On the Beach (1959)

[the blob]

On the Beach Blu-ray

Posted on their Facebook page a short while ago. Excellent news!

[The Great Owl]

Outstanding!

I love the Nevil Shute novel, and I've always wanted to see the movie adaptation.

[the blob]

I would have thought this would be right down Twilight Time's street. Really good to see this Kino deal getting to grips with older MGM catalogue.

[UseY0ur1llusi0n]

Another classic! As always, count me in!

[James Luckard]

Excellent!!!! One of my favorite novels and films!

I had hoped Criterion would handle this. It was an important film at the time and it would have been nice to have it put in context with their usual bonus features.

The film was highly controversial in 1959, because saying that nuclear war was a bad thing that could mean the end of life on earth was a very risky, "lefty" thing to do at the time - everyone who was in the film was making a statement just by taking the roles. It's hard to believe it now, but the right wing accepted wisdom at the time was that a nuclear war could be "limited" and "winnable". The makers of the film were thought of as anti-American by many on the right for suggesting that our super weapon was actually a potential crime against humanity.

It was shot on location in Melbourne, the southernmost major city in the world, which was basically unheard of at the time. When it was completed, it premiered simultaneously around the world, in 18 cities on seven continents, which was also unheard of. Among the cities were LA, NY, Tokyo, and even Moscow.

Still, I'm glad to see this make it to HD, as the existing DVD is a 4:3 letterboxed transfer from the early days of digital.

Look here for more info:

http://greenbriarpictureshows.blogsp...ing-beach.html

[MifuneFan]

Wow, I've been waiting for this one for years, and pretty much gave up hope of it coming out. Kino is on fire this year with these Studio Classics releases.

[Cujo]

Fantastic news, and I will definitely upgrade. Perhaps Kino can get Miracle Mile and The Day After from MGM as well, though my most wanted anti-nuke film on Blu is Paramount's Testament.

[MifuneFan]

So glad this and Witness for the Prosecution aren't going to TT

[frogmeat69]

Wow, a few months ago my friend's father was asking if I ever watched this before, so I rented it from Netflix, great movie, will be picking this up for sure!!

[John_Drake]

Brilliant news. August cannot come soon enough.

[UseY0ur1llusi0n]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

http://greenbriarpictureshows.blogsp...ing-beach.html

That is so cool, thanks for the link.

[AKORIS]

very good film, very sad.... memorable... glad to be able to get a good release... the old dvd was not even anamorphic!

[rkolinski]

Originally Posted by Cujo

Fantastic news, and I will definitely upgrade. Perhaps Kino can get Miracle Mile and The Day After from MGM as well, though my most wanted anti-nuke film on Blu is Paramount's Testament.

I would also like to see a Testament release on BD as well as this one:

Panic in Year Zero! (because I own several versions of the original movie poster as well as the lobby card set)

Panic in Year Zero! Official Trailer #1 - Ray Milland Movie (1962) HD - YouTube

Looking forward to owning On the Beach on BD as well since I also own an original movie poster for that film too!

[James Luckard]

.

[hoytereden]

So glad this is coming out on Blu. One of my favorites of that era along with Fail-Safe. It'll be interesting to see what extras are included. I'm old enough to remember that when this film came out it made Waltzing Matilda a hit in the States and it was on the radio constantly.

[hoytereden]

Originally Posted by The Great Owl

Outstanding!

I love the Nevil Shute novel, and I've always wanted to see the movie adaptation.

You're in for a treat.

[James Luckard]

Two more articles about the film that I found by Googling. Admittedly one is from a Socialist website, but it seems to be mostly facts and not political opinion:

http://www.screeningthepast.com/2013...-on-the-beach/

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014.../fall-j04.html

This film really could have done with Criterion treatment. Still, I'm not gonna look a gift horse in the mouth, can't wait for the BD.

[The Great Owl]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

Panic in Year Zero! (because I own several versions of the original movie poster as well as the lobby card set)

Great movie! I've seen Panic in Year Zero! on DVD by way of the double-feature disc with The Last Man on Earth (another flick that needs Blu-ray treatment).

[James Luckard]

Originally Posted by rkolinski

Looking forward to owning On the Beach on BD as well since I also own an original movie poster for that film too!

I have one as well, a gorgeous, moody Danish poster that shows the four leads, in silhouette, standing on the beach, framed by the limbs of a dead tree with leaves falling from it. They're looking out at the the sun as it sets through the clouds, looking like the eye of God judging them. It's a really beautiful design, much better than the tabloidy American one with all its shouting.
Here's a photo:

[Show spoiler]

[rkolinski]

Originally Posted by James Luckard

I have one as well, a gorgeous, moody Danish poster that shows the four leads, in silhouette, standing on the beach, framed by the limbs of a dead tree with leaves falling from it. They're looking out at the the sun as it sets through the clouds, looking like the eye of God judging them. It's a really beautiful design, much better than the tabloidy American one with all its shouting.
Here's a photo:

[Show spoiler]

That is beautiful poster art; thanks for sharing the image!