MovieChat Forums > La leggenda di Enea Discussion > Widescreen DVD coming in January, 2008!!

Widescreen DVD coming in January, 2008!!

posted 16 years ago by jobla
24 replies | jump to latest

Although all previous home video releases of THE AVENGER have been poor quality, Retromedia will be releasing an anamorphic widescreen DVD of this film under the alternate title WAR OF THE TROJANS. This product will be released on January 29th, 2008. The DVD is actually titled "The Steve Reeves Collection," because the disc will also feature an anamorphic letterboxed transfer of what many consider to be Reeves' best film, THE GIANT OF MARATHON! Both WAR OF THE TROJANS and GIANT OF MARATHON on the same disc--I can't wait!

[–] Xcalat3 14 years ago

I have it

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jobla 13 years ago

On "The Steeve Reeves Collection" (Retromedia DVD), THE GIANT OF MARATHON looks better than THE AVENGER. THE AVENGER has slightly more faded color, and has some print debris. However, both of these transfers are the best available DVD prints of these films in the US. They are in English and are anamorphic widescreen 2:35-1.

[–] Mithrandir-Olorin888 12 years ago

Will it also restore the Color? The cheap Sword and Sandle box set I just got says it was in Color, but it looks B&W. Didn't ruin the film for me, I was impressed with Reeves acting.

[–] jobla 12 years ago

The Steve Reeves Collection, with GIANT OF MARATHON and WAR OF THE TROJANS (aka THE AVENGER) is the one to get. The color is decent at least, and the film is in full widescreen in English for the first time.

Another really good Steve Reeves film now in full widescreen is THE SLAVE, which has just been released by Warner Archives in full CinemaScope and pretty good color.

[–] Mithrandir-Olorin888 12 years ago

What is the slave about?

Are then any higher quality releases of his Hercules films? The cheap collection I got also has Hercules Unchained.

[–] jobla 12 years ago

The release of HERCULES on the Retromedia label is pretty good and in full widescreen. There isn't a good release of HERCULES UNCHAINED in the United States, although there's a pretty good one in Germany.

THE SLAVE is about the son of Spartacus (Steve Reeves), who wages attacks against the Roman oppressors. It's one of his best films and performances.

[–] Mithrandir-Olorin888 12 years ago

Interesting, I'll look into em. Which version of Hercules on Amazon is the high quality one?
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Daps&fi eld-keywords=Hercules+Steve+Reeves

I also wonder how many of the Hercules films in my set where actually Maciste in Italy..... I check on Wikipedia, only 1, Hercules against the Moon Men, I rather that odd mix of Sword and Sandal with a SciFi B-movie, and it's evil Queen is perhaps my favorite. But another one in the set that is Maciste is Goliath and the Sins of Babylon, I was wondering why they made a villain from the Bible a hero. The name of the collection I got is Clash of the Olympians.

I would kinda like to see the Maciste character revived, for me it's with him easiest to accept the completely made up stories (Since he's himself completely made up), though there is a 20 year gap in the Biblical narrative of Samson, chapter 13-15 are basically his origin story, then it skips to his downfall, I find amusing how movies try to write Delilah into the earlier narrative, when I suspect she wasn't born yet back then..

[–] Dejael 11 years ago

I have a European (Italian) DVD of this film in perfect color, 2.35:1 widescreen CinemaScope aspect ratio, but it is all in Italian with no English subtitles. We are preparing a new English version with full copyrights. I am working with the copyright owners on this. It will either be the dubbed USA version if we can find a good source, or in Italian with English subtitles in the black area below the picture. Ideally we want to have both.

Dejael

[–] jobla 11 years ago

I certainly wish you luck with this. The Retromedia release was "good enough" since it offered both widescreen and English audio. However, it also has quite a bit of print debris, so a better release would be welcome.

[–] Dejael 11 years ago

Our company legally owns the copyrights on all 15 Steve Reeves movies, with licensing, and we are preparing for an eventual worldwide release of all-new digitally remastered wide-screen USA versions English-language digital video masters. Our goal is to make the new masters look like the original theatrical release versions, in wide-screen only. We are doing this as a tribute to the enduring image of Steve Reeves as a legendary bodybuilder and movie star.
There are a lot of illegal boots out there, which our legal department will eventually take off the market. They are poor-quality images from old pan-and-scan full screen VHS videotapes, and they look terrible.
We are scouring the world right now looking for the best high-quality 35mm film originals to remaster in our film labs.
Our prints will look sharp and clear and the sound will be Dolby digital quality, and they will be made available on both DVD and Blu-Ray.
We have not made any announcements in the trades yet, but will do so before long, as soon as the project is fully underway.

