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The Sci-Fi Boys

Paul Davids (Director, Producer, Writer) Rated:

Format: DVD

4.4 44 ratings

IMDb6.9/10.0

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May 16, 2006

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The Sci-Fi Boys

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Genre	Documentary, Science Fiction & Fantasy, DVD Movie, Blu-ray Movie
Format	NTSC, Multiple Formats, Dolby, Full Screen, Subtitled
Contributor	Peter Jackson, Paul Davids, Steven Spielberg, Leonard Maltin, Dennis Muren, Rick Baker, George Lucas, Roger Corman, John Landis, Stephen Sommers, Bob Ducsay, Ray Harryhausen, Hollace Davids, Forrest J Ackerman, Ray Bradbury See more
Language	English
Runtime	1 hour and 20 minutes

Product Description

Peter Jackson, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, John Landis, Dennis Muren, Ray Bradbury, Rick Baker, Roger Corman, Ray Harryhausen and other legendary all-stars of cinema bring to life the evolution of science-fiction and special effects films from the wild and funny days of B movies to blockbusters that have captured the world's imagination. This is the story of the Sci-Fi Boys, who started out as kids making amateur movies inspired by Forrest J Ackerman's Famous Monsters magazine and grew up to take Hollywood by storm, inventing the art and technology for filming anything the mind can dream.

Bonus Content:

Additional Scenes
Filmmakers' Childhood Monster Movies
Photo and Document Gallery
Other Rare Sci-Fi Treasures

Product details

Aspect Ratio ‏ : ‎ 1.33:1
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Yes
MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ NR (Not Rated)
Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.1 x 5.42 x 0.58 inches; 2.4 Ounces
Director ‏ : ‎ Paul Davids
Media Format ‏ : ‎ NTSC, Dolby, Multiple Formats, Full Screen, Subtitled
Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 20 minutes
Release date ‏ : ‎ May 16, 2006
Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ French
Producers ‏ : ‎ Paul Davids, Hollace Davids
Language ‏ : ‎ English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
Studio ‏ : ‎ Universal Studios Home Entertainment
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000FOQ1KO
Writers ‏ : ‎ Paul Davids
Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Best Sellers Rank: #64,741 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- #1,828 in Documentary (Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 44 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

44 global ratings

1 star

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BRT

Enjoyable

Reviewed in the United States on March 11, 2021

Verified Purchase

Enjoyable discourse on the artists of pre-cgi special effects, their inspirations, experiences, etc...Maybe more sentimental than objective, but nothing wrong with that.

One person found this helpful

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Miller McNoff

SCI FI FANS

Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2012

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If you're a sci fi fan - and even if you're not - you're going to love this fuilm about the giants in the industry. Packed with info and rare photos and lots of video interviews, Paul Davids has done a remarkable job of capturing the wonder of the sci fi boys!

One person found this helpful

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sterryfan

Great Documentary for Monster Kids...

Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2016

Verified Purchase

What's not to like...? A celebration of my Monster Kid Id: Famous Monsters, FJA, Ray Harryhausen, etc. With appreciation submitted from some of the greatest 'behind the scenes' folks in the business... I thought that it was very satisfying and fun...

2 people found this helpful

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Dawnsister

Great for everyone -

Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2007

Verified Purchase

We watched this film with our kids. It was entertaining and we all learned a lot about where this industry has come from. I think it turned out to be an important piece for my 3 kids who have grown up with complex CGI and special effects. They really got to see where it has all come from. It didn't start with computers and didn't always look seamless, but boy did people have fun and they were passionate about it!

A very important part of watching this documentary was sharing that this is an art form that anyone could enjoy and participate in. You didn't have to go to school and learn all about computers. This it was what you and your buddies could do it after school in your own back yard! All you needed was a camera, a little allowance or lawn mowing money, and some imagination!

One of the things that I loved was today's film makers talking about when they were kids. You could hear how excited they were waiting for the next issue of 'Famous Monsters' or trying out their next home movie project; from making sets to trying to design their own Wolfman makeup.

I think the other person who wrote a review summed it up nicely that this film is a tribute to Ray Harryhausen and Forest Ackerman, and also the writers in the genre. These are the pioneers of the industry who are names are not known to most people today.

What's been captured in this documentary is something for the next generation of film makers to see, and hopefully 'catch the bug'from! Maybe they will want to dig out their parents cameras; to make dinosaurs move across the living room floor, make space man land in the back yard or have creatures come to life in the lab.

I don't think it matters if you're 10 or 40, this documentary is definitely worth watching. If you have kids who are movie buffs - it a good one to own, they will want rewatch it.

11 people found this helpful

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Mark

Worth a look . . .

Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2006

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Screenwriter Paul Davids (who wrote the "Roswell" TV movie and several "Transformers" episodes) made this documentary about those who found success in science fiction film production after being inspired by Forest Ackerman's "Famous Monsters of Filmland" magazine and the works of master stop-motion animator Ray Harryhausen. Interviewees are Ackerman and Harryhausen themselves, along with Davids, Peter Jackson, Rick Baker, Stan Winston, Dennis Muren, and Steven Speilberg, and Harryhausen contemporaries Roger Corman, Ray Bradbury, Bob Burns, and others. The film features a great deal of not-especially-interesting amateur 8mm efforts of Davids and his cronies, along with clips of many classic films of the period. The disc is non-anamorphic full frame.

The film is a clearly heartfelt paean by Davids to Ackerman, Harryhausen and those that followed. The interviews are informative (especially the always candid Corman) and shots of the sci-fi film artifacts salvaged by Burns and others are priceless. The picture closes with Davids, bearing one of the original Martian war machine props, escorting the then 86 year old Ackerman to George Pal's grave on the anniversary of Pal's death. It's a well handled moment that could have been unintentionally maudlin.

The main drawback to the disc is that the presentation as a whole comes off as under-funded and technically unaccomplished. Little to no effort has been made to clean-up the film clips used, some appear sourced from multi-generational VHS tapes. The extras section also has a number of disc authoring problems, with some of the interviews truncated in mid-sentence. Unfortunately, someone has also added a silly, pompous, basso-profundo narration track at certain points of the picture (the King Kong trailer being one example), that detracts from the overall tone and adds a note of insincerity into the proceedings.

All in all though, it's still worth a watch, if this era of genre film-making and the people behind it means anything to you at all.

10 people found this helpful

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R Peterson

Harryhausen - Ackerman - Pal! Get this one.

Reviewed in the United States on January 15, 2016

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Forrest J Ackerman, Warren Publishing, Ray Harryhausen, George Pal. What can I say? Buy it.

2 people found this helpful

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Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2016

Verified Purchase

Fascinating and informative. A must for anyone interested in this subject

2 people found this helpful

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Exidor

A Film For True Fans of Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror

Reviewed in the United States on August 22, 2016

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This is a good film. It has footage of home movies made by some of the biggest names in genre film. It includes numerous interviews with those same people. If you like things such as Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Men in Black, etc. this movie deserves a viewing. Also film students would benefit from watching it.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Mrs. D. Moncrieff

Great Famous Monster Doc

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2014

Verified Purchase

An engaging piece which concentrates more on Famous Monster magazine than anything else,And believe you me that's not a bad thing.Who can get enough of Forry?.it also has an Extensive set of extra features.

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The Sci-Fi Boys

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