Ray Harryhausen Collection

Before movies even boasted color or sound they had special effects. The magic of motion pictures was for a large part its ability to transport its audience to places of pure imagination inhabited by creatures impossible within the limitations of mundane reality. The craft of creating special effects has grown over the last century to the point that now every big budget block buster movie devotes a sizable sum to incredibly powerful computers and programmers highly skilled in transforming any idea, no matter how impossible into a scene that will amaze the audience with its reality. Such effects can make a teen age wizard play a ball game while zooming through the air or manufacture creature from another world intent on our annihilation. One thing all modern special effects have in common is the debt they owe to the grandfather of this art form, Ray Harryhausen. In a career that spans nearly seven decades Harryhausen constructed some of the most popular special effects in cinematic history. Although computers have all but replaced the tedious stop action methods perfected by this man his genius continues to heavily influence yet another generation of film makers and special effects mavens. Younger movie fans, particularly those favoring action. Sci-Fi and fantasy may look at the films contained in the Ray Harryhausen Collection and think that the effects are primitive, even laughable. My advice is to step back, take another look with more discerning eyes and you will see the inherent beauty and subtitle nuances contained in the special effects he hand crafted. There was something unmistakable about the style that this humble man created that will live on forever. The release of the Ray Harryhausen collection in Blu-ray was exciting news to his large legion of loyal fans including me. This was an opportunity to see the best work of a master artisan better than it was display in our local movie theater. The collection also included features and bonus material obviously geared toward those of us who spent hour after hour enthralled by his work.

Ray Harryhausen is now 90 years old and quite literally changed the face of movie making. In interviews he has mentioned that he was so impressed by the effect in the classic movie ‘King Kong’ that he decided to learn the secrets of how that great ape was made to perform. In the pursuit of this goal he began to work for the special effects wizard of that film, Willis O'Brien. One of Harryhausen’s first movies was homage to his mentor ‘Mighty Joe Young’ where he served as a technician. From there he worked his way up through the ranks to becoming a creative director and producer. One thing that gave me some degree of trepidation with this Blu-ray release was the inclusion of colorized versions of the four films featured in this collection. I have always been adamantly opposed to colorization as an affront to the creative vision of the film maker. Naturally, many films were made before color was a standard part of cinema. I always looked at it as just another means of expression just like charcoal and pastels are different but both respected forms of expression of an artist. With colorization some technician makes the pallet decisions that should be handled by the film maker completely ruining the integrity of the film. In one infamous example Frank Sinatra was given brown eyes! After watching these films in both their black and white and colorized forms and I have to admit the colorized editions were the best examples of the technique I have ever witnessed. The colors were natural and well saturated. Textures to surfaces and clothing come across exceptionally realistically. Much of the shadowing and contrast translated from the B&W with a careful attention to detail and realism. The best part of the way this is handled on the release is the switch between B&W and color is selectable not just at the start of playing the film but at any time during the film. Making use of the advanced menu abilities for the Blu-ray format you can toggle back and forth between the two formats with ease. If you are going to have colorization this is the best way to do it. the audio is re-mastered to 5.21 True HD but the sound stage is a bit flat. It does converts well using the preset audio programs found with all modern 5.1 or 7.1 home theater receivers. I found the one that emulates an old neighborhood movie theater great since it comes out just like the old movie houses where I first saw these flicks.

The process generally employed by Harryhausen was stop action photography. A model, usually made with modeling clay on a bendable wire frame is moved slight and photographed. It takes 24 movements or frames to produce a single second of screen time so back before computers this was an extremely tedious and time consuming process. Harryhausen made this methodology into an art form. He was able to make the individual movements so subtly is the movements when played take on a very natural cadence. Another important factor is the way Harryhausen was able to infuse a personality into the creatures he crafted. Look at the creature in ’20 Million Miles to Earth’. Unlike most monster flicks this one allows the audience to form an emotion to the being from another world. There is a pathos generated so that it is overwhelming sad when it dies at the end. This was typical of Harryhausen’s work; he was a student of how various animals moved and expressed themselves. To this end he knew the necessary anatomy to allow him to build a creature from the skeleton outward through muscle and skin. His monsters had faces and body movements that expressed true emotion. This minute attention extended to objects as well. If you look closely at the space ships in ‘Earth vs. the Flying Saucers’ the concentric sections of the craft move in opposite directions. Overall this is a most have for all Harryhausen fans but anyone who appreciates special effects and is interested in how the technology began.

It Came From Beneath The Sea
Feature Available in Original B&W and Color (Chromachoise to Toggle Between B&W and Color)
Audio Commentary with Ray Harryhausen Visual Effects Artist Randell William Cook and John Bruno, and Arnold Kunert
Remembering It Came From Beneath The Sea
Tim Burton sits down with Ray Harryhausen
David Schecter on Film Music's Unsung Hero
A present day look at stop motion
Digital sneak peek of It Came From Beneath The Sea...Again! comic book
Video Photo Gallery

Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers
Audio Commentary with Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects artist Jeffrey Okun and Ken Ralston, and Arnold Junert
Remembering Earth vs. The Flying Saucers
The Hollywood Blacklist and Bernard Gordon
Original Screenplay Credits
Interview with Joan Taylor
Video Photo Galleries
Original Ad Artwork
The Colorization Process
Digital Sneak Peak of Flying Saucers vs. The Earth Comic Book

20 Million Miles To Earth
Feature Available in Original B&W and Color (Chromachoise to Toggle Between B&W and Color)
Audio Commentary with Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects Artists Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett, and Arnold Kunert
Remembering 20 Million Miles To Earth
The Colorization Process
Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen
Interview with Joan Taylor
20 Million Miles More Comic Book
Original Ad Artwork
David Schechter on Film Music's Unsung Hero
Video Photo Galleries

The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad
Audio Commentary With Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects Expert Phil Tippett And Randall William Cook, Authors Steven Smith, And Arnold Kunert
Remembering The 7th Voyage Of Sinbad
The Harryhausen Legacy
The Music Of Bernard Herrmann
Photo Gallery
Sinbad May Have Been Bad, But He's Been Good To Me Music Video
A Look Behind The Voyage
Special Effects Featurette
Ray Harryhausen Interviewed By Director John Landis

Posted 10/21/2010