Which DVD to buy?


Help please ... does anyone know which DVD release in actually the full 154 minutes and in widescreen? Have been going crazy looking at conflicting listings on Ebay and Amazon - seeing the same DVD listed as running 112, 143, 144 or 154 minutes, and variously listed as full screen or widescreen. One (marketed under the brand 'The Bible Collection') has pictures of Richard Harris and Barbara Hershey on the sleeve, even though it clearly states Stewart Granger and Pier Angeli as the stars! The German release on the Momumental label is listed as 143 or 144 minutes on Amazon Germany, but the same DVD is listed at 154 minutes on Amazon UK. H-E-L-P !!!!

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Hi milliefan,
I hope I can help a bit.
I just received my copy of the DVD "Sodom und Gomorrha" from Amazon.de.
I live here in Berlin, Germany.
It is a MonumentalFilm, i.e. it is from a series (I guess)called "MonumentalFilm". Two other releases were "El Cid" and "Der Untergang Des Römischen Reiches" (or "The Fall Of The Roman Empire") I own these also.
The label for these DVD releases are "Black Hill Pictures GmbH" You will notice this at the bottom of the DVD in the center of the picture.
I checked the Amazon.co.uk release. You will noticed it also says "Black Hill..." on the DVD picture and has the same picture / art work as the German release. The UK release says the studio release is MC - one. In Germany MC - one released several DVD´s of 20th Century Fox Films. Are all three companys somehow related, who knows.

Back to the UK release...even though it says 154 minutes I am not sure if it is,
it could very well be. See below.

Here is some information on the German release as printed on the back of the DVD.
Land code: 2 PAL
Format DVD 9
Language German and English
Sound DD 2.0
Picture 1,85:1 ......This is different from what Amazon lists
Color Color
Length 143
Extras Biography ...director and 4 actors
Trailer ...original USA trailer
Picture galerie

The titles and credits are in German. They seem to be the original English titles and credits but just transfered into German. This is not always the case here in Germany.

The length of the film on my DVD player was 222:59 or 143 minutes.
Remember the DVD running times on PAL are 4% faster then NTSC running times.
I tried to figure it out and if you add 143 plus 4% you come up to 148.72.

...oh!!! this print, while it would be nice but does not really matter, does not contain an overture, intermission and epilogue of screen time / music. This according to the soundtrack is approximately 12 minutes of music.(see below) If the original release contained them as many such films had, this would pad out the films running time to the 154 minutes. Lets say 143 plus 12 or roughly the 154 minutes as stated. This of course is a guess since I have never seen it when it was originally released.

Remember, the UK is also PAL, so the run time of 154 I believe is wrong. Unless the print contains the above stated music sections. However, as it seems also to be a "Black Hill Pictures GmbH" print, I then believe it is the same as to the German release. Exception would be the titles and credits would be in English. Which would mean "Black Hill Pictures GbmH" has both an English and German title / credits print. So it must be a mistake on the products page since it is the same company? On the other hand maybe, just maybe... they did not have the complete soundtrack to the German print in English. So the German release is shorter. This I do not believe is the case. I believe both prints to be the same in length.

Just another note.
1. A John Wayne film was released here in Germany. The DVD comes with the film in two ways. The complete 2 hour English language version and another shorter version in the German language.
2. I bought a Jerry Lewis DVD only released here in Germany. The films soundtrack is in both English and German. However, the company has the complete film / soundtrack in German, the English film /soundtrack contains approximately 3 minutes of German language as they did not have these scenes in English. Usually it would be the other way around.

I have watched the complete film and the print is really beautiful and clear. Colors are vivid, sound(english)crisp and clear and over all transfer is first rate..

The film is a widescreen version and looks very good on my regular size Sony tv screen. Even better on my widescreen computer.

