Disc:

Video:

Audio:

Extras:
• 3-D photo galleries - Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 - 2:00), New York World's Fair (1939 - 2:20), Sam Sawyer View-Master reels (1950 - 2:30) and 3-D Comic Books (1953- 3;10)
• 3-D footage directed by Francis Ford Coppola from The Bellboy and the Playgirls (1962) (2:04)
• Commentary tracks by Thad Komorowski and Jack Theakston

• Introductions by Leonard Maltin and Trustin Howard
• Essays by Julian Antos, Hillary Hess, Thad Komorowski, Donald McWilliams, Ted Okuda, Mary Ann Sell and Jack Theakston

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Description: It has taken over 30 years for the 3-D Film Archive to assemble and restore the material in 3-D Rarities, an eye-popping collection of ultra-rare and long-lost movies, which Flicker Alley and the 3-D Film Archive are proud to present here for the first time on Blu-ray.

Selections include Kelley's Plasticon Pictures, the earliest extant 3-D demonstration film from 1922 with incredible footage of Washington and New York City; New Dimensions, the first domestic full color 3-D film originally shown at the World's Fair in 1940; Thrills for You, a promotional film for the Pennsylvania Railroad; Around is Around, a 3-D animated gem by Norman McLaren; Rocky Marciano vs. Jersey Joe Walcott, the only 3-D newsreel; Stardust in Your Eyes, a hilarious standup routine by Slick Slavin; trailer for The Maze, with fantastic production design by William Cameron Menzies; Doom Town, a controversial anti-atomic testing film mysteriously pulled from release; puppet cartoon The Adventures of Sam Space, presented in widescreen; I'll Sell My Shirt, a burlesque comedy unseen in 3-D for over 60 years; Boo Moon, an excellent example of color stereoscopic animation...and more!

Presented in high-quality digital 3-D, all films have been stunningly restored and mastered direct from archival materials. Meticulously aligned shot by shot for precise registration of the original left/right elements, these historic 3-D motion pictures have never before looked this good.

The date of the first documented exhibition of a 3-D film occurred on June 10, 1915. 3-D Rarities commemorates the centennial of 3-D motion pictures!.

 

 

NOTE (not included):

TO WATCH THE 3-D VERSIONS OF THESE FILMS, YOU NEED:
- 3D HDTV
- COMPATIBLE 3D GLASSES
- BLU-RAY 3DTM PLAYER OR PLAYSTATION 3 SYSTEM*
- HIGH-SPEED HDMI CABLE

 

This Edition Is Also Viewable in 2D, Playable on Your Standard Blu-ray Player! (captures below are, obviously, in 2D)

Sample Title and Trailer Titles (It Came From Outer Space!, Hannah Lee, and Miss Sadie Thompson):

 

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

3-D Rarities is a mixture from many sources and has had some restoration and the image quality on Blu-ray from Flicker Alley - never deters from the presentation immense value. Personally, I think it looks highly impressive - most probably as good as we will see in our lifetime. The 2.5 hour film is housed on a dual-layered disc with a supportive bitrate. Color show some depth and while there are some speckles there is no damage after the early features. This Blu-ray is extremely pleasing in its appearance despite the, acceptable, and less-consistent imperfections. I think most will be very appreciative.

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flicker Alley use a DTS-HD Master bump to 5.1 surround at 1619 kbps. The dialogue (commentary, as well) is clean and some of the works are silent but have musical accompaniment. We also we get support by composers/performances; George Steiner, Trustin Howard, Paul Dunlap, Clarence Wheeler, Winston Sharples, Billy Ward and his Dominoes and others and it sounds decent but I noted little separation. It was acceptably clean and flat - better and more consistent than you might anticipate considering the variable sources and conditions. There are no subtitle options and my Oppo has identified it as being a region FREE disc playable on Blu-ray machines worldwide.

Extras :

Thanks to producer Robert Furmanek of the 3-D Film Archive for keeping me informed. We get some highly interesting 3-D photo galleries; Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923 - 2:00), New York World's Fair (1939 - 2:20), Sam Sawyer View-Master reels (1950 - 2:30) and some information and details about 3-D Comic Books (1953- 3:10). There is also 2-minutes of 3-D footage directed by Francis Ford Coppola from 1962's The Bellboy and the Playgirls and we get a couple of commentary tracks (although I could not access them 'on the fly' - only via the menu) by Jack Theakston (Kelley's Plasticon Pictures + the Crespinel/Leventhal tests) and Thad Komorowski (author of Sick Little Monkeys: The Unauthorized Ren & Stimpy Story) on the Casper cartoon "Boo Moon". The package also contains a 24-page liner notes booklet with introductions by Leonard Maltin and Trustin Howard, photos and adverts plus essays by Julian Antos, Hillary Hess, Thad Komorowski, Donald McWilliams, Ted Okuda, Mary Ann Sell and Jack Theakston.

 

 

BOTTOM LINE:
I thoroughly enjoyed the fascinating, historical and educational 3-D Rarities on Blu-ray. I was very keen on the trailers. Flicker Alley has done so much to put this incredible package together. What an extensive 35-year labor of love. I appreciated how this was laid-out by the producers and the restoration work is extremely impressive. If you are even remotely keen - we give this a VERY strong recommendation! 

Gary Tooze

June 16th, 2015

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