Anita Ekberg, as Queen Zenobia, and Alberto Farnese in SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR (1959)
I uploaded this film at the PEPLUM TV channel. I had to split the film into two parts to avoid issues. This version is in English and in widescreen but it's missing a lot of scenes. I have a copy of this film in Italian with English subs. I tried to edit the missing scenes from the Italian with subs into the English copy but there were so many missing scenes that going back and forth from English to Italian every 5 minutes was annoying so I abandoned the idea. Therefore, a complete version of this film in English is still missing.
I'm thinking of uploading the Italian with English subs.
As for the film itself, well I find it fascinating in regards to the progression of the PEPLUM genre. It's sort of important, along with HERCULES (1958). The story is based in history even though Queen Zenobia most likely didn't look like Anita Ekberg. I'll 'officially' post the movie next week here at the blog.
Fun fact : according to IMDb, this is the only film about Queen Zenobia.
It would be nice if the longer Italian version would also be available.
ReplyDeleteOne question - do you compress the movies when uploading? I had a look at Sign of the Gladiator, and it appears slightly fuzzy (more so in the wider shots than the close-ups).
The fuzzier or pixellated the picture, the less likely I am to watch it - I think many would agree.
Remco
I agree this is a most interesting movie. Surprising that more Peplums have not been made about Queen Zenobia.
ReplyDeleteTragic that ISIS very significantly damaged Palmyra, one of the most important classical era sites in the Middle East.
Personally I always prefer subtitles to dubbing, but of course that is very much a personal choice.
The English copy in widescreen of SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR I uploaded was from a non-HD TV broadcast in the UK. The quality of the image reflects that. The one who sent it to me sent it as is. Youtube suggests all uploads should be in HD. There are very few PEPLUM films in HD at the moment.
ReplyDeleteAs an example, today, I prepared a film that was in 1280x720 (not full HD) and the final file is 4 GB. The SIGN OF THE GLADIATOR file from the UK broadcast was around 650 mb. After the edits I've made, I upscaled it to 1280x720. That file was at around 2 GB. To make things worse, Youtube does its own compression. Like I said, there are very few PEPLUM films in HD at the moment.
This channel had film in hd but only in italian
ReplyDeletePLhU2r8kx2_JsFu6bvfuqjrf943piXEtyC
You know director Umberto Lenzi died.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lina for the info.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for the link.
I checked the videos and almost all of them are not in HD. The one that says it's in HD, like HERO OF ROME, is taken from German DVD, which I have, and the Dvd is not Blu-Ray. Also, the TROJAN HORSE copy is listed in HD but the image is in 4:3 aspect ratio.
you could make a fandub.
Delete