If you like the music in this film, a beautiful 2 cd set of this soundtrack can be bought from iTunes. It seems to be an Italian cd set. Check your local internet music store too incase you do not want to get it at iTunes. I bought mine from Amazon.de for a lower price. The sound quality on this set is excellent. The single cd soundtrack of this film does not sound as good to me as the 2 cd set does.

So as I have pointed out above and what I have "seen" of the film (print) it seems to be the full length print. (minus overture, intermission and epilogue if they exsisted) I have not "noticed" any cuts to any scenes that would change the flow of the scenes.

This posting refers to the DVD released by the group called "Koch Media GmbH" (see detailed information on the items product page) of the "Black Hill Pictures GmbH" DVD. I do not think you would be disappointed if you purchase this DVD.

Hope this helps...


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Hi there...
Just read on Wiki that there was a Roadshow version for this film.
This is something I figured as many such films were released this way.
That would account for the running time of 154 minutes.
It would also account for the original music for Overture, Intermission and Epilogue on the available cd sountracks missing from the DVD version I wrote about.
Thus said, I believe that the DVD version of 143 minutes is complete.
That is, 143 minutes of film and if it were available on the DVD print of missing Overture, Intermission and Epilogue sections, would roughly be the 154 minutes of full print / screen time.

While I "really" would like to have a complete print, (I hate when you go to a theatre and people talk, come and go over the credits) I guess many people do not care.

Currently listening to the 2 CD set soundtrack of this film and it is really wonderful. It is really nice to hear the soundtrack scores as complete as possible on extented CD´s and CD sets. Hope one day that other missing Biblical Epic soundtracks, and others, become available through music downloads.
I for one would like to have the physical CD in hand, but that is becoming rarer these days...a pity.

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Bryangermany - thanks very much for such a comprehensive reply!!! Have ordered a DVD and am looking forward to watching it. I don't often watch Biblical epics, but having seen part of this film on TV recently I really want to see it - the story was engrossing, the action scene with hundreds of men on horseback quite amazing, and I've always been intrigued by the lovely Pier Angeli, who had such a sad life and early death.

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Hi milliefan,
You are most welcome.
I hope the DVD you get will meet your expectations.
Hope you won´t be disappointed.
By the way, if the print you ordered is only an English print, i.e. the credits in English...it would be nice to hear if 1. how the quality is and 2. does it contain the extra 10 minutes of missing Overture, Intermission and Epilogue sections of the film.
Sometimes another countrys print is better due to how it was persevered etc.
Oh...at the end of the film, the last scene with Stewart Granger, I never thought he had that in him as an actor. Was really surprised...

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Hi Bryangermany - well, just watched the DVD and the running time IS the full 154 minutes! So the German release must have been cut by 11 minutes of actual footage, rather than music. It is released by Classicline, a Portuguese company - the DVD box is all in Portuguese, but the film is in English, as are the credits. It is in widescreen, and I'd say the quality is about 8 out of 10 (the same quality as the print I saw on BBC TV recently), and I am very happy with it. I'm still don't think of Stewart Granger as a gifted actor though! The best performance in the film for me is Anouk Aimee (who isn't credited on the DVD box!) She is terrific, even though I am certain her voice was dubbed. Stanley Baker is good, too. If you are interested in getting this 154 minute DVD, I found it on Ebay (it's not available on Amazon), titled SODOMA E GOMORRA, and the cover is a blue background with a cover photo of Baker, Aimee and Pier Angeli, and the title is in bold yellow.

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Hi milliefan,
Thank you so much for this information.
It is great to find others who like to be helpful.
I will see if I can locate this DVD through one of the large special shops here in Berlin through a special order. Maybe I could have one of my bosses get it for me.
As I do not have a credit card, debit card etc. I can not buy through various sites. I can buy through Amazon.co.uk or .de as I can get several people to buy me gift certificates for presents.
At this time I am basicly a cash and carry kind of person.
I am glad you responded. :-)
Again, Thank you......................

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Did you ever find the full version?

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