FREEFALLING THRU THE FUCKERY: NA SEBRNYM GLOBIE (ON THE SILVER GLOBE)

About the heading: Things are Bad, but this is just the Beginning; we haven't even truly started to get into The Bad Times yet - if you're not Hispanic, Palanstinian, a foreign student or a resident alien, you might find that statement slightly laughable & naive. Being an American, that's slightly permissible, since those who aren't MAGA or MAGA adjacent/sympathetic still believe that there is still a chance to turn things around - despite the fact that we've continually squandered every chance given so far. 

While America (and specifically Whyte America - because nothing of note actually happens in this country until Pissed-Off Whyte People get involved) does its Hamlet-bit trying to convince itself it still has a soul), it feels like one is just Freefalling Thru The Fuckery until things coalesce into some definite action. 

While that slowly happens - I watch movies. I write. At least until I can't do either one or the other. 

Or both.

Mondo Vision is a boutique label that has been solely dedicated to making the work of Polish director Andrzej Zulawski available on physical media since the late 2000s. Releasing packed Limited Editions (expanded booklet, card swag and an OST CD) and Special Editions (booklet only) starting with LA FEMME PUBLIQUE (The Public Woman), L' IMPORTANT C'EST D'AIMER (The Most Important Thing: Love), L' AMOUR BRAQUE (Limpet Love), SZAMANKA (She-Shaman), POSSESSION and LA NOTE BLEUE (The Blue Note), MV's releases were a true labor of love for Zulawski's work - early video releases were OOP (Anchor Bay's DVD) or were of dodgy quality (PolArt's DVDs of DIABEL and GLOBIE). MV did hi-def transfers, approved by Zulawski and had great extra features such as a Zulawski commentary and meaty featurettes, the pinnacle being their blu-ray edition of POSSESSION.

But excellence don't come easy; the periods between releases got longer and longer, the market changed with people wanting DVD, then blu-ray, then 4K discs. Hardest of all was Zulawski's death in 2016. After the release of LA NOTE BLEUE in 2017, MV went silent and rumors that the label was dead seemed to be turning out legit. By now, Zulawski's films were getting easier to find -new blu-rays from Kino-Lorber (L'AMOUR BRAQUE) and Film Movement (L' IMPORTANT...) not to mention POSSESSION releases on blu and 4K UHD, turning it into THE EVIL DEAD of boutique releases.

Just out of reach was The Polish Trilogy - TRZECIA CZESC NOCY (The Third Part of the Night), DIABEL (The Devil) and NA SEBRNYM GLOBIE (On The Silver Globe). The last two got DVDs, but the transfers weren't great; TRZECIA got a pretty good DVD from UK label Second Run. Complicating things further was the Polish Government's foot-dragging in restoring those films until nearly the end of Zulawski's life and then wanting a large amount from Western countries/labels to licence them. The first blu-ray release of the Trilogy was a Japanese set which had no English subtitles and nudity blurred on GLOBIE. The Eureka 'Masters of Cinema' release of the Trilogy just a couple of years ago set the quality bar high, with French and German releases soon to come. And if you had an all-region Blu-ray player, things were Good, since it seemed that there was NEVER going to be a Mondo Vision disc.

 

Until this March, when a very strong hint was dropped on the Bluray.com forums that MV would be making an announcement soon. Shortly after the Eureka release MV changed their heading to GLOBIE's head graphic and "Coming Soon" - but nothing since then. Then in April - Easter month, very appropriate - MV came back from the dead with the announcement of the Limited and Special Editions of GLOBIE, release date set for the end of May. So imagine my surprise when a package showed up just after the first May weekend! A good gesture on MV's part, if you ordered directly from them.

This is also their first 4K UHD release; most companies have been doing UHD/Blu combos for the past few years, but like the DVD/Blu combos that slowly phased out when Blu took a bigger share of the market, I suspect that more of the specialty labels will start going exclusively 4K in the near future. And what that means is at somepoint, the hardware will have to be upgraded. So it was finally time to pull the trigger to go 4K - especially before the tariff bullshit goes into effect. And it made sense to again, go all-region and have the ability to play Anything. I'm still pretty much a format slut.

