Customer Reviews

Just Imagine

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Coming out forty-five years before The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Just Imagine was the first SF musical. Released in 1930, it tried to predict what life would be like 50 years later. Flying cars, numbers for names, eating food in concentrated pills, interplanetary travel--about the only thing they got right was that women would be wearing slitskirts in 1980. There's plenty of low humor and a few good songs. Check it out, it will make you smile.

This is one of the strangest films of the early talkie era. This is a sci-fi musical adventure about life fifty years in the future - 1980 at the time. The story revolves around John Garrick and Maureen O'Sullivan, whose characters are assigned alphanumeric names as is everyone else.

Garrick and O'Sullivan were also teamed romantically in "A Song O' My Heart" during the same year, another early musical by Fox. However, Fox is not the producer of this DVD. Instead it appears to be a public domain effort. There is no restoration of the video, although the sound is clear enough with some of the popping and hissing typical of early talkies.

At any rate, Garrick and O'Sullivan play lovers of the future that want to wed, but the state now intervenes when a woman accepts "competing bids" or proposals of marriage based on the merits of the applicants. Garrick has a competitor for O'Sullivan's hand, and the only way he can win in court is to do something outstanding. A nearby scientist needs a pilot for his spacecraft to Mars, and Garrick figures this is a way of distinguishing himself and winning the hand of his lady love.

As comic relief there is El Brendel, who has a vaudeville brand of humor. He comes along for the ride to Mars too. There are several musical interludes in the film including one ode to old fashioned girls - the girls of 1930 - showing flappers as moms in a none too flattering light. They still show prohibition being enforced in 1980 too, though with a promise of light beers and wines being legalized shortly.

I'd give the film 5/5 stars for being good but strange fun for the right audience. However, I'd give the video and audio quality of this unrestored film only 3/5 stars.

I'll try to keep a straight face, here, but it might not be easy. This presents itself as a 1930s view of what 1980 would look like: people's names replaced by numbers, aircars in tidy skylanes over the gleaming city, and marriages arranged by application to the benevolent state. Oh: arranged when the man applies, since the woman's interest in the affair has no legal standing. Therein lies the romantic struggle, to present a more convincing case for worthiness to the licensing tribunal than the competing suitor does.

Well, the first manned trip to Mars ought to put enough weight in the resume. They aim their rocket, push the button, and they're off - along with the comedic relief, a tippling stowaway with a funny accent and a personality like Red Skelton's Clem Kadiddlehopper. The Martians? Of course there are Martians, why else go to Mars? They greet our adenturers with the warmest of welcomes, sometimes hinting at the steamy, but then ... well, see for yourself.

Since the vaudeville era hadn't yet loosed its grip on the image of what entertainment should be, there are songs, adventure, dance numbers, adventure, comedy, adventure, chaste romance, and a predictably happy ending. A collection of bold characters and silly predictions keep this moving. Modern viewers will see this 80 year old artifact as a campy anachronism - unless they look a bit past, and see which hopes, fears, and expectations movies of that era addressed.

-- wiredweird

THIS PRODUCT REVIEW IS IN REFERENCE TO THE DVD ITSELF -NOT THE FILM

I picked this DVD up at my local thrift store for $5.oo and it would hardly have been worth even that if not for the rarity of the film itself and it's historic significance. The print used is a beat-up, scratched, broken-and-patched, overscanned public domain print with the censor's marks still visible on the film (indicating where the racier scenes should be trimmed, but weren't). The sound is muddy throughout, but you can still catch enough of the dialog to follow the story.

It clearly came from a videotape source because at one point the tracking goes out of alignment and you can clearly see the video scan static we all knew and loved on VHS. The picture on the box is a screen capture from the film, so that should give you a vague idea of the picture quality.

There is a picture menu (no text) and a pair of trailers for Conquest of Space.

I would STRONGLY advise NOT shelling out $15 or anything near that for this DVD unless you're truly desperate to see this film.

Just Understand, this is a DVD-R production with pretty poor quality video -- the text blocks (silent-movie type scenes) are badly cropped, etc. It may be a fascinating film (I haven't watched the whole thing yet), but don't expect "remastered" quality by any stretch of the imagination.

For the time this was made, this movie has a lot of wonderful elements. It's a scifi, comedy,adventure, musical, romance! Like Woody Allen's "Sleeper" our hero, named Single O, is brought back to life in the future and is amazed by what he sees, personal aircraft, pills for food and drink, push-button babies! He is befriended by 2 guys who have romantic problems. One of them decides to go in a trip to Mars to win the love of his girl, and the 3 chums blast off to the red planet on a ground breaking journey. On the planet, they discover that all the inhabitants are twins, one goo, one evil. They are captured by the evil twins and try for a daring escape. This lost movie has it all!

This is a tough DVD to review. For starters, Just Imagine is a piece of cinema history. Made after Fritz Lang's Metropolis, this film is a very different take on life in the future, specifically the year 1980 where everyone has a number for a name and flies around in their own personal aero-car. I've long known about this film and I've long known that its considered to be a very flawed masterpiece.

For starters, this film is a light-hearted musical comedy, made in 1930, which attempts to predict what life would be like in 50 years. Probably inspired by Buck Rogers, the film is told from the point of view of a man awoken from 50 years sleep only to find himself in a strange futuristic world. He befriends two men and hilarity ensues as they try to undo an arranged marriage between one man's girl-friend and her state picked fiance. After a trip to Mars to prove his that he is worthy of his girlfriends hand in marriage, all ends well.

The humor in the film is forced and there are weird pauses in the action as if to allow the audience enough time to laugh before moving onto the next piece of business. One of the film's stars is a very young Maureen O'Hara. The real star of the film though is the wonderful set designs and special effects, which are really remarkable. The futuristic city is a real wonder to behold and the whole film has a wonderful art deco feel to it.

Unfortunately, the DVD was probably struck from a VHS copy of a 16 mm print of the original film. The image is soft and breaks up every so often from video noise. I hope a better print of this film exists somewhere and that it eventually finds release on DVD but right now, this is the only record of this fantastically weird film. If you are into retro-science fiction then I would highly recommend this film but the transfer lets it down. However, I'm incredibly indebted to the company that released this as its the only version available and having it is better than not.

I have always been a sucker for a good musical and tossing in Mars and dancing girls what more could one ask for?

"Who is that fellow?"
"He's an idle."
"He's idle with all dose girls?"

Just Imagine (1930) from Fox movies stars Maureen O'Sullivan who will later play Jane Parker in "Tarzan Finds a Son!" (1939). Looking closely you will find several other stores that you will have seen in other movies or will be in them. You will find your self kibitzing.

This is a great addition to anyone's musical / o.k. sci-fi collection.

Bamboo Saucer [VHS]~ Lois Nettleton

This is a very early sci-fi movie showing the fabulous future of ,gasp, 1980! It's a musical comedy also, about a guy (Single O) who is brought back to life after 50 years, not unlike the premise in -Sleeper-. Our comic hero, Single O, encounters pills used for food, and hostile Martians! Really a great classic for any fan of science fiction, comedy, or musicals!

I Did Not Imagine that my DVD video would come as it did. The transfer was obviously completed by an amateur working with Nero and some other program to create the DVD jacket cover that was apparently created with a screenshot. I have seen worse quality of transfers concerning image clarity, but my biggest grip would be the poor work with the aspect ratio where you can clearly see that the top and bottom of the image is cut short, since care was not given in this area.

As far as the story goes, I think it is a great sci-fi/musical classical movie that all film noir fans will enjoy.