Product Details

• Format: AC-3, Black & White, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: March 30, 1999
• Run Time: 102 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6305301840
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,697 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Decades before the term "special effects" was coined, audiences of the newborn cinema were witnessing spectacular screen illusions, courtesy of the medium's first master magician: Georges Melies. Melies' astounding employment of double exposure, makeup, editing and theatrical trickery still command the power to surprise and bewilder and can now be seen for the first time with crystal clarity in fifteen beautifully restored films, accompanied by newly composed scores. Includes the documentary "Georges Melies: Cinema Magician," plus the Melies shorts "An Impossible Voyage" (struck from an original hand-colored negative), "The Black Imp," "The Cook in Trouble," "The Living Playing Cards," and 11 more!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

54 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful introduction to the work of a film pioneer, January 12, 2002

By 

audrey (white mtns) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Landmarks of Early Film, Vol. 2: The Magic of Melies (DVD)

Between 1896 and 1912, Georges Melies produced over 500 films. Fifteen of them are found here, along with a twenty minute documentary about Melies. The documentary is unusual, told as a first person narrative with other voices occasionally reminiscing about Georges as a boy, etc. As I say, it is unusual but interesting, and we learn that Monsieur Melies' parents allowed him to leave the family shoe factory so that he could pursue his own different drummer. He became a magician and actor, later falling in love with the Lumiere brothers' cinematographe; unable to buy a Lumiere machine, he invented his own combination camera-projector and began showing his films at carnivals and fairs. After making many films, Melies finished his life running a toy shop with an old flame.

If the Lumieres were the first film documentarians, Melies was the first film wizard, and these fifteen examples of his work are still a pleasure to watch. Magnificently preserved and restored, they look fabulous and are entertaining almost one hundred years later. The films found here are: The Impossible Voyage; The Untamable Whiskers; The Cook in Trouble; Tchin-chao, the Chinese Conjurer; The Wonderful Living Fan; The Mermaid; The Living Playing Cards; The Black Imp; The Enchanted Sedan Chair; The Scheming Gambler's Paradise; The Hilarious Posters; The Mysterious Retort; The Eclipse; Good Glue Sticks; and Long Distance Wireless Photography. Melies' best known work, A Trip to the Moon (1902), is not here, but on the Landmarks of early Film, Volume 1, collection.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Beautiful and Fascinating Historical Release, October 24, 1999

By 

rkass (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Landmarks of Early Film, Vol. 2: The Magic of Melies (DVD)

I'm sure many people will feel like I do; that there's a great fascination in seeing what was being done with film in the early 1900's. Many are familiar with "A Trip to the Moon" (which is not included here, but is presented in its entirety, with narration, in VOLUME 1), but these lesser known films offer much interest and enjoyment.

I especially like seeing the props and sets created for these surreal films. The hand-coloring on "The Impossible Voyage" is a wonderful feature. I also find it very interesting that at this early stage in filmmaking, the optical effects don't look nearly as primitive as one would expect.

As in other historical releases by Image, the prints are very clear. A beautiful presentation!

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, July 29, 2000

By 

keviny01 - See all my reviews

This review is from: Landmarks of Early Film, Vol. 2: The Magic of Melies (DVD)

This wonderful disc opens with a 20-minute documentary view of French film pioneer Georges Méliés, then followed by 15 of his films, beautifully restored and presented uncut:

The Impossible Voyage (1904) (with hand-colored tint and narration written by Méliés), The Untamable Whiskers (1904), The Cook in Trouble (1904), Tchin-Tao: The Chinese Conjurer (1904), The Wonderful Living Fan (1904), The Mermaid (1904), The Living Playing Cards (1905), The Black Imp (1905), The Enchanted Sedan Chair (1905), The Scheming Gambler's Paradise (1905), the Hilarious Posters (1905), The Mysterious Retort (1906), The Eclipse (1907), Good Glue Sticks (1907), Long Distance Wireless Photography (1908).

Missing on this disc, of course, is Méliés' masterpiece, A Trip to the Moon (1902). You'll have to get Landmarks of Early Film Volume 1 to get that. I sincerely recommend both Vol. 1 and 2 to any film fan or collector.