



A Trip to the Moon Blu-ray Posted January 15, 2018 03:36 PM by



Flicker Alley, Lobster Films, and Blackhawk Films announced today that they will re-release on Blu-ray the restored 1902 hand-colored edition of Georges Méliès' A Trip to the Moon, featuring new scores from composer/DJ Jeff Mills, musical group Dorian Pimpernel, and an improvised piano track by Serge Bromberg with optional English narration. The release will be available for purchase on March 6.



Studio synopsis: Once believed lost, a copy of the original, hand-colored version of Georges Méliès' masterwork A Trip to the Moon was miraculously found in Barcelona, Spain in 1993. Initially thought too fragile to restore, the film underwent one of the most complex and ambitious film restoration projects ever. Three experts in film restoration-Lobster Films, Groupama Gan Foundation, and Technicolor Foundation for Cinema Heritage-used the most advanced digital technologies available to assemble and painstakingly restore the film's 13,375 fragmented frames.



Follow six scholars-members of the Astronomers' Club-as they set off on an expedition to the moon! Traveling in a bullet-shaped rocket fired into space by a giant cannon, these voyagers arrive to meet the moon's inhabitants: the Selenites. Escaping the Selenties' king, the scholars fall back to Earth in their rocket and are fished out of the ocean by a sailor. Applause and a triumphant parade for the six heroes concludes the first outer-space adventure in the history of cinema.



Flicker Alley, Lobster Films, and Blackhawk Films® are thrilled to present this re-released publication of the 1902 hand-colored edition of A Trip to the Moon. This deluxe dual-format edition features TWO BRAND NEW SCORES by Jeff Mills and Dorian Pimpernel, as well as an improvised piano track by Serge Bromberg with optional narration written by Georges Méliès.



Special Features: THE EXTRAORDINARY VOYAGE: Directors Serge Bromberg and Eric Lange (Lobster Films) chronicle the journey of A Trip to the Moon from production in 1902, to the astonishing rediscovery in 1993, to the eventual restoration and opening at the Cannes Film Festival in 2011. The feature-length documentary includes interviews with filmmakers Costa Gavras, Michel Gondry, Michel Hazanavicius, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet on Méliès enduring significance to cinema.

A TRIP TO THE MOON (B/W): A beautifully restored black-and-white edition from original 35mm elements with two separate audio tracks of music: An orchestral score by composer Robert Israel with the original English narration written by Georges Méliès; and a second track produced by Russell Merritt consisting of a troupe of actors voicing the various characters as performed in the U.S. in 1903, with piano accompaniment by Frederick Hodges.

THE ECLIPSE (1904) & The ASTRONOMER'S DREAM (1898): New high-definition versions of two lunar-related shorts by Méliès.







Source: Blu-ray.com | Permalink | [Country settings]



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fpas Jan 15, 2018 Finally a re-release. I'm getting this one. It's history, the birth of cinema.

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Top contributor Count Orlok Jan 15, 2018 I hope it's another steelbook release! I missed out on the first one.

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Top contributor Cutter_ Jan 15, 2018 I sold my Steelbook (needed the money). But, I really want it back in my collection. Super glad for the reissue, since its OOP. I got my pre-order in.

yoda-sama Jan 15, 2018 This can have two new scores, but not the Rifftrax? Hardly seems complete, or authentic for that matter... billyearle Jan 15, 2018 I wasn't happy with the Air score being the only option for the color version before. I'll buy this in the hope that a half decent (non snooze-inducing) traditional score is an option on the colored one, or at least that the other modern scores will be a better fit.

Mistakenly got excited that there was a more authentic original colorized print restored, but seems this is the same digital recreation. Still way better than only having black n white, but could've been done better, IMO.

Sulaiman3421 Jan 16, 2018 Day one! Azcool Jan 16, 2018 Super excited for this. This is going to challenge the whole "can't wear out a Blu-ray disc" claim because of how much use I'll get out of it! I actually became really good friends with a kid in 5th grade because we were given a series of questions to ask a random student of our choice, and when I asked him what his favorite movie was, he said 'A Trip to the Moon'. My dad had shown it to me just a few days prior. membrane Jan 16, 2018 A must-have blu-ray!!

yoda-sama Jan 17, 2018 Apparently you guys didn't see the humor I meant in the first sentence of my previous post... Jeez. At the same time, as for the jab at authenticity, I do actually have concerns that not all audio tracks are available for both color and b&w presentations (as was the case with the prior Blu-ray), with the b&w version seeming to boast audio based on arrangements derived from performances early in the actual life of the film, color seeming to offer NEW scores and an improvisational piano performance... Is there any overlap this time? Is the Air score from 2011, produced specifically for the color edition, which was the only track available for it on the previous Blu-ray, even included? The trailer linked above mentions Air, but it was referring to a release which was going out of print, not an upcoming release, so it isn't an advertisement originally meant to be associated with this. There's a lot up in the air (no pun intended) to be addressed about this release, and concerns about the authenticity of the audio presentation (or at least robustness of audio choice across versions) should be allowed real attention and discussion.



Also, the Rifftrax of A Trip to the Moon is pretty funny, you should check it out.

Nightman04 Jan 17, 2018 Looks like I will be able to replace this after all. Really hope its another steelbook. It was one of my favorites.

CompleteCount Jan 18, 2018 The first time I ever heard of the movie was on the show/puff-piece "E.T. & Friends", with Robin Williams explaining that in order to fulfill his creative vision, Méliès painted every frame of the film by hand. Although it was referred to as "Journey To The Moon" on the show, it was nice that it spread the word.

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