H.G. Wells - Things to Come
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.11 You Save: $3.83 (38%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.75 (click here) Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
Canada
Movie Reviews of H.G. Wells - Things to Come
Movie Review: A visual feast made palatable
Summary: 4 Stars
Image Entertainment's DVD edition of H.G. Wells "Things To Come" is a welcome improvement over other home video editions. The package and marketing information state that this edition features "a new video transfer from original source materials", and so it evidently does. Yet, these words could be misleading. Image may have obtained the use of an authorized "original" studio print for this edition, and I appreciate their doing so, but this does not look like an "original" print in the usual sense. In 1935 & '36 London Pictures spent a fortune to make "Things To Come". The movie is a sober warning of the horrors and retrograde effects of war on society. At the time of its appearance, the world still suffered under the brutal memories of the World War that ended in 1918, and at the time of the film's release, with rumblings of the rising Nazi war machine in Europe, the public was in no mood to be reminded of war's frightful prospect. Audiences shunned "Things To Come" in droves. The studio never came close to recovering the costs of the picture, and ended up abandoning it. The rights eventually fell into the public domain, and there it has languished, with numerous opportunists making duplicate prints from the existing original 16mm prints. These shoddily made prints were transfered to tape, and cheaply copied to VHS tapes that are unviewable as anything other than a poor suggestion of the film's original glory.
By abandoning the film, the studio didn't bother to preserve the negatives, and the scarce original release prints made in the 30's and the hundreds of unauthorized duplications are all that remain. Since most studio films are shot in 35mm, a 35mm print would be the closest descendent from the camera negative, and the best existing source from which to make a new negative, or a video transfer. Since most 35mm prints are destroyed when a film is withdrawn from theatrical distribution, very few, if any 35mm prints of "Things To Come" have survived to our time. It is therefore not surprising that Image Entertainment's video transfer is not from an original 35mm print. Indeed, strictly speaking, it isn't really from an original 16mm print, either.
If you duplicate an old photograph without first shooting a negative from the photo, the final printed duplicate will not look much like the original photo: it will lack contrast and range of gray scale. Yet, that is how most 16mm "duped" movie prints are made. Printing of movies is very expensive, and shooting an intermediate negative doubles the expense if only a single positive duplication is made. What's more, 16mm offers a very tiny frame from which to shoot a negative. An intermediate negative shot from a 16mm print would perhaps produce better contrast and range of gray tone, but because it is an added step in the duplication process, it further diminishes the final image resolution and adds more distortion and noise in the optical sound track.
The source elements for this DVD edition are not your typical "duped" 16mm print. They appear to be printed from a negative generated by reduction from a 35mm POSITIVE print. It also appears that exposure correction may have been applied to various scenes during the printing process. This then is probably a studio duplicate using a 16mm duped reduction inter-negative, resulting in a 16mm print with fine contrast and gray tones, while still exhibiting good image resolution and sound. The sound for this negative may have been electro-optically transfered, thus reducing the distortion and noise contributed by optics-only duplication, and nearly matches the sound quality of a true original 16mm print. The sound is so primitive however, that it is hard to be certain. Nevertheless, the dialog comes through nearly as well as from original 16mm studio prints of other titles from this period. The music, however, is a bit distorted and shrill at times.
Having gone to the trouble to make a 16mm reduction inter-negative, it is surprising that the 35mm source print for it wasn't first cleaned up. There are emulsion lines, and a lot of dirt that could have been removed fairly economically. My guess is that the inter-negative was made long ago, before methods for line removal had been developed and before the film was felt important enough for such maintenance. Nevertheless, the results, while hardly gorgeous, are the best I've seen of this title, and the DVD should bear up well to repeated or extended viewing.
I find Daniel P. B. Smith's comments (elsewhere on this page) telling. I quote: "In the late sixties, I saw a clean print of this movie in a New York theatre and it blew me away. ...it is visually spectacular.... The sound was...crisp and clear and capable of delivering the impact of the Arthur Bliss music." I envy you, Daniel.
Just because such a 35mm print was still extant in the 60's is no proof that such a print still exists more than 30 years later, although it seems likely. It is lamentable that the film has not been digitized, and so preserved for all time, using original 35mm elements. This is a visually ground-breaking film which continues to impress viewers as well as influence film makers, and it will no doubt continue to do so; but unless a collector comes forward with an original 35mm print for high resolution digital transfer, future generations may be consigned to view it thru a glass, darkly. But, at least with this DVD, the glass is now significantly less dark. Thank you Image Entertainment for taking pains to obtain this print.
