Sandokan TV Series (1976) finally on BD!

[UniSol GR77]

Wow. I just purchased this nice 3-disc box-set. Impressive video transfer. It wasn't just a remastering, but a painfully long and careful restoration. They did a fantastic job, truly. It looks like they filmed this yesterday.

For English and American guys here, "SANDOKAN" was a huge phenomenon in Italy, all 6 episodes scored more than 27 millions of viewers back in 1976. Sergio Sollima went to direct a theatrical follow-up: "La tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa!" (1977), which also proved to be a resounding success.

To make you understand how much popular is Bedi's SANDOKAN here, by decree of the President of the Italian Republic of 2 June 2010, Kabir Bedi was officially knighted. He received the highest ranking civilian honour of the Italian Republic and was bestowed the title of "Cavaliere" (Knight) of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.

http://www.dvdweb.it/View_News/20121..._Ray_Disc.html

Hopefully they will release the 1977 movie and both the 1996-1998 TV sequel series soon.

[pro-bassoonist]

There is a Dutch DVD release that comes with the original English (International) audio. It looks like it is not included here.

Anyhow, this is an incredible production and it is terrific to have it restored.

But you are wrong, it was very, very popular in many other places outside of Italy.

One of my favorite sequences here - The Return of Sandokan to Mompracem (from RAI TV). Super soundtrack!!

Sandokan rientra a Mompracen - YouTube

ARROW VIDEO need to bring this resto to the UK.

Pro-B

[UniSol GR77]

Man, thank you for your reply. Where do you live? Yes, it was a smash hit all over Europe. Too bad it was never aired in America. Hopefully it will be "relaunched" in the States in some way or capacity in the future to come.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

Man, thank you for your reply. Where do you live? Yes, it was a smash hit all over Europe. Too bad it was never aired in America. Hopefully it will be "relaunched" in the States in some way or capacity in the future to come.

When the Dutch release came out, UniSol, I tried to get two U.S. distributors to get it out on the market but nothing happened. I think that the only company that could have done it was the now defunct NoShame Films, but they were already on the way out.

Also, the theatrical versions, which you mention, were screened in many places outside of Italy. I have seen two different prints, both in English.

This was the first Italian DVD release, which I have:



Pro-B

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

When the Dutch release came out, UniSol, I tried to get two U.S. distributors to get it out on the market but nothing happened. I think that the only company that could have done it was the now defunct NoShame Films, but they were already on the way out.

Also, the theatrical versions, which you mention, were screened in many places outside of Italy. I have seen two different prints, both in English.

This was the first Italian DVD release, which I have:



Pro-B

Unfortunately, the Italian DVD versions which were released throughout the years are total crap in terms of transfer, extras, everything.

Yes, the 1977 movie was screened in Europe, of course. It is a sequel to the series.

I just feel sorry for Americans, they should watch & love this cult series... it's a blast. A masterwork.

For starters, this is the list:

Kabir Bedi's SANDOKAN:

1- "Sandokan" (1976) - 6 episodes, collected on the BD box-set.
2- "La tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa!" (1977) - 1 movie, unreleased on BD.
3- "Il Ritorno di Sandokan" (1996) - 4 episodes, unreleased on BD.
4- "Il Figlio di Sandokan" (1998) - 2 episodes, never been aired in Italy or released on DVD because heavy legal issues, the series features less screen time for Sandokan anyway.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

Unfortunately, the Italian DVD versions which were released throughout the years are total crap in terms of transfer, extras, everything.

This is indeed true - the quality is indeed quite poor. But it was the only way to see the production on DVD for a while.

Pro-B

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

This is indeed true - the quality is indeed quite poor. But it was the only way to see the production on DVD for a while.

Pro-B

I don't know who I must contact to know if they will ever make a 1977 movie BD as well... I'm sure they will.

By the way, 1996's "Il Ritorno di Sandokan" features an alternate continuity, it's a loose sequel so to speak. It is not written nor directed by Sergio Sollima. Critically panned, despite I like it.

1998's "Il Figlio di Sandokan" was directed by Sollima, but we don't know if it will ever see the light of the day.

[Sundance]

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

http://www.dvdweb.it/View_News/20121..._Ray_Disc.html

Some of the comments behind the link aren't very positive towards the video quality and it seems the first episode introduction is missing? Scandalo!
Would really love to see screenshots.

Also, any idea what the difference is between the two different releases at Amazon.it? One is from last November with a price of almost 40euros and the second one from April 2013 with a price of under 20euros. Everything looks the same.
EDIT: First one has a slipcase and the second does not?

[Show spoiler]

[pro-bassoonist]

The first release that is listed was apparently released in 2012, but I don't think that the release date is correct because I would have received info on it. I wonder if it was some sort of an exclusive release somewhere.

The second release should be the standard one that is now sold by vendors. I will definitely pick it up later on (maybe in about a month as I already picked up quite a few titles this month).

Pro-B

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by Sundance

Some of the comments behind the link aren't very positive towards the video quality and it seems the first episode introduction is missing? Scandalo!
Would really love to see screenshots.

No wait. They edited out the redundant "summary" at the beginning of each episode, which is a great idea. I don't wanna rewatch scenes from previous episodes, I don't give a damn about having a "summary".

