Netflix has the newly restored color version of “A Trip to the Moon,” the 1902 sci fi short. It’s quite literally the first time in over 100 years the color version has been shown. Even if you’ve seen the B&W version, watch the restored color version.
Originally, every frame of the film was hand painted, but all the color copies were believed lost. A few years ago a color copy was found, in pretty bad shape, and a multi-year digital restoration effort was undertaken. The original footage was scanned, frame by frame, and cleaned up. When a frame was too badly damaged, a black and white frame was colored and inserted into place. The result is absolutely gorgeous.
There’s also a new accompanying sound track by Air. Applying modern music to old movies is hit or miss. I have a copy of Nosferatu with a goth/industrial soundtrack that is spot on, but the industrial soundtrack for Metropolis seems to take away from the film. I found Air’s music pretty jarring in the first scene, but after that it seems to settle in and gives the lunar footage in particular a very ethereal feeling.
I’ve seen the B&W version many times, but watching the Celenites exploding in color as the humans run away…you really should just see it yourself.