AT LONG LAST ON BLURAY AND DVD
I first saw this film when it was originally released.It was unforgettable on the giant Cinerama screen.I saw it many times and was lucky to get a video from the Christian Radich society when they sold copies for a brief time many years ago. The film is also a part of cinema history as it was the last time that the tragic Pamir training ship was photographed shortly before it capsised at sea in a storm.There were only a handful of survivors. The music of Windjammer is truly unforgettable. See the film on the biggest TV screen that you can and be enveloped into another world and experience how things were back in the fifties.It was truly the best of all the documentary films that were filmed in the 3 panel process. As there is almost no likelyhood of ever seeing the film restored to its former glory we can now at least,see it on bluray. It is probably the most wanted film in decades for home viewers and now we finally have that chance to once again relive the...
windjammer delights again after 50 years
I experienced the spectacular screening of "Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich" as a teenager at the Cinerama Theatre in Denver, Colorado in 1959. I still have the original program booklet and the stereo music recording. The start of the film is especially surprising, starting with a small 35 mm screen, black and white image then suddenly the curtains expand to the huge 137-degree curved CineMiracle screen with the panoramic image of the Christian Radich high masted tall ship under full sail. Renowned composer Morton Gould's Windjammer musical theme that accompanies this amazing opening adds immensity to the spine-tingling imagery, transforming you onto the deck of the Christian Radich.
The Windjammer oddysey takes a crew of teenage sailing cadets from Norway on a nine-month voyage across the Atlantic aboard a tall sailing ship with the ever present risks of severe storms, followed by colorful stops in Madeira, then on to the Carribean and Puerto Rico...
A Satisfying restoration
I was a teenager when I saw "Windjammer" in Cinemiracle at the Warner Cinerama Theater in Washington, D.C., in the late 1959. I had a seat in the balcony (which cost about $1.50 in those days) and remember the film vividly, especially the transition from 35mm and mono sound to widescreen. The stereophonic sound of wind started up on the surround speaker system (one speaker was right behind me!) as the the three-projection system started and curtains fully opened revealing the full screen. It put goosebumps on the spine and was a movie thrill I remember 50 years later.
There were no surviving Cinemiracle prints of "Windjammer" in good shape for this restoration, as there were for "How the West Was Won." One reason - the Eastmancolor stock on which it was filmed has not held up at well as Technicolor. Considering the only print found capable of restoration on a modest budget was 35mm, squeezing all three panel on one film strip, the results are surprising good. Smilebox is...
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