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| Special Features: |
Widescreen anamorphic format
Chapter selection
Documentary: "The Harryhausen Chronicles"
Featurette: "The Making of 'Earth vs. The Flying Saucers'"
Featurette: "This is Dynamation"
Photo gallery
Trailers
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| Video Format: |
Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
[SS-DL]
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| Languages: |
English (Dolby Digital 2.0)
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| Subtitles: |
English, Spanish, French, Potuguese, Chinese,Thai.
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| Captions: |
Yes
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| Casing: |
1-Disc Keep Case
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During the 1950s, the golden age of science-fiction films, one man stood head and shoulders above his peers in the field of special effects. Ray Harryhausen built his reputation as the world's premiere stop-motion animator in a series of science fiction and fantasy films. He revolutionized the art invented by his mentor, Willis O'Brien. His innovations, coupled with other technological advances in the world of filmmaking, allowed the apprentice to become the master. While none of Harryhausen's films have captured the public's imagination to the extent that O'Brien's "King Kong" did, his work is clearly superior to O'Brien's. His work spawned a profitable sub-genre in the science-fiction field. His technological innovations improved the looks of animated films and brought down production costs considerably. The latter influence enabled Harryhausen to amaze and entertain audiences for nearly thirty years.
 Following "It Came From Beneath the Sea," Ray Harryhausen teamed up with Willis O'Brien for a short dinosaur battle in Irwin Allen's forgettable "The Animal World" and then began work on his next solo project, "Earth Versus the Flying Saucers." After the success of George Pal's "War of the Worlds," producer Charles Schneer realized there was money to be made in UFOs. He and Harryhausen began work on developing a script with writer Curt Sidomak.
"Earth Versus the Flying Saucers" is unique in Harryhausen's career because the animation involved inanimate objects. Harryhausen was intrigued by the challenge of making a round inanimate object visually interesting. Author Bill Warren stated that Harryhausen's saucers are the best ever done. One detail in particular adds immensely to the visual excitement of the ships in flight. Harryhausen added rotating rings on the ships. The forward motion of the saucers in flight is accented by the hypnotizing spiral of the rings which results in a rewarding tease for the eyes.
 There are two major destruction scenes in the film. One takes place at night as the saucers set a forest ablaze in an attempt to kill the film's hero, Dr. Russell Marvin (Hugh Marlowe). The lighting in this scene gives the saucers a truly terrifying appearance. The reflection of the fire on the saucers contrasted with the pitch black night sky results in an atmosphere, which ranks among the eeriest in science fiction film. Unlike the claustrophobic setting of "Alien" in which the characters had no where to run, the characters in the fire scene are in a wide, expansive terrain, and still they are trapped like sinners fleeing the wrath of God. The scene is a major accomplishment of Harryhausen's special effects.
The second major scene of mayhem is the film's climax: an attack on Washington D.C. by the saucer fleet. Harryhausen produced some of his best and intricate work. Instead of animating dinosaurs or mythical beasts, Harryhausen brought life (and death) to the Washington Monument, the Supreme Court Building and the Capitol Building. Dr. Marvin invents an ultrasonic gun, which disrupts the saucer's power-drive and causes them to fall from the sky. Of course, the fall into the aforementioned objects. Harryhausen had to animate the destruction of the buildings brick by brick. Each brick was suspended on invisible wires as Harryhausen worked his meticulous magic.
 The scene in which the Washington Monument collapses on a crowd of people was so effective that it was lifted for use in the low-budget stinker "The Giant Claw." Less anyone think that Harryhausen would be upset by this practice, they should look quickly for the destruction of L.A.'s City hall which was lifted from George Pal's "War of the Worlds" and inserted into Harryhausen's film. Borrowing scenes from other movies and using stock footage were two economical ways that Harryhausen and many other low-budget filmmakers cut production costs in the 1950s. Sometimes it worked well, and at other times you had glaring mistakes such as the battery of army cannons firing on the flying saucers as they attack Washington D.C. The battery of cannons is obviously out in a desert of the western United States. All of that aside, Harryhausen's destruction of America's Capitol was a monumental achievement.
Great movie, picture and sound. Outstanding extras. A must have for Ray Harryhausen fans.
Picture Quality: 9/10
Columbia did an excellent job cleaning up this old film. The movie is in Black and White. The variety in the grayscales is great. Wonderful depth of field and delineation of light and dark shades. The 'forest fire' scene is a standout. The contrast between the fire, night sky and the saucers is wonderful. There are a few specks visible now and then from the original source material.
Sound Quality: 8/10
The sound is mono, but it serves the purpose. The saucer sound effects are still quite original.
Menu: 8/10
Nice nostalgic menu design. Incorporates images and ideas from the movie. Fun menu that is easy to navigate.
Extra Features: 10/10
 The big extra on this DVD is the documentary "The Harryhausen Chronicles." Harryhausen’s 50 year film career is the subject of this loving documentary by Time Magazine film critic Richard Schickle. Fans and non-fans alike will enjoy this intimate portrait of the creator of countless dreams.
The documentary includes interviews with Harryhausen's boyhood friend, Ray Bradbury. The two men (along with the conspicuously absent Forrest J. Ackerman) met as youths and pledged to remain friends, never grow up and to always love dinosaurs. Harryhausen recounts his career in interviews at the Berlin museum, which now houses many of his creations. There are also still photographs of Harryhausen's youth and early animation efforts.
There are enough clips from Harryhausen's films to whet the appetite of any fantasy fan. If the documentary has a flaw, it is its brevity. I wish there had been more film clips of Harryhausen's work. I still rate the documentary a 10. For those familiar with Harryhausen's work, this DVD is a Godsend. To those who's knowledge of dinosaurs on film is limited to the CGIosauruses from "Jurassic Park," get this DVD and see the work of the man who all modern special Effects technicians consider to be a living legend.
 The DVD includes two featurettes. The "Making Of" featurette is an interview with Harryhausen concerning the animation in this particular film. The 10-minute interview gives some good insight into how hard it was to animate the buildings.
The other featurette is an old studio promotional film that was released when Harryhausen made "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad." The 3-minute promo talks about Harryhausen's animation process called "Dynamation." There is also a good photo gallery, and trailers for this and two other Harryhausen films.
The Final Word:
"Earth vs. the Flying Saucers" is a must have DVD! And remember, "Keep Watching the Skies!"
Rusty White
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