Twilight Time Discussion Thread

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by jayembee

True enough, but The Golden Voyage of Sinbad took 2 months to sell out, Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger took 3½ months, and Mysterious Island took 9 months. Now, in the case of Island, it's true that it was early days for Twilight Time, but Fright Night came out a month after, and was gone in a single month.

Now, First Men in the Moon is probably more desirable with Harryhausen fans than either of those two Sinbad films, and so will sell more quickly, but it's also 5000 copies, which may extend its life a bit.

Pure crazy-talk! I've never heard of anyone liking First Men in the Moon more than Golden Voyage, it has like 1/10th the amount of stop motion and 0% the amount of Caroline Munro!

First Men in the Moon is probably my least favorite harryhausen movie, and that's saying something with how clunky It Came From Beneath the Sea and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger are outside of the effects sequences (and Jane Seymour). Since most fans of his are into the stop motion effects, I'd think it would be the bottom of the average list besides maybe 3 Worlds of Gulliver, though that one definitely gets more respect as a minor fantasy classic. I'll be buying it anyway, I haven't seen it in many years and it's the movie of his I've seen the fewest times so it might be much better than I remember. But yeah, I still think it's the least talked about of all his movies.

[schlock]

First Men In The Moon may not rank that high in many Harryhausen fans' lists of favorite Harryhausen films, but it definitely ranks high in fantasy films of that era, just like JTTCOTE does. I don't see anyone criticizing that one for its lack of stop-motion - lol.

If you take the "Harryhausen" label off of it, it's a damn fine fantasy film regardless. I know when I first came across it on Saturday afternoon tv many moons (pun intended) ago, it was completely enthralling and I wasn't timing the number of minutes of stop-motion that were in it. And I was well aware of Harryhausen even as a kid (thanks to Famous Monsters magazine). I just really liked the story and I didn't care if it was a stop-motion monster showcase like many of Harryhausen's films are (and I love that formula as well). The caterpillar scene and some of the other stop-motion aren't even that great and aren't really the highlights of the film anyway - the story, acting, and adventure of it all are really what make the film special.

Go into it that way, and it's a terrific fantasy film all on its own merits. Go in wanting sequence after sequence of various Harryhausen stop-motion monsters, ya, you're probably going to be disappointed.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Pure crazy-talk! I've never heard of anyone liking First Men in the Moon more than Golden Voyage, it has like 1/10th the amount of stop motion and 0% the amount of Caroline Munro!

First Men in the Moon is probably my least favorite harryhausen movie, and that's saying something with how clunky It Came From Beneath the Sea and Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger are outside of the effects sequences (and Jane Seymour). Since most fans of his are into the stop motion effects, I'd think it would be the bottom of the average list besides maybe 3 Worlds of Gulliver, though that one definitely gets more respect as a minor fantasy classic. I'll be buying it anyway, I haven't seen it in many years and it's the movie of his I've seen the fewest times so it might be much better than I remember. But yeah, I still think it's the least talked about of all his movies.

Yeah, no way it is more desirable, or popular than the Sinbad films...not expecting a day one sellout, won't happen imo. However, I will be buying day one...just in case .

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by schlock

First Men In The Moon may not rank that high in many Harryhausen fans' lists of favorite Harryhausen films, but it definitely ranks high in fantasy films of that era, just like JTTCOTE does. I don't see anyone criticizing that one for its lack of stop-motion - lol.

I have actually seen a fair amount of that, though it's usually tempered with comments like "at least they were better filmed than the similar awful dinos in one million BC or king dinosaur or the lost world.". It's a minor part of the movie from what I've heard, I have never seen it and plan to preorder it first day as well.

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Pure crazy-talk! I've never heard of anyone liking First Men in the Moon more than Golden Voyage, it has like 1/10th the amount of stop motion and 0% the amount of Caroline Munro!

If you say so. I don't like either of the 70s Sinbads, Munro and Seymour notwithstanding. Now there's no reason why I should think my opinion matches the general opinion of those films, but in all my long years, I've never heard anyone have much good to say about them (other than the presence of Munro and Seymour).

But then, I'm also looking at them as a film fan, or even a fantasy film fan, not necessarily as a Harryhausen fan. So the amount of RH's stop-motion animation doesn't factor into it.

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

Yeah, no way it is more desirable, or popular than the Sinbad films...not expecting a day one sellout, won't happen imo. However, I will be buying day one...just in case .

And yet somewhat surprisingly it outsold - and still regularly outsells - the Sinbad films on DVD in most markets (though the US is the one notable exception). Never underestimate the power of the H.G. Wells 'brand.'

[RalphoR]

It's TTs first 5,000 copy Harryhausen so they're expecting FMITM to sell and sell fast. You just can't go wrong with any Schneer/Harryhausen title. If they release Gulliver and One Million Years, B.C. (non-Schneer) I figure they will do 5,000 for sure. They probably could sell 10,000 copies of Mysterious Island, Golden Voyage, and Eye of the Tiger when they re-release them.

[dragon53]

RALPHOR:

"They probably could sell 10,000 copies of Mysterious Island, Golden Voyage, and Eye of the Tiger when they re-release them."

Are you speaking hypothetically or is there something concrete that TT will actually rerelease MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, etc.?

[jayembee]

Originally Posted by dragon53

RALPHOR:

"They probably could sell 10,000 copies of Mysterious Island, Golden Voyage, and Eye of the Tiger when they re-release them."

Are you speaking hypothetically or is there something concrete that TT will actually rerelease MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, etc.?