Plus, I can sure you the video quality is good. That single negative review is from a guy who doesn't know what he is talking about. This is proper HD, restored and remastered. Maybe the guy didn't buy the thing at all, just talking for the sake of it.

http://http://www.elleu.com/customer...6&mode=preview

By the way, the series was shot on 16mm, not 35, and the original negatives have been poorly stored for 40 long years.

Of course, there are various speckles and some blurring (not due to the quality of the transfer but rather the way it has been filmed IMHO) but this is the best it can look.

[Sundance]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

The first release that is listed was apparently released in 2012, but I don't think that the release date is correct because I would have received info on it. I wonder if it was some sort of an exclusive release somewhere.

Based on this it seems it did come out last year http://dvd.forumcommunity.net/?t=53057652 but I also wonder why I hadn't heard about it before (its something I would have thought had come up at the different forums I visit).

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

No wait. They edited out the redundant "summary" at the beginning of each episode, which is a great idea. I don't wanna rewatch scenes from previous episodes, I don't give a damn about having a "summary".

I wasn't really talking about the summaries. The posts seem to indicate there is an introduction missing from the start of the very first episode. The one here I guess

Sandokan The Tiger of Malaysia (English Episode 1of6) - YouTube

(the first 1½ minutes).

As for the summaries, I don't really care much about them either but I would still prefer they were included. Mostly they are just clips cut from the previous episode(s), but some shows did edit them a bit. For example Twin Peaks, where there is at least one summary which works perfectly and in some ways better than the scenes in the actual episodes did.

And there is some (very few...) unique narration in the Sandokan summaries.

Originally Posted by UniSol GR77

That single negative review is from a guy who doesn't know what he is talking about.

Single? I count at least two. And there's more here http://www.avmagazine.it/forum/70-bl...dokan-serie-tv (at least one by the same guy).

I don't trust anybody though, only my own eyes.

[UniSol GR77]

You're right, I spotted many (non-professional) negative reviews all over the net.

It is obvious they didn't do a Lowry-type restoration on this, buddy. And it's freakin' obvious negative were damaged enough and 16mm is not a good start to seek for some 'THE DARK KNIGHT' BD-type high definition image LOL.
Anyway I think this is the best it can look. Maybe...

Said that, I'm only concerned about the "blurring" some reviewers pointed out as "caused by a wrong transferring of the film/positioning of the film during the transferring"(???) and not the way it has been originally shot. Disappointing if true.

One guy also said there are evident hair on the frames.

[oscarmerkx]

I loved this show when it was shown on Dutch tv when it first came out.

[UniSol GR77]

Summing it up:

1- They worked with 16mm negatives, not 35mm.
2- RAI's storage archives are not on the same level of the American ones, negatives were badly damaged.
3- It was a pioneering Italian TV series, they did not use the best of the film stock to make it, it was shot as a (relatively cheap) TV series, not an expensive film.
4- It was shot in 1976. 40 years ago.

On the other hand, they did restoration and remastering:

1- They kept the original 1,33:1 ratio. No cropping.
2- They mechanically restored the negatives frame by frame (total: 495.000), then treated/bathed them with ultrasound HFE solution.
3- They digitally cleaned the picture with NO DNR, grain intact.
4- They corrected the color timing.
5- They restored the soundtrack (Dolby Digital 2.0).

The process required 1.200 hours of hard work.

This is the best it can look. Complainers believe we're dealing with some super-expensive American series shot 10 years ago.

[UniSol GR77]

Dropped a mail to the company behind the restoration/transfer with some detailed questions... will let you know!

[pro-bassoonist]

Hello Uni

The back cover for the first release indicate 1080/25p. If it is actually 1080/50i, meaning an interlaced transfer, there could be some motion-judder (blur).

But if transferred from the ON, this should look very, very good. 16mm productions could and do look spectacular on Blu-ray when the transfers are done right (progressive, of course). See example here:

https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Pride...y/1201/#Review

So, do not get disappointed until it is actually confirmed what is on the disc.

I will be adding this release to my library later on so one way or another you will know for sure (unless you confirm with your source earlier).

Pro-B

[UniSol GR77]

Pro-Bass, I'm 100% sure they will answer me within days.

It is "interlaced" like you say just because it has been shot on 25 frames acceleration: 25 fps for TV (PAL/SECAM). Remember, this is Italian TV, my friend.

We will know anyway.

STILL, I love this edition and they did a good job with it, given the problematic source material they had to work with.

[pro-bassoonist]

You are confusing a couple of things.

This was a big budget production shot on film. So, if the new Blu-ray is indeed 1080/50i, this means that more than likely the transfer was sourced from an old master (most likely prepped for some TV use).

If the producers went back and scanned the ON and produced a new transfer, what you would have on the Blu-ray will be 1080p.

The fact that Sandokan was shown on Italian TV is irrelevant.

Pro-B

[UniSol GR77]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

You are confusing a couple of things.

So, if the new Blu-ray is indeed 1080/50i, this means that more than likely the transfer was sourced from an old master (most likely prepped for some TV use).

Pro-B

I can sure you they sourced this from ON, brand-new transfer. I've read the booklet of the box-set which pretty much explains everything.

[Torrente]

I read all the thread just to discover that it's not english friendly, and I cry