F1:
The Movie 4K
(2025/Apple/Warner 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray)/Tales
Of Adventure: Collection 8
(20,000 Leagues Under The
Sea (1916,) Master
Of The World/Valley
Of The Dragons (1961,)
War Gods Of The Deep
(1965,) Jules Verne's
Rocket To The Moon (1967)
and Light At The Edge Of
The World (1971/Via
Vision/Imprint Blu-ray Box Set)
4K
Ultra HD Picture: B+ Picture: X/B- Sound: B+/C+ (Leagues:
B) Extras: B- Films: C/C+ (Leagues:
B-)
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Tales
Of Adventure
Blu-ray set is now only available from our friends at Via Vision
Imprint Entertainment in Australia, plays on all Blu-ray players and
can be ordered from the link below.
Now
for action and adventure films that run for over a century of
time....
Joseph
Kosinski's F1:
The Movie 4K
(2025) is a rare hit car racing movie, from a cycle that does not
include the overly, played out and slick Fast
& Furious
films, but does included many duds, from Tom Cruise in Days
Of Thunder
to Sylvester Stallone in Driven.
This Brad Pitt vehicle (no pun intended) is not as all out bad as
those, but it is still extremely formulaic plot-wise and mixed with a
condescending update of the Bruckheimer/Simpson 1980s mall movie
formula, it would have been another catastrophe if it were not for a
few things.
One,
the way the races are shot are more like Frankenheimer's Grand
Prix
or the Steve McQueen film LeMans,
not great, but underrated just the same. Two, the money is on the
screen and Pitt never misses a cliched beat, always also staying
somewhat in Robert Redford territory. Three, it plays like the
actual F1 races we've reviewed on Blu-ray before, but with far
superior graphics and racing footage. And four, it places humor all
over the place, which undermines it and helps keep it afloat at the
same time.
Apple
Computers co-produced with Warner and the F1 franchise, so they got
very lucky (think Barbie)
and the Ultra HD shoot is something we had not seen before in the
genre, so long it has been since they made such a film on a large
scale. Still, it does not surpass the best editing and Super
Panavision 70 work on Grand
Prix,
but it looks better than just about anything similar of late and this
4K Ultra HD Blu-ray is the way to go to see it. Damon Idris and
Javier Bardem also star.
Extras
include Digital Movie Code, while the disc (per the press release)
adds:
Inside
the F1 The Movie Table Read (featurette)
5:05
On
June 19, 2023, the cast of F1 joined Director Joseph
Kosinski and Producer Jerry Bruckheimer at Silverstone for a table
read. As excitement and anticipation builds, the cast reminisce on
the momentous occasion and reflect on their friendships.
The
Anatomy of a Crash (featurette) 6:23
Getting
Up to Speed (featurette) 5:00
APXGP
Innovations (featurette) 5:21
Each
year, FORMULA 1 teams make serious engineering and technological
advancements to their cars. The same can be said for the F1
crew, who worked hard across departments - sound, camera, RF,
rigging, stunts and SFX - and found new ways to innovate.
Making
it to Silverstone (featurette) 5:04
The
first days of filming at the Formula 1 British Grand Prix 2023 at
Silverstone took months, if not years, of planning and rehearsal of
the Grid Walk and Formation Lap scenes. The goal: to shoot live
without disturbing the integrity of the race.
Lewis
Hamilton: Producer (featurette) 5:14
When
Joseph Kosinski decided to make a film about the world of F1, the
first person he called was 7-time World Drivers' Champion Lewis
Hamilton. Filmmakers discuss Hamilton's value as a producer, how he
influenced the script, his set visits and more!
APXGP
Sets and Locations Around the World (featurette) 9:17
Welcome
to the APXGP garage, designed to fit perfectly into the F1 paddock
for filming across the globe. Go beyond the track to see how F1
teams McLaren, Williams, and Mercedes welcomed cast and crew into
their factories and team facilities.
