Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)

[ChunkyLover]

Via Deff

When multiple residents of a Californian backwater begin to suffer from identical frenzied delusions, Dr Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) suspects the town is in the grip of a new kind of epidemic. But his investigations soon reveal the terrifying truth, uncovering not a medical emergency but an extra-terrestrial invasion that threatens mankind’s very existence.
Directed by Don Siegel (Dirty Harry), this 1950s classic brings the fear of the unknown to the streets of America. A milestone of the science-fiction genre and a critique of post-war American society, The Invasion of the Body Snatchers remains an enduring and suspenseful classic.
Presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, experience the thrills and horrors of this highly influential movie like never before.

Extras

• Audio commentary with Dana Wynter, Kevin McCarthy and Joe Dante (2006)
• Sleep No More: Invasion of the Body Snatchers Revisited (27 mins): archive featurette focusing on the production history and historical significance of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Includes clips from interviews with Kevin McCarthy, Dana Wynter, John Landis, Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers), and science fiction historian Bob Burns
• Return to Santa Mira (16 mins): a look at the locations where key segments from Invasion of the Body Snatchers were shot
• What's In a Name? (3 mins): a short video piece about the title of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and some of the changes that were made to get it right
• The Fear and the Fiction: The Body Snatchers Phenomenon (8 mins): archive extra featuring interviews with Kevin McCarthy, co-screenwriter Stuart Gordon, John Landis, cultural historian Leo Brandy, Don Siegel's assistant Stuart Kaminsky, and Dana Wynters
• Trailer
• Other extras TBC
• **FIRST PRESSING ONY** Illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Dr Deborah Allison

[ChunkyLover]

Of course this happens after I finally caved in on the Olive Signature Blu.

[L.A.]

Curious: what aspect ratios? :-k

[domino harvey]

Of course this happens after I finally caved in on the Olive Signature Blu.

What offered here supplants that release?

[The Fanciful Norwegian]

Curious: what aspect ratios? :-k

Supposedly there are no known 35mm elements of anything except the 2:1 version. There are 16mm open-matte prints in the hands of private collectors, but I'm not expecting the BFI to get their hands on one of those. Would love to be proved wrong.

One thing that the BFI could definitely include is the Perspecta soundtrack, which Paramount restored some years back but wasn't included on the Olive editions for some reason.

[MichaelB]

On another forum, someone hoped that the BFI would offer a playback option to eliminate the bookending material that was famously imposed on the film against Don Siegel's wishes.

Which is a nice idea, but if Indicator's experience with The Snorkel and 101 Films' experience with Phase IV is any guide, it simply won't be contractually possible for reasons completely beyond the BFI's control - Hollywood studios as a rule tend to veto attempts at "improving" their films, unless they're by-products of high-profile major restorations, ideally involving the original filmmakers.

I did, however, pass the message on.

[sabbath]

On another forum, someone hoped that the BFI would offer a playback option to eliminate the bookending material that was famously imposed on the film against Don Siegel's wishes.

Which is a nice idea, but if Indicator's experience with The Snorkel and 101 Films' experience with Phase IV is any guide, it simply won't be contractually possible for reasons completely beyond the BFI's control - Hollywood studios as a rule tend to veto attempts at "improving" their films, unless they're by-products of high-profile major restorations, ideally involving the original filmmakers.

I did, however, pass the message on.

Eureka managed to sneak their reconstruction cut of Murders in the Rue Morgue into their Three Edgar Allan Poe Adaptations Starring Bela Lugosi set as an easter egg last year. They also made a new hybrid cut for their recent The Millionaire's Express release. That's why I had hoped Eureka would get Invasion of the Body Snatchers and do a similar thing.

[MichaelB]

Neither of those examples involved Paramount, who in my experience are unusually hands-on when it comes to pre-vetting the content of discs containing their films.

[Roger Ryan]

And to be fair, without doing some major adjustments like eliminating the narration and re-editing the music score, simply eliminating the opening and closing scenes in Invasion of the Body Snatchers will just give the impression that one is missing the beginning and ending of the film!

[MichaelB]

I had a similar problem with The Snorkel; while it was easy enough to conform the narrative and visual elements of Jimmy Sangster’s original ending to the penultimate draft screenplay, I had no possible way of knowing whether Francis Chagrin would have scored this infinitely darker ending the same way. So it’s more of an impression of the original ending than a bona fide reconstruction, because the film was never screened with that ending.

