The Ray Harryhausen Collection (Box Set) [VHS]

Description

Product Description Eight-volume box set featuring the classic, stop-motion animation of special effects maestro Ray Harryhausen. In 'Earth versus the Flying Saucers', Earth suffers a flying saucer invasion after the army opens fire on a UFO which actually came in peace. However, special sound frequencies turn out to be the aliens' achilles heel. 'It Came from Beneath the Sea' sees a giant octopus going on the rampage in San Francisco after being spotted by a submarine in the Pacific. In 'The Golden Voyage of Sinbad', Sinbad the sailor (John Phillip Law) sets sail for the island of Lemuria on a quest for the Golden Crown, determined to restore the deposed Vizier (Douglas Wilmer) to his throne. 'Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger' sees Sinbad (Patrick Wayne) coming to the aid of Princess Farah, whose brother has been transformed into an ape by their wicked step-mother (Margaret Whiting). To break the spell, Sinbad enlists the help of soothsayer Melanthius (Patrick Troughton), and embarks on a dangerous voyage with his trusty crew. In 'Jason and the Argonauts', the infant Jason survives when his father, the king of Thessaly, is murdered by Pelias (Douglas Wilmer). As an adult, Jason (Todd Armstrong) sets out to reclaim his throne by searching for the Golden Fleece. He is aided on his quest by the goddess, Hera (Honor Blackman), selecting an able crew for his ship, Argo, including Argus (Laurence Naismith) and Acastus (Gary Raymond). 'The First Men in the Moon' sees a trio of astronauts embarking on a trip to the moon at the end of the nineteenth century. Upon arrival, they discover it to be inhabited by a crustaceous lifeform known as the Selenite. In 'The 7th Voyage of Sinbad', Sinbad (Kerwin Mathews) undertakes a quest to the island of Colossus to break a spell cast on his beloved Princess Grant by an evil magician. 'Mysterious Island' is set during the American Civil War, when a group of Confederate soldiers make a daring air balloon escape... only to end up on a strange island where they are harassed by prehistoric monsters and living plants. An 87-minute featurette, 'The Ray Harryhausen Chronicles', is also included, along with an exclusive greeting from the man himself. From .co.uk The Ray Harryhausen Collection is a limited edition video box set of eight movies featuring classic stop-motion animation by the man who single-handedly turned the technique into an art. Though not his feature debut, the earliest film here is It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955). Made at the height of the 1950s monster movie boom, the "it" of the title is a giant octopus or--given that budget restrictions means the creature has six rather than eight limbs--perhaps "hexopus" would be a better word for the creature. Whatever "it" is, as his beast destroys San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, Harryhausen pays homage to his own inspiration, King Kong (1933). Next is the much more spectacular Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956), one of the most underrated of all 1950s sci-fi B pictures. Obviously inspired by The War of the Worlds (1953), and essentially remade as Independence Day (1996), Harryhausen delivers a tremendous amount of bang per buck, zealously trashing Washington's most famous landmarks in a fashion still gratifying today. The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958) proved a major turning point in Harryhausen's career, for not only was this big budget Technicolor feature a huge hit, but it proved that the animator's true talents were better served by fantasy than science fiction. Not only a true classic, this is essentially the movie which invented the modern special effects blockbuster. Though not in the same class, Mysterious Island (1961) is still good entertainment. Based on the novel by Jules Verne, it unofficially continues the story of Captain Nemo beyond the end of Disney's 20 000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954). More importantly, it delivers some splendid battles with the various giant creatures on Nemo's titular island.Jason And The Argonauts (1963) is Harryhausen's masterpiece. An exhilarating reworking of Greek mythology, the film is a succession of great set-pieces, including an iron Colossus coming to life, and a final battle with a troop of skeleton warriors. The Mummy (1999) paid homage to this sequence recently but Harryhausen did it first, and without a single computer. Not only that, but Jason and the two previous films come complete with fabulous Bernard Herrmann musical scores. The First Men in the Moon (1964) marked a rare return to sci-fi, Harryhausen adapting HG Wells' classic adventure about a Victorian lunar expedition. The result was an entertaining movie, one much better than its unfairly tarnished reputation suggests. With later projects proving less successful, Harryhausen eventually returned to the Sinbad mythology in The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973) and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977). The films aren't as good as his earlier ventures into fable, though both contain several highly accomplished action sequences. The Harryhausen Collection is completed by a genuinely fascinating 87-minute documentary, "The Harryhausen Chronicles" (re-edited from material included on the Seventh Voyage and Jason DVDs) and a specially filmed greeting from Ray Harryhausen himself. For any fantasy or animation fan this release is an essential slice of cinema history, while just about anyone who loves the movies can revel in the unique craftsmanship and artistry of Ray Harryhausen, one of cinema's most distinctive creative talents.--Gary S. Dalkin