APXGP
and F1: How it was Filmed (featurette) 5:53
and
Sound of Speed (featurette) 5:10
Tales
Of Adventure: Collection 8
(1916 - 1971) is yet another set of older genre films from
ViaVision/Imprint grouping similar films in the genre together, sort
of also under a sort of subgenre way. This Blu-ray box set offers
six films based on literature, famous authors and quests. There are
extras on most of the films and you can read about them, order the
set and get some general information at the link at the end of this
review.
The
films are the original, silent, 1916 version of 20,000
Leagues Under The Sea
is fun to see. You will enjoy how
ambitious this silent film is and how good some of the shots really
are more impressive than you might expect. The attempts to create
special effects and the (now we would call it steampunk) technology
is also commendable. This runs 86 minutes and I was never bored,
though I had seen it before, this is the best it has ever looked.
William
Witney's Master
Of The World
(1961, American International Pictures) is the one film we reviewed
before, from one of MGM's Limited Edition DVD series long folded, so
you can read all about this Verne adaption from American
International Pictures at this link:
https://fulvuedrive-in.com/review/11177/Hickey+&+Boggs+(1972)/Incredible+Melting+Man+(19
The
actors and look are better than the resulting film, with Vincent
Price stealing the film, a screenplay by Richard Matheson that has
its moments and more than a little ambition, especially where they
lacked budget and even modern technology to show the story they are
telling. This looks like the same transfer from the DVD, so the film
needs work, but color and some depth are much better here.
Edward
Bernds' Valley
Of The Dragons
(1961, Columbia Pictures) is the other black and white film here,
with a cast led by Cesare Danova, with a comet crashing into the
earth awakens giant monsters, though they sure look like regular
animals shot to look like giant monsters. Based on Verne's book Off
Of A Comet,
it is a sort of minor classic since its 'monster' footage has been
shown to death outside of the film. Amusing to see it in the actual
film it first appeared. Worth a look for all serious film and genre
fans.
Jacques
Tourneur of all people directed
War-Gods
Of The Deep
(aka City
In The Sea,
1965) which actually combines works by Verne and Edgar Allen Poe, but
with Vincent Price, Tab Hunter and John Le Mesurier leading a cast
about a city under the ocean. Another American International Picture
with Price under contract and on a roll, we get sea creatures and
some more 'interesting' technology, it is also worth a look, but only
works so well.
Don
Sharp is one of the most prolific journeyman directors of all and his
film of Jules
Verne's Rocket To The Moon
(aka Those
Fantastic Flying Fools,
1967; American International Pictures in the U.S.)
got quite
a cast including Burl Ives, Troy Donahue, Gert Frobe, Lionel
Jeffries, Daliah Lavi, Edward de Souza, Hermione Gingold, Dennis
Price, Stratford Johns. Hugh Walters, Allan Cuthbertson and
Terry-Thomas. His one wanted to be up there with Those
Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines,
Chitty
Chitty Bang Bang
and other British-rich fantasy with comedy productions, getting their
wish by having the same issues and limits, but it is the richest of
the films in this set and throwing a spy angle in it in the same year
as the comical version of Casino
Royale
tells you about how the spy craze was really skyrocketing... as much
as any ship in this film.
Finally,
the 'newest' and most naturalistic of the films here is Kevin
Billington's The
Light At The Edge Of The World
(1971, National General) with no less than Kirk Douglas and Yul
Brynner, both still in peak form, is another Verne adaption. This
time, pirates take over a lighthouse to loot various ships by causing
them to crash, then stealing whatever they have on board. Relatively
more realistic than the other films in the set, Alexander and Ilya
Salkind produced this before their Three
Musketeers
or Superman
films, so it is interesting to see where they were going just by
watching this one.
