William Cameron Menzies was known as one of the best production designers in Hollywood. He invented the titles. But in 1952, he stepped into the director’s chair. He created a paranoid tale of a small boy who spots a UFO landing near his house. But when he sends his dad to investigate, the father returns a changed man. Are the aliens abducting everyone around him? The film quickly became a classic of the genre. Now the movie is getting upgraded to 4K UHD to give us a better view of Menzies’ red scare from the red planet. There’s also a Blu-ray and DVD coming out in July. Here’s the press release from Ignite Films:
IGNITE FILMS SETS LAUNCH DATE OF JULY 11, 2023
FOR RETAIL DISTRIBUTION OF THEIR AWARD-WINNING
4K RESTORATION OF THE 1953 TERRIFYING
CINE-COLOR SCI-FI CLASSIC
INVADERS FROM MARS
Ignite Films, the Dutch company formed in 2005 by Jan Willem Bosman Jansen, lives up to its motto, “Classics for the Future,” with the award-winning sensational 4K restoration of William Cameron Menzies’ Invaders From Mars, the first title released under the Ignite Films label. The groundbreaking sci-fi classic will be released in partnership with MVD for retail sales in stores including Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, and through online retailers including Amazon.com, on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD on July 11, 2023, with pre-orders open now, announced Jan Willem Bosman Jansen, founder of Ignite Films.
“Following the successful launch on our website of our first release on the Ignite Films label in January 2023, we are excited to announce our partnership with MVD to invade US retail and Amazon, and more widely share our new 4K restoration of ‘Invaders from Mars’ with earthlings, both new fans and old,” said Jan Willem Bosman Jansen.
The must-have restoration for all Invaders From Mars fans, both Earthlings and Martians alike, features spectacular special bonus features on the 4K UHD and Blu-ray versions, including a restored 4K version of the original 1953 trailer and a newly commissioned 2022 remix of the trailer, an interview with the film’s star, Jimmy Hunt, an in-depth look at the restoration process led by Scott MacQueen, Restoration Supervisor, plus a new featurette about the film featuring interviews with directors Joe Dante (Gremlins), John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), multiple Visual Effects Academy-Award winner Robert Skotak (Aliens, Terminator 2: Judgement Day), and other luminaries. The DVD version does not include bonus materials.
The response to the love and attention to detail given to the restoration has been overwhelmingly positive. The restoration process was spearheaded by renowned film preservationist Scott MacQueen, former Head of Preservation at the UCLA Film & Television Archive. MacQueen and Jansen, of Ignite Films, literally scoured the planet to locate any and all materials to help ensure the restoration was as complete and true to the original as humanly possible. The 4K restoration of INVADERS FROM MARS recently won the inaugural Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Jury Award for Restoration and Preservation, and the prestigious Rondo Awards for Best Blu-ray and Best Restoration.
Fearful memories of this timeless 1953 bone-chiller still haunt the dreams of fans who have never forgotten the story of David MacLean, a young boy (Jimmy Hunt) who witnesses an alien invasion. Invaders from Mars was filmed from a child’s point of view, using exaggerated sets and upward angles. It became a modern classic and was also one of two early 50s classic alien-invasion science fiction films (the other is Robert Wise’s The Day the Earth Stood Still) reflecting Cold War tensions, the Red Scare and paranoid anxiety typical of many films in the 50s.
Invaders From Mars stars Jimmy Hunt, Helena Carter, Arthur Franz, Morris Ankrum, Leif Erickson, and Hillary Brooke.
The 4K restoration was initially released exclusively by Ignite Films via direct sales on their website in January 2023, with a special slip-cover collectors edition of the 4K UHD still available there for collectors, along with other exclusive merchandise, including a limited-run autographed poster by the film’s star, Jimmy Hunt. The Big Pieces Company is supporting the release in the US and overseeing international sales.
Official Website: http://www.InvadersFromMars1953.com
Order Link: https://www.Ignite-Films.com/products/invaders-from-mars
Link to New Updated 2022 Trailer remix: https://youtu.be/0f3wEXdG7ho
Link to Restored Original 1953 Trailer: https://youtu.be/DcdMnqMrbOs
