THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM MOVIE
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM ARCHIVE

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm may not be a timeless classic, but the Blu-ray serves as a reminder of how grand the moviegoing experience used to be.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM ARCHIVE

While Warner Archive has always done a commendable job releasing classics on disc, theyвЂ™ve outdone themselves here. In addition to a near-perfect picture and sound, this two-disc set is loaded with bonus features related to both the film and restoration process. As director of the fairy tale segments, Pal himself takes great advantage of the 3-strip process, exploiting the widescreen canvas for all its worth in the first story, вЂњThe Dancing Princess.вЂќ The entire film looks stunning - like it couldвЂ™ve been filmed yesterday - and rarely do we see any frame overlap that was typical of Cinerama films back in the day. Of course, no home video can fully replicate the experience, so this is the next best thing to being there, with letterbox and вЂњsmileboxвЂќ versions of the film, the latter which simulates the curved screens of Cinerama theaters. This beautifully restored Blu-ray serves as a reminder of how amazing Cinerama really was (even with some of its creative limitations). Though innovations like CinemaScope, Panavision and ultimately IMAX wouldnвЂ™t have existed without it, the Cinerama process itself was a thing of the past by the time I regularly went to the movies (though I was once lucky enough to visit a Cinerama theater in Seattle). This was back when Hollywood was still fighting the scourge of television by giving the viewer something they couldn't get in their living rooms, when вЂњroadshowвЂќ movies were full-blown events - completed with overtures, intermissions and exit music - playing at theaters specially equipped to show them. Depending on where you were seated, the result was as close to a completely immersive experience as you could get, the picture filling your entire field of vision.

However, it is one of only two fictional films produced using the 3-strip Cinerama process (the other being How the West was Won ), which utilized three projectors to present a single image on a super-wide curved screen. The GrimmвЂ™s story is less compelling, though as flakier brother Wilhelm, Harvey - playing somewhat against-type - is engaging and likable, the polar opposite of his dark turn as Raymond Shaw in The Manchurian Candidate, released the same year.Д¦0 years on, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm remains an enjoyable - if a bit overlong - whimsical fantasy, not the best or worst of its kind. Those fairy tales are perfect family fare and the highlight of the film, especially вЂњThe Singing Bone,вЂќ the comedic story of a narcissistic knight (Terry-Thomas) and his dim-witted squire (Buddy Hackett) facing off against a highly-amusing dragon. Part fanciful biography, part anthology film, the humble beginnings of Wilhelm & Jacob Grimm (Laurence Harvey & Karl Boehm) serve as a wraparound story for three of the brothersвЂ™ lesser-known fairy tales. Produced and partially directed by George Pal, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm doesnвЂ™t rank among his indisputable classics, though itвЂ™s arguably his last good film.

But from a technical standpoint, the film was one of the last of its kind.

While I certainly love more than my fair share of classics, IвЂ™ve never been one of those вЂњthey donвЂ™t make вЂem like they used toвЂќ kind of guys.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF THE BROTHERS GRIMM MOVIE

Not necessarily because of the movie itself. Watching the newly restored The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is another reminder that I was probably born a few decades too late.

The wonderful world of the brothers grimm