ALL SCI-FI Forum Index ALL SCI-FI
The place to “find your people”.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1950 to 1969
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Maurice
Mission Specialist


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 460
Location: 3rd Rock

PostPosted: Mon May 29, 2017 3:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll PM you the address of the Internet Archive and you can send it there c/o me. If you include return postage I'll send it right back.

And it's a $75K film scanner. The results are quite nice, as per this reel I shared over in another forum.
https://archive.org/details/StarTrekTheMotionPictureMicroCircuitry

_________________
* * *
"The absence of limitations is the enemy of art."
― Orson Welles
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17018
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Mon Jul 31, 2017 4:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pow wrote:
Always enjoyed this film & the Ymir design.

Like many of Ray's creatures, I always felt the Ymir was a victim.

I'm glad to hear you say that, Pow. I read one of your other posts today which said you weren't fond of this movie, generally speaking, because you felt the non-animation parts weren't as good as those in Sinbad, Jason, and Mysterious Island.

But we certainly agree on the design of that magnificent Ymir! Very Happy

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17018
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Tue Aug 08, 2017 4:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Krel wrote:
Pow wrote:
Much as I enjoy this movie & am a huge RH fan,always wondered why he chose to do the rocket scenes as stop-motion?

Wouldn't it have made more sense to simply do the rocket as a conventional model? Similar to the rocket blasting off in "When Worlds Collide?"

Budget. They would have to have made a much larger model for the water effects, and hire an effects shop to film them in a water tank. That would have eaten up a large slice of the budget.

I'm not sure I understand the question, Pow. I think the stop-motion crash landing of the spaceship in 20 Million Miles to Earth looks much better than the rocket FX in When Worlds Collide.

Krel's statement about saving money by using stop motion is true, I'm sure, but I don't think it was done simply because it was the cheaper method.

As much as I love When Worlds Collide and its awesome special effects, the miniatures look exactly like what they were — miniatures. Shocked

I'm not saying stop motion looks realistic, but since I love the look of stop motion, the crash landing at the beginning 20 Million Miles to Earth is a beautifully stylized version of reality in which the rocket moves like a massive object and doesn't look like a miniature on wires.

However, I know this is all a matter of personal taste.

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Fri Mar 02, 2018 10:05 am; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
scotpens
Starship Captain


Joined: 19 Sep 2014
Posts: 871
Location: The Left Coast

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 4:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bud Brewster wrote:
. . . However, I'm sure a direct scan of the film would be better, and if you'd like for me to mail the original reels to you so you can scan the footage (and mute the annoying projector noise, as well as edit them so that each animation section is a separate video), I would be very grateful! Very Happy

If the 8mm film footage is scanned directly and converted to digital video, there won't be any sound recording involved at all. So, nothing to mute. Did your old 4-megapixel camera not have a "silent" setting?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17018
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Aug 09, 2017 9:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

scotpens wrote:
Did your old 4-megapixel camera not have a "silent" setting?

Nope. This was a device made around 2003. The simplest phones today take better pictures and movies than it does. It's ability to make digital movies is pathetic compared to today's smart phones.
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17018
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Sat Sep 01, 2018 12:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________________

Here's what the Multi-Board Alphabetical Index has for this movie.
________________________________________


* 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) @ SFMB

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) @ All Sci-Fi

20 Million Miles to Earth @ Alien Soup

20 Million Miles to Earth @ Pushing the Envelope

20 Million Miles to Earth (1957) @ CHFB

CG Ymir Thoughts (1957) @ CHFB

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17018
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Tue May 14, 2019 7:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

These pre-show and post-show remarks by a lovely TCM hostess are delightful. I've never seen the attractive lady — Tiffany Vasquez — on TCM before. But her remarks were both interesting and well delivered.

The YouTube video was submitted on Jul 31, 2018.
________________________________


___ TCM Comments on 20 Million Miles to Earth (1957)


__________

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Feb 11, 2020 2:57 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17018
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Nov 27, 2019 3:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alltare and I have been having a discussion in Off Topic Discussions under the title Final Colorization Thoughts, and I offered a suggestion about the colorized Ymir that I thought I should share here as well.

My contention has always been that I love the Ymir's slate gray color because it resembles the graphite drawings I've done.






But when they changed the Ymir's color it went from the glorious gray of polished granite —





— to this downright sickly green!





