Category: blu-ray

New German Blu-rays have arrived…

I received the three German Blu-rays last Friday. I got to look at them for a while and I’m pleased with all of them. The BDs are:

Steve Reeves (or Giovanni Cianfriglia…) in THE SON OF SPARTACUS (1962)

Fausto Tozzi and Christine Kaufmann in a familiar setting in CONSTANTINE AND THE CROSS (1961)

Massimo Serata in THE GOLDEN FALCON (1955)

The best of the three is THE SON OF SPARTACUS since it includes the English audio. A definite plus but the image is also excellent. The other two are missing the English dubs and the image quality is good but a bit murky. The super widescreen of THE GOLDEN FALCON is impressive. I wish all these BDs had the English audio but alas it’s often something too hard to ask for.

I’ll have more detailed overviews of each release soon.

GOR German Blu-rays…

Germany seems to love the GOR movies starring Urbano Barberini. Even if the movies have yet to appear in any BD or DVD formats in the US, the German market is overflowing with them.

Here are 4 Blu-ray editions to select from:

This is the new Blu-ray release with both GOR and OUTLAW OF GOR. Release April 2023.

Blow are three different collectors covers of the same edition released one year ago.

This one claims to be uncut and it includes the Blu-ray and DVD discs.

And last…the DVD release.

Does anyone out there bought all different editions and what differs from one another?

Batch of new titles on Blu-ray…

A batch of new Blu-ray releases of PEPLUM titles from Germany has been announced. Getting all of these will be costly as Amazon Germany adds Shipping & Handling.

THE MONGOLS – In German and Italian only

Link

THE LION OF ST MARK – In German and English

Link

CONSTANTINE AND THE CROSS – In German and Italian only!

Link

THE SON OF SPARTACUS (aka The Slave) – In German, Italian and English!

Link

THE GOLDEN FALCON – In German only

Link

And there’s the HANNIBAL Blu-ray I already mentioned before. There’s also a new boxset of GOR and GOR II from Germany that was released in January.

HANNIBAL Blu-ray…

German Blu-ray edition of HANNIBAL (1959) starring Victor Mature and Rita Gam, will be available in 2023.

Here’s the brief info on it:

Theatrical version (German & US version identical), uncut , 2 discs, BD (2x), contains bonus disc, extras in HD (partly), media book

It’s being sold as a Bud Spencer – Terence Hill movie. Hill’s role is extensive but Spencer’s role is almost a cameo.

MARCO POLO (1962) Blu-ray…

KINO LORBER has announced the upcoming release of MARCO POLO (1962) starring Rory Calhoun and Yoko Tani (above) on Blu-ray. The movie will be available early 2023. It will be the US print, with opening credits in English, as opposed to KINO LORBER’s version of SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD, which didn’t have a genuine new transfer of the US version but a Fan Dub they created. Hugo Fregonese is credited for the English version while Piero Pierotti is credited for the Italian one. Can’t wait to see this.

From the KINO LORBER Facebook account:

The release will only include one cut. The credits on our master are in English and Hugo receives directing credit, so I’m sure it’s not the Italian version where Piero is credited as the director. The running time is 104 minutes and 13 seconds.

Amazon being wonky again…

The new SAMSON AND THE 7 MIRACLES OF THE WORLD Blu-ray from Kino Lorber is set to be released on August 16. I got an email from Amazon.com and I’m confused. August 31 to September 5? Wha? Anyway, hopefully, it’s a mistake. This is not the first time Amazon’s automatic emails were incorrect. Well, let’s hope so…