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FLICKER: A Trip to the Moon, This Is Cinerama & Windjammer Get Re-Releases -- 3 Day Special Prices

Previously released in SteelBook and standard case versions by Flicker Alley in 2012, and long out of print, the label is re-releasing A Trip to the Moon with two brand new scores in a Blu-ray/DVD combo set on March 6th. Bonus features and details are below.

Also coming from Flicker on May 15th are upgrades to two previous Cinerama releases: This is Cinerama (1952) and Windjammer (1958). Both have been newly restored from original elements and will be Blu-ray releases only. Bonus features and details are also below.

All three retail are $39.99, but will be available at ClassicFlix.com for only $31.99. However, for 3 days only (until February 15th), we'll be offering them for the special pre-order price of $27.98.

A Trip to the Moon

Once believed lost, a copy of the original, hand-colored version of George Méliès’ masterwork A Trip to the Moon was miraculously found in Barcelona, Spain in 1993. Initially thought too fragile to restore, the film underwent one of the most complex and ambitious film restoration projects ever. Three experts in film restoration – Lobster Films, Groupama Gan Foundation, and Technicolor Foundation for Cinema Heritage – used the most advanced digital technologies available to assemble and painstakingly restore the film’s 13,375 fragmented frames.

Follow six scholars—members of the Astronomers’ Club—as they set off on an expedition to the moon! Traveling in a bullet-shaped rocket fired into space by a giant cannon, these voyagers arrive to meet the moon’s inhabitants: the Selenites. Escaping the Selenties’ king, the scholars fall back to Earth in their rocket and are fished out of the ocean by a sailor. Applause and a triumphant parade for the six heroes concludes the first outer-space adventure in the history of cinema.

Flicker Alley, Lobster Films, and Blackhawk Films® are thrilled to present this re-released publication of the 1902 hand-colored edition of A Trip to the Moon . This deluxe dual-format edition features two brand new scores by Jeff Mills and Dorian Pimpernel, as well as an improvised piano track by Serge Bromberg with optional narration written by George Méliès.

BONUS FEATURES:
  • The Extraordinary Voyage, Directors Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange (Lobster Films)chronicle the journey of A Trip to the Moon from production in 1902, to the astonishing rediscovery in 1993, to the eventual restoration and opening at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. The feature-length documentary includes interviews with filmmakers Costa Gavras, Michel Gondry, Michel Hazanavicius, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet on Méliès enduring significance to cinema.
  • A Trip to the Moon (B/W): A beautifully restored black-and-white edition from original 35mm elements with two separate audio tracks of music: An orchestral score by composer Robert Israel with the original English narration written by George Méliès; and a second track produced by Russell Merritt consisting of a troupe of actors voicing the various characters as performed in the U.S. in 1903, with piano accompaniment by Frederick Hodges. 
  • The Eclipse (1904) & The Astronomer's Dream (1898): New high-definition versions of two lunar-related shorts by Méliès.

This is Cinerama (1952)

Flicker Alley and Cinerama Inc. are pleased to announce the long-awaited re-release of This is Cinerama, now beautifully restored from the original three-panel, six-perforation camera elements. Presented in a deluxe Blu-ray edition, this is the most extensive and thorough restoration yet of the film that changed the shape and sound of the movies forever!

On the evening of September 30, 1952, This is Cinerama premiered at the Broadway Theatre in New York City. Robert C. Ruark of The New York World Telegram said of the event: “I have just looked at the movies’ answer to television, whether or not the movies know it yet.” Indeed, this unique, widescreen process was launched when television was deemed a major threat to US film exhibition. Fred Waller, Cinerama’s creator, dreamed of a motion picture experience that would recreate the full range of human vision. Using three cameras and three proctors on a curved screen 146° deep, Cinerama created an immersive cinematic event, wowing 20 million viewers in its original roadshow version. 

