Earth vs. The Flying Saucers - color
T987654321
" A B-movie treat! A young scientist and his wife are developing
secret missiles, but their project hits a snag when their test rockets
start mysteriously exploding before they hit their targets. The couple
soon discovers that their rocket design isn't to blame; what's
intercepting and destroying their rockets is the amazing technology
belonging to a slew of flying saucers circling the globe! "-Netflix
Considerably better than the average '50s "B" movie. Most of the film
is very credible; except for the aliens attack on DC at the end. Ray
Harryhausen did a fantastic job of stop motion again with a
nonexistent budget.
Both the original B&W and a new colorized version are on the Blu-Ray
release. As with 20,000,000 Miles the colourizing look "right", it
comes off just the way it would have looked it had been shot on mid
fifties color film.
moviePig
If the colorizing were done by, say, a grad student working long,
loving hours simply to add his unique artistic impression to his
favorite film, then it'd surely be worth watching. But a color-comfy
factory-try at resuscitating the thrills and chills of Harryhausen's
camp classic? If you watch *that*, then your immortal soul risks
being dragged to hell by aliens...
--
- - - - - - - -
YOUR taste at work...
http://www.moviepig.com
globular
Was Ray Harryhausen involved with the colorizing?
He has been doing that with some old films, Things To Come and She from
the 30s. 'I know that the director originally wanted to do She in
color' he says. Things To Come doesn't look that good though. One
problem might be that I have a copy that was converted from NTSC to PAL,
a nasty thing to do.
goldenc...@gmail.com
Legend Films (with which Harryhausen has worked) is doing remarkable
job *colourizing* many old B&W films...as well as restoring the
original. One excellent example is their work on the original Roger
Corman film THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. If anyone has seen the film
play late night on the boob tube, and seen the old beat up and
scratchy print used, they are in for a pleasant surprise. It looks
like it was filmed yesterday. Their site has many clips from the many
films that demonstrate the quality of the colourization being done.
Legend Films also does some *special effects*-type colouring work on
recent films.
Anim8rFSK
<d0542d19-9d30-4a46...@r16g2000vbn.googlegroups.com>,
moviePig <pwal...@moviepig.com> wrote:
> On Jun 3, 2:21�am, T987654321 <qwrtz...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956)
> >
> > " A B-movie treat! A young scientist and his wife are developing
> > secret missiles, but their project hits a snag when their test rockets
> > start mysteriously exploding before they hit their targets. The couple
> > soon discovers that their rocket design isn't to blame; what's
> > intercepting and destroying their rockets is the amazing technology
> > belonging to a slew of flying saucers circling the globe! "-Netflix
> >
> > Considerably better than the average '50s "B" movie. �Most of the film
> > is very credible; except for the aliens attack on DC at the end. �Ray
> > Harryhausen did a fantastic job of stop motion again with a
> > nonexistent budget.
> >
> > Both the original B&W and a new colorized version are on the Blu-Ray
> > release. �As with 20,000,000 Miles the colourizing look "right", it
> > comes off just the way it would have looked it had been shot on mid
> > fifties color film.
>
> If the colorizing were done by, say, a grad student working long,
> loving hours simply to add his unique artistic impression to his
> favorite film,
Then it still wouldn't look as "it had been shot on mid fifties color
film"
then it'd surely be worth watching. But a color-comfy
> factory-try at resuscitating the thrills and chills of Harryhausen's
> camp classic? If you watch *that*, then your immortal soul risks
> being dragged to hell by aliens...
>
> --
>
> - - - - - - - -
> YOUR taste at work...
> http://www.moviepig.com
--
MEGA-SHARK VS GIANT OCTOPUS!
A new contender for "worst film of all time"
Deborah Gibson is like a Traci Lords without talent.
moviePig
Imho...
...yes to restoration, no to colorizing. E.g., if LITTLE SHOP *had*
been 'filmed yesterday', then it would suck. But it wasn't (and, of
course, doesn't).
Again, imho.
