The films of Ray Harryhausen are legendary. No matter how many times you may have sat down to watch one of them on a rainy bank holiday, they always bring joy and a sense of adventure. Imprint’s Blu-ray collection may be missing a few of his films, but the package and presentation more than make up for it.
In this seven-disc box set, there are It Came From Beneath the Sea (1955), Earth vs. The Flying Saucers (1956), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1957), The 3 Worlds of Gulliver (1960), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), The Golden Voyage of Sinbad (1973), and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977). The first two movies are presented in both the original black and white format, and the colourised versions overseen by Harryhausen. While we are complete pedants and prefer to see films as they were made, the fact that Ray signed off on the process and admits that they would have been made in colour if they had the budget softens us up to the idea. In all honesty, though, watching them in colour is a little disconcerting after being so familiar with seeing them in monochrome. The process does work, though, and it thankfully puts to bed the memories of the mid-eighties colourised films. The colours are vivid, but natural-looking, and if it means a new generation will watch them rather than dismiss them, then we’re for it.
The rest of the films are presented perfectly, and the majority feature commentaries recorded by Ray. There are plenty of associated featurettes and interviews, including Tim Burton and John Landis chatting with the special effects genius. Some of the generic pieces like This is Dynamation are repeated over several discs, but when they are as engaging and entertaining as they are, it’s only a small thing to mention.
The films still stand up as well as they did when you were young, and it doesn’t matter how many times you’ve seen them. Ray’s talent for giving his creations a real character will charm audiences forever, no matter how advanced CGI can get. The set would have got full marks if it had included Ray’s full filmography, but as it is, it’s still a very worthwhile collection.
