the film at hand and not stray into unconnected or irrelevant subjects, and that they have to view the film once or twice before recording their commentary so that they can familiarize themselves with the plot, cast, crew, etc. Also, all tracks should be vetted by a skilled professional empowered to delete inaccurate statements or edit out unrelated topics.

Shouldn't pay be linked to performance?

But no, because nobody gives a damn.

Incidentally, I have the original British version called Behemoth, the Sea Monster on R2 DVD. I don't think it even has a commentary track, but from the sound of things it couldn't have been as bad as the US disc's. There are some differences between the two versions, which are interesting.

[–] Eric-62-2 10 years ago

I too suffered through that "Giant Behemoth" commentary and I thought I was listening to a wannabe MST3K riff. All those guys did was bitch about the build-up before the monster appears and their ignorance of the actual production and the actors was appalling and condescending.

My recollection on the Godzilla commentaries was that I liked the one on the older GKOTM release and did not care much for the one on the Criterion release.

One of THE best commentary tracks I ever heard was on the original Laser Disc release of "1776" where Joe Caporiccio the producer of the LD got director Peter H. Hunt to open up about the production and the differences between stage and film in a lot of entertaining ways. Unfortunately the reason why I can't listen to that track any longer is because Hunt would later dishonorably and dishonestly disown the LD cut and utter some lies about Joe and how the LD was put together to justify how his DVD version later removed some of the material that had been in the LD cut. As a result, while the LD commentary is still magnificent for its information it is hard for me to listen to it in light of Hunt's subsequent disgraceful conduct that alienated so many "1776" fans who loved the LD and who like me refused to buy the DVD or acknowledge its existence (I'm only getting the Blu-Ray because I later found someone who combined the DVD cut's superior picture with the LD footage not retained and upscaled and with the LD sound mix for a Blu-Ray boot that I can put inside the same case as the upcoming Blu-Ray for archival purposes).

[–] Big G-2 10 years ago

Just finished watching it. Honestly, I've never seen it so sharp! I don't know what the next phase would be. I'm thinking that perhaps T.Vs of the future will be big enough that one can literally walk in the movie and be part of the action! (like Buster Keaton in SHERLOCK JR).

I did take Eric's advice and avoided the commentary.

Unfortunately, I saw Twilight Time's Facebook page and discovered that both PICNIC and BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE are now no longer available. That leaves me with Amazon or Ebay but at much higher costs. Thank goodness, I didn't have to play that game with JOURNEY and FIRST MEN IN THE MOON.

[–] Doc_Ostrow 10 years ago

Yes, I ordered it from www.screenarchives.com (Twilight Time) on 2/26/15 for $29.95 + $4.35 shipping and handling = $34.30 on Blu-ray. I originally had the DVD.

Monsters from the Id