Action/Adventure/Epics/Fantasy films on DVD
Action/Adventure/Epics/Fantasy films on DVD
Please review action, adventure, epics and fantasy films on DVD here, thanks. When reviewing, good things to keep in mind that people want to know: how good was the film quality, was the film itself any good, what were the extras and how good were they, was there a good commentary, etc. You know, stuff you would like to know if you were thinking about buying a particular DVD.
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This is the classic Merian C. Cooper production of the fantasy adventure film starring Randolph Scott. The print is excellent but the sound is a little low (especially noteworthy when you go back to the main menu and the Max Steiner score blares out at you).
One thing I found out after ordering the DVD was that in addition to the b&w version on it, there would also be a new colorized version of the film. While this made me groan, it was stated that Ray Harryhausen would supervise it. So, when it arrived, I tried to hold my doubts in check and give it a chance. However, after looking at it, I don't feel any different about my views on colorization. And I was not very impressed by the so-called improvements in colorization over the last few decades that were ballyhooed on the DVD. I felt there was still a leaning too much towards brown and I felt the faces were often very pasty and bland. Of course, in the case of star Randolph Scott, this seems appropriate.
This early film of his showed very little in Scott's ability with lines. When greeted early in the film with the news that his uncle, whom he had come from America to see, was dying of radium poisoning, his reaction was on the lines of "aw, too bad," as if radium poisoning was like having a mild cold.
The film is still a classic and worth seeing, especially in this nice new b&w print.
Extras include a featurette on the colorization process.
This is the classic Merian C. Cooper production of the fantasy adventure film starring Randolph Scott. The print is excellent but the sound is a little low (especially noteworthy when you go back to the main menu and the Max Steiner score blares out at you).
One thing I found out after ordering the DVD was that in addition to the b&w version on it, there would also be a new colorized version of the film. While this made me groan, it was stated that Ray Harryhausen would supervise it. So, when it arrived, I tried to hold my doubts in check and give it a chance. However, after looking at it, I don't feel any different about my views on colorization. And I was not very impressed by the so-called improvements in colorization over the last few decades that were ballyhooed on the DVD. I felt there was still a leaning too much towards brown and I felt the faces were often very pasty and bland. Of course, in the case of star Randolph Scott, this seems appropriate.
This early film of his showed very little in Scott's ability with lines. When greeted early in the film with the news that his uncle, whom he had come from America to see, was dying of radium poisoning, his reaction was on the lines of "aw, too bad," as if radium poisoning was like having a mild cold.
The film is still a classic and worth seeing, especially in this nice new b&w print.
Extras include a featurette on the colorization process.
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Tyrone Power, The Swashbuckler Set
I mentioned this on another thread, but thought that it might interest some who love this type of film to know that a boxed set of Tyrone Power movies, called The Swashbuckler Set for obvious reasons, is out on dvd. It includes the seldom seen Son of Fury:The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942), with George Sanders & Roddy McDowell as the young Fury, and two of the greatest beauties of the screen, Gene Tierney & Frances Farmer. I haven't seen this one in years but remember it fondly.
The other films include Blood and Sand (1941), Captain from Castile (1949), The Black Rose (1950) and Prince of Foxes (1949) which features Power in fine fettle as a Renaissance parvenu, and finely drawn performances by Felix Aylmer, Everett Sloane, Katina Paxinou and Orson Welles, making like a Borgia. The latter film always seemed to me to be aching to be filmed in color, since it was produced on such beautiful Italian locations, but I guess Zanuck needed extra dough for those big cigars of his! This set seems to be around for under $40, so I'm sorely tempted to use my mad money for this self-indulgence.
The other films include Blood and Sand (1941), Captain from Castile (1949), The Black Rose (1950) and Prince of Foxes (1949) which features Power in fine fettle as a Renaissance parvenu, and finely drawn performances by Felix Aylmer, Everett Sloane, Katina Paxinou and Orson Welles, making like a Borgia. The latter film always seemed to me to be aching to be filmed in color, since it was produced on such beautiful Italian locations, but I guess Zanuck needed extra dough for those big cigars of his! This set seems to be around for under $40, so I'm sorely tempted to use my mad money for this self-indulgence.