Movie Review: Eerie, but worthwhile
Summary: 4 Stars
Okay, enough already about the transfers, let's talk about the film itself.In a nutshell, this 1936 Brit sci-fi feature deals with war and progress. Everytown (London?) is shown in 1940 about to celebrate Christmas amidst blaring headlines of war (in a nifty bit of symbolism, the children play with war toys around the Christmas tree). Then war hits the city (in an eerily accurate foretelling of the German blitz that DID rock England in 1940). As time goes on, the war drags into decades ending up in a post-apocalyptic society in 1966.
Because of the war, Everytown/London has regressed into a crude, medieval type society without electricity which wastes its resources on senseless wars and is led by a Hitler-type warlord ogre called "The Boss." The world is also famished by a deadly, incurable disease called "Wandering Sickenss" whose victims are shot by the boss (reminds you of Castro's quarantine of AIDS patients). John Cabal (Raymond Massey) is a leader of scientists who return to civilize Everytown/London and establish a scientific technocracy. But the Boss demands the technology to wage more war, which he tells his followers is necessary for the peace (he begins to sound frighteningly like George Bush Jr. during such speeches). Anyway, the Boss and Cabal face off, and I'll leave the rest to your imagination. A moon shot and some anti-progress protesters (simialr to today's anti WTO protesters) play major parts in the latter third of the story.
For those of us who are into history, this film is extremely eerie, yet fascinating and worthwhile to watch. It's scary in that some of what H.G. Wells prophesized did indeed come true in ways that are even more so than what I just mentioned. (Think of some of today's so-called Third World countries whose resources are wasted by boss-like dictators among other things). Basically, this film, despite the overtly speechike dialogue (Raymond Massey's soliloquy about the need for progress near the film's end is a bit hard to take), is an eloquent sermon on the hindrance that war makes on the progress of humanity and the need for education to triumph over ignorance. It would be great for a high school or college history teacher to show and have a discussion with their classes about this film.
Movie Review: HE AIN'T HEAVY, HE'S MY BROTHER
Summary: 4 Stars
First - the review posted here is for the IMAGE WADE WILLIAMS release of THINGS TO COME - this edtion sports a remastered print. There are several releases out there, and if you're not looking carefully you can easily get confused - look for the WADE WILLIAMS logo in the upper right hand corner to be sure. With that out of the way I can say that this DVD release is by far the best on the market right now. The film has been remastered and despite a few artifacts and scratches, it is balanced and holds together very well throughout the entire film. And what a film - preachy, heavy handed, intelligent, witty and downright entertaining. THINGS TO COME is more than sci-fi, but poli-sci - a massive recounting of the stages of war and the human struggle against not only their nature, but themselves. While the dialouge may be stilted, and the performances fit more for the stage than the screen - there are moments of outright shock, terror and pure chills than most films combined in the same genre (I dare you not to feel a general unease as we launch in the post war, plauge ravaged EVERYTOWN where people barter for food and their lives admist the rubble and shadows of their once great supermarkets and stores - where the shop signs remain, but the goods and good will have long since been worn away). This film shoots for the moon - so much so that it ends on that high note. THINGS TO COME is a well meaning and entertaining gem of a movie. For fans of the genre, it's a must for any collection - for the curious you'll find a surprise that bears repeat viewing. Highly recommdned.Movie Review: This is the DVD edition to buy
Summary: 4 Stars
Please note that some of the reviews below refer to the two previous DVD releases, both of which are low-priced (one is the double-feature that also includes "Journey to the Center of the Sun"). Picture and sound quality on these other releases is poor; however the Image release, priced at around ..., features a new transfer that boasts a clear sharp picture through most of the movie and an improved soundtrack (on the cheap editions, the dialogue was frequently unintelligible). If you are a fan of this movie, this is the DVD version you should buy.I agree with some reviewers that Wells's vision of the future is fascist in some respects. The vaulting ambition of human PRO-gress depicted in this movie is inspiring to a degree, but is laid on pretty thick. Viewed in the context in which it was made, this is a very enjoyable film, featuring some first-rate production design and visual effects, particularly for the time, along with a lantern-jawed performance by Raymond Massey that is stirring if not always believable.
This is a worthwhile film for all science fiction fans, in my opinion, and should be seen at least once. If you're going to buy it on DVD, though, I recommend you spend the extra bucks and buy the IMAGE version.
Movie Review: Don't be confused--this DVD version is the remastering!
Summary: 4 Stars
I've loved this film for decades and lived with the wretched old 16mm Blackhawke print (to tape and later to DVD) because of the outstanding film making it is. Whether you think it's preachy or passionate, the direction, art direction and performances are outstanding.Anyway, don't be confused. This is a remastering from 35mm originals found in some vault somewhere (no details offered on packaging or disc). I only gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because there's no restoration here--just remastering. Still, it's wonderful to see more detail and better contrast come through. There might even be a snippet or two that aren't in the previous version--can't be sure.
Enjoy!