![]() It certainly didn't disappoint and remains a film I watch with great fondness. I can remember seeing the trailer for The Dark Crystal when I was probably 7 or 8 years old and being absolutely gobsmacked at the visuals - and a bit scared too. Skektek's crystal challenge, and picture in picture storyboard track Plus 2 new Blu-ray exclusives-the Book of Thra- Dark crystal collector There's also Deleted scenes, original theatrical trailer So it's of course better clearer picture quality than VHS This TV Doco has been Digitally remastered in 1:33:1 ratio Which of course has on the set interviews with Jim Henson, Frank oz, Kathryn mullen & other crew Plus the TV broadcast Doco from the early 80's called the World of the Dark crystal So about 1 hour of new interviews that could be played continouslyīut for some reason are split into 2 featurettes Some other behind the scenes crew are also interviewedīut sadly producer Gary kurtz or Frank oz are not interviewedĢnd part is SHARD OF ILLUSION which is about the filming & shooting of the Dark crystal The other Gelfling Jen was puppeteered by Jim Henson himself who also shared the Directing with Frank OZ Kathryn mullen who was the puppeteer for one of the Gelflings-Kira Interviews with screenplay writer David Odell, conceptual Designer Brian froud and REFLECTIONS OF THE DARK CRYSTAL-2parts to thisġst is LIGHT ON THE PATH OF CREATION-36mins which is a retrospective making of featurette Plus the sound quality has been boosted to a new 5.1 Master audio mix which does sound better than the Dolby digital mixĪll the special features from the 2 Disc dvd set have been carried over With a new HD transfer & i tell you what the picture quality looks very sharp & clear for sure in 2:35:1 ratio Sony pictures who owns the rights to this classic film have now released it on blu-ray This film is Definitely a treasure that will stand the test of time So the puppeteers had to make lots of amazing effort to make the characters seem realĮspecially the 2 Gelfling characters and it definitely shows on the screen for sure The creature effects still look amazing today, of course back in the early 80's no computer effects were available This classic Jim Henson film from 1981 is now on blu-ray, much better than the 2 disc dvd setīrilliantly Directed by Puppeteer master Jim Henson & some scenes are also directed by Frank oz Nothing extra with this particular version - perhaps other DVD or Blue Ray versions? It would be fascinating to see the film as he originally intended, and had Jim Henson lived into the age of the DVD and Blue Ray I'm sure he would have had lots of bonus features to give us. I've also been interested to learn that Henson originally had the Skeksis and The Mystics speaking their own language without subtitles, but decided to add English dialogue later after negative reactions in test screenings. This proves true in The Dark Crystal, where the story and characters may have some weak spots but the whole movie is still exciting and interesting to look at, even after all this time. ![]() Henson's biographer (Brian Jay Jones) also explored the theme of Jim Henson often being more concerned with how a movie looked visually than the story and characters, and would build movies beginning with a visual concept rather than with a story. There's a quote from someone in the book saying something about how the movie will likely always have historical importance as it is and always will be the only big budget feature length motion picture where everything we see on the screen is hand made. It's nice to now be able to match the idealized memories in my head with the reality of seeing the movie again 30 years after it came out.Īfter reading Jim Henson's biography I felt like I had a better appreciation for the significance of this film both in the context of its release date, and many years later. The movie look great and sounds great in HD. I guess this is one I had just never taken the time to upgrade - funny to think that people might still be popping in old tapes from the 80's…but it was fun skipping all the technological advances over the years and jumping from 80's home recording right to Amazon HD quality with the flexibility to play the movie across so many devices, including our TV. or so before giving up - I should have known though. I've seen THE DARK CRYSTAL several times over the last thirty years or so (wow, am I really that old?) but it has been several years since my last viewing I pulled out my trusty old VHS copy that had been recorded from HBO in about 1984, hoping to interest my son in something from my childhood, and was amazed at the terrible sound and picture quality - we could only watch about 30 min.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |