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Release: February 25, 2020

$6.99

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A one-of-a-kind silver-screen illusionist, Czechoslovak filmmaker Karel Zeman devoted his career to transporting viewers to realms beyond their wildest imagining. The deft, breathtaking combinations of live-action and animation techniques that he pioneered in the postwar years earned him comparisons to legends such as Georges Méliès, and an array of followers that includes Jan Švankmajer, Terry Gilliam, and Wes Anderson. Presented here are three of Zeman’s most enchanting fantasies—a boys’ adventure into the mists of prehistory, a Jules Verne–derived flight of fancy, and an exotic eighteenth-century tall tale—all of them treasure chests of wondrous sights, tactile textures, and headlong yarn-spinning that helped put Czechoslovak cinema on the international map. THREE-BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES • New 4K digital restorations of all three films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks • New programs with animation filmmaker John Stevenson and special-effects artists Phil Tippett and Jim Aupperle discussing director Karel Zeman and his complex visual trickery • Four early short films by Zeman: A Christmas Dream (1946), A Horseshoe for Luck (1946), Inspiration (1949), and King Lavra (1950) • Film Adventurer: Karel Zeman, a 2015 documentary about the director, featuring filmmakers Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam, illustrator Ludmila Zeman, and others • Short documentaries by the Karel Zeman Museum profiling the director and detailing the production and effects of all three films • U.S.-release version of Journey to the Beginning of Time from 1960 • Alternate English-dubbed soundtrack for Invention for Destruction, and the opening sequence of the 1961 U.S.-release version • Restoration demonstrations and an interview with restoration supervisor James Mockoski • Trailers • New English subtitle translations • PLUS: An essay by film critic Michael Atkinson, along with limited-edition deluxe packaging featuring pop-up art JOURNEY TO THE BEGINNING OF TIME A beguiling mix of natural history and science fiction, this early feature by Karel Zeman follows four schoolboys on an awe-inspiring expedition back through time, where they behold landscapes and creatures that have long since vanished from the earth. Hewing closely to the scientific knowledge of its era, Journey to the Beginning of Time brings its prehistoric beasts alive through a number of innovative techniques—including stop-motion, puppetry, and life-size models—creating an atmosphere of pure wonderment. INVENTION FOR DESTRUCTION This eye-popping escapade revolves around a scientist and his doomsday machine—and the pirates who will stop at nothing to gain possession of it. Freely adapting the fiction of Jules Verne, and inspired by Victorian line engravings, Karel Zeman surrounds his actors with animated scenery of breathtaking intricacy and complexity, constructing an impossibly vivid proto-steampunk world. Released abroad at the turn of the 1960s, Invention for Destruction went on to become one of the most internationally successful Czechoslovak films of all time. THE FABULOUS BARON MUNCHAUSEN In The Fabulous Baron Munchausen, Karel Zeman conjures the adventures of the legendary, boastful baron, whose whirlwind exploits take him from the moon to eighteenth-century Turkey to the belly of a whale and beyond. A kaleidoscopic marvel that blends live action with techniques including stop-motion, cutout collage, puppetry, painted backdrops, and antique tinting, Zeman’s film is an exhilarating visual delight and a warmhearted whirl through a bygone age too entrancing to have existed. Top About this item Similar From the Brand Reviews Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman (Journey to the Beginning of Time/Invention for Destruction/The Fabulous Baron Munchausen)(The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Release: July 24, 2017

$7.99

Description

Often described as the Czech Méliès , visionary filmmaker Karel Zeman has been a profound influence on whole generations of film artists from Jan vankmajer to Tim Burton, the Quay Brothers to Terry Gilliam, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Wes Anderson. His ground-breaking innovations in the use of live-action and animation mark him as one of the great masters of 20th Century fantasy cinema, ranking alongside his more celebrated Western counterparts Willis O Brien and Ray Harryhausen. The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (Baron Prá il) is perhaps Zeman s most beloved achievement. Still regarded as the finest film adaptation of Gottfried August Bürger s outlandish tales of Baron Munchausen (made famous in his 1786 book), Zeman s wildly inventive and outrageously fun take on the incredible adventures of the bragging Baron come to life in a film celebrating the courage and imagination of dreamers and poets. With its mind-bending melding of live-action, animation and extraordinary matte work, Zeman has crafted a timeless work that continues to astonish. SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1961) presented from a new 4K restoration from original materials by the Karel Zeman Museum and the Czech National Film Archive Film Adventurer Karel Zeman (2015, 97 mins): feature length documentary on the life, work and influence of Karel Zeman with contributions from Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, Koji Yamamura and others New and exclusive filmed appreciation by writer, editor and film historian Michael Brooke. Karel Zeman and the World featurette The Birth of a Film Legend featurette Why Zeman Made the Film featurette The Cast Zeman's Special Effects Techniques Karel Zeman: The Legend Continues featurette Booklet featuring a new essay on the film by journalist and critic Graham Williamson New and improved English subtitle translation. Original Czech soundtrack in Dual Mono 24-bit LPCM audio …AND MORE