Biblical-Roman-Egyptian epics not yet on Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[Capt D McMars]

Who the hell was Sergio Ciani?

Sergio Ciani - IMDb

Sergio Ciani, Actor: Maciste e la regina di Samar. One of a load of ab-normal muscular men who stood on the Neopolitan pectoral pedestal during the sword-and-sandal craze of the early 1960s, Sergio Ciani was born in Italy and went by the aptly-named stage moniker "Alan Steel" while in the meat...

www.imdb.com

 

[Ed Lachmann]

Damn it! Ursus is another title I'd order in a second. Just hoping Explosive Media Germany might pick this one up. They often offer English subs.

 

[Beckford]

Sorry, the legit Ursus for me will always be the incredibly affable Ed Fury. Especially in "Ursus nella Valle dei Leoni" (Valley of the Lions) from 1961. It's a fun origin story that kicks off with the old chestnut about a royal infant carried to safety when villains slay his parents (he's wearing an amulet that eventually proves his regal parentage). The kid gets bumped out of a saddlebag during a wild chase but - like the Unsinkable Molly Brown - survives. Whereupon he's found in the wild and raised Tarzan-style, but by lions rather than apes. All of which happens before the first reel's over.
These events and others just as colorful (like a sequence where Ursus battles a pack of genuinely scary looking hyenas) are tossed into a preposterous but engaging stew that entertains from start to finish. Sets, costumes and outdoor scenery (including, if I remember correctly, that always welcome multi-torrent waterfall that turns up in so many 50's and 60's peplums) are all properly eyefilling.
Aside from looking great and diving into the action with gusto, Fury's pretty much impossible to dislike. And glamorously prominent among the villains is my favorite peplum vamp, the gorgeous and ever-conniving Moira Orfei, whose presence in one of these sword and sandal things always kicks up the enjoyment level another notch or two.

 

[RichMurphy]

Sorry, the legit Ursus for me will always be the incredibly affable Ed Fury. Especially in "Ursus nella Valle dei Leoni" (Valley of the Lions) from 1961. It's a fun origin story that combines chestnuts like the royal baby carried to safety when villains slay his parents (he's wearing an amulet that eventually proves his regal parentage). The kid gets bumped out of a saddlebag during a wild chase but - like the Unsinkable Molly Brown - survives. Whereupon he's found in the wild and raised Tarzan-style, but by lions rather than apes. All of which happens before the first reel's over.
These events and others just as colorful are tossed into a preposterous but engaging stew that entertains from start to finish. Sets, costumes and outdoor scenery (including, if I remember correctly, that always welcome multi-torrent waterfall that turns up in so many 50's and 60's peplums) are all properly eyefilling.
Aside from looking great and diving into the action with gusto, Fury's pretty much impossible to dislike. And glamorously prominent among the villains is my favorite peplum vamp, the gorgeous and ever-conniving Moira Orfei, whose presence in one of these sword and sandal things always kicks up the enjoyment level another notch or two.

Fury was a fun surprise at the end of FEMALE ON THE BEACH, when he appeared as Natalie Schafer (Mrs. Thurston Howell III)'s newest stud for hire.

 

[Capt D McMars]

Fury was a fun surprise at the end of FEMALE ON THE BEACH, when he appeared as Natalie Schafer (Mrs. Thurston Howell III)'s newest stud for hire.

 

[Alan Tully]

Looking at that site that lists forthcoming German releases, I see that Hannibal (1959) starring Victor Mature, is set for a release next year on March 9th. It's a Mediabook edition (the Germans love a Mediabook, & they do them very well), 28 euro.

Hannibal Blu-ray

Alle Infos, News, Bewertungen, Kommentare zur Blu-ray - Hannibal (1959) (Limited Mediabook Edition) (2 Blu-ray) - hier bei Bluray-disc.de

bluray-disc.de

 

[uncledougie]

“Looking at that site that lists forthcoming German releases, I see that Hannibal (1959) starring Victor Mature, is set for a release next year on March 9th. It's a Mediabook edition (the Germans love a Mediabook, & they do them very well), 28 euro.”

This is another guilty pleasure from childhood. Even at the time it was clear this was a mid- low-budget cheesy spectacle compared to, say, Ben-Hur or other historical epics. But it was fun and as a kid all those elephants crossing the Alps were a kick. The cast emphasis on the cover of this release is certainly different from the US posters, which gave Victor Mature sole above the title credit.

 

[Douglas R]

I don't know if Atilla the Hun (aka Atilla) from 1954 has been mentioned in this thread. The film didn't open in the UK until 1957 when I saw it at the age of 11 and loved all the colour and action! I've not seen the film since then although it had a UK VHS release but nothing official since then I think. Starring Anthony Quinn and Sophia Loren there must surely be some interest in having it on Blu-ray.

 

[RICK BOND]

Looking at that site that lists forthcoming German releases, I see that Hannibal (1959) starring Victor Mature, is set for a release next year on March 9th. It's a Mediabook edition (the Germans love a Mediabook, & they do them very well), 28 euro.

I got the HD Digital version of Hannibal last year on Prime for $7.00 ! It looks Excellent !