Eureka's Zulawski set is still worth getting, if you're region-free but not 4K yet: the tranfers are great and extras are solid. But if you are 4K ready, then I'd say Mondo Vision's release will stand as the definitive release of the film.

It's an interesting artifact - it was originally planned for release in 2012 and most of the extras are from that time - the Zulawski commentary, obviously; that alone makes it definitive and Daniel Bird's featurette on the making of the film. The newest extra is the documentary ESCAPE TO THE SILVER GLOBE (2021), which was also part of the Eureka release. I sprung for the Limited Edition with an expanded booklet (more essays), card/poster swag and the OST CD - which more than justified getting this edition. The score by Andrzej Korynski, a long-time Zulawski associate is fabulous, and this is its first official release.

 

As to the film itself - it's an adaptation of Zulawski's great-uncle's (Jerzy Zulawski) science-fiction trilogy from the early 1900s THE LUNAR TRILOGY, comprised of On The Silver Globe, The Conqueror and The Old Earth, a work very influential on Stanislaw Lem (SOLARIS) and literary sci-fi in Europe. Not known at all in Western countries - it didn't get its first English translation and publication until 2021. In terms of epic science-fiction, this would be on the level of DUNE - which coincidentally, Alejandro Jodorowsky was attempting to adapt to film at roughly the same time, which never came to fruition. GLOBIE almost had that fate; that story of the film's production and near-death probably being more known than the actual film and which ESCAPE TO THE SILVER GLOBE gets into with much detail.

 

Epic SF in film didn't fully come into existence until the 60s - the George Pal productions of the 50s (WAR OF THE WORLDS, CONQUEST OF SPACE, etc.) were precursors visually, but Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY is usually considered to be the first, although a good case could be made for the 1963 Czechoslovakian IKARIE XB-1 directed by Jindrich Polak. There were efforts like some of the East German DEFA films such as SIGNALS; Tarkovsky's SOLARIS continues in that vein and GLOBIE could've continued that path, had it not been hindered, uncompleted and unseen/unknown. STAR WARS usurped and supplanted the idea of Serious Epic SF; it was epic, but it was also pastiche based on the FLASH GORDON serials and not serious at all - that came later with the Prequel Trilogy and its offshoots which tried to infuse Seriousness and Meaning into what had become a franchise with varying results.

A quick factoid illustrating SF Film - STAR WARS, NA SEBRNYM GLOBIE and DAMNATION ALLEY were all in production roughly during the period 1975 - 1977 and of those three, GLOBIE was finally seen in 1987, which would drastically limit any potential influence it could've had. Its most direct descendant is Aleksei German's 2013 adaptation of HARD TO BE A GOD (though I personally find it to be a slog). But would seem to have put out a vibe; see Tarkovsky's STALKER (1979), Peter Fleischmann's 1989 adaptation of HARD TO BE A GOD, and of course, David Lynch's DUNE (1984) - although Fleischmann and Lynch are steered closer to the STAR WARS Epic SF aesthetic than Zulawski and Tarkovsky were.

 

Some highly biased love for Kino-Lorber discs KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER and NIGHT GALLERY SEASON ONE

 

Kino-Lorber has been THE go-to label for filling in the blu-ray gaps of genre television for the past few years for Boomers and early Gen-Xers who grew up watching the shows first run and/or in syndication. Starting with both seasons of the 60s THE OUTER LIMITS, progressing on with the 60s/70s wave of tv movies (FEAR NO EVIL/RITUAL OF EVIL, KILLDOZER and others), even the run of BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25TH CENTURY, K-L satisfied both hard-core fans and aficionados with quality presentations (remasterings/new scans for HD) and tasty extras - basically giving these shows the proper release they should've had the first time around on DVD. (THE OUTER LIMITS especially - while the initial DVD releases are/were appreciated at the time of release just for making the shows available, the lack of supplemental material was just a slap in the face. Imagine doing THE TWILIGHT ZONE with no material on Rod Serling or anything about the episodes and/or the influence of the show in popular culture.)

