NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Imprint Blu-ray (April 2022): Imprint have transferred Byron Haskin's Conquest of Space to Blu-ray. We already reviewed the German 'Alive' Mediabook - now out-of-print - that came out in 2016 - HERE. We've compared some captures below. It looks like the same D1 master - 1.78:1 and roughly the same bitrate but the Imprint may have slightly more color depth. Neither look like an SD-bump. The image is still pleasing. Like the German 1080P this is a shade blue-ish and I'd appreciate more grain. I was okay with the quality though - even being a shade waxy at times. This Imprint Blu-ray image delivers an extremely clean presentation, and the effects predictably look 'of their age' in this resolution. Overall though, this produces a positive viewing that possibly we can compare it in the future to a stateside transfer.

NOTE: We have added 38 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Imprint use a linear PCM dual-mono track (24-bit) in the original English language. Conquest of Space does have aggressive moments if sounding quite tame in the uncompressed; rockets, space capsules, etc. but the score by Van Cleave (Robinson Crusoe on Mars, The Colossus of New York, The Space Children, William Castle's Project X, and 12 The Twilight Zone episodes, among others) sounds very decent in the lossless projecting atmosphere, occasional humor and minor tension. Don't forget the, uncredited number with Rosemary Clooney from Here Comes the Girls. Unlike the 'Alive' BD, Imprint offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Imprint Blu-ray offers two new commentaries. The first is by historian Justin Humphreys. He is the Curator of the Estate of producer/director/animator George Pal and the author of his upcoming official biography, "George Pal: Man of Tomorrow." So, he knows his stuff and it is a pleasure to listen to fascinating details of Pal and the production that I was totally unaware of including the vanishing characters (literally) around 1 1/4 hours into the film stating how Paramount did not finish (edit) this film properly. The second commentary is by the pairing of Barry Forshaw and Kim Newman - who also did commentaries for Byron Haskin The War of the Worlds as well as The Naked Jungle (both on Imprint Blu-rays). These guys are a treasure trove of information talking about the effects - model work, matte paintings and super-imposition and many similar space exploration titles from before and after Conquest of Space. They do admit it is not at the same level as Byron Haskin's other work. We also get "A Fellow Journeyman" a new 37-minute documentary on Director Byron Haskin directed by Daniel Griffith with C. Courtney Joyner. Also new is "Book to Screen" a 14-minute featurette with NASA illustrator Vincent de Fate narrating about what was going on in terms of the science relating to Conquest of Space. Lastly is a theatrical trailer for the film.    

Byron Haskin's Conquest of Space hasn't held up as well as some of its 50's contemporaries but it is chock-full of nostalgia value. Yes, we get Mickey Shaughnessy (Edge of Eternity), briefly we see William Hopper (The Deadly Mantis, 20 Million Miles to Earth and Perry Mason,) Benson Fong (Charley Varrick, Kung Fu etc.,) Ross Martin (Experiment in Terror, The Wild Wild West etc.,) oddly cast Phil Foster (Frank DeFazio of Laverne & Shirley fame) and more stalwart pioneering astronauts tackling the daunting task of space exploration. If you appreciate the innocence of George Pal, Byron Haskin, and often rudimentary effects of 50's sci-fi... then this has immense appeal. The Imprint Blu-ray is the way to go with the double commentaries, documentary and featurette. A lot of love went into this package and for fans it's an easy recommendation.

Gary Tooze