Billington
(the hilarious Rise
and Rise of Michael Rimmer,
Voices,
Reflections)
more than handles the talent and big screen intents of this action
melodrama, shot big and wide to match its story and its actors. No,
it can be uneven and some parts just fall flat, but it has its
moments and you have to see this one just for the leads alone: two of
the gutsiest, strongest actors in all of film history.
Samantha
Eggar and Fernando Rey round out a decent cast.
Now
for playback
performance. The 2160p HEVC/H.265, 2.35 X 1, Dolby Vision/HDR (10;
Ultra HD Premium)-enhanced Ultra High Definition image on F1
4K is
most impressive in its racing sequences, even when they become
repetitive or have shots we have seen before. This even includes
some demo shots, but also know the live action portions can be much
less impressive and at worse, the gap is noticeable. At least the
lossless Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 mixdown for older systems)
does not get carried away with overhead sound effects, which some
lesser and more commercial car films would (and recently have WAY too
often) so that's a plus. Such moments should only be for car crashes
(think the opening credits of the original U.S. episodes of Speed
Racer)
leaving the combination of racing sound and image on this release the
ultimate highlight. With the next youngest film being 54+ years old,
you can imagine this is the best performer on the list.
The
1080p 1.33 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on the 1916 Leagues is going to show its age of the
materials used, but this is a 4K scan of a fine 35mm nitrate print
from Universal Pictures. I like it, but it could use even more work,
but seeing some of the very first-ever underwater work for a
narrative feature film looks good here, even when it is obvious. A
new stereophonic music score is here and its not bad in PCM 2.0
Stereo.
The
1080p 1.85 X 1 digital High Definition image on Master
Of The World
is again, an older master, but color is vastly improved here. As
noted in my
DVD review, the blimp is the Magnacolor (a process from the makers of
TruColor) by Pathe which furthers the surreal look and feel of the
film, pumping up the otherworldly aspects in ways that makes this
winning B-movie filmmaking at its best. Oh, and this was also made
in ''Dyna-magic'', which is its attempt to make its special effects
more special in the mode of Ray Harryhausen's DynaMation, his
advanced version of stop motion animation. Though not always in mint
shape, it is the best this has all looked since it was originally
released in theaters.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 black & white digital High Definition image
transfer on
Valley
of The Dragons
looks decent and plays well enough, including the most familiar
scenes, but its claim of a format called 'Monstascope' is a fake
format for a hokey boast that you'll see non-stop, powerful and
creepy monsters. In real life, you'll just keep laughing or go into
shock at how silly it all gets.
The
rest of the films are here in 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital
High Definition image transfers that can also show the age of the
materials used, yet
they all too still look as good as they ever have on home video to
date. War-Gods
Of The Deep
(aka City
In The Sea)
is in ColorScope, but is really Pathecolor with generic anamorphic
lenses unidentified. Rocket
To The Moon
(aka Those
Fantastic Flying Fools)
is shot in real anamorphic Panavision, but only uses Eastmancolor and
no other color format, albeit a bit dark from the British labs. The
music score by the underrated John Scott is a plus.
And
The
Light At The End Of The World
offers the same combination, but the color is slightly different as
Fotofilm S.A. in Madrid, Spain did the labwork. You get some unique
darkness as a result, giving the film a one-of-a-kind look, but it
too could look a bit better.
The
PCM 2.0 Mono on the rest of the films can show their age in harmonic
distortion, sonic limits and even some warped sound at times, but the
original theatrical mono on all of them had budget and technological
limits. They all have some good sonic spots, but all also need more
work and remastering (are any of the scores originally recorded in
stereo?) and in all cases, is as good as I have heard them before.
Just initially be careful of high playback levels and adjust as
necessary.
To
order the Tales Of Adventure Collection 8 Blu-ray set, try
this link and you can find more such sets and other great exclusives
form ViaVision and Imprint:
https://viavision.com.au/shop/tales-of-adventure-collection-8-1916-1971-imprint-collection-
-
Nicholas Sheffo