If you're of a particular age and a genre television fan, you're familar with FANTASTIC TELEVISION,  Gary Gerani's book in the mid-70s that was an introduction to most of these shows and like The Bible to fans. It was among the first critical works to take this stuff seriously (and introducing the existence of a lot of British shows that took roughly some 20-25 years to be seen 'across the pond'). So it's very fitting that Mr. Gerani shows up on the commentary tracks in a lot of these releases since they'll serve as introductions to the next generation(s) of fans whose exposure was more than likely to inferior versions of these shows - as well as being definite releases (at least for the immediate future) for the hard-core fans.

Two of those gaps have been recently filled, with the release of KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER and the first season of NIGHT GALLERY in stellar editions, comparable to their previous OUTER LIMITS release, and both fan favorites.

K-L previously released HD upgrades of the tv movies THE NIGHT STALKER and THE NIGHT STRANGLER, so it was hoped that the tv series would get similar treatment (having had barebones DVD releases in the past). It did and then some - the blu-ray release of KOLCHAK firmly puts the show in context and gives it some long overdue appreciation for what it is, rather than bitching about what it isn't.

KOLCHAK The Series has been a controversial fan favorite since its inception for many reasons: some saying it's not as good as the tv movies, some questioning the logic of a 'monster-of-the-week' concept, not enough continuity, too much comedy, blah-blah-blah. Many a reason to deride it, although one thing was pretty much in agreement - people loved the character of Carl Kolchak, as portrayed by Darrin McGavin. The show got some respect via THE X-FILES, with Chris Carter explicitly citing KOLCHAK as a direct influence and has recently gotten more scrutiny due to David Chase's popularity as the creator of THE SOPRANOS.

So it makes perfect sense that if you're gonna do a release of KOLCHAK, you get some perspective from Chase himself, who was the story editor on the show, prior to his tenure on THE ROCKFORD FILES. That is one of the coups scored on the set; another featurette is with comedian Dana Gould, creator of the horror comedy STAN AGAINST EVIL. The main extras are commentaries provided on every episode of the show by people who know their film & genre stuff - Mark Dawidziak (who literally wrote the book on THE NIGHT STALKER and touched off its resurgence), Gary Gerani, David J. Schow, Kim Newman, Tim Lucas are some of the more familar names, as well as up and comers like Amanda Reyes and Mike White & Chris Stachiw (of the podcast The KolchakTapes). All of the commentaries are very good - the commentators are well matched to the episodes and everybody does pull out interesting trivia/conjecture even on the less-than-stellar episodes.

The show itself - I admit to a degree of nostalgia, since I was old enough to see it on its first broadcast run; it's 70s television, so there are allowances that you have to make in terms of production/budgetary factors, as well as cultural morès of the time - I've come to appreciate it as a hybrid that shouldn't work as well as it does, considering the convoluted production history of the show. Combining THE FRONT PAGEesque newspaper/workplace comedy with horror tropes presented in dead serious fashion all overlaid with a smidgen of hip cynical snark would not be considered a recipe for success back in 1974. Approaching 50 years later, it almost seems genius - which makes it a damn shame that it didn't survive past 17 episodes. (Had Universal execs been a bit more savvy, there could've been crossovers with two other popular shows of the time, COLUMBO and KOJAK... *sigh*).

But perhaps some things are best suited for short lifespans. While most of Kolchak's encounters in his everyday life are presented with a dose of black comedy, the situations with The Uncanny are always treated dead serious and with a determination to scare the shit out of whomever's watching. Whether you watch it as a weekly presentation of the literal adventures of a reporter battling literal monsters, or as a metaphor of a Flawed Everyman pitted against Authority and the horrors of life, who is (to quote a recent popular franchise) probably "not the hero we need, but the unsung hero we deserve".

