HD Alert!

I got the Spanish Blu-ray of HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959) and sadly this print is identical to the RAI TV HD broadcast, the Japanese Blu-ray release, which aren't that good. Passable but not a new print. The quality of the image seems more compressed than the Japanese BD. 

Above is a screenshot of the Spanish Blu-ray. It's ok but once you see how the actual widescreen image should be (below; from a German DVD), the image is cropped. Everything outside the red box is not there. The framing is all wrong. In some scenes, it's quite awful. Some apparently don't mind this but I don't think it's acceptable. Hopefully, the Artus Films prints from the British Film Institute will be correct. 

 

Not coming soon!

Scarlett Johansson was set to star in a movie as a female gladiator. The project was legit and the actress mentioned it but the project never was made. Image above is an Ai image of Scarlett as a gladiatrix. 

Link

Musings!

Demetrius (Victor Mature) is seduced by Messalina (Susan Hayward) in DEMETRIUS AND THE GLADIATORS (1954)

A rare case where the sequel is better than the first film. THE ROBE (1953) was the first movie and I like it but this sequel is more entertaining and engaging. Victor Mature is no replacement for Richard Burton but the he's believable as a slave/gladiator. Susan's version of Messalina is a bit too chase (it was made in the 1950s) but she's quite fun to watch. One of the problems with the relationship between Demetrius and Messalina is it's a bit undefined. She corrupts him and his beliefs, which to be expected but aside from that and the obvious physical attraction, it doesn't go deeper than that. This screenshot is from the US Blu-ray. Aside from the resolution, it's the same as the DVD. No big upgrade.

PEPLUM Movie Poster

Italian poster of AWARA ABDULLA (1963) 

This is a Dara Singh movie, heavily influenced by the PEPLUM genre. Dara was a professional wrestler and also did other genre movies, including versions of HERCULES and SAMSON. The movie is on Youtube.