NEWS: Quatermass 2 Ltd Collector's Edition

Hot on the heels of their recent 'Quatermass Xperiment' release Hammer are now taking pre-orders for Nigel Kneale's alien invasion masterpiece 'Quatermass 2'.

As with the other release it's a mouth wateringly enticing selection bursting at the seams with extras.

From the website (and subject to the possibility of change)...

This limited collector's edition comprises:

• Five discs in a stylish digipak, including two UHD and three Blu-ray, with the Hammer content duplicated across both formats. The BBC content is presented in Standard Definition on Region B formatted Blu-ray disc.
• Three iterations of Quatermass 2: the widescreen 1.66:1 UK Theatrical Version, the fullscreen 1.37:1 As-Filmed Version and the widescreen 1.85:1 US Theatrical Version re-titled Enemy from Space.
• Additional German and Italian audio for all three versions. English, French, Italian, Spanish and German subtitles on all versions of the film.
• Rigid inner box featuring new artwork by cult favourite artist Graham Humphreys.
• Double-sided poster of original one-sheets.
• Eight art cards featuring facsimiles of the original US cinema lobby cards.
• 176-page booklet featuring new and reprint articles and reproductions of original publicity.
• 60-page comic featuring a reprint of the comic strip from legendary 1970s magazine The House of Hammer.

The discs feature:

• The Legend of Nigel Kneale: Enemy from Space. Toby Hadoke continues his investigation into the truth behind the legend, in part two of a brand-new two-part documentary.
• Doubling Down: Uncovering Quatermass 2. A close look at the making of Quatermass 2, with contributions from Jon Dear, Stephen Gallagher, Toby Hadoke, Wayne Kinsey, Andy Murray and Stephen Volk.
• Quatermass II: All six episodes of the landmark 1955 BBC serial.
• Man of Action: Author and Hammer expert Stephen Laws and author/biographer Derek Sculthorpe examine the life and career of Brian Donlevy.
• Quatermass Crew: Candid reminiscences from the making of Quatermass 2 with 3rd assistant director Hugh Harlow and special effects assistant Brian Johnson.
• A Question of Character: Nigel Kneale famously hated Brian Donlevy’s performance as Quatermass. Jon Dear, Stephen Gallagher, Toby Hadoke, Wayne Kinsey, Andy Murray and Stephen Volk offer their own perspectives.
• Quatermass and the Hammer Experience: Interviewed by Ted Newsom in the early 1990s, Val Guest discusses the films he made for Hammer.
• Val Guest 2003 interview from original UK DVD release of Quatermass 2.
• Reviving Quatermass 2: A look behind-the-scenes at how the new 4K restoration of Quatermass 2 was made.
• Original trailers, foreign titles, Super 8 cut-down version and the original BBFC censor cards for Quatermass 2.
• Extensive image gallery of stills and publicity material, alongside tracks from James Bernard’s score.
• New commentary with actor and comedian Toby Hadoke, Nigel Kneale’s biographer Andy Murray and Stephen R. Bissett, artist and film historian.
• New commentary with writer/academic Brontë Schiltz and author/producer Jon Dear.
• Archive commentary with director Val Guest, recorded for laserdisc in 1998.
• Archive commentary with writer Nigel Kneale and Hammer expert Marcus Hearn, recorded for laserdisc in 1998.
• Archive commentary featuring sections of both laserdisc commentaries, edited for DVD in 2003.
• Archive commentary featuring documentarian and Hammer expert Ted Newsom, recorded for Blu-ray in 2019.
• Archive commentary with filmmaker and Hammer expert Constantine Nasr and writer/producer Dr Steve Haberman, recorded for Blu-Ray in 2019.

The booklet features:

• New article on the making of Quatermass 2 by Bruce Hallenbeck.
• New article by Andrew Pixley where he takes a look at the production of the second BBC series and its impact on the viewing public.
• New article by Andy Murray that takes a look at that most complicated of relationships: Nigel Kneale vs 1950s Sci-Fi.
• Archive article from Picturegoer magazine where Edith Nepean visits the Danziger’s Studios during the filming of Quatermass 2.
• New article from writer Stephen Laws, who takes a personal look at Brian Donlevy and his place in the pantheon of Quatermass actors.
• New article from Jon Dear, who investigated why New Towns are often portrayed on film and television as sinister monuments to trauma.
• Archive interview with Barry Lowe, who featured in both Quatermass films as well as several other Hammer productions
• New article by Hammer expert Wayne Kindey, who unpicks the differences between the TV series, the draft scripts and the final film.

..........................................................................................

If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain

Affiliate links are provided for your convenience and to help mitigate running costs.

Quatermass 2

Released by Hammer in 1957, 2 years after both the release of their first Quatermass movie and the showing of the original 6 episode TV series, Quatermass 2 (or II if you're feeling slightly Roman) is perhaps the least regarded of the three Hammer Q movies which I think is a real shame even if I do mostly share that opinion.

Treading similar ground to 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', which was released in the intervening year, we find the Professor and the members of The British Experimental Rocket Group investigating a meteor shower that falls on the isolated location of Winnerden Flats where he finds an industrial complex eerily similar to his own proposed moon base staffed, it soon transpires, by people under the control of little alien blob things that had arrived in cute little rocket shaped meteors and which planned to transform themselves into very large alien blob things.

Compared to the first there's a notably bigger budget on display here and director Val Guest (who had also directed Xperiment) keeps the pace high but allows Kneale space to explore some of his favourite themes of totalitarianism, of indifference and incompetence amongst the British classes and the rejection of rational science characterised by the downtrodden but dogged Professor.

Returning to the role of Quatermass (the only actor to do so) Brian Donlevy plays him as a notably less abrasive character here than he was in Xperiment cowed perhaps by his failure with Victor Carroon but certainly by his dealings with British governmental bureaucracy.  As with his first appearance in the role Donlevy's performance is often clumsy and his delivery less than perfect a result no doubt of his alcoholism but he's supported by a very capable cast of recognisable character actors including Bryan Forbes, William Franklyn and Sid James who was also appearing at that time in his breakthrough TV role in Hancock's Half Hour whose presence lighten the load.

The film concludes with a finale that while undoubtedly spectacular with it's 200ft tall blob monsters is somewhat of a let down after the intrigues of the film and leaves something of a bitter aftertaste that it was just another monster movie but that aside it is a movie with a solid premise, reasonably well executed and with an intriguing message at it's core that perhaps deserves to be better regarded than it is.

.......................................................................................... 

If you enjoy what we do here on Wyrd Britain and would like to help us continue then we would very much welcome a donation towards keeping the blog going - paypal.me/wyrdbritain 

Any affiliate links are provided for your convenience and to help mitigate running costs.