Now, audiences can experience the forerunner to all modern widescreen formats once again, and in a brand-new, definitive restoration. From Venice to Madrid, from Edinburgh Castle to the La Scala opera house in Milan, and all across America in the nose of a B-25 bomber, travel around the world with Cinerama, presented in the one-and-only Smilebox® curved screen simulation.

BONUS FEATURES:

  • Audio Commentary - With John Sittig (Cinerama Inc.), David Strohmaier (Cinerama Restorer), Randy Gitsch (Cinerama Historian), and Jim Morrison (original crew member)
  • The Best in the Biz - Updated hour-long documentary about the composers of Cinerama
  • Restoring This is Cinerama - A detailed, behind-the-scenes look at the brand-new restoration
  • Alternate European Opening to Act Two - A European-oriented segue into the second half of the film, featuring the panoramic view of the United States from the nose of a B-25 bomber plane
  • Cinerama Everywhere - A French-produced short on the Cinerama tent shows in Europe
  • Tribute to the New Neon Movies - A short film celebrating an Ohio theater where a projectionist revived Cinerama through special screenings for people from all over the country
  • Radio Interview with Cinerama Creator, Fred Waller - Recorded on the eve of opening night; accompanied by a slideshow of selected Cinerama images
  • •This is Cinerama Trailer - An updated recreation of the original theatrical trailer, edited with newly-restored clips
  • Cinerama Returns to the Cinerama Dome (2002 Announcement Trailer) - Promotional short for the 50th anniversary of Cinerama and its return to the fabled Cinerama Dome in Hollywood
  • “Breakdown Reel” - Footage originally projected interstitially during the interruptions of any Cinerama performance
  • TV Spots - Original television ads for This Is Cinerama and Seven Wonders of the World

Windjammer (1958)

At a star-studded premiere at Grauman’s World Famous Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich sailed into movie history on April 8th, 1958. The brainchild of National Theatres, who hoped to compete with rival widescreen sensation Cinerama, Windjammer was the first (and eventually, the only) film to use the Cinemiracle process. Utilizing proprietary widescreen technology accompanied by seven-channel audio, Cinermiracle was the perfect format to tell the sweeping adventure of the Christian Radich, a Norwegian square-rigger, and her crew. 

Now newly restored from original camera elements, the color, the music, and the true artistry of this classic are reborn in a definitive Blu-ray edition. Embarking from Oslo, Norway, the Christian Radich sets out across the Atlantic with a storm-tossed stop in Madeira, where New Year’s festivities entice the young crewmen to enjoy Portuguese musical celebrations and heart racing rides in basket sleds down steep cobblestone streets. After that, it is on to Willemstad, Curacao, where young sailors take part in Dutch festivities.

They catch a courtyard performance of Pablo Casals in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, they’re greeted by native steel bands and Calypso singers. By the time they arrive in New York, the Cinemiracle cameras offer a kaleidoscopic treat of color and sound created by famed photographer Arthur “Weege” Fellig. A later encounter with the U.S. Navy Task Force makes for a grand promenade of ships, and when underwater shots of frogmen and a submarine emerge from the depths to reveal the Windjammer on the open sea, Cinemiracle becomes the true star of this breathtaking story.

Presented in Smilebox® curved screen format, audiences are once again able to rediscover and re-appreciate this timeless and newly-restored cinema gem!

BONUS FEATURES: 

  • The Windjammer Voyage: A Cinemiracle Adventure - A documentary by historian Dave Strohmaier on the film’s production 
  • The Reconstruction of Windjammer - A behind the scenes look at the reconstruction and restoration of Windjammer from the original Cinemiracle camera elements
  • The Windjammer Breakdown Reel
  • The Christian Radich Today - A modern look at the famous ship at the Aalbourg, Denmark Tall Ships Festival in 2010
  • Windjammer Trailer - New re-creation from the original 1958 release trailer
  • Windjammer Behind The Scenes Slideshow - Images from the production of the film
  • Cinemiracle Showplaces Slideshow - A look at the unique venues that screened Windjammer