Dejael
STEVE REEVES FILM FOUNDATION

[–] jobla 11 years ago

The only Steve Reeves film that is not available in its proper aspect ratio anywhere in the world is THIEF OF BAGHDAD, which was shot in 2:35-1 CinemaScope. There is an Italian DVD that is matted to 1:85-1 (the transfer probably dates back to the French Film Club of the 1980's), but nobody has a proper widescreen print of THIEF OF BAGHDAD. Do you have one, by any chance?

[–] Dejael 11 years ago

No, we are looking for one. We will probably find it in Italy.

Dejael

[–] jobla 11 years ago

There are quite a few fans of the 1961 remake of THIEF OF BAGHDAD, not just sword and sandal fans, but fans of fantasy films as well. A good copy in proper widescreen would probably be a good seller.

MORGAN THE PIRATE hasn't been letterboxed in the US, although it has in Europe (but no English accompanies the European transfers).

[–] Dejael 11 years ago

Yes, we are looking for the best widescreen USA versions of both of these films, and are looking in both the USA and Europe. I just watched one of our copies of MORGAN THE PIRATE (USA English version, full-screen, NOT widescreen) last night. One of the best pirate movies ever made. Move over, Errol Flynn!
THIEF OF BAGHDAD is also a priority - both of these films are, because they are very popular, and were big at the box office, presented by Levine. We have the resources of Joseph E. Levine's Embassy Pictures' current owners, who have relinquished copyright control to us due to our prior rights through legal channels. We will be going through their film archives soon. The STEVE REEVES FILM FOUNDATION releases will be the best ever seen since the films were first released. All digitally remastered for HD picture and sound.

Dejael

[–] jobla 11 years ago

I once asked a rep from MGM who owns THIEF OF BAGHDAD. He felt that MGM still owns it, due to a deal with the Embassy Pictures library. I can't swear that he's correct, but he is very knowledgeable about titles owned by MGM.

The Embassy Pictures library has been all over the map, with different titles seemingly owned by different companies at this point in time. I really hope you can find widescreen elements for THIEF. Nobody has released it in 2:35-1, despite DVD releases in Italy and Spain.

If you have access to the Embassy Pictures library, and notice a title called THE LIGHT FANTASTIC (1964), could you let me know? It's not a peplum film, but it's a favorite of mine.

I look forward to future announcements about the Steve Reeves project.

[–] Dejael 11 years ago

On THIEF OF BAGHDAD, MGM owned only the distribution rights and the copyright on their USA version, which is now reverted to Embassy, and the USA distribution rights to the Warner Archive. However, it's flexible so we can do our own release without their consent, since we have a durable copyright.

Dejael

[–] jobla 11 years ago

At the risk of being boring, I will say to make sure that you have proper copyright clearance. Getting everything in writing is probably the best approach.

The best looking foreign DVD's I have seen of Reeves films are THE GIANT OF MARATHON, THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII, and MORGAN THE PIRATE. The best looking American DVD (or in this case, MOD) is Warner Archives' THE SLAVE, which is the only properly letterboxed transfer of that film in the world. The German DUEL OF THE TITANS is pretty good, but I found the German HERCULES UNCHAINED to be a bit on the dark side. The German HERC UNCHAINED is the only properly letterboxed transfer, but Mario Bava's color scheme should look better.

[–] Dejael 11 years ago

Yes, we do have all copyright clearances. I am working with George Helmer, owner of the website and organization STEVE REEVES INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY. George was Steve Reeves' personal friend and business partner, and now owns all the rights to his properties.

Thank you for your concern and information. We will be putting up a new webpage for the Film Foundation on the website, with a comments page which I will monitor and moderate.

Dejael

[–] jobla 11 years ago

Once you get going, do budget for publicity. Many small labels and film companies haven't succeeded due to a lack of publicty regarding their merchandise.

I look forward to becomming a customer in the future.

[–] Dejael 11 years ago

Oh that's already factored into our business plan. In fact, we plan on doing at least a few special theatrical film screenings of these as a way to attract publicity. This project will cost more than a million dollars, I am sure, but with our film foundation, we expect to generate enough public support to bring in some big donations with fundraisers, and we already have the funds to get started.

Thanks! We appreciate your interest, and comments.

Cheers, Dejael

[–] jobla 11 years ago

Do you have an official website for news about this upcoming project?

[–] Dejael 11 years ago

No, not yet, I had already said that.
However here is our main website for SRIS - STEVE REEVES INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY
http://www.stevereeves.com/SRIS/sris.html

Dejael

[–] jobla 11 years ago

Thanks. I have now bookmarked the site, and will check it periodically to see if there is any news about DVDs or Blu-rays.