Category: blu-ray

About those new HERCULES Blu-rays from Artus Films…

I got the new Blu-rays of HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959) last week. They are combo Blu-ray and DVD. The packaging for both is stellar and the HERCULES package includes an amazing booklet. The packaging/booklet: 10 out of 10.

With that being said, there’s nothing else worth mentioning. The prints on those Blu-rays are identical to the problematic Japanese Blu-rays. Well, they’re not Japanese but those prints first appeared in Japan and have basically been the same prints recycled ever since. I already wrote extensively about those Japanese BDs and I have nothing else to add. It’s a major disappointment but not unexpected. There were rumours that the Artus Films’ prints were from Britain but this was obviously false.

So, to recap: the Japanese BDs were first with these blah HD prints. Then came copies from a RAI HD streaming service. Then I recently got the Spanish Blu-ray of HERCULES UNCHAINED and now I have these two. They’re all the same. It seems I’m repeating myself. As a collector, I’m ok with having these and I’m aware people in France won’t buy the Japanese BDs but also as a collector,  I’m over it. I’m not buying anything related to the two Steve Reeves classics unless they’re clearly different/better prints.

New (old) stuff…

I purchased 2 DVDs and 1 Blu-ray from Spain. 2 very good purchases. One meh.

 

Chelo Alonso and Mark Forest in SON OF SAMSON

The SON OF SAMSON (1960) Blu-ray is excellent and has the English audio. Grainier and slightly darker than the KINO LORBER US Blu-ray release.

Steve Reeves in THE GIANT OF MARATHON

THE GIANT OF MARATHON (1959) DVD is disappointing. It’s in widescreen but 4:3 format, which means those black bars above and below the dark and murky widescreen image. Spanish audio only.

The biggest surprise was the HERO OF BABYLON (1963) DVD, titled as EL SACRIFICIO DE LAS ESCLAVAS. The quality is excellent. Best copy of this movie anywhere and I have a lot of versions of this title. Italian and Spanish audios only.

Geneviève Grad (above) and Gordon Scott (below) in HERO OF BABYLON (1963)

New batch of German DVDs…

I know, DVDs are passé but there are so few PEPLUM movies on Blu-ray that DVDs are, for the most part, still a thing. And I got a good batch here. When I mean New I don’t mean they are new releases but new to my collection.

COLOSSUS OF ROME (aka Hero of Rome); THE TROJAN HORSE and THE CENTURION (aka Conqueror of Corinth). This is a DVD pack. Good news: all DVDs have English audio! Bad new: the image quality of CENTURION and TROJAN HORSE are not really good. I bought this pack for TROJAN HORSE and CENTURION. The image quality of COLOSSUS OF ROME is excellent but I already had this DVD.

Amazon.de

GOLIATH AND THE SINS OF BABYLON – German audio; HERCULES THE INVINCIBLE – German and Italian audios; TWO GLADIATORS – German audio.

The image quality of these three DVDs are excellent with TWO GLADIATORS being my favourite.

Richard Harrison and Giuliano Gemma in TWO GLADIATORS.

And last but not least:

THE LAST ROMAN and THE LAST ROMAN Part 2 DVD set. German audio only. It’s great to have both films together.

Update on the HERCULES / HERCULES UNCHAINED Artus Films Blu-rays…

It seems that Artus Films got a hold of better prints than the first time they tried to get HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959) released a couple of years ago. These prints are from the UK. So a French distributor will release Blu-rays of these films in French and not English from prints from the British Film Institute?

Here’s a screenshot of the information at a movies forum.

New to the collection!

At the beginning of November, I went on a break!  The first on this break my main computer crashed. I’m still in the process of recuperating everything from it. It’s going to take some time. Just before my computer crashed, I received a new batch of title I bought at Amazon.de. I’m very happy with it even though there’s always some confusion in regards to the differences of these German Blu-rays. They have multiple versions of the same titles, some with a ‘mediabook’ and some without, with different prices. It’s sometimes hard to figure what is what.

Fortunately, all my movies are stored in external hard drives and nothing was lost. But with the main computer down, and only working with old laptops, finishing BY THE GODS magazine was delayed, yet again. This is just an update to say that new posts will comes in the future but for now I’m still in recovery process.

Updates on two things!

First thing: I bought a lot of Blu-rays and DVDs from Amazon.de and expected them a few weeks ago but everything has been delayed. I bought them in early October and I’m supposed to receive them one month later, November 6 (if things go according to plan). I’m not happy about this. It’s one of the reasons for the lack of posts here at BY THE GODS!

Second thing: BY THE GODS! magazine. There’s a slight delay. It’s nearly completed but personal stuff kept me away from completed earlier. It will be available most likely in early November.

Two new Artus Films acquisitions…

I got two new Artus Films Blu-ray/DVD sets.

One is for THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF GUERRIN MESCHINO, directed by Pietro Francisci, and PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE, starring Richard Harrison. Both sets are excellent. The sad part of these wonderful releases is the fact that there’s no English audio.

Even if you don’t understand French or Italian, I really recommend these releases. It supports future titles.

I’ll have a full review of GUERRIN MESCHINO in the upcoming BY THE GODS! magazine.

Artus Films

Tamara Lees in THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF GUERRIN MESCHINO.

Artus Films releases…

Artus Films has a couple of interesting titles:

PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE starring Richard Harrison.

This release is a bit odd: it has the Spanish version, which is different from the Italian one, in HD but the Italian one is on regular DVD. So two versions of the same movie, the Spanish one in HD and the original Italian one in regular DVD resolution.

Hopefully, the original Italian version will be released in HD as well.

PERSEUS THE INVINCIBLE at Artus Films

 

THE WONDERFUL ADVENTURES OF GUERRIN MESCHINO directed by Pietro Francisci.

This is a rare film from the director of HERCULES (1958). I have one low resolution copy of this so the combo Blu-ray and DVD will be most welcome. Francisci movies are a must.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF GUERRIN MESCHINO at Artus Films.

Both releases have extensive booklets. I can’t wait to check them out.

It also has a DVD of TIGER OF THE SEVEN SEAS but there’s a newly released Blu-ray of this title so I won’t be buying it for now. The Blu-ray is the one I want.