Why So Blu?

The Wonderful World Of The Brothers Grimm (Blu-ray Review)

While the curiosity of an old 1960s big cinema fairytale is always appealing, sometimes the type of filmmaking process and ways of the elder years are selling points enough to find curiosity in buying a Blu-ray. That goes two-fold here with The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm from Warner Archive Collection. The film was in Cinerama and its 4K restoration and transfer from one of the best distributors will be eye candy enough for a recommendation. Fun enough, they’ve actually gone all out on this release with 2 presentations and 2-discs full of bonus features old and new. The release is available starting March 29th, and this is the type of thing the physical media enthusiasts should really jump at sight unseen as it will be a nice treasure and collector’s item. You can order a copy using the paid Amazon Associates link following the review below.

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Film

The story behind the brothers who created beloved fairy tales come to life, with reenactments of three of their stories. The film tells the story of the brothers’ long struggle for recognition and the sacrifices they and their families made to achieve their goals. Between dreamer Wilhelm (Laurence Harvey) and practical Jacob (Karl Boehm), some marvelous fairy tales develop. In “The Dancing Princess,” a princess (Yvette Mimieux) falls in love with a charming woodsman (Russ Tamblyn). In “The Cobbler and the Elves,” a Christmas miracle of dedicated labor helps the cobbler out when he most needs it. And in the last story, a fire-breathing dragon threatens the kingdom until a lowly servant (Buddy Hackett) saves the day. Shot on location in West Germany, the innovative production features Puppetoons, a technique developed by Oscar-winning special effects expert George Pal.

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is a wonderful technical achievement in the Cinerama process that also brings the old school technicolor joys you may have expected from someone like Disney. This anthology of sorts follows the authors of the story in their early days in a wraparound as we see a few of their stories come to life. The main story here is decent, but its where the film sort of becomes its least interesting. One of the characters is a tough pill to swallow and a whole lot of uninteresting dramatic scenes take place. Its fine for a lift off, but really brings stuff down and needs some more action-esque bits to occur in it.

Where the film finds its bread and butter and excels is in the fairy tale stories. The people in them, the color, the effects and the engagement rise every time one starts. You get many a star of the time (Most recognizable probably being West Side Story’s Russ Tamblyn) and some crafty stop motion effects. This is where you get some more lavish costumes and characters and feels like what this film really wants to and should be, as opposed to some odd kind of fictional biopic. These particular sequences are directed by George Pal and showcase a great contrast to the “normal” stuff that it bobs in and out of. We also get some more inventive, immersive and breathtaking work with the Cinerama technique.

This movie is absolutely fine and enjoyable but it could have been great. The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm has moments of and hints at greatness but never quite achieves it. Perhaps its the story and scenes of the Grimm brothers themselves. Or maybe their use of less known fairy tales holds it back. It would have been quite something to have at least one of Rapunzel, Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White or Tom Thumb be adapted into this film. But alas, it is what it is. But if you’re into fantasy, German period films or just the Cinerama process, its more than entertainment enough.

Video

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.85:1, Smilebox

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail: Meticulously restored from its original Cinerama negatives, this fanciful delight is a treat for audiences of all ages…..and this Deluxe Two Disc Edition gives the viewer the opportunity to watch the film either in a traditional letterbox format, or in the Smilebox format which attempts to re-create the immersive Cinerama experience with a simulated curve to the screen. Both versions bring together the three original Cinerama panels with virtually no trace of the lines that joined them together when originally projected in theaters back in 1962.

For which version to view, I do very much recommend the Smilebox. Your eyes will quickly adjust and its just a pretty immersive and impressive way to take in the film. This has an incredible scale on display, fantastic texture and details and absolutely gorgeous colors. You’ll be stunned just looking at it and wondering how in the hell it was possible.

Depth: With the smilebox on you get much more the experience of depth of field and scale in a the unique auditorium room encapsulating presentation. Its humongous and pushed back to the highest degree. Movements are filmic, smooth and have no issues with any distortions are any of that mumbo jumbo.

