Hercules And The Captive Women (1963) - April 13, 2021 - Page 3 - Blu-ray Forum

romuald121 · 04-12-2021, 11:36 PM

27.86$ on amazon.ca: here

Jobla · 04-12-2021, 11:55 PM

My copy has shipped out today from Amazon, for the price of $19.82, which includes local 10% sales tax.

That price of over 50 dollars must be a mistaken listing on the part of Amazon.

Jobla · 04-13-2021, 04:15 AM

The Film Detective is currently working to get the price fixed on Amazon. The SRP should be $24.95. The disc can be ordered from MVD.

Professor Echo · 04-13-2021, 05:08 PM

This is currently on sale for $17.97 at Bull Moose, but you have to get up to $35 for Free Shipping. No tax though unless you are in Maine and New Hampshire.

Note that you can always get a gift card in the amount needed to reach the Free Shipping threshold. Bull Moose is the greatest. Believe it.

cgurley · 04-13-2021, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Professor Echo

This is currently on sale for $17.97 at Bull Moose, but you have to get up to $35 for Free Shipping. No tax though unless you are in Maine and New Hampshire.

Note that you can always get a gift card in the amount needed to reach the Free Shipping threshold. Bull Moose is the greatest. Believe it.

That is who I ordered from along with a couple other titles a couple weeks ago. Got my shipping notice yesterday.

Nice thing is they don't charge in advance, and they ship as things become available.

Joseph Goodman · 04-14-2021, 12:41 AM

AVC is MPEG-4, you sure it's not just saying that?

Edit: Well, another site's review (Rockshockpop.com) says it's MPEG-2, which doesn't say much for Film Detective, or the sites who posted reviews describing it as MPEG-4 (DVDBeaver).

DukeTogo84 · 04-14-2021, 01:43 AM

Mine was delivered from Bullmoose, but currently on vacation, so won't be able check it out for a few days. Sounds like it turned out OK

MattmanAlpha · 04-14-2021, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joseph Goodman

AVC is MPEG-4, you sure it's not just saying that?

Edit: Well, another site's review (Rockshockpop.com) says it's MPEG-2, which doesn't say much for Film Detective, or the sites who posted reviews describing it as MPEG-4 (DVDBeaver).

I hastily deleted my original comment after seeing that on DVDBeaver. But, after I finished watching the movie, I popped in one of my other AVC discs to see if I was misreading or imagining things.

No. My other AVC discs do display as "AVC", but this Film Detective disc reads as "MPEG". For a disc authored in 2021, that is shocking.

That said, at least I didn't notice any compression artifacts . . . so I guess it's a decent MPEG encode

Joseph Goodman · 04-14-2021, 08:49 PM

I received my copy today, gave it a spot check, and had the following reactions:

-yes, it's encoded in MPEG-2; pixel-peeping at 2x on my Oppo didn't reveal any egregious macroblocking, so it's at least a well-optimized MPEG-2 encode. (my perspective on what constitutes a "good encode" has been hopelessly skewed by the work David M./Fidelity In Motion has put out with Arrow, Indicator, etc., so YMMV)

-It's farcical for Film Detective to market this as from the "original camera negative". One, that would be back in Italy, and be the uncut European version. Two, if this really was from the Technirama negative, it'd be a lot sharper. Three, the overall sharpness and color fringing visible looks an awful lot like other transfers from Technicolor release prints I've seen. Four, Film Detective actually had it listed as being from "an archival 35mm print" on their pre-order page at one point. This ties in to...

-the milky blacks some of the early reviews have pointed out. This could be a side effect of them scanning a release print, with its dense shadow areas, and then trying to brighten the shadows... or they encoded it at the wrong RGB levels. I set my Oppo's colorspace to "RGB PC levels" and that took care of the milky blacks, but it ended up crushing the darkest shadows in the video.

-sound quality is a huge improvement over the Retromedia widescreen DVD.

-Now, within the context of what I was expecting from this disc, i.e. a Blu-ray upgrade equivalent of the old Retromedia DVD, it's a decent disc as far as the feature goes. Film Detective should clarify exactly what it was scanned from, though.

