ONLINE EXCLUSIVE
Planet of the Box Sets
A Blu-ray/DVD Shopping Guide
By Bill Desowitz
 Planet of the Apes. Courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment |
As a guide to last-minute holiday shoppers (for gifts for others or themselves),
we’ve chosen some of the best from the abundance of Blu-ray and DVD
box sets of classic films released this year. Now’s your chance to compare
editing styles on different titles in a series, or hear the advances in audio
as sound technology improved. Here are some recommended choices
James Bond Blu-ray Collection Three-Pack, Vol. 1 (Dr.
No/Die Another Day/Live and Let Die); Three-Pack, Vol. 2
(For Your Eyes Only/From Russia With Love/Thunderball)
MGM Home Entertainment/Fox Home Entertainment
$89.98
Finally, some of the 007 catalog titles are now available on Blu-ray, coinciding
with the release of Quantum of Solace (see "License
to Cut" and "A
Different View to a Kill" in Editors Guild Magazine, NOV-DEC
08). Not surprisingly, the results are pretty spectacular (thanks to John
Lowry's superb 4K restoration of the entire catalog), particularly the first
entry in the longest-running franchise, Dr. No., which introduced
Sean Connery as the debonair and dangerous superspy.
Dazzling primary colors, razor-sharp image, and the opportunity to view rich detail further makes case that Blu-ray at its best is like seeing a movie for the first time. And, in the case of the early Bonds of the 1960s, it was all about the Pop Art stylization. As the article "Bond Memories" (Editors Guild Magazine, NOV-DEC 08) points out, Peter Hunt, the initial Bond editor and inventor of "cartoon strip" editing, was the most influential cutter of his time in terms of orchestrating action.
And just from a purely dramatic perspective, the train sequence in From
Russia with Love (culminating in the fight with Robert Shaw's psychotic
killer) is the best in franchise history. As for Die Another Day,
it marked the end of the hugely successful Pierce Brosnan era and introduced
the first American, Christian Wagner, to cut a Bond film. Wagner was able
to cut actual footage from the film into the iconic pre-title sequence for
the first time. Also, all of the previous bonus features from the past "Ultimate
Edition" release have been ported over into HD.
Planet of the Apes: 40-Year Evolution (Planet of the
Apes/Beneath the Planet of the Apes/Escape From the Planet of the Apes/Conquest
of the Planet of the Apes/Battle for the Planet of the Apes)
Fox Home Entertainment (Blu-ray)
$139.99
Blu-ray has gone “Ape” as well and the results are also impressive,
considering their age. For one thing, you really notice the striking beauty
of the barren Arizona landscape in the early going of Planet of the Apes,
the first and obviously the best of the popular sci-fi saga. And you can better
appreciate the craftsmanship of John Chambers' groundbreaking makeup design,
too. Hugh Fowler's brilliant editing (he went on to nab the Oscar when director
Franklin Schaffner brought him along for his next movie, Patton),
really provides the pace for capturing the bizarre, upside down, futuristic
world where apes are the rulers and man the beast (was Charlton Heston ever
more human?).
As for the remainder of the franchise, the underrated Conquest
is available for the first time in its unrated version, which has
become the Holy Grail for fans. Director J. Lee Thompson (who was
supposed to direct Planet but left when it took too long
to come together) fashioned a tight, violent, and gritty film about
the ape revolt (shot almost entirely at the then brand-new, outdoor
Century City mall to save money). Apparently, it was a bit too graphic
and the ending a bit too grim, so it was toned down to be more family-friendly.
But here it is, finally––and expertly edited by Marjorie
Fowler, A.C.E., and Alan L. Jaggs, A.C.E. This release also has previously
released bonus features upgraded to HD.
 The Matrix. Courtesy of Warner Home Video |
The Ultimate Matrix Collection (The Matrix/Matrix
Reloaded/Matrix Revolutions)
Warner Home Video (Blu-ray)
$89.99
Return to the visually mind-blowing rabbit hole once again with the brothers Wachowski––this time on Blu-ray. As you would expect, the Matrix trilogy is stunning: the green tint is almost hypnotic, the blacks are richer, Yuen Woo-ping's fight choreography is more exciting, the Oscar-winning sound effects editing by Dane Davis are more explosive, and the astounding visual effects are more dynamic. "Bullet Time" anyone? But more than anything, you get the opportunity to re-watch this complex action/adventure about reality and virtual reality and compare the films.
Granted, the second two installments are a lot more excessive, but, taken as a whole, the trilogy stands up. As the Oscar-winning Matrix editor Zach Staenberg, A.C.E., explained in "Zach Staenberg on The Matrix Trilogy" (Editors Guild Magazine JAN-FEB 04), "The Matrix movies are a true trilogy, not sequels… They're designed to be viewed and thought about as one continuing storyline." Also, you can better understand and appreciate how the digital technology changed during the two sequels: "It was all computerized, all virtual," Staenberg says. All the extras from the previous collection have been carried over, but unfortunately, not in HD.
Alfred Hitchcock Premiere Collection (The Lodger/Sabotage/Young
and Innocent/Rebecca/Lifeboat/Spellbound/Notorious/The Paradine Case)
MGM/Fox Home Entertainment
($119.98)
What? Another Hitchcock collection on DVD? The good news is that Rebecca, Spellbound and Notorious are available again after being out of print for a number of years, and they're indispensable––especially considering the beautiful restorations done by Scott MacQueen on the David O. Selznick titles when he was at Disney in the '90s.
 Spellbound. Courtesy of Fox Home Entertainment |
And there are a bevy of new extras, including commentaries and audio snippets from the legendary interviews with François Truffaut. Overall, though, it's a wonderful opportunity to view Hitch's progression as a director, and how he skillfully incorporated the two key stylistic influences on his career: German Expressionism and Russian montage. There's quite a poetic symmetry between the two. You can see evidence of the sophisticated cutting approach in the breakout silent hit, The Lodger (edited by Ivor Montagu), in which our allegiances are cleverly twisted back and forth from the suspect (Ivor Novello) to the mob.
Then, fast-forwarding to Hollywood in the 1940s with Selznick, there's the bathroom scene in Spellbound (Hal Kern was supervising editor), where Gregory Peck inexplicably gets up in the middle of the night to shave and then ponders what to do with the razor. The quick cutting, the sexual imagery, the fear, the anxiety, the confusion: It's remarkable. And finally, there's the masterpiece, Notorious (edited by Theron Warth), in which Hitch achieved the best balance during that period between the long take and the cut. Not only is there the famous kissing scene between Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman, but also the cocktail party (the suspense in the wine cellar is unforgettable in and of itself), the ensuing hide-the-key foreplay between Bergman and Claude Rains, and the bravura finale on the staircase. You have it all here––a study in editing, Hitchcock style, in one collection.
Bill Desowitz is editor of VFXWorld (www.vfxworld.com), part of Animation World Network (www.awn.com). He can be reached at bill@awn.com.