Derek Janssen
> On Jun 3, 2:10 pm, goldencocke...@gmail.com wrote:
>
>>On Jun 3, 8:06 am, globular <s...@there.invalid> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956)
>>
>>>>Both the original B&W and a new colorized version are on the Blu-Ray
>>>>release. As with 20,000,000 Miles the colourizing look "right", it
>>>>comes off just the way it would have looked it had been shot on mid
>>>>fifties color film.
>>
>>>Was Ray Harryhausen involved with the colorizing?
Yep, and shilled 'em like a two-bit ho. -_-
>>Legend Films (with which Harryhausen has worked) is doing remarkable
>>job *colourizing* many old B&W films...as well as restoring the
>>original. One excellent example is their work on the original Roger
>>Corman film THE LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. If anyone has seen the film
>>play late night on the boob tube, and seen the old beat up and
>>scratchy print used, they are in for a pleasant surprise. It looks
>>like it was filmed yesterday. Their site has many clips from the many
>>films that demonstrate the quality of the colourization being done.
>>
>>http://www.legendfilms.net/
>
> ...yes to restoration, no to colorizing. E.g., if LITTLE SHOP *had*
> been 'filmed yesterday', then it would suck. But it wasn't (and, of
> course, doesn't).
>
> Again, imho.
Not that we actually *need* it (and don't), but having seen it--or at
least seen "20 Million Miles to Earth" on Blu--I'll give points that
when Legend works as a paid employee for Sony (qv. the colorized
Stooges), they seem to have been "tamed" back into sensible, respectably
convincing colorization, compared to those pink-pastel public-domain
nightmares we all grew up with in the 80s.
(And which Legend still tried to foist on us on their own in the
early-00's by attaching washed-up MST3K comics to.)
Why did we get these?--No one knows, really. It was the early days when
Blu-ray needed a buck, and studios were afraid of B/W.
But at least let's get over a few of our prejudices, now that
colorization's back to being just a lab tool, and Ted Turner's now
living in happy senile retirement. (Wait, IS he still alive??)
Derek Janssen (but oh, those days when they used to tint the "Night of
the Living Dead" zombies mint-green...)
eja...@verizon.net
steve
On 3-Jun-2009, moviePig <pwal...@moviepig.com> wrote:
> Imho...
>
> ...yes to restoration, no to colorizing. E.g., if LITTLE SHOP *had*
> been 'filmed yesterday', then it would suck. But it wasn't (and, of
> course, doesn't).
>
> Again, imho.
Originally I was glad, for purely artistic reasons, that the market
essentially said no to colorization. But if the market had embraced it,
then it's quite likely that more films would be restored, and (as we have
seen in virtually all cases) offered in both (restored) original and
colorized form. Artistic bastardization seems to have a positive side
effect. So it's really too bad that no one wants to see old B&W films in
color....IMHO...well...IMO, anyway.
steve
--
"Hypocrisy is the homage vice pays to virtue."
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Bob F.
"steve" <st...@steve.com> wrote in message
news:hlBVl.488$VL5...@newsfe22.iad...
>
> On 3-Jun-2009, moviePig <pwal...@moviepig.com> wrote:
>
>> Imho...
>>
>> ...yes to restoration, no to colorizing. E.g., if LITTLE SHOP *had*
>> been 'filmed yesterday', then it would suck. But it wasn't (and, of
>> course, doesn't).
>>
>> Again, imho.
>
> Originally I was glad, for purely artistic reasons, that the market
> essentially said no to colorization. But if the market had embraced
> it,
> then it's quite likely that more films would be restored, and (as we
> have
> seen in virtually all cases) offered in both (restored) original and
> colorized form. Artistic bastardization seems to have a positive side
> effect. So it's really too bad that no one wants to see old B&W films
> in
> color....IMHO...well...IMO, anyway.
IMO the market didn't embrace the original colorizations simply because
the results were so dreadful.
Had to product been better, things would have been different... maybe.
AZ Nomad
It's a dreadful process. Why should dreadful results surprise anybody?
Captain Infinity
AZ Nomad wrote:
>It's a dreadful process. Why should dreadful results surprise anybody?
The colorization of Earth vs. the Fkying Saucers is marvelous, and it's
a much better film because of it.