-Some folks have been salty at the inclusion of the MST3K episode, which amuses me, as the first place I saw this film or any peplum was on MST, and it's one of my favorite episodes. It's inclusion here is a botch-job, poorly upscaled to HD, and with the frame rate messed up, as if it were badly de-interlaced to 30fps and then re-interlaced to 60i. The motion during both the host segments and film segments are noticeably choppy.

I haven't taken a look at any of the other extras.

Randy Miller III · 04-26-2021, 01:43 PM

Welcome back everyone! Had this review nearly finished before the site outage, so here it is with 20 screenshots. Enjoy and thanks for your patience!

Hercules and the Captive Women Blu-ray Review

dcmatthews · 04-27-2021, 02:02 AM

The Peplum blog is not at all impressed with the Film Detective presentation:

http://www.peplumtv.com/2021/04/arti...d-captive.html

Dollar Colonel · 04-27-2021, 04:06 AM

Best Buy cancelled my preorder saying they didn't know how long the delay would be.

Should I reorder with Bull Moose?

NVM, what a mess based on the screenshots coloring.

hanshotfirst1138 · 04-27-2021, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Rietman4k

I really want Steve Reeves Hercules on Blu-ray

We all do. I’ve heard there are some legal issues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Rietman4k

It seems like through home video Peplum movies have always been treated horribly.

Most cult genres are. Part of it is the fact that they poorly preserved disposable commodities, but part of it also poor treatment from video labels.

Jobla · 04-27-2021, 11:54 PM

Part of the difficulty with the peplum films is that the original camera negatives are stored in Europe for the most part. Most of them are the property of foreign ownership.

Two different companies seem to have a claim on HERCULES (1957/1959).

There have been excellent releases of peplum films in Germany, such as THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) and DUEL OF THE TITANS (1962, aka ROMULUS UND REMUS).

Generally, the US majors no longer have the film elements. One exception to that is Warner, through their ownership of vintage MGM releases. They have released COLOSSUS OF RHODES and THE GOLDEN ARROW on Blu-ray, and have released two Steve Reeves films in the MOD DVD format, namely THE SLAVE (1963) and SANDOKAN THE GREAT (1965).

Beckford · 05-05-2021, 02:13 AM

Just received my copy of the German Blu-ray "Romulus and Remus"/Duel of the Titans. This is a top tier Italian peplum. With an accomplished director (Sergio Corbucci), who really keeps the story moving along; also a bigger than usual budget, well spent. Not only does it have two of the very best peplum stars (Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott) in peak form. But the supporting cast is pretty deluxe as well - 60's screen goddess Virna Lisi, Italian film icon Massimo Girotti and Jacques Sernas (Paris from Robert Wise's "Helen of Troy"). The story's a kind of combination of the Exodus tale and Westward Ho the Wagons, with brothers Reeves and Scott leading their people to a promised land. Instead of Pharoah in pursuit, this time it's a vengeance-bent Sabine army led by Girotti and Sernas.
Above all it's so great to see the picture in such an excellent looking presentation. I doubt it looked better when I saw it in a movie theater in the 60's.
It's listed as Region 2 and luckily I have an all region player. So glad to have this in a top quality Blu. The disc offers plenty of viewing choices. I watched the Italian version with optional English subtitles. But you also view German or English versions if you wish. Hope there'll be more sword and sandal releases of similar quality down the line. Supposedly the same company has plans to bring us Robert Aldrich's "Sodom and Gomorrah", a starry Hollywood super-production, filmed mainly in North Africa. Fingers crossed - 'cause this one's on my Blu-ray bucket list.
I've also ordered "Messalina" from Twilight Time; I know and like the film and am expecting TT's disc will also be a great looking presentation

Jobla · 05-05-2021, 03:59 AM

The Blu-ray of ROMULUS UND REMUS (aka DUEL OF THE TITANS) plays just fine in my US Sony Playstation 3 deck, so I think it's actually region free. I'd bet that the DVD version might be region locked, however.

My favorite foreign peplum Blu-ray release is THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) starring Steve Reeves, which was also released in Germany.

SMOOT · 05-05-2021, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jobla

The Blu-ray of ROMULUS UND REMUS (aka DUEL OF THE TITANS) plays just fine in my US Sony Playstation 3 deck, so I think it's actually region free. I'd bet that the DVD version might be region locked, however.

