Talk about great minds thinking alike...No sooner did Cinema Retro announce in its Magazine News section that the legendary Ray Harryhausen would be interviewed in issue #9 than Sony informed us it will release a deluxe 50th anniversary DVD edition of his classic 20 Million Miles to Earth. Harryhausen, who always wanted to film the movie in color but was prevented from doing so by budget considerations, has supervised a new colorized version of the film. Purists shouldn't panic, however, as the set will also include a pristine transfer of the film's original black and white version.
Here are the details of the forthcoming edition slated for a July release:
Sony Pictures
Home Entertainment marks the half-century milestone of one of the earliest films
by stop-motion animation genius Ray Harryhausen with the July 31 two-disc DVD
debut of 20 Million Miles to Earth: 50th
Anniversary Edition. The film, which depicts the destruction of Rome
by a reptile from the planet Venus, was directed by Nathan Juran (The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, First Men ‘in’ the Moon) and stars William
Hopper (The Bad Seed) and Joan
Taylor (Earth Vs. the Flying
Saucers). In addition to the pristine, digitally-restored black
& white original, the classic film will now be available in a newly
colorized version supervised by Harryhausen
himself.
In a recent
interview, Harryhausen said “I am thrilled that this film is finally being seen
in color. I had wanted to do the film in color in the 1950s, but our budget was
not large enough to accommodate that luxury. Now, thanks to the marvelous
advances made in the colorization process by San Diego’s Legend Films and
others, audiences will be able to see 20
Million Miles to Earth as I originally
intended.â€
20
Million Miles to Earth: 50th Anniversary Edition also contains
extensive new bonus features including audio commentary by Ray Harryhausen,
visual effects artists Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett, and producer Arnold
Kunert; Remembering 20 Million Miles to
Earth, wherein Harryhausen and others discuss the film’s production
and influence; Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray
Harryhausen; The Joan Taylor
Interview; Colorization; a video discussion of 20
Million Miles to Earth’s 1957 marketing and advertising campaign by producer
Arnold Kunert; Mischa Bakaleinikoff: Film Music’s Unsung Hero; and an elaborate
still and production art gallery.