Rating: - The Mystery of the Widescreen Harryhausen Films
Counterfit widescreen is nothing short of marketting vandalism. All of the Ray Harryhausen films exept First Men In The Moon were shot on standerd 35mm film. This means that the original shape of the picture,as it was seen in the theater was a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. They were NOT filmed in widescreen "letterbox".
Why is this important? Because,to achive the effect of miniature puppets living in the real world,R.H. mastered a technique called the "foreground matte". Simply put,in stead of simply placing the monster on a miniature stage and projecting the prefilmed images of the performers on a small screen behind it, Harryhausen invented this cheeper and far superior method. By adding the photographic componants of the foreground into the viewer's feild of vision, the only object in the picture that is not "real" is the animated creature. This illusion of huge living monsters and dinosaurs interacting with real people was debatably the most advanced and succesfull way to create impossible visions on the movie screen for decades.
At the time they were made,the Harryhausen films were among the most unique and amazing films ever done.
So what's the big deal? When a film is photographed in 1.33.1 aspect there is only one way to make it "wide screen",1.78 to 1.85.1. The company releasing the film "chops" off the top and bottom edges of the picture to create a wide screen shaped picture at a loss of almost 40% of the original image. In doing this to a Harryhausen film, frequently the top of the creature's head or the bottoms of the feet of all the performers,real and artificial are lost. This cropping spoils the film for the first time viewer. By shaving the picture these films actually look less realistic.
Of course,in a way this may be only a point of taste. CGI has enhanced or replaced "traditional" stop motion ,religating it to art films and childrens fare. The importance of image composition may not matter to the average viewer who just wants to fill up the space on that new wide screen TV. But for the film student or the purist, make sure to look for the DVDs that offer a choice of both Standerd and Widescreen Formats. If only widescreen is offered,and you really want to see Mysterious Island the way it should be seen,buy the VHS.

IMHO, John Fischner

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