One of the things I don't like about colorization is the way the colors are rarely as vivid as they would be if the movie had been filmed in color.

So, my suggestion to Alltare was that perhaps they should have made the Ymir even MORE green — like this! Shocked






I must confess, this Irish Ymir looks pretty good! It has the look of those beautiful snakes in Asia. By a delightful coincidence, the one below is called a cyclophiops major!

Cool, eh? Cool




_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Mon Apr 18, 2022 10:02 am; edited 3 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17018
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 11:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maurice wrote:
I hope no one is suggesting there was any kind of computer controlled motion control on 2001. They had some motor driven camera rigs, but nothing on the order of the programmable, repeatable action of the Dykstraflex used on Star Wars.

Yep, I'm afraid "someone" WAS suggesting that, and the guilty party's statement below confirms it. Shocked

Bud Brewster wrote:
As for 2001: A Space Odyssey and pretty much anything made after it, those FX weren't done with moving models on wires, filmed by a stationary camera. They were done with stationary models and computer controlled cameras — and all of those FX are gorgeous.

I stand corrected, sir. Thanks for setting my feet back on the path of truth, justice, and the American way! Cool
_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:19 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Pow
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 27 Sep 2014
Posts: 3400
Location: New York

PostPosted: Fri Dec 06, 2019 2:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Read an interesting article recently regarding the Christmas classic TV special show "Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer" (1964).

The technology of using articulated metal armature inside the figures and then moving the figures a frame at a time was considered groundbreaking by the TV Guide Magazine.

They devoted 4 pages covering the process that they apparently had never heard of before, feeling it was revolutionary.

It certainly was...in 1931 for "King Kong."


Last edited by Pow on Tue Feb 11, 2020 10:57 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17018
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Wed Dec 18, 2019 8:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Maybe I'm wrong, but I suspect the writer of TV Guide article was keenly aware that the general public had no idea how either King Kong or the Rudolph The Red Nose Reindeer special was created, and he wanted to educate his poor, clueless readers.

Frankly I wouldn't have my own keen appreciation for stop motion if I hadn't spent many hours trying to use clay models to make a few 8mm films in the 1960s.





~ Click on the image to see my animation video, with the scene shown above appearing at the 3:55 mark.

I'm sure the TV guide author understood that he was explaining a time-honored technique to a brand new generation . . . who knew nothing about it several decades after it was invented.

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:20 pm; edited 1 time in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Bud Brewster
Galactic Fleet Admiral (site admin)


Joined: 14 Dec 2013
Posts: 17018
Location: North Carolina

PostPosted: Tue Feb 11, 2020 4:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Here's five interesting videos for this movie!

Enjoy! ____


01
___ _Movie Trailer - 20 Million Miles To Earth (1957)


__________


02
_____ 20 Million Miles To Earth (colorized) - Trailer

__________


03
______________________ The Ymir hatches


__________


04
__________________ Escape from the cage!


__________



05
_______ 20 Million Miles to Earth - Ymir Awakens

__________

_________________
____________
Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)


Last edited by Bud Brewster on Tue Sep 28, 2021 3:21 pm; edited 3 times in total
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
The Spike
Astral Engineer


Joined: 23 Sep 2014
Posts: 266
Location: Birmingham. Great Britain.

PostPosted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 4:53 am    Post subject: Yahoo Ymir Reply with quote

Why is it always, always so costly for Man to move from the present to the future?

20 Million Miles to Earth is written by Bob Williams and Christopher Knopf from an original treatment by Charlott Knight. The film was produced by Charles H. Schneer's Morningside Productions for Columbia Pictures and directed by Nathan H. Juran. It stars William Hopper, Joan Taylor, Frank Puglia and a Ymir, a creation by stop-motion maestro Ray Harryhausen.

The plot sees an American rocket ship on its return from a mission to Venus, crash land in the Mediterranean Sea near the Sicilian village of Gerra. Some fishermen aid the stricken ship and manage to pull free two survivors, Colonel Bob Calder and Dr. Sharman. Once Calder recovers it becomes known that an important canister brought from Venus has not been found after the crash. However, Pepe, a young fisher-boy who was present at the rescue, found the container and sold its rubbery contents to his Zoologist friend Dr. Leonardo. Whilst in the hands of Dr. Leonardo the gelatin like substance gives birth to a tiny Venusian bipedal creature called a Ymir, but it doesn't stay tiny for very long...