[MichaelB]

Full specs announced:

INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
A film by Don Siegel
Starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter

Released on Blu-ray just in time for Halloween, on 25 October 2021

Directed by Don Siegel (Dirty Harry), this milestone of science fiction taps into the paranoia and uncertainty of its times to present a chilling critique of post-war American society. Invasion of the Body Snatchers remains an enduring and suspenseful classic.

Presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK, with a huge range of contextualising extras, fans can experience the thrills and horrors of this highly influential movie like never before.

When multiple residents of a Californian town begin to suffer from identical frenzied delusions, Dr Miles Bennell (Kevin McCarthy) suspects the community is in the grip of a new kind of epidemic. But his investigations soon reveal the terrifying truth, uncovering not a medical emergency but a hidden extra-terrestrial invasion that threatens mankind’s very existence.

Special features
• Presented in High Definition
• Newly recorded audio commentary by filmmaker and critic Jim Hemphill (2021)
• 50th anniversary commentary with stars Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter, and Gremlins director Joe Dante (2006)
• John Player Lecture: Don Siegel (1973, 75 mins, audio only): Don Siegel looks over his career with Barry Norman
• Sleep No More: Invasion of the Body Snatchers Revisited (2006, 27 mins): a look at Body Snatchers’ production history
• The Fear and The Fiction: The Body Snatchers Phenomenon (2006, 8 mins): considering the film’s themes and critical interpretations
• What's in a Name? (2006, 2 mins): how the Invasion got its title
• Return to Santa Mira (2006, 13 mins): key locations and the film’s production design are explored
• A selection of complementary archive shorts, with British propaganda short Doorstep to Communism (1948, 11 mins) and groundbreaking botanical cinematography in Magic Myxies (1931, 11 mins) and Battle of the Plants (1926, 11 mins)
• Original theatrical trailer
• Trailers From Hell: Invasion of the Body Snatchers (2013, 3 mins): Body Snatchers fan Joe Dante celebrates the film
• Gallery
• ***First pressing only*** Illustrated booklet with new writing on the film by Dr Deborah Allison, an archival feature by J Hoberman from Sight and Sound, May 1994, a biography of Don Siegel by Charlie Bligh and notes on the special features.

Product details
RRP: £22.99 / Cat. no. BFIB1430 / PG
USA / 1956 / black and white / 80 mins / English language, with optional subtitle for the Deaf and partial hearing / 2.00:1 aspect ratio / BD50: 1080p, 24fps, PCM 2.0 mono audio (48kHz/24-bit)

[ChunkyLover]

It's unfortunate that the Perspecta isn't included.

[MichaelB]

Considerable efforts were made, involving both Paramount and Bob Furmanek, but I gather it proved impossible for the same reason that it wasn't included in the Olive release. What that specific reason was, I don't know.

[hearthesilence]

How does Perspecta sound anyway? I'm not familiar with it, but the description looks like an awkward attempt at a fake stereo mix.

[MichaelB]

This seems to have been something of a surprise smash hit, with the entire first pressing having now left the warehouse and only 1,000 copies (out of 4,000) still in circulation.

There hasn't been a second pressing yet, so if you buy it now you're guaranteed a booklet - but the first pressing most likely won't stick around for long given how quickly it's sold so far.

[swo17]

Best bet for US buyers seems to be the Amazon Global Store UK listing on Amazon's US site, currently $26.69 shipped

[tenia]

Could anyone here having access to the BFI booklet post here the tech details mentioned in it ? I watched the French release of the movie, seemingly based on the same master, and it's quite tough to guess what the master has been produced from (as it's overall quite a mess).

[Orlac]

Could anyone here having access to the BFI booklet post here the tech details mentioned in it ? I watched the French release of the movie, seemingly based on the same master, and it's quite tough to guess what the master has been produced from (as it's overall quite a mess).

The booklet says it's from a 4K scan.

[ChunkyLover]

Could anyone here having access to the BFI booklet post here the tech details mentioned in it ? I watched the French release of the movie, seemingly based on the same master, and it's quite tough to guess what the master has been produced from (as it's overall quite a mess).

My understanding that it's derived from a "hard matted" SuperScope element 2.00 but also it being an old restoration, with old restoration "methods" (ex: frozen grain), doesn't help.

[JamesF]

Charlotte Barker from Paramount posted on Instagram a couple of days ago about a German open matte 35mm element being deposited to their archive: https://www.instagram.com/p/DZLuC5mD7Op/?img_index=1

I have recently seen a fan scan of an open matte 16mm print, and the framing looks the same - opened up at the top and bottom, but heavily cropped on the left hand side (and to a much lesser degree, the right). So even an attempt to blend the two framings together would be missing picture information on the edges. Hopefully no-one gets the bright idea to use AI to fill in the missing edges!