My favorite foreign peplum Blu-ray release is THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) starring Steve Reeves, which was also released in Germany.

Does Thief of Baghdad also play in your US Playstation 3 ?

Jobla · 05-05-2021, 10:49 PM

Yes, the Blu-ray of THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) plays fine in my US Sony Playstation 3 deck. The DVD version, however, does not, so it is region-locked.

Like ROMULUS UND REMUS, THIEF OF BAGHDAD has options for English audio and/or subtitles.

SpaceBlackKnight · 05-05-2021, 11:56 PM

I got mine in a few days ago. Despite being MPEG-2 encoded and sourced from what looks to be a 35mm US release print, it looks and sounds fairly clean and stable all things considered. It's certainly a mass improvement over those horrible 4:3 PD copies (and that one 4k AI upscale on YT that looks like a goddamn water painting!)

SpaceBlackKnight · 05-06-2021, 03:00 AM

If some think the Blu-Ray is "unacceptable", then don't say I didn't warn you with how bad the so-called "4k AI upscale" on YT looks:

It's realllly baddd!!! The whole thing looks like a puke colored, watercolor smear job!

Buy the BD with confidence! It's the best we got until something possibly better comes along.

04-14-2021, 12:41 AM	#46
Joseph Goodman Active Member Member since:Oct 2008	AVC is MPEG-4, you sure it's not just saying that? Edit: Well, another site's review (Rockshockpop.com) says it's MPEG-2, which doesn't say much for Film Detective, or the sites who posted reviews describing it as MPEG-4 (DVDBeaver). Last edited by Joseph Goodman; 04-14-2021 at 01:30 AM.

04-26-2021, 01:43 PM	#50
Randy Miller III Blu-ray reviewer Top contributor Member since:Aug 2011 Location:Harrisburg, PA 4K collection:29 Blu-ray collection:81 Trading Score:54	Welcome back everyone! Had this review nearly finished before the site outage, so here it is with 20 screenshots. Enjoy and thanks for your patience! Hercules and the Captive Women Blu-ray Review Last edited by Randy Miller III; 04-26-2021 at 01:50 PM.

05-05-2021, 02:13 AM	#55
Beckford Expert Member Member since:Sep 2019 Location:Neither here nor there	Just received my copy of the German Blu-ray "Romulus and Remus"/Duel of the Titans. This is a top tier Italian peplum. With an accomplished director (Sergio Corbucci), who really keeps the story moving along; also a bigger than usual budget, well spent. Not only does it have two of the very best peplum stars (Steve Reeves and Gordon Scott) in peak form. But the supporting cast is pretty deluxe as well - 60's screen goddess Virna Lisi, Italian film icon Massimo Girotti and Jacques Sernas (Paris from Robert Wise's "Helen of Troy"). The story's a kind of combination of the Exodus tale and Westward Ho the Wagons, with brothers Reeves and Scott leading their people to a promised land. Instead of Pharoah in pursuit, this time it's a vengeance-bent Sabine army led by Girotti and Sernas. Above all it's so great to see the picture in such an excellent looking presentation. I doubt it looked better when I saw it in a movie theater in the 60's. It's listed as Region 2 and luckily I have an all region player. So glad to have this in a top quality Blu. The disc offers plenty of viewing choices. I watched the Italian version with optional English subtitles. But you also view German or English versions if you wish. Hope there'll be more sword and sandal releases of similar quality down the line. Supposedly the same company has plans to bring us Robert Aldrich's "Sodom and Gomorrah", a starry Hollywood super-production, filmed mainly in North Africa. Fingers crossed - 'cause this one's on my Blu-ray bucket list. I've also ordered "Messalina" from Twilight Time; I know and like the film and am expecting TT's disc will also be a great looking presentation Last edited by Beckford; 05-05-2021 at 02:20 AM.

04-12-2021, 11:36 PM	#41
romuald121 Special Member Member since:Sep 2012 Trading Score:3	27.86$ on amazon.ca: here

04-12-2021, 11:55 PM	#42
Jobla Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Mar 2013 Location:Boulevard of Broken Dreams	My copy has shipped out today from Amazon, for the price of $19.82, which includes local 10% sales tax. That price of over 50 dollars must be a mistaken listing on the part of Amazon.

