Subtitles:

None

Extras:

• A Trip to the Moon (black and white) with audio options (see note) - 12:49 in 1080P

• The Astronomers Dream (3:14 - 1080i)

• The Eclipse (9:19 - 1080i)

***

No original hand-colored copies of A Trip to the Moon (Le Voyage dans la Lune - 1902), by Georges Méliès, had been known to survive until one was miraculously found in Spain in the mid-1990s, but in a fragmentary condition thought too fragile to handle for either viewing or restoration. In 2010, three experts in worldwide film restoration - Lobster Films, and two non-profit entities, Groupama Gan Foundation for Cinema and Technicolor Foundation for Cinema Heritage - launched one of the most complex and ambitious film restoration projects ever to bring an original, colored version of Méliès masterpiece back 110 years after its first release. Using the most advanced digital technologies now available, the team reassembled and restored the fragments of the 13,375 frames. The two foundations, which carried out specifically the music part of this project, decided to approach AIR's Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel, to compose an original modern soundtrack to accompany this cinematic milestone. Packaged in a limited-edition, SteelBookTM case, this publication also features The Extraordinary Voyage, a fascinating new documentary, directed by Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange, which chronicles the journey of A Trip to the Moon from the fantastical Méliès production in 1902, to the astonishing rediscovery of a nitrate print in color in 1993, to the premiere of the new restoration on the opening night of the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. The documentary includes interviews with contemporary filmmakers, including Costa Gavras, Michel Gondry, Michel Hazanavicius, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet on Méliès enduring significance to cinema.

 

 

The Film:

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

A Trip to the Moon looks just fabulous on Blu-ray from Flicker Alley. What a story of the discovery and restoration. We compared some frames with the black and white edition (also presented in 1080P). You can see the colorized has less damage and shows more information in the frame. There are plenty of imperfections but you can still appreciate the fabulous effort that went into this presentation. This Blu-ray is awesome. You can gaze at the colorizations in amazement and the BW version has solidly-layered contrast. I feel quite privileged to have seen the film looking this good.

The 2011 documentary is in 1080P and has some amazing graphics and art pieces (akin to storyboards with aliens, rockets etc.). Cool to see Tom Hanks. It looks solid.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

 

(A Trip to the Moon (BW - 1080P) TOP / A Trip top the Moon - colorized - 1080P BOTTOM)

 

 

(A Trip to the Moon (BW - 1080P) TOP / A Trip top the Moon - colorized - 1080P BOTTOM)

 

 

(A Trip to the Moon (BW - 1080P) TOP / A Trip top the Moon - colorized - 1080P BOTTOM)

 

 

(A Trip to the Moon (BW - 1080P) TOP / A Trip top the Moon - colorized - 1080P BOTTOM)

 

 

Audio :

The colorized edition has the music by 'Air' (Nicolas Godin and Jean-Benoit Dunckel) and is rhythmic, intense, has some gaps with mumbling - a representation of the onscreen activity, well timed explosions and is, overall, a revelation - a great way to view the film, IMO. It is 5.1 and has interesting mix characteristics. There is a lot of drum, some piano, guitar and its eclectic electric beats make for a wonderful presentation. It's not 'drugged-out' weird and is actually quite passive. Both the colorization and the 'Air' audio are liking have a surreal film experience with A Trip to the Moon - brilliant! I loved it.

My only head-scratcher is it would have been nice to have the 3 options for the black and white score choices to play with the colorized.

Beyond the colorized feature and the hour-6-minute documentary on  the life of George Méliès, the magic of films history and preservation of this incredible historical artifact mentioned above, there are more extras. As described in the package: This limited-edition 2-Disc BD/DVD SteelBook Edition also contains A Trip to the Moon in a beautifully restored black and white edition from original 35 mm elements with two separate audio tracks of music: An orchestral score by Robert Israel with the original English narration written by Méliès (see above); and a second track produced by Russell Merritt consisting of a troupe of actors voicing the various characters as performed in the U.S. in 1903, with piano music by Frederick Hodges (as a lone 3rd option). There is also a 10-minute, English subtitled, interview with the group AIR (Godin and Dunckel) on the restored soundtrack, and two lunar-related shorts by Méliès - The Eclipse (3:14) and The Astronomer's Dream (9:19) - both in 1080i.

BOTTOM LINE:
I don't know if I am being unduly influenced by my recent viewing of Scorsese's Hugo - but I was in heaven with this package. My mouth was hanging-open watching both the colorized and each separate audio-track version of the black and white transfers of A Trip to the Moon. With the lights out, in a pitch black room - the magic of the film dominates the Home Theater space. An incredible Blu-ray that should get some heavy voting in our year-end poll. For all cinema fans - strongly recommended!