Things to Come Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Things to Come Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov July 27, 2012

William Cameron Menzies' "Things to Come" (1936) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Network. The supplemental features on the disc include a re-release trailer for the film; image and merchandise galleries; audio commentary by "Things to Come" expert Nick Cooper; Virtual Extended Edition of the film; interview with actor Ralph Richardson; documentary feature about the life and legacy of H.G.Wells; and more. The disc also arrives with an outstanding 32-page illustrated booklet with writings on the film by Nick Cooper. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

Everytown

Christmas Eve, 1940. The Great War begins and soon the world is devastated. Those who survive gather in small groups around large cities, such as Everytown, a place that looks a lot like London. Soon after, the Pestilence wipes out the weakest communities.

Some thirty years after the Great War, a man with a strange aircraft lands in Everytown. John Cabal (Raymond Massey, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, East of Eden) is a representative of the scientific group Wings Over the World, which is on a mission to eliminate the warlords controlling the surviving communities and unite mankind. He is introduced to The Boss (Ralph Richardson, The Fallen Idol, The Four Feathers), who quickly makes it clear that he isn’t interested in participating in the group’s project. Cabal is then arrested and thrown in prison. Meanwhile, an engineer (Derrick De Marney, The Girl Was Young) who believes in world peace manages to inform Wings Over the World that Cabal has landed in his community but has been arrested. The group quickly sends giant aircrafts that drop the 'Gas of Peace' over Everytown. The Boss dies during the attack, while Cabal is freed by his men. Everytown then joins the group’s project.

In the year 2036, scientists have built a giant Super Gun that could send people to the Moon, but not everyone is happy with it and the technological advancements made during the years of peace. Backed by other dissidents, the sculptor Theotocopulos (Cedric Hardwicke, Suspicion, The Winslow Boy) calls for the end of technological progress - and then proceeds to destroy the Super Gun. But the current leader of Everytown, who happens to be Cabal’s grandson, is determined to use the Super Gun.

Based on H.G.Wells' popular novel and produced by the great Alexander Korda, William Cameron Menzies' Things to Come is a spectacular sci-fi film with some truly fascinating observations about the future of mankind. Completed in 1936, the film essentially predicts the division which the Cold War will introduce as well as the enormous role technology will have in people’s everyday lives in the years ahead. The film’s final act is particularly curious as it addresses a number of real issues that have emerged since the end of the twentieth century (the questions Theotocopulos asks are particularly interesting).

Portions of the film have a preachy tone - obviously reflecting H.G.Wells’ strong socialist views - but they never seriously disrupt its rhythm.

The film looks simply extraordinary. Many of the sets and decors here easily rival the ones seen in Fritz Lang's legendary Metropolis. In the final third of the film, where some of the most spectacular imagery is, there is also some fantastic camerawork. There is one particular sequence where the crowds gather on the ground level of a massive building and the camera slowly zooms over them which is quite remarkable. The aircraft designs are also stunning.

An excellent orchestral score by Arthur Bliss compliments the film. The score was an immediate success with critics and casual filmgoers and was later on often performed as a concert suite at various venues.

Note: When Things to Come reached Germany, Adolf Hitler was apparently so impressed with the imagery with the destroyed British city (Everytown) that he instructed the head of the German air force and founder of Gestapo, Hermann Goering, to screen it to his subordinates.

Things to Come Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.37:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, William Cameron Menzies' Things to Come arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors Network. Please note that the version of Things to Come included on this disc runs at approximately 97 minutes.

The only information about the restoration of Things to Come included with this release clarifies that the film has been painstakingly restored from the remaining film elements and represents the most complete version known to exist. This is rather unfortunate because I would have loved to mention in our review the names of the people who were involved with the restoration and those who made this release possible. It is absolutely fantastic!