**
Captain Infinity
Traveler
wrote:
I wouldn't say much better, but it does give a bit more feeling of
reality that I always find missing in b&w films.
Derek Janssen
>
>> Originally I was glad, for purely artistic reasons, that the market
>> essentially said no to colorization. But if the market had embraced it,
>> then it's quite likely that more films would be restored, and (as we have
>> seen in virtually all cases) offered in both (restored) original and
>> colorized form. Artistic bastardization seems to have a positive side
>> effect. So it's really too bad that no one wants to see old B&W films in
>> color....IMHO...well...IMO, anyway.
>
> IMO the market didn't embrace the original colorizations simply because
> the results were so dreadful.
> Had to product been better, things would have been different... maybe.
Well, it was certainly bad (...YEESH!! >_< ), but historically, the
battle for 80's colorization had been pushed to its ultimate Armageddon
when Ted Turner claimed he was going to colorize "Citizen Kane" (because
it was there)--
Anyone who knows the name of Gregg Toland can tell you *why* most 40's
B/W-noir can't be designed for color, but Ted's now-famous response will
be carved on his tombstone: "I own 'em, I can do what I want with 'em."
Er, well, not quite--Seems owning the RKO catalog wasn't enough, the
Welles estate had conultation written into their contract, and Ted
*didn't* own it sufficiently enough to do what he wanted with it.
That was the moral victory movie fans had been waiting for, and interest
in colorized revivals evaporated almost overnight.
It was almost the same year that we got Turner announcing a new Classic
Movies channel with movies now "uncut, *uncolorized*, and commercial-free."
Derek Janssen (Yeah--And stay down.) :)
eja...@verizon.net
David Oberman
>The colorization of Earth vs. the Fkying Saucers is marvelous, and it's
>a much better film because of it.
What do you guys think of the colorization of the first few seasons of
"Bewitched"? I think it looks great!
It's come a long way from the old days when TNT would broadcast a
colorized version of "Jezebel" in which the colors didn't stay within
the "lines" as characters walked across the frame or as the camera
panned.
____
"Mademoiselle de la Mole must be well inured to the
amiabilities of the guests of this house, yet I even
see her yawning sometimes."
-- "The Red & the Black"
Derek Janssen
>
> It's come a long way from the old days when TNT would broadcast a
> colorized version of "Jezebel" in which the colors didn't stay within
> the "lines" as characters walked across the frame or as the camera
> panned.
Or the 80's colorized "It's a Wonderful Life", where the computers,
trying to keep up with the snow flying past Jimmy Stewart on the bridge,
seem to be crying "...We give up, we give up! :( "
Derek Janssen
eja...@verizon.net
Paul B. Thompson
news:h06tg4$6eh$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
>
> IMO the market didn't embrace the original colorizations simply because
> the results were so dreadful.
> Had to product been better, things would have been different... maybe.
>
Colorization always struck me as a solution where no problem existed--but
then I don't understand people who hate B&W films simply because they are
B&W.
PBT
Bob F.
"Paul B. Thompson" <mra...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:0QEVl.126$tr5...@nwrddc02.gnilink.net...
Agreed, there is no need for colorization.
A well made B&W film is a joy to behold.
globular
as a child during a time when there is no color television.
It's a memory but I don't think that way now.
globular
> Captain Infinity <Infi...@captaininfinity.us> wrote:
>
>> The colorization of Earth vs. the Fkying Saucers is marvelous, and it's
>> a much better film because of it.
>
> What do you guys think of the colorization of the first few seasons of
> "Bewitched"? I think it looks great!
....no
Mine's actually b&w though. I Dream Of Jeannie I have colorized. I've
adjusted my DVD player to wash out the color when playing it.
The main thing, amongst others, is the contrast and depth of the
picture, that colorization just doesn't seem to deal with.
AZ Nomad
>David Oberman wrote:
>> Captain Infinity <Infi...@captaininfinity.us> wrote:
>>
>>> The colorization of Earth vs. the Fkying Saucers is marvelous, and it's
>>> a much better film because of it.
