20 Million Miles To Earth (50th Anniversary Edition) [Blu-ray]

     Special-effects legend Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion talents and "Dynamation" (rear-projection) process are the highlights of the '50s-era creature feature 20 Million Miles to Earth. An American spaceship returns to Earth after a mission to Venus and crashes into the sea near Sicily. A sole survivor (William Hopper) is rescued, along with a specimen that quickly grows into a reptilian biped called the Ymir. The being eventually grows to 20 feet high and escapes its confines, whereupon it rampages through Rome before a showdown with the military. Despite lacking much of a personality, the Ymir is a marvelous showcase for Harryhausen's skills. Unfortunately, the rest of the film does not match his level of excellence; direction by Nathan Juran is perfunctory (his later collaborations with Harryhausen, including The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad, are more lively), and performances and scripting are flat. Still, Harryhausen fans should enjoy this opportunity to see this phase of his career before he created his most enduring works.

      Special effects genius Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans) brings you one of his earliest groundbreaking films, now available for the first time in vibrant color! When an American spaceship crash-lands off the coast of Sicily, a rescue team discovers that the crew has brought back a gelatinous mass that soon hatches and evolves into a strange bi-ped creature which increases in size rapidly. Soon 20-feet tall, the creature rampages through Rome before being destroyed as it seeks refuge in the Colosseum.

Comment:
    Great example of Science fiction B movies of the 50's. If you love that kind of stuff, you will love this. If not, don't bother. Getting this is a no-brainer if you are a fan of Ray, or the "golden age of sci-fi". I'm not a fan of colorization, but this is actually kind of interesting. It looks like those old hand colored lobby cards (which I collect). And the B&W is there if you prefer. Will more of Ray's work get the Blu treatment? Pretty please?!! I first read about this film over at DVDbeaver and was looking forward to seeing how it had been colourised. I was not disapointed, the film itself is the typical low budget hokum that you would expect from this period. Though the special effects from Ray Harryhousen are very good for their time. The colourisation is variable in it's success rate. At it's best it looks like a 50's colour film but, as is often the case with this process, the greens for trees and grass is less than convincing. Skin tones, often poor in earlier re-colourings are generally pretty good. I certainly did not find the colour distracting. A black and white version is also included and it's possible to switch between the 2 versions using the "angle" button on the remote. It was a movie that I remembered from my childhood and wanted to buy it. the color/black white change was something new. I really enjoyed the movie. Another movie from that golden era of science fiction. Sure, they don't measure up to today's standards of acting or special effects, but that is the genre. The film was colorized with mixed results. The BW version is also included with the ability to togle back and forth between the two versions using the view angle function of your remote control. I like this movie and recommend it to others fans of old sci fi.