Tag: classic

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.

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.

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.

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 films added to my collection!

I usually post about movies released on DVD or Blu-ray here at BY THE GODS! but recently I got a bunch of titles missing from my collection and I’m really happy about it. Two of these titles have been eluding me for over a decade.

THE APOCALYPSE or L’apocalisse, released in 1947. It stars Massimo Serato (above), who’s excellent in it. The copies are less than perfect but the movie is so good it didn’t matter. I’ll have a full review of this in the soon to be published BY THE GODS! magazine.

Another hard to get title is JACOB AND ESAU (1963). Nothing about this movie since I began working on my blog and Youtube channel. I even wrote about it here. Now I got two copies. They are in black and white even if the movie was originally shot in colour. It was the one Ken Clark (above) movie that eluded me. I hope to get this one in colour one day.

The other titles are THE PHARAOHS’ WOMAN (1960), in widescreen. It stars Linda Cristal (above), Pierre Brice, John Drew Barrymore and Armando Francioli (above), who gives an excellent performance. The copy is still battered and old but the colours are better than the previous version and it’s in widescreen. Great film!

And A SWORD IN THE SHADOWS (1961) tarring Germano Longo in what might be one of the best villains in PEPLUM history. It also stars Mario Valdemarin. A nice widescreen print in Italian.

I’ll be getting additional titles soon. Stay tuned!

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.

SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR in English on DVD…

SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959), or SIGN OF ROME, is available in English on this German DVD. The only legit DVD release in English of that movie. It’s heavily cut (over 10 minutes of scenes cut…) but it’s in English. The intro credits are in Italian. Not the English intro credits of the US release with SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR, which is a shame. Anyway, for those looking out for an English copy of this movie starring Anita Ekberg (below), this DVD is it.

I already had this version, which had even more cuts. It was broadcast in the UK via MOVIES 4 MEN. The Italian intro credits was removed and SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR title was added to it which faded to black and went straight to the movie. Aside from this, it’s the same print as the German DVD.