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[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Perdition Vs. Damnation Part II




This has four wheel drive and four wheel steering, hydraulic jack on each wheel (raise or lower) and enough fuel (2,500 gallons of diesel) to trek the icy environment for 5,000 miles. Plus held an additional 1,000 gallons of gasoline for the areoplane.

It was fifty-five, nine inches long. And could crew five for one year under extreme conditions.

It had two,150 horse power, six cylinder engines which also ran electric generators. The massive vehicle cost an estimated $300,000.00 in 1930s dollars!

It had machine shop, a combination kitchen and darkroom as well as various storage and two spare tires. For cabin heating, engine coolant was used. It was reported that it worked quite well, with the crew only needing light blankets for sleeping.

This was constructed for Rear Admiral Richard Byrd, Jr. command.

It did reach Antarctica in 1939. But turned into a clusterfu˘k.

1) The tires could not get any traction at all - they put ZERO threads on the tires. I kid you not. They ended up using chains, but that only worked so much.

2) They could only drive the thing backwards; they drove ninety-two miles in reverse.

3) When it arrived on site, getting off the transport ship (U.S.S. North Star) it nearly broke a wheel getting off the ramp (as seen below).



They ended up abandoning it. The thing is now considered lost. The reason is WWII, the science budget was pulled.

The current belief is that it's still there buried under snow and ice. Or at the bottom of the Southern Ocean; ice shelfs move and crack.

It was last seen in 1958, under the snow.

Though some rumors say the Soviet took it.

You can see some videos on YouTube on the craft. It was amazing.



In a way it reminds me of the Ulysses, the mega submarine from the 2001 animated movie, "Atlantis: The Lost Empire".

Which by the way, had the most body count of any other Disney animated feature. Soooo many people died.

- - - - - - - - - -

Footnotes.



The question you might want to ponder - do I need to keep the "2 - Disc Special Edition" when there is a far better, three disc "Director's Cut" set available? Depends.

Do you want all the extras?

Let me take a step back. The Director's Cut (streeted October 19th, 2004, $34.95) is ten minutes longer and features a non-embossed foil slipcase with collectible booklet (excerpt from "The Diary Of Grigori Rasputin"); thirty-two pages.

Back on track.



There are two items which did not carry over to the box. The first a theatrical commentary by director Guillermo de Toro and co-executive producer Mike Mignola. A new one was recorded for the DC, de Toro only. The second is "From The Den" four shorts recommended by actor Ron Perlman.

And of course the actual theatrical cut.

If you want all the extras, you will need both editions - I have them.

Man, I remember having to get an exchange on the box set at Best Buy, my copy had scratched up discs. So I get the exchange and the clerk takes the new copy and proceeds to use it as a clipboard to write up the exchange paperwork.

My jaw dropped. But there was nothing I could do.

Years later I rebought the DC just to replace the slipcase (eBay). Eleven years later, that still pissed me off.

[sigh]

- - - - - - - - - -

Easter Eggs.

"2 - Disc Special Edition"

Disc 1 - > watch the "Introduction" once back to Main Menu, highlight "Introduction", press up; highlight 'the three eggs' - ENTER.

A short behind the scenes clip of de Toro talking about his just filmed Introduction; how the cue card guy has messy penmanship.

- - -

Disc 1 -> Special Features -> highlight "Main Menu", press down; highlight 'the three eggs' - ENTER.

A series of cute on set quotes from de Toro, ranging from directing the actors to production woes; stuff overhead at the monitor while filming. Forty-two director quotes.

- - -

Disc 2 -> "Kroenen's Lair" -> "Animatics "- > highlight "Back", press down; highlight 'the three eggs' - ENTER.

You get an the animatics for "CPL. George Martin, Combat Photography" his story on how the troop got to Scotland in the beginning of the movie.

- - -

Disc 2 -> "Kroenen's Lair" -> "Board-A-Matics"- > highlight "Back", press down; highlight 'the three eggs' - ENTER.

A wire frame animation of the apocalypse scene.

- - -

Disc 2 -> "Kroenen's Lair" -> "Storyboard Comparisons"- > highlight "Back", press down; highlight 'the three eggs' - ENTER.

See footage of the Ragnarok unleashed with Angle option to flip from storyboards to final scene.

- - - - - -

"Director's Cut"

Disc 1 - > watch the "Introduction" once back to Main Menu, highlight "Introduction", press up; highlight 'the three eggs' - ENTER.

A short behind the scenes clip of de Toro talking about his just filmed Introduction; how the cue card guy has messy penmanship; same as "2 - Disc Special Edition".

- - -

Disc 1 -> Special Features -> highlight "Main Menu", press down; highlight 'the three eggs' - ENTER.

A series of cute on set quotes from de Toro, ranging from directing the actors to production woes; stuff overhead at the monitor while filming. Forty-two director quotes; same as "2 - Disc Special Edition".

- -

Disc 2 -> "Kroenen's Lair" -> "Animatics "- > highlight "Back", press down; highlight 'the three eggs' - ENTER.

You get an the animatics for "CPL. George Martin, Combat Photography" his story on how the troop got to Scotland in the beginning of the movie; same as "2 - Disc Special Edition".

- - -

Disc 2 -> "Kroenen's Lair" -> "Board-A-Matics"- > highlight "Back", press down; highlight 'the three eggs' - ENTER.

A wire frame animation of the apocalypse scene; same as "2 - Disc Special Edition".

- - -

Disc 2 -> "Kroenen's Lair" -> "Storyboard Comparisons"- > highlight "Back", press down; highlight 'the three eggs' - ENTER.

See footage of the Ragnarok unleashed with Angle option to flip from storyboards to final scene; same as "2 - Disc Special Edition".



Man I wish they would make a "Hellboy 3", but the studio feels it wouldn't be cost effective. It would make money, yes. But not enough to cover production, advertisement and turn a profit.

Or at least, not enough to warrant the trouble.

Come back here on January 14th, 2016 for a lady who has a taste for adventure and antiquities. And I'm not talking about "In Diana Jones"; apparently there's a temple of poon. Who knew?

[JohnIan101]

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