Ray Harryhausen: The Early Years Collection

Rating:
Summary: A must for Harryhausen fans!
Review: If you're a big fan of Ray Harryhausen -- and what movie lover isn't? -- then you've probably already heard about and maybe even picked up this excellent 2-disc set dedicated to his early (pre-1953) work. If you haven't picked it up yet, then I urge you to do so immediately. As the other two reviewers have noted, this set's centerpieces are Ray's charming Mother Goose Stories and Fairy Tales, along with experimental training films for the army and some commercials. These shorts have been restored beautifully and are accompanied by brief but informative intros from the master himself.

Taken as a whole, however, the set is also a retrospective -- sort of a companion piece to Ray's own recent autobiography. There are plenty of extras (interviews and such) from the last five years, demonstrating just how fully Ray has been receiving his well-deserved kudos. If that isn't enough, then check out the brief snippets of projects that Ray left incomplete for various reasons, including test footage for an alien from War of the Worlds. (And how tantalizing and compelling are those sketches and test footage for The Elementals? What a shame it was never picked up! It looks like it might have been Ray's darkest and most stylized film.)

No real complaints. Just be aware that the 50-odd-year-old 16mm shorts show a little wear and tear, despite the restoration work. (A couple of credit sequences appear to be cropped, but it doesn't show in the films themselves.) There's also a little repetition in some of the extras, but the extras themselves focus pretty consistently on the material in the set. This was obviously a labor of love for everyone involved (especially Harryhausen himself), and it promises to be the best special interest DVD of the year! Very highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Fantastic!!!
Review: Odds are that if you're reading this you already know who Ray Harryhausen is and you've heard about this DVD. If that's the case, then you may as well click on "Add to Shopping Cart" or "Pre-order this item" right now (depending on when you're reading this).

If you don't know who Ray Harryhausen is, he made (amongst other things) "Clash of the Titans" and the Sinbad films that you probably saw when you were a kid (that's Sinbad the sailor, not the comedian :-) ). He's also the main inspiration to virtually *everyone* who's currently in the Hollywood visual effects industry.

This 2-disc set has some items that have appeared elsewhere, but the versions here are more complete, visually better (most coming from the original negatives), and for those that didn't have a musical score (such as tests and experiments) one has been created (by noted film composers Bill Stromberg and John Morgan). It also contains the complete Mother Goose and Fairy Tales series, including the recently completed "Tortise and the Hare."

This is a unique and highly recommended set.

Rating:
Summary: A Tribute to the Master
Review: This 2-disk set is a comprehensive collection of the early works of legendary stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. It includes restored versions of his Mother Goose Stories and Fairy Tales, military training films, commercials, and tests and experiments for unproduced projects. These films are both important for their historical value, and entertaining in and of themselves. The development of Ray's artistry both as an animator and as a storyteller is displayed here. Extras include featurettes, tributes, and image galleries. [...]