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Quite a difference watching the stop motion movies I grew up with as opposed to all the CGI movies that have been coming out since 1990 or so. Yes..some of these flicks are dated but you have to remember the times they were made and the formulas SciFi movies followed in the 1950's. You can clearly see how Harryhausen influenced the modern monsters we see today. Each movie he made starting with 1954's Beast From 20,000 Fathoms just kept getting better. Three B/W flicks are featured here..20 Million Miles To Earth easily being the best..FX were top notch but movie story itself was intelligently scripted. Stop motion always kept your eyes glued to the screen because it was so cool to watch. Harryhausen's genius is missed alot nowadys becasue of the glut of CGI monsters. What made these movies very popular also was the fact that once the color ones were starting to be made, there was quite some time spans between them and the public waited patiently for them because nobody else was making them..so the waiting was the hardest part. Making a stop motion flick was quite time consuming as explained by Ray and once they were released, the public ate them right up. These movies are entertaining in their own each unique way..the octopus one "It Came" being the weakest..but still not bad. Earth vs Flying Saucers is exceptional but here 20 Million is the best..you feel sympathy for the poor Ymir being out his element and continually hunted. Besides the good SPX as I mentioneed, to feel sympathy for a monster is intelligent screen writing. Any SciFi enthusiast should get this collection so one can really see how a good "formula" scifi movie was made back in the day..with ground breaking SFX to boot. Growing up with these movies was such a thrill..aside from this collection.one should also get his other 5 pak collection. The Legendary Monster Series has Harryhausen's 2 greatest movies (in my opinion) .7th Voyage of Sinbad & Jason & The Argonauts...Jason containing the single greatest Harryhausen creation..sword wielding skeltons. Watch the Harryhausen chronicles contained in the DVD's..absolutely entertaining and informational. Buy the Harryhausen collections so SciFi / Fantasy fans can see what a thrill it must have been when these movies were out. Long live Ray Harryhausen.Read full review
Ray Harryhausen is the master of Stop-motion animation and an innovator of his time. This set is a collection of his early work. Compared to the cheesy monster movies of this era, Harryhausen’s movies were better than average despite their low budgets. Unfortunately, this set does not include one of his first commercial projects, Mighty Joe Young. But you can get the feel for the amount of character Ray adds to his creative creatures by watching 20 Million Miles from Earth. It’s easy to develop empathy for the “Monster” from outer space. Overall, these movies are not as well developed as his later movies such as Simbad or Jason and the Argonauts, but fairly entertaining in their own right. If you are a fan of non-CGI special effects and can watch older movies without comparing them to the works of today, then this set is for you.Read full review
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I grew up on this stuff! I love these older Science Fiction movies. My children might say "So fakey" or "Dad, it doesn't look real!" but that's exactly what the appeal of these "stop action animation" films is. It is supposed to be fantasy and fun, not a weeping social commentary. So get some pizza and soda and relax and have fun!! And make your kids watch these at least once!
Very good old movies
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: New
Old style sci fi special effects are the best!
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned