Around the World in Eighty 80 Days (1956) Jules Verne

Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) Jules Verne

Around the World in 80 Days: Special Edition (Double DVD)

IMDb 0048960

SAMPLE file included

Directors: Michael Anderson, John Farrow (uncredited)
Writers: James Poe (screenplay), John Farrow (screenplay)
Stars: David Niven, Cantinflas, Finlay Currie

Phileas Fogg bet his fellow club members that he could circle the globe in eighty days. That may not be impressive today, but in 1872, it was nearly impossible. Accompanied by his valet, Passepartout, and the wandering Princess Aouda, Fogg crosses Europe, India, Japan, the Pacific and the United States.

When this movie is made in 1956, one can circumnavigate the globe in a little less than two days. When Jules Verne wrote the story "Around the World in Eighty Days" in 1872, he predicted that one day man could accomplish the task in eighty hours, but which most considered folly to do in eighty days in current times... that is except for people like Englishman Phileas Fogg, a regimented man who believed all it would take is exacting work, the skills he possesses. He just has to make sure a train's schedule meets the required sailing schedule which meets the required coach schedule and so on. As such, he takes up what ends up being the highly publicized £20,000 wager from his fellow members at the London Reform Club to do so, losing the bet which would ruin him financially. Along for the ride is Fogg's new, loyal and devoted valet, the recently arrived Latin immigrant, Passepartout, who possesses unusual skills which could be major assets, but whose all consuming thoughts on the ...

Underrated and neglected: A 1950's classic reborn on DVD

First of all, "Around the World in 80 Days" is one of the best of the 1950-1960's grand epics. It may not have the character depth of Giant or the scale of The Ten Commandments, but it's still one heck of a fun movie.

Mike Todd set out to make 3 hours of crowd-pleasing entertainment and he reached his goal, ten-fold (literally... the $6,000,000 film earned over 4 times its cost at the box office). The cast is wonderful (it's definately Cantinflas' show, though) and the Oscar winning cinematography is breathtaking. Also, one of the best musical scores (also an Oscar winner) and a witty screenplay (Oscar winner) make it a real joy to see.

Sadly, for the last 18 years, the only version on home video has been a pan & scan one. "80 Days" was shot in the Todd-AO 70mm format, so the crisp, ultra-detailed, and wide image is totally mangled in that format. It doesn't help that the P&S tape also used a mono track rather than the full stereophonic surround sound that Todd-AO (and even many general release 35mm prints) offered.

Warner Home Video's DVD of the film is nothing short of a triumph. The film's original negative has been in awful condition since the 1950's (not Warner's fault, mind you), thus making a watchable print is more or less impossible. Thankfully, Warner has remastered "80 Days" from scratch. The result is a stunning 2.20:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer, with the Todd-AO mix adapted to Dolby Digital 5.1 (448 kbs, too!) While the image occasionally has gooey splices and some specks on the image, the film has a level of crispness and color vibrancy that rivals 1940's Technicolor films. The 5.1 track is wonderful and keeps a lot of the directional sound of 6-track magnetic sound from 70mm presentation.

What is really amazing is that Warner managed to make one of the most perfect digital transfers of a film, ever. Not one hint of edge enhancement pops up, no pixelation, no macro-blocking. While the film source isn't perfect, Warner didn't add any sort of imperfections when adapting the 65mm film to NTSC video. The switch to 448 kbs (Warner usually uses a lower bit-rate for 5.1 audio) gives the audio a certain warmth that is in line with the ultra-high fidelity of 6-track mag sound.

The extras are great, too. The Robert Osborne intros, outtakes, Brian Sibley commentary, original "Trip to the Moon" short, and roadshow program book (on DVD-ROM) makes this an excellent presentation of a Best Picture Oscar winner.
Whether you're collecting the Best Picture winners, a fan of the classic 1950's epics, or just looking for a fun movie to watch, Around the World in 80 Days is worth a purchase. "80 Days" hasn't lost its luster due to age, it's because of poor presentation. Now that Warner Bros. has released the film in widescreen, people can now discover what is one of the most underrated and neglected films.

ebooks:

Jules Verne Around the World in 80 Days 279p.pdf
Jules Verne Around the World in Eighty Days 115p.pdf
Jules Verne Around the World in Eighty Days 122p.pdf
Jules Verne Around the World in Eighty Days 305p.pdf

videos:

Around the World in Eighty Days 1.m4v
Around the World in Eighty Days 2.m4v
SAMPLE.m4v

tags: Adventure, Comedy, Family, Romance