Product Details

• Actors: Georges Méliès, Daniel Ceccaldi, Marina Moncade, Charles-Antoine Decroix, Abdul Alafrez
• Directors: Georges Méliès, Jacques Meny
• Writers: Georges Méliès, Charles Perrault, H.G. Wells, Jules Verne
• Producers: Georges Méliès
• Format: Black & White, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: French (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo), 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
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Facets
• DVD Release Date: January 15, 2002
• Run Time: 185 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00005UM26
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #31,369 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #5 in

  Movies & TV > Classics > Silent Films > International

• For more information about "Melies the Magician" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
A guaranteed treat for fantasy buffs and students of the silent era, Méliès the Magician provides a definitive study of French film pioneer Georges Méliès (1861-1938). A special-effects innovator best known for his 1902 film A Trip to the Moon, Méliès is honored by Jacques Mény's exceptional documentary, which uses faithful reenactments, archival documents, expert interviews, and Méliès's own films to examine a life as rich as Edison's in its embrace of invention and creative ingenuity. Mény's non-chronological approach is liberating and fresh, allowing a free-form understanding of Méliès and his work, his involvement in the birth of motion pictures, and the visual trickery he developed after a thriving career as a stage illusionist. Following the documentary, "Méliès Magic Show" is hosted by Méliès's granddaughter and presents 15 Méliès films as they would've been shown in Paris at the turn of the century. Then and now, the magic of Méliès is timelessly enchanting. --Jeff Shannon

Product Description
Studio: Facets Multimedia Release Date: 01/15/2002

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars More Melies, Please, February 1, 2002

By	Timothy Ramzyk (Milwaukee, WI United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Stupid logos ruin this DVD!, February 10, 2003

By A Customer

I bought this DVD because I am a fan of silent era films and especially people like Melies and Winsor McCay. Sadly though, this DVD is utterly ruined. Someone thought it was a good idea to super-impose a gawd-awful white logo in the lower left hand side of the film, creating a distraction and a nuisance. I recommend against buying this DVD because it will encourage others to pull this nonsense. Would you like to see a beautiful restoration of Star Wars with a nasty Lucasfilms logo on top of it??? Didn't think so.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Buyer beware, February 28, 2002

By	"crackadust" (Chicago, Illinois United States) - See all my reviews

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.