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Nick Redman & Twilight's JOURNEY (1 Viewer)

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Joe Birrittella
5 Reasons To Own Twilight Time's
JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 1959:

... A gorgeous 4K Color Timed Transfer and Sound with exceptional detail and clarity.
It elevated this viewer to a brand new level of enjoyment.

... JAMES MASON at his befuddled (& rare romantic) best;
ARLENE DAHL's most charming (& fiery);
THAYER DAVID's rubber jaw stone face bad boy;
and an Oscar worthy performance from GERTRUDE,
that brings new meaning to AMERICAN GRAFFITI Ron Howard's "Go kiss a duck!".

... The Legendary Composer BERNARD HERMANN.
Need I say more?
The speaker base made his score rock (pun intended).

... Even atheists will raise their eyes to heaven and thank God that goodie 2 shoes, PAT BOONE sings ONLY one song. And he has a wonderful voice. But you had to be at a 1972 theatrical high school showing (with deep red curtains and matching theater seats) when a twitter of groans (& one moan) swept the audience as Pat lullabies that his heart is like a red, red rose.
EXACTLY what you prayed to hear in a Jules Vern movie ...right?
Aisle vendors would've made a killing selling barf bags at fifty bucks a piece.
I would have bought 3.

Give me "A Tale Of A Whale To Tell", instead.

But he does a more than commendable job portraying the young, naive scientist that serves the part and he's the one still getting checks ...and I'm not. So there!

... Another great commentary by STEVEN C. SMITH & NICK REDMAN.
If 1940's Radio Entertainment were still king, then these two would be heir to the crown. Their voices were born for the movie commentary. Both of them can make the children's story, "See Dick Walk, See Sally Run", sound like Shakespeare sonnets.

And a word about actress DIANE BAKER's major input throughout the Commentary. Of all 6 leads, she has the least amount of screen time and is absent during the titled Journey. I couldn't help feel that we were missing out on more choice trivia of the film itself, in favor of Diane's post 'Journey' career. I would have loved to know why PETER RONSON, who played the Icelander, Hans, was a co-technical advisor; and what brand of magic marker did they draw around Gertrude's eye. But bottom line: I like Diane Baker, and having heard her share of the commentary, I like her now even more.

... And JULIE KIRGO's wonderful booklet essay. She has writing talent that runs in the family, and un-earth's a few JOURNEY nuggets, of her own, of trivia and insight.

HEY ... That's 6 reasons.
But who's counting?

Like Twilight's MOBY DICK release, a labor of love that reminded me why I loved this goofy, old fashion entertainment while growing up; and well worth upgrading from the DVD.
 
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Alan Tully

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Another great reason is that it's been a special film for me since I first saw it in 1961, & it's so nice when a long time favourite movie is given the royal treatment. Of course the TT release is now out of print, but the same 4K transfer is being released in September by Eureka Entertainment (UK), they've even licensed the commentary track, I dunno, but I'd think it would be region B. Even though I have the TT, I'll probably buy it to support the release.
 
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Joe Birrittella
I'm considering getting a Region Free Player just for Hammer's DRACULA 1958
(Horror Of Dracula). The U.K. has had it for 4 or 5 years. Warner Bros has released most of the sequels and this is widely considered to be Hammer's best.

Amazon had TT's JOURNEY for $46.
 

Dick

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Amazon had TT's JOURNEY for $46.[/QUOTE]

Yeah, the scalper market is collapsing a bit of late. People have caught on to the fact that Criterion has two major B&N sales plus internet sales of 50% off every year, and so selling used copies of their product gains one little except for the loss of a beautiful booklet. TT, even the OOP titles, aren't generally fetching what they once did on eBay or Amazon. It's almost a buyer's (after-market) market.
 

Interdimensional

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I last watched this over a decade ago, and whatever appeal this movie holds for some just wasn't readily apparent to me. Unfortunately I found it a misguided effort in various respects.

By contrast, I'm rather fond of the underrated 1970s film The Fabulous Journey to the Center of the Earth (in spite of some obvious shortcomings).

I recently viewed the bluray of Irwin Allen's The Lost World, and found more to like than I had previously (although the 'dinosaur' battle is appalling). Perhaps it's time to give Journey another chance. Talent like James Mason and Bernard Herrmann is probably reason enough. The Twilight Time release may be sold out, but Eureka Classics has their release coming out in September (releases such as this have presumably affected the OOP prices as much as anything else).

EKA70274_Journey_to_the_Center_72dpi.jpg
 

Alan Tully

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Maybe coming to this film fresh it could look a wee bit hokey now (after all it is nearly 60 years old), but seeing it when I was young, it had quite an impact, & it's stayed magical.
 

Interdimensional

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... I watch a great many hokey movies!

Perhaps my disappointment with the film stemmed in part from the knowledge that they had a generous budget and great actors, and I expected more from them. I felt it was well within their abilities to make a far more definitive version of the story. And for a producer who'd worked with Harryhausen and Willis O'Brien, the use of cheap lizard stand-in 'dinosaurs' has always tainted these films for me.

But I intend to give the film a reassessment with the Eureka release. I've developed more of an appreciation to where I can enjoy films better within the context of the era they were produced.
 

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