Like most kids who grew up in the 60’s and 70’s who had a love for monster movies, I have always been a fan of Ray Harryhausen. His name may not be recognized by multitudes of theatergoers today, but you can bet your bottom dollar that anyone who is really ‘into’ movies knows him as the one of the forefathers of stop motion animation. Harryhausen may not have been the first to experiment with the process, but he was certainly the guy who perfected it within the limitations of filmmaking at the time. As a matter of fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone working in the special effects arena that doesn’t idolize the man.

Over the last few years, there has been a resurgence of sci-fi and monster movies, and as a result interest in these older films has been on the rise. A few years ago, Harryhausen wrote a very successful book and several of his films have been re-issued on DVD so there has been a resurgence of interest in the man’s work. I for one could not be happier. It means that we are being given new opportunities to see some of these B-Movie classics restored and in some cases… even in color (more on that later…).

This month, Sony is releasing a collectible set that is sure to whet the appetites of Harryhausen fans. Not only does it include 3 classic films, each with its own second disc full of special features… but your very own statue of Ymir. Some of you might be scratching your heads at the moment…. Ymir? What the heck is a Ymir. The easiest thing I can do is direct you either to the picture included in this review. Ymir is the monster character featured in “20 Million Miles to Earth.” The figure stands approximately 7” and is based on the original plaster cast design done by Harryhausen. I really love the packaging that houses the figure and the discs except for the fact that I didn’t want to open it. I really wanted to just place the whole darn thing on my shelf.

Getting past the cool green figure, I found the 3 films. “20 Million Miles to Earth”, “Earth vs. The Flying Saucers” and “It Came From Beneath the Sea.” As I mentioned, all of the films are packaged as 2-disc sets and the amount of special features is staggering. The set for “20 Million Miles to Earth” was already released as a stand-alone several months ago, but the other two films are brand new in getting the 2-disc treatment. If you already have “20 Million Miles to Earth” set, you can always sell that one and pick up this new release.

While I admit that these are not the cream of the crop amongst Harryhausen’s films, they are still far and above most other effects films that came out around the same time. I won’t bore you with the details of the storylines on each film; if you are interested in this set at all chances are you are already familiar with them from numerous viewings of your old VHS tapes recorded off of late night TV. Whether or not this set is worth it to you depends on your personal interest in the movies and the collectible. Do I think it is worth it? Absolutely. The films have never looked better… and here’s where I am going to say something that I never thought would come out of my mouth… the colorized versions look terrific.

That’s right. I said it. The colorized versions look terrific. Make no mistake, I hated the colorization process that Ted Turner threw at us years ago. And even with some of the advances that have been made with the technique, the only use I ever saw for it was in restoring the color to older color films. The very thought of colorizing a classic caused me to pull out my soapbox and start preaching on the street corner (much to the chagrin of my neighbors…). It was blasphemy, pure and simple. Colorizing a Black & White classic… puh-leaze. That was my initial thought when I learned that these DVD releases offered the films up in both versions. Then I was made to understand that Harryhausen himself wanted to see these films in color as that was the way he wished they had been done to begin with. The budget wasn’t there, so B&W it was. So I opted to give it a try… and the effect is amazing. In all honesty, the films looked like they WERE filmed in color. So if they can change my mind, I have to urge you to try watching them both ways and see what YOU think.

I was also blown away by the amount of special features that were included with each movie. I had already seen the ones for “20 Million Miles to Earth” from the earlier release, and Sony pulled out all the stops to make sure the other two films got the same treatment. As much as I’d love to go through each one, as I usually do, I really have to suggest you check out the list below each listed. I’m sure you’ll get the idea of how cool these sets are by that alone.

These movies are being released in DVD format with the collectible figure, though the Blu-Ray version does not. Not sure why it’s not available that way for both. Personally, I’d rather have the Blu-Ray and the figure, but you just can’t get it that way. That’s my only complaint about this three movie release. Ah well, I don’t have many Blu-Rays yet anyway…

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

Directed by: Nathan Juran
Starring: William Hopper, Joan Taylor
Extras: Audio Commentary by Ray Harryhausen, Visual Effects Artists Dennis Muren and Phil Tippett, and Arnold Kunert, Remembering 20 Million Miles to Earth, The Colorization Process, Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen, Interview with Joan Taylor, David Schecter on the film Music’s Unsung Hero, 20 Million Miles More Comic Book, Video Photo Galleries, Original Ad Artwork
Specifications: Widescreen (1.85:1), Color / B&W

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (1956)

Directed by: Fred F. Sears
Starring: Hugh Marlowe, Joan Taylor
Extras: Audio Commentary by Ray Harryhausen and Other Visual Effects Specialists, Harryhausen on Earth vs. The Flying Saucers, A Present Day Look at Stop Motion, Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen, Interview with Joan Taylor, David Schecter on Film Music's Unsung Hero, The Hollywood Blacklist and Bernard Gordon, Video Photo Galleries, Advertising Artwork video montage of film's ad materials by Producer Arnold Kunert, Sneak Peek of Digital Comic Book Flying Saucers vs. the Earth
Specifications: Widescreen (1.85:1), Color / B&W

It Came from Beneath the Sea (1955)

Directed by: Robert Gordon
Starring: Kenneth Tobey, Faith Domergue
Extras: Audio Commentary by Ray Harryhausen and Visual Effects Specialists, Ray Harryhausen on It Came From Beneath The Sea, A Present Day Look at Stop Motion, David Schecter on Film Music's Unsung Hero, Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen, Still and Production Art Gallery, A Video Discussion of It Came From Beneath the Sea's 1955 marketing and advertising campaign by producer Arnold Kunert, Sneak Peek of Digital Comic Book It Came from Beneath the Sea...Again!
Specifications: Widescreen (1.85:1), Color / B&W

Studio: Sony / Columbia Tristar
Release Date: 10/7/2008
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website: http://www.SonyPictures.com

We'll give The Ray Harryhausen Collectible Giftset an A.