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The Space Children [Blu-ray]
(Jack Arnold, 1958)
Review by Gary Tooze
Production: Theatrical: Paramount Video: Olive Films
Disc: Region: 'A' (as verified by the Momitsu region FREE Blu-ray player) Runtime: 1:09:05.099 Disc Size: 13,666,278,964 bytes Feature Size: 13,536,417,792 bytes Video Bitrate: 24.00 Mbps Chapters: 9 Case: Standard Blu-ray case Release date: June 19th, 2012
Video: Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 Resolution: 1080p / 23.976 fps Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio English 816 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 816 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles: • None
Extras: • None
Bitrate:
Description: From legendary Sci-Fi director Jack Arnold (The Incredible Shrinking Man, Creature From the Black Lagoon) - a glowing brain-like extra terrestrial communicates telepathically with the children of top-secret Air Force base in California. Dave Brewster (Adam Williams), an electronic technician arrives in town for a new job at the base with his wife, Anne (Peggy Webber) and their two children Bud (Michel Ray) and Ken (Johnny Crawford). The boys are drawn, along with the other children from the base to a lonely cave near the beach, where the kids start doing the alien's bidding as the adults try to figure out what's happening with their unruly offspring. The cast includes former child star Jackie Coogan (Chaplin's The Kid), Ty Hardin (TV's Bronco) and Russell Johnson (The Professor from Gilligan's Island).
The Film: Dave Brewster (Adam Williams) arrives to take his new job as an electronics technician at a top-secret Air Force base in California. With him are his wife Anne (Peggy Webber) and their two children, Bud (Mikel Ray) and Ken (Johnny Crawford), who are all apprehensive about this sudden transplant, as well as the spartan existence that all of the families live under. No sooner do they arrive, however, then Bud and Ken see a strange light in the sky pointing to the beach, and soon after that seem to be receiving increasingly powerful -- and detailed -- telepathic communications from an unseen source. The boys are drawn, along with the children from the other families, to a lonely cave near the beach, where an alien presence, in the form of a huge (and ever-growing) brain, has hidden itself. At first, it uses the children to try and persuade the more reasonable of the parents that their project -- a missile called The Thunderer, which will place a hydrogen bomb in orbit, capable of being used on any target in the event the United States is threatened -- is too dangerous to complete. But the parents aren't prepared to listen, either because they don't understand the danger, or because they genuinely believe in the conduct of the Cold War, as in the case of Hank Johnson (Jackie Coogan); or because they're too angry and belligerent, like Joe Gamble (Russell Johnson), who is at a dead-end in his job and has taken to alcoholism and abusing his wife (Jean Engstrom) and stepson (Johnny Washbrook). As the launch approaches and the children's entreaties are ignored, the alien takes more direct action with their help, and they soon find a potential ally in in Dr. Wahrman (Raymond Bailey), the inventor of The Thunderer, who is also the only man on the project smart enough to realize that he may not have all the answers. But the military head of the project (Richard Shannon) is still prepared to launch The Thunderer, regardless of its inventor's doubts. Excerpt from MRQE located HERE
A brain from outer space lands on the earth and takes control(?) of
children living on a nearby military base. Image : NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc. The source used for The Space Children via Olive Blu-ray seems to have been in decent shape. This is only single-layered but contrast is decent. There were some inconsistencies probably relating to the density of the print and Olive don't bother with restoration/manipulation. But they were nothing fatal to the viewing presentation. The black levels and detail are quite acceptable - if not stellar. There was even a bit of depth showing. It's a puny file size as running time is equally short. The Blu-ray improved the presentation over an SD rendering and any minor flaws and brief speckling had no detrimental effect on my viewing. Where Olive usually bastardize their 1.85:1 aspect ratio films to 1.78 - The Space Children remains intact at the 1.85. I was pleased with the 1080P appearance - even with the limitations.
CLICK EACH BLU-RAY CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION
Audio :There is no depth or range to speak of but it seems a faithful transfer without flaws. Some effects are surprisingly crisp at times via the DTS-HD Master mono track at 816 kbps. There are no subtitles and m y Momitsu has identified it as being a region 'A'-locked.
Extras : No supplements - not even a trailer which is the bare-bones route that Olive are going with their releases.
BOTTOM LINE: Gary Tooze June 7th, 2012 |