The other release is NIGHT GALLERY (aka ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY). Usually referred to as the lesser cousin to THE TWILIGHT ZONE, but has had a considerable fan following of its own, despite issues that should've crushed it right out of the gate. But the show has always been better than people have considered it to be; fond memories of episodes aside, it wasn't helped by a bastardized version of the show being in syndication for years, until released to home video on VHS, then DVD. Also contributing to the reappraisal was the release of the book (and notice: these things always seem to kick off with companion books) ROD SERLING'S NIGHT GALLERY: AN AFTER HOURS TOUR by Jim Benson & Scott Skelton.

The blu-ray 'Season One' release consists of the pilot tv-movie, broadcast in 1969 and notable for the debut of Steven Spielberg directing Joan Crawford in the segment "Eyes"; and 6 1 hour episodes when the series debuted in 1971 as a mid-season 'wheel series' experiment, "Four-In-One" where several shows were broadcast on a revolving basis, which accounts for the short season. (NIGHT GALLERY and MCCLOUD were the two shows that were successful enough to get full seasons; the other two shows still languish in obscurity.)

[THE PSYCHIATRIST and SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT in case you're curious.]

The original DVD release was meager, the only extras being 'bonus episodes' from Seasons Two and Three - which in retrospect, seems to have been a hedge in case sales didn't support going forward with the other seasons (which happens more often than you think).  That has been corrected admirably with commentaries for all 6 episodes - Gary Gerani handles the pilot movie, and Benson & Skelton step up to represent, along with familar names including Tim Lucas, Kim Newman & Stephen Jones, Amanda Reyes and a new featurette, "The Syndication Conundrum".

Seasons Two and Three are due in 2022, so an in depth overview look at the show on blu will have to parcel out slowly. Season One tends to get overlooked in discussions of the series, and at least this blu release will rectify that situation to a degree. In hindsight, Season One probably provides the clearest look at what Serling might have intended for the show, if he had the same measure of control that he had on TWILIGHT ZONE - which he didn't have on NIGHT GALLERY.

The other notable - notorious? - aspect of NG that's remembered, those "comic" short skits that were the influence of producer Jack Laird aren't in Season One, although there is "The Housekeeper" a segment with Larry Hagman in the first episode that actually is humorous (due to being written by TZ veteran Douglas Heyes under a pseudonym). About the closest Season One comes to that level is "The Nature of the Enemy", written by Serling and notorious for its ridiculous ending - although I'd be willing to build a case for it being a blatant example of Serling 'trolling' the network and his producer. (Look up the story, "Does The Name 'Grimsby' Mean Anything To You?" in Serling's first NG novelization, which was not accepted for the show.)

Most of the season is written by Serling, with a couple of exceptions, and one can sense echoes of TZ aspects both good ("The Little Black Bag, "They're Tearing Down Tim Riley's Bar" which was nominated for an Emmy Award) and not so good ("Pamela's Voice", "Make Me Laugh"). One gets the sense that Serling did want to take advantage to push things - "Clean Kills And Other Trophies" is a solid segment, yet compare it to the novelization in that first compilation, which has the ending that Serling intended, and one can start to sense the beginnings of the frustration that one would've thought the success of TZ would have at least minimized.

For all those perceived flaws, the other aspect on display is the artistry of everyone involved - there's solid craft in both the acting and technical departments, providing some welcome pleasure in seeing established professionals in their prime (Godfrey Cambridge, John Astin, Burgess Meredith, William Windom, Rachel Roberts to name a few), familar character actors (Jason Wingreen, Albert Popwell, Tom Bosley, John Colicos, etc.) and some at the beginning of their careers (Diane Keaton, Roger Moseley) who would eventually become better known.

Kino-Lorber's deal with Universal has borne some must-have releases - not bad, especially in the era of streaming and the 'death of physical media'  (PLEASE...)  - I can only hope that things can pan out for other blu-ray 'gaps' to be filled... at this point, the major ones remaining being THRILLER (hosted by Boris Karloff and which did get a respectful DVD release) and ALFRED HITCHCOCK PRESENTS/THE ALFRED HITCHCOCK HOUR. Other shows that got DVD releases overseas, but not domestically that would also be welcome are THE SIXTH SENSE (which will get plenty of mention in NIGHT GALLERY'S syndication history) and the James Coburn hosted DARKROOM, one of the last network anthology shows.