6.7 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.2 |
Two nuclear scientists are kidnapped from Earth by aliens, as part of a last-ditch effort to save their planet Metaluna, from being destroyed by neighboring, rival planet Zagon.
Starring: Jeff Morrow (I), Faith Domergue, Lance Fuller, Robert Nichols (I), Rex ReasonSci-Fi | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1, 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 5.0 | |
Extras | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
Up until 1955, a majority of sci-fi pictures had aliens visiting Earth but This Island Earth was one of the first to reverse that trend. Atomic scientist Cal Meacham (Rex Reason) and his assistant Joe Wilson (Robert Nichols) happen upon directions and parts that lead them to construct an "interocitor," an oversized TV with the shape of an upside-down triangle. A peculiar-looking individual named Exeter (Jeff Morrow) appears on the screen to inform them that inhabitants of his native planet Metaluna have set up a laboratory in Georgia to recruit the best scientists specializing in nuclear energy. Metaluna continues to lose its supply of nuclear energy because neighboring planet Zahgon is extracting it with guided meteors. Metaluna's cities are crumbling beneath an ionization layer and a rocky surface barely keeps its dwellers afloat. Exeter needs science wizes like Cal to devise an energy field that will rejuvenate a red ray that's Metaluna's best defense weapon to thwart another attack from Zahgon. Upon arrival, Cal meets an old flame, the pretty brunette Ruth Adams (Faith Domergue), who has some difficulty remembering Cal. But there's no time for rekindling romantic sparks because Cal and Ruth are in for far more than where their imaginations will take them.
This Island Earth's long-awaited North American debut comes as an unofficial special edition courtesy of Shout!'s imprint, Scream Factory. The film is available to view in two different aspect ratios on this MPEG-4 AVC-encoded BD-50: 1.37:1 (Screenshot #s 1-10) and 1.85:1 (Screenshot #s 11-20). While the film was originally composed and shot in 1.37:1, debate still centers on which ratio(s) it was exhibited. A Variety review from 1955 lists 2.10:1 while other sources in different venues it was screened seem to indicate it was projected at 1.85:1. In any case, it's a bonus that the viewer has two options for the first time on home video. (The Image Entertainment DVD from 1998 was cropped to 1.33:1.) A new 4K scan of the interpositive was performed on both ratios and the results are pretty marvelous on the color spectrum. A fairly thick veneer of grain is present and image density as well as texture are prominently on display. I occasionally spotted some minor print damage and very thin tramlines.
From my research, each of the masters used for the various German BD editions and the French BD-25 by Elephant Films are struck from dated prints. Scream Factory's transfer sports an average video bitrate of 29998 kbps and a total bitrate of 36.79 Mbps for the whole disc. Elephant's mean bitrate is only 19.99 Mbps.
Please note that there are only optional English SDH on the 1.85:1 presentation and NOT on the 1.37:1 option.
Scream supplies a DTS-HD Master Audio Dual Mono mix (1960 kbps, 24-bit) and the restored DTS-HD Master Audio 3.0 Perspecta Stereophonic Sound Track (2259 kbps, 24-bit). I concentrated primarily on the 3.0 mix and found its speaker-centered, directional sound track easy to follow as it moved along each one of the front channels. It's also historically fascinating to see how music, dialogue, and f/x were originally deployed, featured, and highlighted in the film's overall sound design. Some of the lower-level noises were a bit more difficult to pick out because certain distinctive sounds were given greater fidelity and importance.
The Rocky Mount (NC) Telegram newspaper provided a noteworthy footnote at the time: "Actual sounds from the boundless domain of outer space are heard....[Universal-International] was given access to special recordings made by automatic apparatus placed on rocket missiles shot into the stratosphere, and used the weird sound track as accompaniment for the flight of a space ship in the film."
One review credited Joseph Gershenson, Universal's music department head at the time, as composing the music but this is incorrect. As David Schecter notes on a short running commentary and in a documentary, at least 75 percent of the music deserves to be credited to Herman Stein.
This Island Earth is one of the most important sci-fi pictures from the 1950s and a classic that has stood the test of time. Scream Factory has assembled a fan's dream package rife with old and new supplements. The image transfer looks mostly excellent and the Perspecta Stereophonic 3.0 mix sounds clean and authentic to the original recording. A COLLECTOR'S WORTHY edition.
2K Restoration
1958
1959
1953
Warner Archive Collection
1951
1959
1957
Standard Edition
1953
Special Edition | The Creeping Unknown
1955
1964
1951
2017
2018
1957
Director's Cut
1986
1957
1956
1958
1988
1996
Mutant / Roger Corman's Cult Classics
1982