Trilogy - 55 Days at Peking, El Cid, The Fall of the Roman Empire (1 Viewer)

[Sam R. Aucoin]

I searched to see if this had been posted/covered in another thread, but my search yielded no results.

You can purchase all of these movies (55 Days at Peking, The Fall of the Roman Empire, and El Cid) in a boxset entitled "Epic Trilogy" from www.koreandvds.com.

As far as quality, they are better than LD (and I own all of them on LD). I am sure they will eventually be released with better quality down the road by an American-based company, but I must say that this set is really worth owning when the converse is owning it exclusively on either LD or VHS . . .

And no, I do not work for, nor do I have an interest in, koreandvds.com

 

[Mark Fontana]

Do these include the overture, entr'acte and exit music?

 

[JPCinema]

I have this set as well and its a mixed bag. "Fall of the Roman Empire" looks and sounds great. It never had an overture. "El Cid" looks good and has the overture but not the E'ntr'acte and the exit music sounds terrible. "55 Days at Peking" has the Overture but once the movie begins, the sound is just awfull. But I guess it better than not having them at all.

 

[Joe Caps]

Correction - Fall of the Roman Empire has always had an Overture. It is a minute of fanfares and is on the cd More Music from Fall of the Roman Empire, and it was on the last laserdisc from Image Entertainment.

 

[JPCinema]

You are absolutely right, Joe

 

[Douglas R]

I've been waiting, waiting and waiting for these titles to be released. What is Miramax holding on to them for? Don't they realise that there is a demand for these titles, especially with old style epics like TROY coming along which would be the perfect tie-in. If only a studio like Fox owned them - the certainly wouldn't be sitting on them like this.

 

[Mark_TS]

Usually when Miramax finds out that a title is being brought in from another region, it has had the effect of lighting a fire under them-at least it seems that way;
PULP FICTION SE was on hold for so long, that when a Korean Edition started selling, suddenly Miramax announced theirs;
Same thing with the TROIS COLEURS Set.

cohinkydink? perhaps.

But making noise about this set couldnt hurt,

 

[Dick]

If you want to check out these DVD's before buying tem, Nicheflix has them for rent. I've seen EL CID and FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. They are quite passable, but not definitive by any means.

 

[Ken New]

If Mark is right about Miramax being prompted by people buying in other regions then perhaps I could add that I bought these three Bronston epics from Amazon, Germany.

Basically, they're movie-only discs with little or no extras. However, they are in widescreen which means they beat any previous VHS versions.

Whether or not I'd replace them depends what Miramax come up with - and if it's in my lifetime. Good point from Douglas about linking in with TROY - and there's also the new ARTHUR film. But those are due out in a few months and I can't see Miramax acting on the Bronston movies this year.

 

[Eric Paddon]

Since I have all of these movies on LD (along with the last Bronston epic Circus World) there is no point in my getting cheap DVDs like these especially since they don't have complete Overture/Entr'acte/Exit Music in some instances.

Hopefully they'll get off their butts and bring these out at last. The irony is that in the days when Warner was so stingy with the classic MGM catalog I always was certain that "King Of Kings" would be the last of the Bronston epics to make it to DVD rather than the first.

 

[Sam R. Aucoin]

Ironically (and causing dismay on my part), my Denon 5900 DVD player will NOT play 55 Days at Peking, stating that it is the "wrong region".

Yet, the other two of the "trilogy" of this set are also labeled region 3 and they played fine . . .

 

[RolandL]

Is this the same dvd that comes with the trilogy?

http://www.koreandvds.com./dvddetail.html?id=11917

 

[Sam R. Aucoin]

Don't know, Roland. The cover for the link you posted is entirely different from the cover that comes with the DVD in the Trilogy set.

Then again, the Trilogy has an outer shell/cover that necessitates a different type of cover for each individual DVD.

 

[RolandL]

I went ahead and bought the Korean DVD of The Fall of The Roman Empire. Only $6 for the dvd and $6 for shipping. Very fast shipment. I copied on to a SVHS tape a presentation on TCM.

The DVD is non anamorphic with an aspect ratio of about 1.85:1. The TCM broadcast is 2.35:1 and shows a great deal more information on both sides. The sound is also better on the TCM broadcast.

 

[JPCinema]

Hmmm I bought the Korean Epic boxset and "Fall of the Roman Empire is 2.35:1 and is anamorphic and dolby 5.1. Maybe there are 2 versions.

 

[Douglas R]

Anchor Bay UK have recently obtained the rights to EL CID and FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE so, judging by their reputation, they will hopefully do these right.

 

[oscar_merkx]

very good news indeed

 

[Sam R. Aucoin]

My Trilogy set (that is, Fall and El Cid) are both anamorphic and DD.

As I mentioned previously, I cannot get my player to play 55 Days.

Roland - I think that based on Ken's and my posts about the presentation of Fall, it is fair to assume that the DVD version you purchased is different from the one that comes with the Trilogy.

 

[RolandL]

Sam - I just received the "Epic Trilogy" Korean DVD of Fall of the Roman Empire from NicheFlix. It's 1.85:1 not 2.35:1. I have the laser disc and there is a lot of information missing on the sides of the DVD.

I also received El Cid and it is 2.35:1. I don't think this DVD is part of the Epic Trilogy as it doesn't mention it on the DVD like the Fall of The Roman Empire does.

 

[JPCinema]

Once again, my copy of "Fall of the Roman Empire" which is a part of the Epic Trilogy box set is in 2.35:1 and looks great. I think the copy that was sent to you is not part of the actual Trilogy box set.
All three discs have EPIC TRILOGY on the top part of the discs. "Fall" has a photo of Stephen Boyd and Sophia Loren tied up at the stake left of the hole in the middle of the disc with a scene of the throne with the hand right of the hole on the disc. Above these photos it says Dolby Digital DVD
2.35:1
Anamorphic
Widescreen
I hope this helps identify the disc.