IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM SHELF!

Second Run, a boutique video label in the UK devoted to art films and classics, has announced a Blu-ray and DVD release of the most successful Czech film ever produced, Karel Zeman’s Invention For Destruction a.k.a. The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958).  The Blu-ray is due on November 19th and will be region free, so it will play in Blu-ray players worldwide.

Zeman’s celebrated fantasy films combine live-action, paper-cutouts, and stop-motion animation for a unique experience that influenced numerous future directors, most notably Terry Gilliam.  Last year Second Run released a gorgeous Blu-ray of Zeman’s The Fabulous Baron Munchausen (1961), which made my “Picks of the Year” list, and has become one of my fall-time favorite discs.   Consequently, this upcoming release has shot to the very top of my shopping list.  I urge you to watch the trailer above to view the breadth of imagination at play.

Here are the details on the upcoming release:

Invention for Destruction
(Vynález zkázy)
A film by Karel Zeman
Czechoslovakia, 1958

Presented from new 4K digital remaster, Second Run are delighted to follow their hugely popular release of the great Czech animator and filmmaker Karel Zeman’s The Fabulous Baron Munchausen, with his greatest and most famous work – Invention for Destruction.

Still the most commercially lucrative Czech film ever produced – released internationally to huge success in 1960 as ‘The Fabulous World of Jules Verne‘ – Invention for Destruction is also Zeman’s most beloved work.

Wildly inventive, and breaking new ground in its combination of live action, animation and design, creating a ‘steampunk’ aesthetic decades ahead of its time. Zeman’s film is both a heartfelt homage and love letter to Jules Verne’s wonderful tales of science and adventure, and a valiant cry against man’s predisposition to self destruction.

“His finest and most accessible film, now in the pantheon of the greatest hybrid animation/live action films ever made… An imaginative delight, and a stunning personal achievement. Once seen, never forgotten.” Senses of Cinema

View the trailer here

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• BRAND NEW 4K RESTORATION OF THE FILM
• Alternate English-dubbed feature presentation as The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, with alternate credits and opening introduction sequence.
• NEW appreciation by filmmaker John Stevenson, director of Kung-Fu Panda and Sherlock Gnomes
• Karel Zeman’s animated short films:
  • Inspiration a.k.a. Inspirace (1949)
  • King Lavra a.k.a. Král Lávra (1950)
• Featurettes
  • The Sea Through Zeman’s Lens
  • Why Zeman Made the Film
  • Zeman’s Special Effects Techniques
  • Restoring the World of Fantasy
  • About the Restoration
• Original Trailer
• Booklet featuring new writing on the film by film critic and historian James Oliver
• REGION-FREE

ON BLU-RAY & DVD NOVEMBER 2018