Three Fantastic Journeys by Karel Zeman

Director- Karel Zeman

Cast- Various

Country of Origin- Czech Republic
 

Distributor - Criterion

Number of Discs - 3

Reviewed by  Scott MacDonald

Date- 03/26/2020

    My first exposure to Czech cinema was in the late 1990's when  I saw VHS tapes of Svankmajers's Alice and Little Otik. Over the years I continued my exploration of Czech cinema with the films of Milos Forman, and other Czech New Wave filmmakers (The Eclipse Pearls of the Czech New Wave box set was a wonderful discovery in that regard). Many of the Czech films, I have seen seemed to have surrealist and fairy tale-esque flourishes throughout.

    One Czech filmmaker I had not heard of, but Criterion has decided to school American film viewers like myserlf on is Karel Zeman, an FX heavy filmmaker whose work was an inspiration to Terry Gilliam, Wes Anderson, Jan Svankmajer and beyond. Rather, than just release one film they put out 3 of the filmmakers earliest works, Journey in the Beginning of Time, Invention for Destruction, and the Fabulous Baron Munchausen.

    The first film Journey in the Beginning of Time is basically a children's film where a group of boys end up in the past with dinosaurs.  As I watched it, I found myself impressed by Zeman's effects work, and dedication to detail, but found myself wondering if the other 2 would be similar, as I found myself disinterested in the child-ish tone of the film.

    The second and third films, did happen to do away with the kids film vibe of the first film, and did put greater emphasis on the FX work that Zeman is known for. Invention for Destruction sees a scientist and his assistant get kidnapped by pirates who want his "invention for destruction" the plot is derived from the works of Jules Verne, while the visuals are highly influenced by the work of Melies. This one really took me by surprise after my lackluster response to the original.

    The third film The Fabulous Baron Munchausen had some pacing issues, but aside from that was a visual deliight, and one could see that this is where Zeman goes full on FX extravaganza. The plot is fairly thin, and involves the adventures of an astronaut who meets the titular Baron, but gives the director the room he needs to dazzle an audience with his FX artistry.

    All 3 films are presented 1:37:1 in 1080p AVC encoded transfers. They are in both black and white and color (Munchausen both), contracts is solid, color is well reproduced, though Journey is a rather drab film, the trasnfer depicts that well. Detail is excellent, and I could find not much in the way of issues. Audio is in Czech mono and sounds clear and crisp. Extras include alternate openings, short films, documentaries, interviews and much more. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.