Twilight Time said that they were going to be re-issuing four of their sold-out titles in 2015. One's out (Fright Night), one's imminent (Journey to the Center of the Earth), and one's confirmed but won't actually be out until next year (Christine). They've never said what the fourth title is; people seem to be assuming (not without reason) that it'll be Mysterious Island.

Contrary to what RalphoR suggested, though, there's been absolutely nothing to suggest that either of the Sinbads will ever be re-issued. It depends on how extensive TT wants their re-issue program to be.

[dragon53]

JAYEMBEE:

Thanks for clearing that up. I'll keep my fingers crossed for MYSTERIOUS ISLAND.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by Aclea

And yet somewhat surprisingly it outsold - and still regularly outsells - the Sinbad films on DVD in most markets (though the US is the one notable exception). Never underestimate the power of the H.G. Wells 'brand.'

Where did you get those stats? I'd be curious to see them if you somehow have a sales breakdown of Harryhausen DVDs by country. I didn't really think about the HG Wells thing, I guess that might make a big difference in the UK market for example.

[oildude]

Just finished watching The Twilight Samurai for the first time. This is a GREAT movie!!

One of the best films I have seen in a long time, and the best samurai film I have seen since Harakiri.

[RalphoR]

Originally Posted by dragon53

RALPHOR:

"They probably could sell 10,000 copies of Mysterious Island, Golden Voyage, and Eye of the Tiger when they re-release them."

Are you speaking hypothetically or is there something concrete that TT will actually rerelease MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, etc.?

Sorry, I don't have any inside information that TT will re-release any of the sold out Harryhausens I'm just assuming that If they should they could easily sell them out again. Mysterious Island, to me, would be a no-brainer re-release. Whether it's this year or next remains to be seen.

[RalphoR]

Originally Posted by jayembee

Twilight Time said that they were going to be re-issuing four of their sold-out titles in 2015. One's out (Fright Night), one's imminent (Journey to the Center of the Earth), and one's confirmed but won't actually be out until next year (Christine). They've never said what the fourth title is; people seem to be assuming (not without reason) that it'll be Mysterious Island.

Contrary to what RalphoR suggested, though, there's been absolutely nothing to suggest that either of the Sinbads will ever be re-issued. It depends on how extensive TT wants their re-issue program to be.

Who knows what TT will actually do with their sold out blu-rays. I'd guess the ones that sold out the quickest are the best bets to be re-issued. Seems like a lot of people missed out on Mysterious Island and have been vocal about it which makes me think we'll see that blu-ray re-issued at some point.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by RalphoR

Who knows what TT will actually do with their sold out blu-rays. I'd guess the ones that sold out the quickest are the best bets to be re-issued. Seems like a lot of people missed out on Mysterious Island and have been vocal about it which makes me think we'll see that blu-ray re-issued at some point.

I broke down and did the Vudu upgrade DVD to HD thing for 5 bucks on Mysterious Island (it's available on a few of his other movies that aren't currently available on bluray, too, like Beast from 20,000 Fathoms, Mighty Joe Young, 3 Worlds of Gulliver and Valley of Gwangi). I hope they re-release it someday.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by oildude

Just finished watching The Twilight Samurai for the first time. This is a GREAT movie!!

One of the best films I have seen in a long time, and the best samurai film I have seen since Harakiri.

It is a great movie. Please tell me you have seen The Hidden Blade? I love The Hidden Blade even more...

[oildude]

Originally Posted by Blu Titan

It is a great movie. Please tell me you have seen The Hidden Blade? I love The Hidden Blade even more...

Nope. This is the only one I have seen in the trilogy. I knew immediately after watching it I wanted to see the other two. Now you got me wanting to see them even more.

Is this it? https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/The-H...Blu-ray/38833/

The Twilight Samurai is fantastic in every way. I love it for a lot of the same reasons I love Harakiri. It really draws you in and makes you care about the characters. The dialogue, the slow build up, the great acting, and the payoff. I was on the edge of my seat at the end. Outstanding.

I know the film takes a rap for the overly bright low contrast transfer. A few tweaks of my system straightened it out (Oppo 103 set to RGB PC Level, plus reducing the brightness setting on my plasma).

I found the sound stage most impressive. There are wonderful ambient nature sounds throughout the film - bubbling streams, cuckoos calling, birds chirping, winter winds, branches rustling, insects buzzing, all combined with the sounds of life in the village to give everything a realistic atmosphere better than I have heard in most films. The music is also superb, scored by Isao Tomita, and is spare in use, letting the natural sounds come through. The Japanese instruments, especially the flutes, are haunting. My favorite is the taiko drum, put to good use in this film. The drumbeats are primal, angry, and burst right through you.

[stephenwilson04]

I love Twilight Time, I really do. 😁

[Davidian]

How'd you get that one stephen?

[Aclea]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Where did you get those stats? I'd be curious to see them if you somehow have a sales breakdown of Harryhausen DVDs by country. I didn't really think about the HG Wells thing, I guess that might make a big difference in the UK market for example.

Can't find the link at the moment, but the disappointing DVD sales of the Harryhausen films were mentioned in an interview with a Sony video bigwig explaining why they had no plans to release any more of his films on Blu-ray after the boxed set (the BDs of Jason and 7th Voyage were never even released in many international territories), with First Men singled out as the surprise (relative) bestseller without doing particularly well. It's one of those "Really?" moments that stuck out because there's such a wide discrepancy between what you expect and what the distributor was saying - especially since the Sinbad films not only had the higher profile but outgrossed it theatrically. Certainly the sales rankings on sites like Amazon.fr and Amazon.co.uk seem to bear it out.