 

[Konstantinos]

Looking at that site that lists forthcoming German releases, I see that Hannibal (1959) starring Victor Mature, is set for a release next year on March 9th. It's a Mediabook edition (the Germans love a Mediabook, & they do them very well), 28 euro.

Hannibal Blu-ray

Alle Infos, News, Bewertungen, Kommentare zur Blu-ray - Hannibal (1959) (Limited Mediabook Edition) (2 Blu-ray) - hier bei Bluray-disc.de

bluray-disc.de

The thing is that it doesn't include English subtitles.
Now, I see there is English language, but that would be a dub, right?
Apart from Victor Mature, I assume the rest of the actors spoke Italian.

 

[Jobla]

Great news about HANNIBAL! There is a Japanese Blu-ray of it, but I'd bet that it is not English-friendly. Based on previous peplum releases, I'd also bet that the German Blu-ray will be English-friendly.

ATTILA THE HUN would interest me, as I've only seen it in B&W.

 

[Jobla]

Yes, the only English mentioned is English audio, but who knows?

Is anybody here familiar with "Plaion Pictures," which is listed as the studio? I'd have expected Koch Media or Colosseo Film to be the studio.

 

[uncledougie]

The thing is that it doesn't include English subtitles.
Now, I see there is English language, but that would be a dub, right?
Apart from Victor Mature, I assume the rest of the actors spoke Italian.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but Mature and Rita Gam would’ve had English dialogue (likely with plenty of looping), and many of these international co-productions were an amalgam of languages, many post dubbed in their entirety.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

The Japanese blu-ray of Hannibal does have an English option, and it's also very nice PQ wise. The Japanese BDs are usually Region A, so are playable on non region-free machines. Plaion Pictures seems much like Koch Media in that it primarily releases westerns. I wrote to Koch about more peplum type releases. They wrote back that they do much better with westerns. The old "Sophia Loren Collection" four title DVD set has Attila with a nice looking color print. This is the set in the garish red plastic "pillow" slipcover which is overpriced. Might show up used on Ebay, though. Would LOVE that one in HD along with so many others.

See on Amazon

 

[RobertMG]

The Japanese blu-ray of Hannibal does have an English option, and it's also very nice PQ wise. The Japanese BDs are usually Region A, so are playable on non region-free machines. Plaion Pictures seems much like Koch Media in that it primarily releases westerns. I wrote to Koch about more peplum type releases. They wrote back that they do much better with westerns. The old "Sophia Loren Collection" four title DVD set has Attila with a nice looking color print. This is the set in the garish red plastic "pillow" slipcover which is overpriced. Might show up used on Ebay, though. Would LOVE that one in HD along with so many others.

See on Amazon

The dvd of VCI Hannibal got good reviews surprised they never issued a blu!

 

[Jobla]

In answer to my own question, it appears that Koch Media is renaming itself as "Plaion Pictures" beginning in 2023, with HANNIBAL being released in March of that year. I imagine that it may be region A-friendly, as were such previous Koch peplums as SODOM AND GOMORRAH and ROMULUS AND REMUS (aka DUEL OF THE TITANS). Although the artwork listed those as being Region B, they played just fine in my US Sony Playstation 3 deck.

Good to know that the Japanese HANNIBAL BD has an option for English audio, as well. The new HANNIBAL disc from Plaion Pictures will have English/German/Italian audio tracks, which Koch often provided for their past releases.

I too always expected VCI to release HANNIBAL on Blu-ray, since their DVD was a good-quality transfer.

 

[Ed Lachmann]

In answer to my own question, it appears that Koch Media is renaming itself as "Plaion Pictures" beginning in 2023, with HANNIBAL being released in March of that year. I imagine that it may be region A-friendly, as were such previous Koch peplums as SODOM AND GOMORRAH and ROMULUS AND REMUS (aka DUEL OF THE TITANS). Although the artwork listed those as being Region B, they played just fine in my US Sony Playstation 3 deck.

Good to know that the Japanese HANNIBAL BD has an option for English audio, as well. The new HANNIBAL disc from Plaion Pictures will have English/German/Italian audio tracks, which Koch often provided for their past releases.

I too always expected VCI to release HANNIBAL on Blu-ray, since their DVD was a good-quality transfer.

Seems very good news as perhaps Plaion will dig into other historical adventure and "peplum" titles they could obtain, say like the widescreen Esther and the King already out in DVD from Germany,

 

[Jobla]

Yes, ESTHER AND THE KING would be nice to have for an affordable price point. There is also a very good Spanish DVD of THE MINOTAUR which looks like it was transferred from the camera negative. There are also several Steve Reeves films which would be desirable, such as GIANT OF MARATHON and MORGAN THE PIRATE, both of which have been released on very nice French DVDs but aren't yet on Blu-ray.

 

[roxy1927]

Anybody have the French Bluray of this movie? Any opinions on its quality or of French blurays in general? the Twilight Time did not get a stellar review on bluray.com.

https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41QDmpdNQ6L._SX300_SY300_QL70_FMwebp_.jpg

 

[PaulRossen]

If it means anything TCM has within the last few weeks showed Land of the Pharoahs, The Silver Chalice and Julius Caesar. All were in stereo.