>>
>> What do you guys think of the colorization of the first few seasons of
>> "Bewitched"? I think it looks great!
>....no
>Mine's actually b&w though. I Dream Of Jeannie I have colorized. I've
>adjusted my DVD player to wash out the color when playing it.
>The main thing, amongst others, is the contrast and depth of the
>picture, that colorization just doesn't seem to deal with.
It deals with it by fucking it up. Turning down the color on a
colorized movie doesn't restore it to its original state.
It converts the selected colors to their luminence only which all
to often is far less contrast than the original.
globular
I compromise by washing out the color, I know it's not the same by
turning the color off.
I think I do have Bewitched colorised, but I have the color down so I've
forgotten.
goldenc...@gmail.com
>
> Colorization always struck me as a solution where no problem existed--but
> then I don't understand people who hate B&W films simply because they are
> B&W.
>
> PBT
I LOVE B&W...films and photos. But I think a few films *scream out* to
be colorized. For me, a perfect example is the Laurel & Hardy BABES IN
TOYLAND (March of the Wooden Soldiers). The excellent colourization
adds to the film...in a fairytale-like manner.
I don't see the harm. Many of these films are being restored and
presented in both its original B&W and the colourized versions.
Anim8rFSK
AZ Nomad <azno...@PremoveOBthisOX.COM> wrote:
Exactly. A color film with the color removed does *not* look like a
black and white film, so why would a black and white film with color
added look like a color film?
Bob F.
<goldenc...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:d433a93d-ae8f-469d...@j32g2000yqh.googlegroups.com...
On Jun 3, 5:46 pm, "Paul B. Thompson" <mra...@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> Colorization always struck me as a solution where no problem
> existed--but
> then I don't understand people who hate B&W films simply because they
> are
> B&W.
>
> PBT
I LOVE B&W...films and photos. But I think a few films *scream out* to
be colorized. For me, a perfect example is the Laurel & Hardy BABES IN
TOYLAND (March of the Wooden Soldiers). The excellent colourization
adds to the film...in a fairytale-like manner.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I don't know what version of "Babes" you've seen but the colorized one
they show here in NY every Thanksgiving is dreadful.
madar...@gmail.com
> secret missiles, but their project hits a snag when their test rockets
> start mysteriously exploding before they hit their targets. The couple
> soon discovers that their rocket design isn't to blame; what's
> intercepting and destroying their rockets is the amazing technology
> belonging to a slew of flying saucers circling the globe! "-Netflix
>
> Considerably better than the average '50s "B" movie. Most of the film
> is very credible; except for the aliens attack on DC at the end. Ray
> Harryhausen did a fantastic job of stop motion again with a
> nonexistent budget.
>
> release. As with 20,000,000 Miles the colourizing look "right", it
> comes off just the way it would have looked it had been shot on mid
> fifties color film.
I saw EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS on the big screen at the AFI
theater in Washington DC 35 years ago. In glorious black-and-white. I
know what color films from the '50s look like. If you want to see
something similar to EARTH from the same period, try THIS ISLAND
EARTH. I can guarantee that a "colorized" EARTH VS. FS doesn't look
anywhere remotely close to "the way it would have looked if it had
been shot on mid-fifties color film."
madar...@gmail.com
You find b&w films unrealistic? I find reality quite black-and-white
while fantasy's always in Technicolor.
moviePig
> In article <slrnh2eb9k.f8n.aznoma...@ip70-176-155-130.ph.ph.cox.net>,
> AZ Nomad <aznoma...@PremoveOBthisOX.COM> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Thu, 04 Jun 2009 11:42:40 +1000, globular <s...@there.invalid> wrote:
> > >David Oberman wrote:
>
> > >>> The colorization of Earth vs. the Fkying Saucers is marvelous, and it's
> > >>> a much better film because of it.
>
> > >> What do you guys think of the colorization of the first few seasons of
> > >> "Bewitched"? I think it looks great!
>
> > >....no
> > >Mine's actually b&w though. I Dream Of Jeannie I have colorized. I've
> > >adjusted my DVD player to wash out the color when playing it.
