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

[GerardoHP]

Supertotalscope how those Italian loved making up names for their wide screen ratios! Of course they were all Cinemascope but Twentieth Century Fox had the copyright on the name!

Totalscope lenses were different from Cinemascope lenses in that they allowed for minimal distortion by comparison but they were both anamorphic lenses of course. Supertotalscope is the same as Totalscope with an added touch of schmeer to attract audiences.

 

[jayembee]

Wasn't that some kind of world cinema box promoted by the film foundation?
I remember that Faraon looked mostly devoid of any film grain which surprised me for something that Martin Scorsese lent his name to.

Yes, it was in the first volume (of three) of Masterpieces of Polish Cinema.

 

[Alan Tully]

Steve Reeves in The Son Of Spartacus (1962) is being released in Germany on April 14th, German/English/Italian tracks.

Der Sohn des Spartakus Blu-ray

Randus (S. Reeves) steht im Dienst des römischen Herrschers Julius Cäsar (I. Garrani). Der Offizier erhält den Auftrag, nach Ägypten zu reisen und ...

bluray-disc.de

 

[Joseph Goodman]

Totalscope lenses were different from Cinemascope lenses in that they allowed for minimal distortion by comparison but they were both anamorphic lenses of course. Supertotalscope is the same as Totalscope with an added touch of schmeer to attract audiences.

Totalscope was specifically the house name for the anamorphics rented out by the A.T.C. company, a supplier of film production equipment to the Italian film industry at the time. The Totalscope lenses consisted of French-made Totalvison (confused yet?) anamorphic adapters paired with Cooke spherical lenses. I have a suspicion the "Supertotalscope" or "Supertotalscope/100" monikers actually refer to the then-novel anamorphic zoom lenses, as the films I've seen carrying those credits make significant use of zoom lenses, but sources in English to confirm/torpedo this trivia point are non-existent.

​

 

[ptb2017fr]

Just had an hour long film about the 'peplum' era, Roman epics and muscle men movies, here on French tv.
Fascinating.
More than one person called Steve Reeves one of the most beautiful men ever to walk the earth!

 

[Capt D McMars]

this still needs a decent BD edition

 

[Alan Tully]

this still needs a decent BD edition

Yup, fingers crossed that this is the, "very well-regarded sword & sandals CinemaScope film" that George Feltenstein mentioned. I'd be very happy with Helen Of Troy, but Pharaohs is at the top of my list, we shall see...

 

[uncledougie]

this still needs a decent BD edition

Am in agreement that Land of the Pharoahs is long overdue for an upgrade. In her recently published “My Unapologetic Diaries,” Joan Collins amusingly does reference “a line of dialogue, fortunately cut, from a swords-and-sandals epic I worked on many moons ago, Land of the Pharaohs: ‘Kiss me again, like you did on the felucca.”

 

[Capt D McMars]

Am in agreement that Land of the Pharoahs is long overdue for an upgrade. In her recently published “My Unapologetic Diaries,” Joan Collins amusingly does reference “a line of dialogue, fortunately cut, from a swords-and-sandals epic I worked on many moons ago, Land of the Pharaohs: ‘Kiss me again, like you did on the felucca.”

well this title does fall into the WAC domain, so maybe? I do have the WAC dvd, but it's from 2007. With their undated equiptment, there may still be hope for a more decent edition. The dvd is darke and the colors are a bit washed out!!

 

[ptb2017fr]

Am in agreement that Land of the Pharoahs is long overdue for an upgrade. In her recently published “My Unapologetic Diaries,” Joan Collins amusingly does reference “a line of dialogue, fortunately cut, from a swords-and-sandals epic I worked on many moons ago, Land of the Pharaohs: ‘Kiss me again, like you did on the felucca.”

great sense of humour our Joan!

 

[ptb2017fr]

Yup, fingers crossed that this is the, "very well-regarded sword & sandals CinemaScope film" that George Feltenstein mentioned. I'd be very happy with Helen Of Troy, but Pharaohs is at the top of my list, we shall see...

Helen first for me, then Land. But both deserve upgrades, though I keep being told nobody is interested in historical epics any more. It's all superheroes....until the next hit has the studios chasing the bucks. I've tried selling a script set in 15th century full of heroes, but it seems suits of armour aren't as attractive as spandex!

