Search - Melies the Magician on DVD

More Melies, Please

Timothy Ramzyk | Milwaukee, WI United States | 02/02/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I hate complain when anyone bothers to release rarities has enjoyable as George Melies collections, but the images are too tightly cropped! There looks to be about a 20-25% picture loss on these prints compared to the Blackhawk Films prints or even the Kino Melies DVD I own. I've never seen the explorers in Trip To The Moon climb into the rocket off screen!? It's a great collection, the documentary is very good, and I still think it's worth owning, but I don't get the framing which will probably bug anyone who has seen these films elsewhere."

Buyer beware

crackadust | Chicago, Illinois United States | 02/28/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This DVD seems to have missed its target audience completely. The biography of Melies, designed for those not familiar with his work, is far too long to hold the interest of a casual viewer. The dramatized format of the DVD and the presentation of the films in the context of a story, however, will seem obtrusive to anyone who has bought this for the original documents. The only saving grace is that 15 of Melies' films are captured in a way which reminds the viewer exactly why Melies was such a genius. The lack of technology available forced him to manipulate film to create optical illusions, whereas the modern day Steven Spielbergs and James Camerons can simply send their works off to multimillion dollar digital editing studios. Melies background as a magician is apparrent, because he uses many of the tricks he learned in the theater to make films which can only be described as magical. If you're a fan of silent films or the avante-garde, then by all means pick this up. However, if you have only a cursory interest in the genre, then you may want to spend your money elsewhere."

I loved it myself

Andre M. | Mt. Pleasant, SC United States | 01/23/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Personally, I enjoyed this DVD, especially the rare Melies color films. A joy to watch. Also his very early film with his four heads talking on a table. The color tinted films are quite delightful too.As for the narration, Melies granddaughter (whose voice you hear) made it clear that in the days before titles were used in silents, people like Melies verbally narrated the action in such films to their audiences. Gives you a kind of "you are there" feel.But in either case, lovers of Disney and fantasy films in general should flock to this, as Meleis was the grand master who strarted it all. Great to watch with kids too (aside from the hanging scene in "Blue Beard")."

Best Collection there is

Andre M. | 10/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"While history books about cinema praise Melies for his innovations, his films are quite hard to find. There are not a lot of collections out there, but this is probably the best one (to at least start with) because it gives a wider variety of Melies' films than David Shepard's Landmarks of Early Film Vol. 2 DVD (the picture quality is better on that disc, but it seems that other than a few exceptions, it only targets the 'conjuring' films - great films, poor variety). Melies the Magician showcases his narratives, conjuring, and 'gag' filmshas a 2 hour documentary as well, and a highlight of that is all the clips from films not included in this DVD."