>
> > >The main thing, amongst others, is the contrast and depth of the
> > >picture, that colorization just doesn't seem to deal with.
>
> > It deals with it by fucking it up. Turning down the color on a
> > colorized movie doesn't restore it to its original state.
> > It converts the selected colors to their luminence only which all
> > to often is far less contrast than the original.
>
> Exactly. A color film with the color removed does *not* look like a
> black and white film, so why would a black and white film with color
> added look like a color film?
Well, a color film with the color removed does look like a b&w film
shot using sodium-vapor lighting... (ideal for high crime-areas...
and, often, -films...)
globular
I thought the colorization of House on Haunted Hill worked okay.
Bluuuue Rajah
5e9c37...@w40g2000yqd.googlegroups.com:
> Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956)
>
> " A B-movie treat! A young scientist and his wife are developing
> secret missiles, but their project hits a snag when their test rockets
> start mysteriously exploding before they hit their targets. The couple
> soon discovers that their rocket design isn't to blame; what's
> intercepting and destroying their rockets is the amazing technology
> belonging to a slew of flying saucers circling the globe! "-Netflix
>
> Considerably better than the average '50s "B" movie. Most of the film
> is very credible; except for the aliens attack on DC at the end. Ray
> Harryhausen did a fantastic job of stop motion again with a
> nonexistent budget.
>
> Both the original B&W and a new colorized version are on the Blu-Ray
> release. As with 20,000,000 Miles the colourizing look "right", it
> comes off just the way it would have looked it had been shot on mid
> fifties color film.
Steven King has a *very* interesting anecdote about this film in "Danse
Macabre."
This is probably the only sci-fi movie of the fifties that was straight
action/adventure, without atomic paranoia or some other complex theme.
That makes it "popcorn," but I don't see why a straight action/adventure
film isn't allowed to never rise above that limitation. One might argue
that it's the best of all fifties sci-fi, because of it's the only one
without a deep undercurrent of pessimism, it's the only one where the
hero is all hero, without any emotional flaws, and the only one where no
aspersions are cast onto the military.
It was one of Harryhausen's best, and the only one whre his FX skills
are used for something other than creature animation.
Bluuuue Rajah
news:ANIM8Rfsk-791D5...@news.dc1.easynews.com:
Screw that. They need to saturate it with the brightest neons and the
supplest pastels that modern technology can produce. It's a friggin'
comic book, and it should look like one.
In fact, for a masterpiece this important, they should produce at least
four versions: neon, pastel, darkened and imitation fifties. Where's
their sense of fun? Colorizing is yesterdays' tech and these louts are
stuck in a rut.
Bluuuue Rajah
news:1a75f440-9235-47ea...@r16g2000vbn.googlegroups.com:
> On Jun 3, 3:57�pm, Captain Infinity <Infin...@captaininfinity.us>
> wrote:
>> Once Upon A Time,
>>
>> AZ Nomad wrote:
>> >It's a dreadful process. �Why should dreadful results surprise
>> >anybody?
>>
>> The colorization of Earth vs. the Fkying Saucers is marvelous, and
>> it's a much better film because of it.
>
> I wouldn't say much better, but it does give a bit more feeling of
> reality that I always find missing in b&w films.
That's the whole idea.
Anim8rFSK
<2f1d3966-96ad-4d8f...@h23g2000vbc.googlegroups.com>,
moviePig <pwal...@moviepig.com> wrote:
Also assuming the color palette in use was true, and not altered for
B&W, the way George Reeves wore a brown and gray costume as SUPERMAN.
Avoid normal situations.
[..]
> Colorization always struck me as a solution where no problem existed--but
> then I don't understand people who hate B&W films simply because they are
> B&W.
I understand them. They're boneheads.
--
alt.flame Special Forces
"The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think
things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and
taboos." -- H.L. Mencken
Flasherly
I think I only love one black and white -- Kazan's Baby Doll. There's
something about color, still, that's prophylactic to germaneness
(unless she wants it that way, down low and real dim like):
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3599931392/nm0004647
--
When dealing with the insane, it's helpful to try and act sane. -Herr
HHesse