Category: blu-ray

New small batch of titles in HD…

4 new titles now streaming in HD in Italy. 3 of them are new but the 4th one was already in HD but it was from a different source so technically it’s new to this current source.

NERO AND THE BURNING OF ROME (1953) starring Gino Cervi. This print is much better than the one I got a couple of years ago from a private collection. The English subtitles are not originally with the streaming service.

REVOLT OF THE PRAETORIANS (1964) starring Richard Harrison (not shown) and Moira Orfei (in image). Nice print but looks like a simple up conversion from the DVD version.

CHALLENGE OF THE GLADIATOR (1965) starring Peter Lupus. This was already shown in HD but on a different streaming service. Beautiful flawless print.

THREE SWORDS FOR ROME (1964) starring Roger Brown, Mario Novelli and Mimmo Palmara. Nice print but it reflects the quality of the movie not the quality of the transfer.

Are there still PEPLUM movies left to be discovered?

I recently ‘discovered’ three old movies which can fall under the PEPLUM category. Now it remains to be seen if others agree but the movies follow the same style and same storylines as classic PEPLUM movies.

I believe we know the majority of PEPLUM movies but there are some which are grandfathered from the usual bunch. They had mo direct connection with a studio or actors but they are PEPLUM. This is why some still have yet to be discovered. It’s difficult because unless you saw them when they were released back in the day and few of these people are alive. A recent example is I SETTE NANI ALLA RISCOSSA (1951). It’s basically Snow White and the seven dwarfs but PEPLUM style. It stars Rossana Podesta, Georges Marchal and Salvatore Furnani, three familiar stars of the PEPLUM genre. I had heard of it but never gave it a second thought until I came across a poster and it screamed PEPLUM (not the one below but another one…even if this one screams PEPLUM as well…).

I feel like a traveller who has seen every corner of the world and every map of the world and there’s pretty much nothing left to see. But there’s always something unseen, hidden somewhere.

THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) starring Steve Reeves on Blu in English…

John Black left a comment about the new ‘Tales of Adventure’ boxset from Australia which will include THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1924) starring Douglas Fairbanks, THE THIEF OF BAGDAD (1940) starring Sabu and THE THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) starring Steve Reeves. The price at the website says $89 Australian.

This is great news in that it will be the first Blu-ray release of the Reeves THIEF OF BAGHDAD in English. Before, it was only available from Germany (which included the English audio).

Link

Commentary on THIEF is by Adrian Smith. I’m not familiar with him.

Rare movies sold on eBay…

I have literarily over a thousand titles in my collection. I have never sold any movie. I’ve always traded. And I will keep doing so. There are folks on eBay who sell rare PEPLUM movies that have never been released on most available kinds of medical format. Case in point, GODDESS OF LOVE (1957) starring Belinda Lee and Jacques Sernas. As far as I know, this movie was never released on DVD and yet it’s being sold on eBay. Or other websites as in the one at the bottom. Bootlegs have always existed but these days they know they can get away with it pretty much in the open since these old movies have little legal muscle unless they’re backed-up by a major distribution company.

The English dub of ATTILA (1954)…

There are too many PEPLUM movies released with an English dub version that are still missing. Recently, the English dub of SEVEN SLAVES AGAINST ROME (or Seven Slaves Against the World), one I’ve been looking for for since 2007, surfaced recently. It was quite amazing. The source was a fellow in the UK who works on Fan Dubs and enjoys/is inspired by my work. It shouldn’t be this way but alas, the PEPLUM genre gets very little respect and this is the result.

One movie with big stars, ATTILA (1954), with Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren, and directed by Pietro Francisci, has an English version but so far there’s only ONE source for it. I have the VHS copy from the UK and that’s it. I got it decades ago from ATLAS VISUALS, a trading website which had so many rare titles but eventually disappeared after some shady goings-on with the site. This copy is the only one out there. The English version of ATTILA hasn’t even been shown on TCM or even included in the Sophia Loren boxset, which I bought, and even though her other movies have the English Dub, ATTILA is in Italian only.

There’s an (unofficial?) DVD (below) from the UK which has the Italian version and it has the English print as extra but the copy on it is from the same source, the VHS one I got from ATLAS VISUALS.

So, hopefully, the English version, in which we hear Quinn’s voice but Sophia was dubbed by someone else, will surface one day…Blu-ray, streaming, whatever. Considering the star power, I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet.

New COLOSSUS OF RHODES Blu-ray from France…

There’s a new Blu-ray release of THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES (1961). It’s from France. I have to say that the HD prints I’ve seen of other Blu-ray releases haven’t enthralled me. Can this one be better?

The cover art is different.

The release has no French dub. Only in Italian with French subtitles. It’s so odd.

Those NERO AND POPPEA – An Orgy Of Power Blu-rays…

I watch any kind of PEPLUM themed movies, including those adult ones from the 1970s and 1980s. I will buy any Blu-ray as long as the price is reasonable but the prices for the German NERO AND POPPEA – AN ORGY OF POWER (1982) Blu-rays are ridiculous. I know they have limited appeal and therefore they are limited prints and to recoup the price of these they need to jack up the prices but 54 Euros? Wow! I mean, the price of seeing these movies back in the day at adult theatres was something like 3 bucks. There are a handful of different covers and media books. The English track is included in all versions.

A nice and delicate scene from the movie!

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)