I'm a fan of Cinerama, and while this isn't Cinerama, it's a rare 70MM film put out in 4K by Flicker Alley, a company trying to give the fans rarities that haven't seen the light of day in decades.
I'd never seen this film; it had been on my radar for several years. It was too expensive when it came out, but on a Black Friday sale I bought it. I fully stand behind all of these specialty films being restored, and supporting that means buying them when they've been restored, no matter the subject matter. The restoration of "Mediterranean Holiday" is virtually flawless. Watching the comparisons with the old faded and pink negative, and the restoration, is amazing. You should buy it simply to see how wonderful it looks in 4K.
The extras are amazing, and you should also pick this up to revel in the information imparted in them. They are mostly in German and Swedish, but are subtitled. They discuss the making of the film and the restoration extensively.
However, the film itself is extremely dated and 150 minutes long. You feel every one of those 150 minutes; the scenery is the only good thing about it. Since this is a 1964 film, it's mostly filled with men and you only see a few women; that includes a belly dancer in Egypt, and Princess Grace, who is seen for a few seconds in Monaco, officiating at the Gran Prix. It is woefully lacking in any kind of a script, the musical score is almost laughable, and the egregious animal rights violations that happen in the film are startling. I realize this is from another era, but even in 1964 some of this should have been verboten. If you watch this, be prepared. I fast-forwarded through several of the animal scenes.
Taking the whole release into consideration, this is a 4K Bluray anyone interested in 70MM and film history should purchase. You take the good with the bad on releases of this kind, and in the end they balance out.
I'd never seen this film; it had been on my radar for several years. It was too expensive when it came out, but on a Black Friday sale I bought it. I fully stand behind all of these specialty films being restored, and supporting that means buying them when they've been restored, no matter the subject matter. The restoration of "Mediterranean Holiday" is virtually flawless. Watching the comparisons with the old faded and pink negative, and the restoration, is amazing. You should buy it simply to see how wonderful it looks in 4K.
The extras are amazing, and you should also pick this up to revel in the information imparted in them. They are mostly in German and Swedish, but are subtitled. They discuss the making of the film and the restoration extensively.
However, the film itself is extremely dated and 150 minutes long. You feel every one of those 150 minutes; the scenery is the only good thing about it. Since this is a 1964 film, it's mostly filled with men and you only see a few women; that includes a belly dancer in Egypt, and Princess Grace, who is seen for a few seconds in Monaco, officiating at the Gran Prix. It is woefully lacking in any kind of a script, the musical score is almost laughable, and the egregious animal rights violations that happen in the film are startling. I realize this is from another era, but even in 1964 some of this should have been verboten. If you watch this, be prepared. I fast-forwarded through several of the animal scenes.
Taking the whole release into consideration, this is a 4K Bluray anyone interested in 70MM and film history should purchase. You take the good with the bad on releases of this kind, and in the end they balance out.