Black Levels: Blacks are deep and natural. There’s a great saturation on display and they really crisp up every frame and have some gorgeous shadow work, never erasing any details in the darkness. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction: Colors, along with the depth, are the shining star of this transfer. Everything has a sort of technicolor gorgeousness to it and it looks vivid, popping right off the screen. Greens, oranges, reds, blues, purples, everything has a romantic beauty to it and in the fairy tale sections of the film, one can just stare off and get high off of every frame.

Flesh Tones: Skin tones are natural and consistent from start to finish of the film. Immaculate facial detail and texture is visible from any distance in the frame.

Noise/Artifacts: HAH! Are you kidding me?

Audio

Audio Format(s): English 5.1 DTS-HD MA

Subtitles: English SDH

Dynamics: As lovingly and impressive as the video transfer and restoration is on The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, so goes the audio track. And in sneaky fashion too. This has a very grand quality of depth and layering to it. There’s a power force in its presentation, which is quite well balanced and feels very genuine to its original theatrical presentation (Which was actual 7 channels, not 5.1).

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension: There is some good bounce from the subwoofer, with good bumps from effects. Most of the deeper sounds come from the bass, horns and strings in the score with good, delicate touches.

Surround Sound Presentation:  The soundscape here sweeps around the room for a nice, very full, effective experience to go along with the video. There’s some playfulness abound and the sound travel both pushes with some good power and breezes with accuracy around the room.

Dialogue Reproduction: Vocals are clear and crisp.

Extra

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is a 2-Disc set with each disc carrying a specific aspect ratio’ed presentation of the film. It also includes a booklet that is a replication of the roadshow program of the era when it was released,

DISC 1 – Letterbox

Brothers Grimm Cinerama Announcement Trailer (HD, 4:36)

Brothers Grimm Theatrical Letterbox Trailer (HD, 2:27)

Brothers Grimm Radio Interview with Russ Tamblyn (HD, 5:11) – A slideshow runs as the interview with the West Side Story star plays. He talks about some of the headaches of stardom and gives a rundown of the film and his part in it.

Brothers Grimm Radio Interview with Yvette Mimiuex (HD, 5:39) – The “petite” blonde talks about still being a scared little girl and about her part in the film. There’s some dated approach to the interview for sure.

Epic Art for the Brothers Grimm (HD, 7:00) – Justin Humphreys, curator for the George Pal estate, takes us on a tour and gives tid bits on art and paintings produced for the movie. These are actual, physically painted on canvas pieces not just a slideshow as he comments.

The Wonderful Career of George Pal (HD, 8:47) – Humphreys gives us a bit of a brief history of George Pal but mainly focusing on “the grandest film that he ever made” with The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm. He shares some photographs and such as well.

DISC 2 – Smilebox

Brothers Grimm Cinerama Announcement Trailer (HD, 4:37)

Brothers Grimm Theatrical Smilebox Trailer (HD, 2:27)

Rescuing a Fantasy Classic (HD, 40:19) – Those involved with the restoration; David Strohmaier, Randy Gitsch, Steven Anastasi, Tom H. March, John Polito, James Vandever give an incredibly detailed adventure of the process in completing an impossible restoration of the film. This is an immaculate piece on film restoration and almost worth the purchase of this release alone!

Rothenberg, German Location Commemorative Plaque (HD, :56) – A very brief piece on the plaque commemorated to making this movie that is still there today.

A Salute to William R. Forman (HD, 1:49) – James Vandever gives a little history on the chairman of Cinerama who pushed for it to revolutionize cinema.

Brothers Grimm Slideshow (HD, 12:00) – Stills from Behind the Scenes, Publicity, Poster & Graphics, Newspaper Ads, Tie In Products, theatrical screenings and more.

Summary

The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm is a technical delight. This Blu-ray debut of the film from Warner Archive Collection is an absolute joy to take in and a candy for the eyeballs. They’ve really put together a pretty special release for this movie and it comes stocked with some terrific extras. Just on the restoration and presentation alone this is worth an easy recommendation to the cinephile and home video collecting enthusiast.

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