hd – By The Gods!

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.

THE SON OF SPARTACUS Blu-ray colour issues…

The new German Blu-ray of THE SON OF SPARTACUS is excellent. The image is clear and the English audio is actually available which is often not the case with German releases. My only issue, and it might be seen as a small one, are the colours. This print seems to have various colour tones and hues.

The German Blu-ray edition (above) vs the Warner Archive edition (below). The Warner one is terrible: too dark and overly red but the sky and ocean seem more realistic than the overly yellowish one of the German Blu-ray. The bag on the lower right is also more true to nature in the Warner release than the German one. Though there’s more general details in the German release, the Warner one seems to have more definition (the ground and bag…) Which is the correct one?

This image above is sharp, much sharper than the Warner archive release but it’s overly greyish blue.

This cropped screenshot from the new Blu-ray has beautiful colours here. Not the yellowish or too blue. Skin tones look great.

The German Blu-ray is excellent but there are some discrepancies in regards to the colour tone in many scenes.

New titles in HD…

As I stated last week, there is a new batch of PEPLUM movies which have been broadcasted or streamed in HD. Someone on Youtube uploaded clips from these broadcast or streaming services. It’s a pretty good list. Here we go:

HERCULES AGAINST MOLOCH starring Alessandra Panaro and Pietro Marascalchi as Moloch

URSUS AND THE TARTAR PRINCESS starring Joe Robinson, Yoko Tani, and Ettore Manni. Nice print. I already have a nice print of this but this one seems clearer.

SIEGE OF SYRACUSE starring Rossano Brazzi and Tina Louise

JOURNEY BENEATH THE DESERT starring Haya Harareet and Amedeo Nazzari. Unlike the other titles, this one is in French.

IL FIGLIO DI AQUILLA NERA starring Mimmo Palmara

TREASURE OF THE PETRIFIED FOREST starring Gordon Mitchell

There are more titles in HD, 720p or 1080p, including copies I already have in my collection. Hopefully, the full movies will be available instead of short clips.

THE MIGHTY URSUS in HD on Amazon Prime Canada…

Amazon Prime Canada movie selection is terrible, certainly in regards to PEPLUM movies. Here’s what’s available when searching ‘HERCULES’

Not much. Well, there is the French version of THE MIGHTY URSUS, called LA FUREUR D’HERCULE (1961) starring Ed Fury. So I watched it and it says at the bottom of the movie it’s in HD.

Taking screenshots of Amazon Prime from my computer is impossible. The screen is black or blank. So. I took a photo of the images with my iPhone.

The photo is fuzzy because the motion of the movie but I have to say that the quality of the image itself is pretty good. Not perfect but better than anything out there. It resembles the German DVD but at a higher resolution and less cropping on the sides. The opening credits are in German but the movie itself is in French. Anyway, it’s a nice surprise. Runtime: 1 hour 31 minutes.

New Blu-rays…

YOR – HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983) starring Reb Brown and Corinne Cléry. Directed by Antonio Margheriti. Though this movie was released by Columbia Pictures this was an Italian production. They planned to do a TV mini-series. Remarkably enough, the Blu-ray is released by Mill Creek Entertainment, the company which made the 50 MOVIE PACK: WARRIORS, the first PEPLUM DVD set I ever bought.

ARABIAN ADVENTURE (1979) starring Christopher Lee. US release. I sorta like this movie but I love the super elaborate flying carpets chase scene. It’s mind bogglingly complex. The movie is worth watching for that one extensive scene alone.

Which one to get…

Above is the German Blu-ray of ULYSSES (1954). It comes with 2 discs: one with a HD digital transfer from the original negative, at 100 minutes runtime, and the other is of a digital transfer with additional scenes, at 109 minutes. The audio included are Italian, German and English. The Blu-ray is region B, which means it’s not playable in standard Blu-ray players in North America.

On the other hand, there’s a Blu-ray from Japan, @103 minutes. The cover is amazing. The only audio: Italian. The Blu-ray is Region A which means it can be played with Blu-ray players in North America.

The deciding factor would be the price: the German one is 15.99 Euro while the Japanese one is 5100 Yen, or $51.00.

I really liked the HERCULES Blu-ray from Japan and I’m tempted in getting the Japanese one. Hmm…decisions. Why are Blu-rays so expensive in Japan?

Look at what just arrived in the mail…

I just received the two Blu-rays, HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959), from Japan via Amazon. I’m currently watching the first film while I’m writing this. Very interesting. The image is a clear improvement over what’s available even though the image has some scratches and a few defects, and some filters of sorts. I’ll write more on these Blu-rays in the near future. No English track. Only in Italian. I’ve seen this movie so many times that it doesn’t matter.

And this too…