There are dramatic improvements in every single area we typically address in our reviews. Detail and especially clarity are very good. The daylight footage, in particular, often looks spectacular, especially the larger panoramic shots. The nighttime footage also conveys surprisingly good depth (see screencapture #7). Colors never collapse. I was particularly impressed by the excellent balance between the grays and blacks (take a look at our screenshots and notice how the blacks and grays never overwhelm each other). Furthermore, there is a layer of fine and well resolved grain throughout the entire film. More importantly, however, there are no traces of problematic lab tinkeing (this release truly is a prime example of how when an older film is left to breathe the results could be very impressive). Finally, occasionally there are tiny light vertical lines or very small scratches that pop up here and there, but it is quite obvious that enough was done to remove as many of them as possible without affecting the integrity of the film. A few minor transition issues are present as well, but again, considering the fact that different elements were used to assemble this version of the film, the final result is indeed enormously satisfying. Indeed, this is one truly fabulous restoration. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

Things to Come Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one audio track on this Blu-ray disc: English LPCM 2.0. For the record, Network have provided optional yellow English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

There are some minor fluctuations in the mid and high-frequencies, most likely inherited and impossible to fully address with current digital tools. Depth and crispness are not compromised, but occasionally the dialog is not well rounded. Generally speaking, Arthur Bliss' famous orchestral score is stable, though its dynamic intensity is quite limited. There is no heavy background hiss. All in all, the audio appears to have been optimized quite well, likely as best as possible.

Things to Come Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Blu-ray

• Trailer - re-release trailer for Things to Come. In English, not subtitled. (5 min, PAL).

• Galleries - divided into two mini-galleries:
  
  1. Image Gallery - a collection of images courtesy of Things to Come expert Nick Cooper. The collection contains rare images from the film as well as scenes that were shot but either no longer exist or never made it to the original theatrical print. Various photographs are grouped together with short text-format descriptions. (18 min, 1080p).
  
  2. Merchandise Gallery - a second collection of images from Things to Come expert Nick Cooper's personal archive of memorabilia. The collection contains promo materials, magazine supplements, press materials, sheet music, trade adverts, posters, and a lot more. (9 min, 1080p).

• Commentary - a terrific audio commentary by Things to Come expert Nick Cooper, who does an in-depth analysis of the film and discusses its production history. There is an enormous amount of factual information here which allows one to gain a much better appreciation of the film, H.G. Wells' novel, etc.

• Script - script PDF.

DVD

• The Virtual Extended Edition - though the restored version of Things to Come presented on this Blu-ray disc is the longest-running print known to exist, its original theatrical run-time was significantly longer, though this version is now lost. Additionally, there were a number of scenes that were either filmed and not used or not filmed at all. This 'Virtual Extended Edition' of Things to Come is an expansion of the print on this disc in such a way as to include cue-cards at various points detailing additional dialog and scenes. This is not a Director's Cut of Things to Come, or even an attempt to reconstruct the original theatrical version - this is just a "What If" attempt to show what possibly could have been. In English, not subtitled. (134 min, PAL).

• Interview - Russell Harty interviews actor Ralph Richardson. The interview was conducted in 1975. In English, not subtitled. (41 min, PAL).

• On Reflection: Brian Aldiss on H.G.Wells - a wonderful documentary feature about the life and legacy of H.G.Wells from 1971. In English, not subtitled. (24 min, PAL).

• The Wandering Sickness - an original 78rpm recording - this unique single-sided acetate gramophone disc, formerly in the collection of an ex-London Films employee, was used to record an extract from The Shape of Things To Come describing the symptoms of the "Wandering Sickness", followed by a reading from the shooting script of the disease's first appearance in the film. Audio only. (5 min, PAL).

• Booklet - an outstanding 32-page illustrated booklet with writings on the film by Nick Cooper. This is an expanded version of the booklet that appeared with the DVD release of the film.

Things to Come Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is a tremendous release of William Cameron Menzies' Things to Come by British distributors Network, and one that will definitely appear on my Top 10 list at the end of the year. Not only is the technical presentation very impressive, but the supplemental features are simply outstanding. The audio commentary by Things to Come expert Nick Cooper is amongst the very best I've heard to appear on Blu-ray and DVD. In addition, there is a beautiful booklet with fantastic writings on the film. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.