 

[OliverK]

Yup, fingers crossed that this is the, "very well-regarded sword & sandals CinemaScope film" that George Feltenstein mentioned. I'd be very happy with Helen Of Troy, but Pharaohs is at the top of my list, we shall see...

I guess that "very well regarded" rules out The Silver Chalice and The Prodigal...

 

[Ed Lachmann]

Although, I'd sure love to get The Silver Chalice and The Prodigal in HD, mainly for the wild antics of Jack Palance, Virginia Mayo and Lana Turner plus those otherworldly sets and gorgeous scores. I get a real kick out of them both.

 

[OliverK]

Although, I'd sure love to get The Silver Chalice and The Prodigal in HD, mainly for the wild antics of Jack Palance, Virginia Mayo and Lana Turner plus those otherworldly sets and gorgeous scores. I get a real kick out of them both.

Same here, I would really love to get The Prodigal but I also won't turn down The Silver Chalice.

 

[Alan Tully]

Same here, I would really love to get The Prodigal but I also won't turn down The Silver Chalice.

Yeah, I'd buy them, I've never seen them, even though I've had The Prodigal on DVD for years (as part of the Warner Epics set), I'll have to hunt it down. I might have got rid of it in one of my clear-outs, on these declutter programs they never show the bit where people wished they'd kept certain items.

 

[OliverK]

Yeah, I'd buy them, I've never seen them, even though I've had The Prodigal on DVD for years (as part of the Warner Epics set), I'll have to hunt it down. I might have got rid of it in one of my clear-outs, on these declutter programs they never show the bit where people wished they'd kept certain items.

I think I have now had The Prodigal on DVD in the Cult Camp Classic 4 box for about 15 years and never watched it as I did not think that DVD quality was good enough to enjoy it - it certainly wasn't for Land of the Pharaohs.

 

[ptb2017fr]

How about The Egyptian?
It's a movie I shouldn't really like, never being a fan of Victor Mature, and Edmund Purdom couldn't act for toffee, but the director was Michael Curtis and the production design and costumes of ancient Egypt are amazing, and the reign of Ahkenaten is rarely seen in any movie. There's also Jean Simmonds and Peter Ustinov. The plot is pretty melodramatic at times with Purdom doing all he can to bed a particular woman, played by another of Zanuck's protogee mistresses Bella Darvi. I have a pretty good Blu Ray from Sweden and one from Twilight Time which isn't as good. But it is a film I've enjoyed more than once.

 

[Capt D McMars]

How about The Egyptian?
It's a movie I shouldn't really like, never being a fan of Victor Mature, and Edmund Purdom couldn't act for toffee, but the director was Michael Curtis and the production design and costumes of ancient Egypt are amazing, and the reign of Ahkenaten is rarely seen in any movie. There's also Jean Simmonds and Peter Ustinov. The plot is pretty melodramatic at times with Purdom doing all he can to bed a particular woman, played by another of Zanuck's protogee mistresses Bella Darvi. I have a pretty good Blu Ray from Sweden and one from Twilight Time which isn't as good. But it is a film I've enjoyed more than once.

With all of it's moles, the Egyptian does give some fun scenes. Peter Ustinov is great here and his interaction helps to drive the storyline along. And of course the beautiful Jean Simmonds does well, and got better.
I put this film right up there with "Land of the Pharaohs"with Joan Collins. Both are worth watching more than once, the kind of film you pull out once a year or when it comes to mind.

 

[Alan Tully]

Yeah, I love The Egyptian, it has a really unique vibe to it & a fantastic score (Bernard Herrmann & Alfred Newman), in fact all those fifties epics have great scores. The TT release was my most expensive Blu-ray (with p&p to the UK), but well worth it...& it still works! I ran it only a few weeks ago. If we get Land Of The Pharaohs from WAC, then I'll have the ancient Egypt trilogy: The Ten Commandments, The Egyptian & Land Of The Pharaohs.

 

[RICK BOND]

I got the HD Digital version of Salome (1953)

with Rita Hayworth and Stewart Granger the other day. It looks Great. Never owned it before. I Love the Roman Epic films of the 1950's !