The Conqueror (1956) (Kino Lorber)

[SpacemanDoug]

Coming from Kino Lorber



Special Features and Technical Specs:
-Audio Commentary by Film Historian David Del Valle and Film Historian/Producer Dan Marino
-Theatrical Trailer
-Optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature

[Uncle Bud]

"There ain't enough room in these steppes for the two of us!"

[SpacemanDoug]

quick, get out your geiger meters

[cinerama]

Only mono sound for the Blu-ray. The DVDs were 5.1.

[nordyj]

Pedro Armendariz as a Mongol. Amazing stuff.

[CrimsonLegionVMCXIX]

It's a shame the casting puts me off this so much, because a Genghis Khan film made during the heyday of the sword-and-sandal epic should be right up my alley, but John f'n Wayne as Temujin? No. I know it's a product of the time, I have no problem with that, but damn.

[nordyj]

Originally Posted by CrimsonLegionVMCXIX

It's a shame the casting puts me off this so much, because a Genghis Khan film made during the heyday of the sword-and-sandal epic should be right up my alley, but John f'n Wayne as Temujin? No. I know it's a product of the time, I have no problem with that, but damn.

Sometimes I get a kick out of this stuff. Dragon Seed is another film with BONKERS casting choices lol. But I still enjoy the film. Even The Naked Dawn has one of my fave actors in Brownface. I'm Mexican and never found a problem with it...not many Mexican actors given a chance to have starring roles. It's contextually fascinating to see how certain actors of Wayne's stature changed their approach to the role.

[Watershipdownisgood]

I mean it's not a good film by any means, but it definitely takes the so bad it's good crown by a long shot. I really need to pick this up at some point even if the casting choices are some of the most questionable choices of all time. I still need to add it to my John Wayne Blu-Ray collection, which continues to grow more and more.

[Sommerswerd]

They should have included the documentary, The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by Sommerswerd

They should have included the documentary, The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout

I bought the Dvd and am going to make a combo pack with the Kino release. Sometimes we have to make our own "deluxe" editions!

[yellowcakeuf6]

Originally Posted by nordyj

Pedro Armendariz as a Mongol. Amazing stuff.

They just had to look "foreign" back then. One where that wasn't even a consideration was Robert Morley as the Emperor of China in Genghis Khan.

[stardragon9]

Originally Posted by Sommerswerd

They should have included the documentary, The Conqueror: Hollywood Fallout

Never heard of this before. Where can someone find the dvd of this documentary?

[Egbert Souse]

Originally Posted by cinerama

Only mono sound for the Blu-ray. The DVDs were 5.1.

Seems like the Goodtimes DVD and the 5-film John Wayne set from Universal feature a 2.0 surround track, not 5.1. Also possible the Universal Vault DVD uses the 2.0 surround track, but the cover art doesn't specify. Some non-US editions do have a 5.1 track, though.

Definitely an oversight, though the dupe negative or whatever Universal used for the transfer has pretty rough recombine of color separations, with bad color fringing throughout. Maybe Universal will do 4K restorations for this and Jet Pilot someday like they did for Hughes' Hell's Angels and Scarface.

[laidbacklarkin]

Originally Posted by Rzzzz

I bought the Dvd and am going to make a combo pack with the Kino release. Sometimes we have to make our own "deluxe" editions!

which is why i keep plenty of spare 2 disc BD cases on hand (looking at you EchoBridge titles from Dollar Tree :-) ) and also why i do not dispose off the DVD's easily. I also create a 'super deluxe' edition with a soundtrack CD where available.

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by stardragon9

Never heard of this before. Where can someone find the dvd of this documentary?

This is where I bought mine, the cheapest place I could find it...

Originally Posted by laidbacklarkin

which is why i keep plenty of spare 2 disc BD cases on hand (looking at you EchoBridge titles from Dollar Tree :-) ) and also why i do not dispose off the DVD's easily. I also create a 'super deluxe' edition with a soundtrack CD where available.

I do the same thing. I added the sound track CD's to my copies of The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, The Sound of Music, The Decline of Western Civilization (first film only, I hate the sequels), West Side Story (the remake doesn't exist) and others. I even bought this audio CD (seems to be OOP now) and added it to my Criterion copy of Some Like It Hot.

[stardragon9]

Thank you so much for the link! Got my copy of the documentary ordered and on its way!

[Duke_45]

Originally Posted by Egbert Souse

Seems like the Goodtimes DVD and the 5-film John Wayne set from Universal feature a 2.0 surround track, not 5.1. Also possible the Universal Vault DVD uses the 2.0 surround track, but the cover art doesn't specify. Some non-US editions do have a 5.1 track, though.

Definitely an oversight, though the dupe negative or whatever Universal used for the transfer has pretty rough recombine of color separations, with bad color fringing throughout. Maybe Universal will do 4K restorations for this and Jet Pilot someday like they did for Hughes' Hell's Angels and Scarface.

I’ll continue to hold onto my import BD, which contains the stereo tracks. Not sure what the powers that be thought with including the far inferior mono track for this film

[Rzzzz]

Originally Posted by stardragon9

Thank you so much for the link! Got my copy of the documentary ordered and on its way!

It is very well done, in depth and informative. I really enjoyed it. In fact, it changed my mind. I have read many articles about how the number of deaths among the cast and crew is not that far off from the national average for that time (when everyone was smoking).

This doc not only delves into what the cast and crew experienced after the making of the film but also that of the local population and the effect the atom bomb tests had on them. That was a real eye opener for me because so many of the victims were children.

So be prepared, while I recommend this documentary to everyone, it also very sad to watch...

[cinerama]

Todays broadcast on TCM looks the same as the Blu-ray but has stereo surround sound.

[ewsjr]

Originally Posted by Rzzzz

It is very well done, in depth and informative. I really enjoyed it. In fact, it changed my mind. I have read many articles about how the number of deaths among the cast and crew is not that far off from the national average for that time (when everyone was smoking).

This doc not only delves into what the cast and crew experienced after the making of the film but also that of the local population and the effect the atom bomb tests had on them. That was a real eye opener for me because so many of the victims were children.

So be prepared, while I recommend this documentary to everyone, it also very sad to watch...

There is a somewhat follow-up to this called Downwind which chronicles the efforts of the town's folk trying to not only get reparations from the government but also to get them to own up to what they did and continued to do. Just as good and just as sad.