As the work of Dynamation legend Harryhausen got more accomplished and praised, it became a standing joke that his creatures were better actors than most of their adult co-stars. That's never more truer than with 20 Million Miles to Earth, where one of his best creations takes centre stage and acts the actors off the screen. It's also true that some, not all, of Harryhausen influenced movies are just thin clothes lines to hang his work upon. Thankfully that isn't the case here, for although it's homage a go go to King Kong, where Harryhausen hero Willis O'Brien pioneered the stop-motion process, Juran's movie has intelligence within its on the surface monster on the rampage plot.

There's nothing totally new in this genre piece about mans pursuit of more via technological advancement, the unremitting pursuit of science as a tool or plaything. So where Jeff Goldblum mused in Jurassic Park many years later, about that nobody stopped to ask if they should be tampering with science and nature, so it be here. Where the Ymir creature is whipped from its home planet, starts off harmless, afraid, puzzled and very much a stranger in a strange land, yet is provoked into an aggressive state. This even after we are told that the Ymir only attacks if being attacked first, cue next scene as man who said it starts poking confused creature with a big pole! You would laugh if it were it not so adroitly cunning.

Not only does the big question of "why?" loom large as things spiral out of control here in Italy, but animal rights are also given a poke, as is a nice thread as regards guns. It's just too cute not to mean something as Pepe, quite the capitalist indeed, wants to be an American cowboy. Buying himself a Texas hat he happily starts clicking away with his toy guns like some Western cowboy of the silver screen. You just know what is around the corner, soon enough the mighty army are throwing everything at poor Ymir, guns, tanks, bazookas, flame throwers, you name it and the mighty military are using it. America flexes its weaponry muscles on foreign soil, indeed. Against something that they are responsible for being here in the first place! You would laugh if it wee not so cunning...

Of course the trump card here is the creature itself because it shows a number of basic emotions. Harryhausen works his magic as Ymir goes through the various stages of its sad stay on Earth. From its brilliant birthing sequence where it rubs its eyes and shies away from the light, to the rousing finale at the Colosseum where rage and anger has fully taken over as the creature fights for its life; on a planet it doesn't know or wanted to be on anyway. This "thing" may eat Sulphur, but it has one hell of a personality thanks to Ray, who sat at his table for days on end creating these wonderful sequences for us to enjoy. Letting the creature breath, flick its tale and wrestle other animals. Quite a character indeed.

No personalities with the human cast though, Hopper (son of actress and gossip columnist, Hedda) is lantern jawed adequate enough for the role, and Taylor is pretty but playing a totally perfunctory character. While the Italian characters are as stereotypical as they come. But just like King Kong, 20 Million Miles to Earth has many fans who just adore it. More so now as advancements in DVD technology have seen remastered releases (even with a colour choice that's not bad at all) reach a new and interested audience. A fine fine film that rises above its failings due to a wizard at his work table and some brainy cheekiness from the writers. 7.5/10

_________________
The quality of mercy is not strnen.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Gord Green
Galactic Ambassador


Joined: 06 Oct 2014
Posts: 2940
Location: Buffalo, NY

PostPosted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 3:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spike, I think you touched on the essence once again.

As "charming" as the young Italian lad was and as bold and brave the American was, the true outstanding character of the film was the Ymir!

I remember as a kid first viewing this movie how tragic I felt the ending was! THE YMIR SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY!!

Not Rays fault...but definitely a bummer!

_________________
There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
The Spike
Astral Engineer


Joined: 23 Sep 2014
Posts: 266
Location: Birmingham. Great Britain.

PostPosted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 4:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
Spike, I think you touched on the essence once again.

As "charming" as the young Italian lad was and as bold and brave the American was, the true outstanding character of the film was the Ymir!

I remember as a kid first viewing this movie how tragic I felt the ending was! THE YMIR SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN AWAY!!

Not Rays fault...but definitely a bummer!

*SPOILER*

Absolutely, it's the Kong factor, you keeep watching it over the years and bemoaning why they just couldn't have left him alone on his island!

Same with Ymir, keep watching in the hope that one of these days Ymir is going to live!

_________________
The quality of mercy is not strnen.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    ALL SCI-FI Forum Index -> Sci-Fi Movies and Serials from 1950 to 1969 All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6  Next
Page 4 of 6

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group