Around the World in 80 Days (Two-Disc Special Edition)

Rating:
Summary: A real snoozer!!!
Review: AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS is more a triumph of spectacle than of storytelling, with an extraordinary backstory of a master entrepreneur's decade-long dream to create the biggest, most extravagant entertainment ever made. That the film was ever produced at all was miraculous; that it succeeded so well (earning the "Best Picture" Academy Award, along with a raftload of other prizes), and remains the most enjoyable version of Verne's novel (far superior to the Pierce Brosnan and Jackie Chan remakes) is a living testament to it's nearly forgotten guiding spirit, Michael Todd.

The film itself is basically a series of 'set pieces' (most involving the brilliant Mexican comedian, Cantinflas, and a wide variety of guest stars, appearing in 'cameos', to use the term coined by Todd), built around the framework of an aristocrat's wager that, using available transportation, he could circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. While David Niven is perfect as the supercilious Phileas Fogg, and Robert Newton is at his hammy best as detective Mr. Fix, it is Cantinflas, as Passepartout, manservant and sweet Everyman, who steals the movie.

While the years has lessened the novelty of many of the cameos, as performers have faded from memory, a few legendary actors still bring a smile, in their brief appearances (particularly an over-long but still amusing barroom sequence with Marlene Dietrich, George Raft, Red Skelton, and, as a 'capper', Frank Sinatra).

Included as 'extras' offered in the two-disc set are a revealing, occasionally tongue-in-cheek 1968 biography, "Around the World of Mike Todd", featuring fascinating and funny insights by his widow, Elizabeth Taylor, a clean-shaven, cape-draped Orson Welles, and many others; "Playhouse 90: Around the World in 90 Minutes", a 'live' look at the ultimately disastrous first anniversary 80 DAYS party at Madison Square Garden, with Garry Moore offering funny vignettes featuring Todd, himself (quite gifted at comedy!), and 'on scene' legendary commentators Walter Cronkite and Jim McKay (long before "Wide World of Sports"); Todd and Taylor, backstage after winning the "Best Picture" Oscar; and MUCH more.

Bravo to Warner Home Video for releasing a new, remastered DVD edition of the film, and including a treasure trove of special features about the film, and the irrepressible Michael Todd!

Rating:
Summary: First Class Travel
Review: An eagerly awaited and long overdue restoration of the movie that won the Oscar as the best film of 1956. That was a pretty good year for movies and the competition was intense. But Around The World In 80 Days was entertainment in capital letters, although younger members of modern audiences might wonder what all the fuss was about.

The film certainly looks and sounds wonderful in this special edition DVD. If you are going to see it, this is the way. The extras are not overly exciting - a bit disappointing really. The most interesting is probably the complete version of Melies' Trip To The Moon (not certain what that has to do with Around The World other than also being based on Jules Verne) but that gets to be heavy going after a while.

Around The World In 80 Days was, of course, the brainchild and crowning glory of super showman Mike Todd. By all accounts, getting the film made and financed was not easy and production occasionally ground to a halt while more funding was secured. That probably accounts for the slight unevenness and occasional rough edges. Some scenes seem almost unfinished and the narrative jumps over large sections of geography. Maybe it's just time restrictions or sloppy editing, but the film does have an uncertain pace unusual for productions on this scale. And the camera doesn't linger on quite as many exotic landscapes as you might expect.

But Todd's biggest and best gimmick for the film was the invention of the cameo role for big name stars. Fifty or so well known personalities pop up all along the route, which provided the extra fun of spotting them and putting the correct name to the face ("Is that Jack Oakie?" "No, that's Jack Oakie." "Mom, who's Jack Oakie?") Some have larger bits than others - Jose Greco gets a superb solo spot, Peter Lorre is Peter Lorre, Noel Coward and John Gielgud make a great double act). A few, like Frank Sinatra, never utter a word - they're just there. But they provide a real sense of class to the affair. Sadly, quite a few of them will now go unrecognized by younger viewers.

The four main stars are a curious mix. Mexican comedian Catinflas is quite good as Passepartout, even if his accent is a little too thick at times. His clowning livens up many scenes, especially in an extended Spanish bullring sequence. Robert Newton plays Detective Fixx like a distant cousin of Long John Silver. A rather subdued Shirley MacLaine seems a strange choice to play an Indian princess. And David Niven seems to play Phileas Fogg just a trifle too straight. Not even a hint of a tongue in cheek.

