Conquest of Space
by Byron Haskin
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Eric Fleming, Mickey Shaughnessy, Phil Foster, Walter Brooke, William RedfieldDirector: Byron Haskin
Brand: Conquest
Writer: Barré Lyndon
Writer: Chesley Bonestell
Writer: George Worthing Yates
Writer: James O'Hanlon
Writer: Philip Yordan
Writer: Wernher von Braun
Writer: Willy Ley
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 81 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-10-19
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Paramount
Product features:
- Condition: New
- Format: DVD
- Color; DVD; Widescreen; NTSC
Movie Reviews of Conquest of Space
Movie Review: A Wonderful Movie Finally Arrives on DVD
Summary: 5 Stars
This DVD version of CONQUEST OF SPACE finally treats the movie with the respect it deserves and gets FIVE stars. The anamorphic 1:1.85 widescreen image is so great, crisp, and clean it's like watching the film in the theater for the first time. Three cheers for the technicians who did the transfer!
Never has the screen shown--before or since!--a better starscape than this picture (no, not even FORBIDDEN PLANET, 2001, or STAR WARS). The opening moments show a classic round von Braun space station hanging and spinning in space with an interplanetary vehicle parked nearby. Space has never been so black, nor the stars so scintillating. The score by Van Cleave underscores the sense of wonder--both eerie and majestic--inherent in these scenes.
I first saw CONQUEST OF SPACE when I was ten. This was at a time when our local theater ran Saturday "Kiddie Mantinees" for 25 cents admission during the '50s when the feature was almost always a science-fiction movie. That's how I saw INVADERS FROM MARS, EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS, 20 MILLION MILES TO EARTH and others for the first time. As much as I was thrilled by these movies, the one that touched me the most was CONQUEST OF SPACE.
Fast forward to the '80s and '90s. The only VHS version of the film that I'm aware of could not be more terrible. The blacks are washed out due to the positively poor resolution of the tape. Even more disappointing, when the opening title sequence begins a few minutes after the start of the film, the image on the pan-and-scan VHS suddenly and unaccountably reduces in size so that the titles run in a foreshortened box surrounded by black bars on all sides. As soon as "Directed By" finishes, the movie jumps back to fill the standard TV screen. Since this sequence is one of the more dramatic moments in the film, this VHS version completely destroys the film makers' intent. Fast forward again. A couple of years ago, I discovered a Japanese Laserdisc version of the movie on E-Bay. I bought the disc hoping against hope that the Laserdisc would be an improvement over the VHS. Unfortunately it is the exact same poor resolution pan-and scan version as the VHS. But all that is in the past now thanks to this practically perfect DVD, which has restored the title sequence to its original widescreen glory.
Since this is a George Pal film, the special visual effects are as good as they could get for their time. The story about a trip to Mars has many moments of spine-tingling wonder. But, due to studio interference and pressure, the script was rushed and could have been better. The depiction of the surface of Mars was dramatic and cinematically wondrous in 1954 and knocked my socks off, but has little to do with the photographs of martian landscapes that we are familiar with today from the various NASA Mars missions.
But now I'm quibbling. This DVD is a dream come true and is the best rendering of this film since its original theatrical release in 1954. For those who wish to learn more about the production of CONQUEST OF SPACE and George Pal's other marvelous science-fiction and fantasy films, check out the out-of-print book THE FILMS OF GEORGE PAL by Gail Morgan Hickman.
Summary of Conquest of Space
No Description Available.Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: NR
Release Date: 19-OCT-2004
Media Type: DVD
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