This Island Earth [VHS]

This Island Earth isn't a stone-cold classic of the 1950s technicolour sci-fi era but it was a solid entry and is fondly remembered. The only blu-ray until now has been a slightly shabby bare bones affair so this disc, from a 4K scan of a new interpositive, should be great. The extras package certainly is -- a 45 minute documentary, two commentaries and a slightly baffling interview with Luigi "Star Crash" Cozzi.And then you put the film on and -- it's cropped from full-frame to widescreen! You know, like it wasn't on release or on previous DVDs. Like it isn't anywhere in the accompanying features. It's left the picture a little grainy and the shots composed a bit awkwardly in places and, frankly, had I known this I wouldn't have bought it. Other reviews mention the original composition as a setup choice but that's not on this disc.I'm just plain angry that such a lot of love and care should go into mastering and assembling this disc but then it's sloppily matted to widescreen. Let's face it, if you're buying this film on blu-ray, you probably care about this stuff. So I feel grumpy and, more than that, conned. It's like buying a restored, rescanned version of The Maltese Falcon and finding the only version on the disc is colourised.It's still the same film (2-3 stars for plot, acting etc) and the extras are good so I'll give this three stars, one for the film and two for that extras package. But it could have been 4 or even 5 if they'd just respected the film enough to do it right -- after all that original 4K presentation does exist somewhere...

Great old sci-fi classic that was truly deserving of a bluray release, but this probably ISN'T the release you've been waiting for. The old DVD version may actually be better.This German bluray release has been butchered into fake widescreen format by zooming in and cutting off the top/bottom of the print. Passable ... but the result is that some shots appear strange and improperly framed since its inconsistent with the original filming. Zooming the image has also resulted in the film grain being stronger than it should ... especially in the stock footage and foggy airport scenes. The overall effect is a soft image that's not particularly crisp as other reviewers have suggested. Video encoding looks to be very low bitrate.Although not restored, the print used for the transfer is relatively clean with just a few occasional dust specks. This bluray is fine if you're a fan of the film - but its pretty disappointing. I would have preferred a crisper full frame version or a choice between the two. Although there is a full frame version available on the disk, its SD and has German-only audio.My purchase, via Nagiry, took almost five weeks to arrive here in Australia ... which is far too long. About a week to post, and then four weeks to deliver. It was beaten (by a week) by other items I ordered from Amazon.co.uk a fortnight later. Nagiry may want to re-evaluate their shipping provider or bump up to the next service tier.UPDATE: After a little more Internet research (at Gary Tooze's DVD Beaver website) its seems that the widescreen format is valid - with This Island Earth having been filmed to work in both widescreen and full screens formats. It seems that cinemas were in transition at the time - with a matt applied to adapt the image to the screen size. That being said, the transfer is still really just okay - and it would be nice to see a restoration of this under-appreciated flick. This is enjoyable enough in the meantime, and still recommended on the basis that its a great classic of 1950s sci-fi.

Over many years ever since childhood I have watched this film many times in several formats. It's a piece of classic fifties Sci Fi and on blu ray it looks great. Although this is a German release it plays in English with no problem. Picture quality is very good given the age of the movie & the choice of disc cover artwork is a fun idea. It's the version of this movie I've been waiting for and I'm so glad to have been able to find it. If you're a fan of fifties science fiction it's a must.

I have seen this film numerous times and it gets better on each viewing. Up until very recently, this was a rarely available film. Made in 1955 and based on the novel of the Mormon science fiction writer Raymond F. Jones, this is a classic, cold war science fiction treat. The picture quality is good, but not pristine. You can still see the odd blotch or two on the film print, but nothing too distracting. The sound quality is clean and crystal clear. The script is intelligent and imaginative.The effects and space creatures are astounding for 1955, who can forget the giant mutant bug with the oversized brain! The ginger cat in the film "Neutron" was a famous Hollywood leading cat actor called "Orangey" whose other aliases included "Jimmy" and "Rhubarb". Although he had a reputation in Hollywood for being "artistically temperamental" he was a real old trouper and had an extensive film and television career. He won two Patsy Awards (the animal equivalent of Oscars). He played the cat in Rhubarb (1951); This Island Earth (1955); The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957); The Diary of Anne Frank (1959); Gigot (1962); The Comedy of Terrors(1964); and; Village of the Giants (1965). His most famous role was as the lead cat in "Breakfast at Tiffany's" (1961).

The following items are on the US release of the disk but not the UK version:1. NEW Facts About Perspecta Stereophonic Sound By Bob Furmanek2. WAR OF THE PLANETS: 1958 Castle Films Release For The Home Market Including Both The 50-Foot Silent Headline Edition And The 200-Foot Sound Complete Editionbut most importantly:3. NEW 4K Scan Of The Inter-Positive – Two Aspect Ratios: 1.85:1 And 1.37:1only the 1:85:1 version, zoomed in and cropping the top and bottom is included