The later television version of Around The World with Pierce Brosnan makes an interesting comparison and is enjoyable in its own right - even an improvement in some areas. The more recent film with Jackie Chan is best forgotten. It is the 1956 movie that will always be remembered and ultimately be most entertaining. And on this DVD, it is better than ever.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT COMMENTARY TRACK AND PICTURE/SOUND
Review: Yes, the movie is kinda boring. But the DVD, with all its features, is outstanding. Great stereo cross mixing: the voices from four actors on the screen come from four distinct locations. The film print used, on many shots, is the original TODD A-O: 128 degree lens curve. So, if they make a curved video monitor, you will see the original picture image! The commentary track is an actual script! Full info is provided on many of the actors. GET THIS ONE!

Rating:
Summary: Todd's three-ring movie circus
Review: Mike Todd, a 1940s Broadway hustler whose stage productions were seldom more than refined burlesque shows, knocked Hollywood on its ear with his first (and last) film. "Around the World in 80 Days" won the 1956 Best Picture Oscar (besting "Ten Commandments," "Giant", "Friendly Persuasion" and "The King & I") - without receiving so much as one acting nomination! Its success relied as much on Todd's brassness as it did on its cast and crew. But what a cast! David Niven, the great Mexican comic Cantinflas (as a French valet?), young Shirley MacLaine (as an Indian princess??) and Robert Newton topped the bill, supported by more than four dozen of the (then) most famous faces in the movies in bit parts ("cameos," Todd's term, stuck). And what a crew! Writers S.J. Perelman, John Farrow (who was scheduled to direct but quickly withdrew after squabbles with Todd) and James Poe, cinematographer Lionel Lindon, associate producer William Cameron Menzies (who'd created the visual style for "Gone With the Wind") and the great film composer Victor Young. Lindon's gorgeous photography and Young's memorable score are pretty much the elements that solidify the film and keep it from flying to pieces. Even so, "80 Days" still little more than a travelogue (meant to show off Todd's Todd-AO process) set to music; the barest thread of a storyline (from Jules Verne) keeps it going. But somehow it never flags - there's always a surprise around every corner and two or three new stars in every scene. Virtually everyone in the picture is long dead (only MacLaine, John Mills and Glynis Johns survive by my 2004 count), and younger viewers won't recognize half the former film greats, but it's still enormous fun. And it looks and sounds surprising good. There were rumors that both that original Todd-AO version (shot at 30 frames per second) and CinemaScope version (shot at 24) were beyond restoration. But the DVD, made from the Todd-AO roadshow version) look very good - though the color is a touch more garish than I remembered. The new 5.1 stereo sound mix is also first rate - most magnetic tracks this old are powder now. The 179-minute film is spread over two discs and there are a lot of extras. A documentary on Todd (who wooed and wed Elizabeth Taylor while riding the "80 Days" crest) is interesting, but an edited version of a live, 90-minute CBS TV broadcast of the lavish party for 18,000 Todd threw marking the film's first anniversary shows the huckster at his self-inflated worst. If you think TV news promotion and show-biz hype are something new, watch Walter Cronkite and his news boys prostituting themselves here. A few months after the party, Todd died in a plane crash, leaving "80 Days" as his movie memorial.

Rating:
Summary: Go back in time - Watch this movie
Review: This is a movie from another time and place and it does not make a secret of the fact. Get this movie and be prepared to be transported back to a different era.

The DVD packaging and artwork all are geared towards this feeling. The DVD movie is also split with a lengthy begining score (to allow people to be seated in the theatre), an intermission (for a break) that occurs at the end of DVD 1, and an exit score (for people to exit the movie theatre).

Watching this excellent movie, I was transported back in time.

Excellent Movie, Excellent Features, Excellent DVD, rewatchable. Highly Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Love the other film on this DVD
Review: Trip To The Moon, made in 1902 by Georges Meiles. I had seen it before as the opening of ATWIED but this DVD also shows Meiles's film in it's longer more complete version. At least 20-25% of it was edited out (or was then lost) when they inserted it into ATWIED. the longer version shows more of the exploration of the moon and such. I am not sure if this is the entire copy of TTTM or whether more portions were lost (probably the latter). I only wish I could see outtakes of the making of TTTM but hey that's out of the question as the movie was made over 100 years ago. As for the rest of ATWIED I never watched almost any of it so I have no real opinion on it.

Rating:
Summary: Around The World In 80 Yawns!!
Review: The legend is greater than the movie. Sure, the music and scenery are lush, but this film is little more than a lavishly photographed travelogue. That in itself wouldn't be so bad except that the BORING storyline gets in the way, and I thought the interminable flamenco dancing/bullfight scenes in the first 45 minutes would never end. I don't know why this beat GIANT and THE TEN COMMANDMENTS as "Best Picture" at the '56 Oscars. Those two movies are certainly more entertaining and engrossing than this overblown crock. A must for dusty old movie buffs and nostalgics, because this is a superb dvd presentation. The many extras are far more interesting than the movie itself. And you can have some fun spotting the guest cameos and great character actors like Finlay Currie, Cedric Hardwicke, etc. and yawn the rest of the time.