04-13-2021, 04:15 AM	#43
Jobla Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Mar 2013 Location:Boulevard of Broken Dreams	The Film Detective is currently working to get the price fixed on Amazon. The SRP should be $24.95. The disc can be ordered from MVD.

04-13-2021, 05:08 PM	#44
Professor Echo Blu-ray Knight Member since:Mar 2011 Trading Score:2	This is currently on sale for $17.97 at Bull Moose, but you have to get up to $35 for Free Shipping. No tax though unless you are in Maine and New Hampshire. Note that you can always get a gift card in the amount needed to reach the Free Shipping threshold. Bull Moose is the greatest. Believe it.

04-14-2021, 01:43 AM	#47
DukeTogo84 Blu-ray Archduke Top contributor Member since:Aug 2012 Location:California 4K collection:155 Blu-ray collection:4957 Blu-ray reviews: 64 Trading Score:140	Mine was delivered from Bullmoose, but currently on vacation, so won't be able check it out for a few days. Sounds like it turned out OK

04-14-2021, 08:49 PM	#49
Joseph Goodman Active Member Member since:Oct 2008	I received my copy today, gave it a spot check, and had the following reactions: -yes, it's encoded in MPEG-2; pixel-peeping at 2x on my Oppo didn't reveal any egregious macroblocking, so it's at least a well-optimized MPEG-2 encode. (my perspective on what constitutes a "good encode" has been hopelessly skewed by the work David M./Fidelity In Motion has put out with Arrow, Indicator, etc., so YMMV) -It's farcical for Film Detective to market this as from the "original camera negative". One, that would be back in Italy, and be the uncut European version. Two, if this really was from the Technirama negative, it'd be a lot sharper. Three, the overall sharpness and color fringing visible looks an awful lot like other transfers from Technicolor release prints I've seen. Four, Film Detective actually had it listed as being from "an archival 35mm print" on their pre-order page at one point. This ties in to... -the milky blacks some of the early reviews have pointed out. This could be a side effect of them scanning a release print, with its dense shadow areas, and then trying to brighten the shadows... or they encoded it at the wrong RGB levels. I set my Oppo's colorspace to "RGB PC levels" and that took care of the milky blacks, but it ended up crushing the darkest shadows in the video. -sound quality is a huge improvement over the Retromedia widescreen DVD. -Now, within the context of what I was expecting from this disc, i.e. a Blu-ray upgrade equivalent of the old Retromedia DVD, it's a decent disc as far as the feature goes. Film Detective should clarify exactly what it was scanned from, though. -Some folks have been salty at the inclusion of the MST3K episode, which amuses me, as the first place I saw this film or any peplum was on MST, and it's one of my favorite episodes. It's inclusion here is a botch-job, poorly upscaled to HD, and with the frame rate messed up, as if it were badly de-interlaced to 30fps and then re-interlaced to 60i. The motion during both the host segments and film segments are noticeably choppy. I haven't taken a look at any of the other extras.

04-27-2021, 02:02 AM	#51
dcmatthews Active Member Member since:Aug 2019 Blu-ray collection:18	The Peplum blog is not at all impressed with the Film Detective presentation: http://www.peplumtv.com/2021/04/arti...d-captive.html

04-27-2021, 04:06 AM	#52
Dollar Colonel Blu-ray Guru Top contributor Member since:Oct 2017 Location:Vacationland 4K collection:- Blu-ray collection:- DVD collection:- MA collection:- Digital collection:- iTunes collection:- Prime collection:- Trading Score:4	Best Buy cancelled my preorder saying they didn't know how long the delay would be. Should I reorder with Bull Moose? NVM, what a mess based on the screenshots coloring.

04-27-2021, 11:54 PM	#54
Jobla Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Mar 2013 Location:Boulevard of Broken Dreams	Part of the difficulty with the peplum films is that the original camera negatives are stored in Europe for the most part. Most of them are the property of foreign ownership. Two different companies seem to have a claim on HERCULES (1957/1959). There have been excellent releases of peplum films in Germany, such as THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) and DUEL OF THE TITANS (1962, aka ROMULUS UND REMUS). Generally, the US majors no longer have the film elements. One exception to that is Warner, through their ownership of vintage MGM releases. They have released COLOSSUS OF RHODES and THE GOLDEN ARROW on Blu-ray, and have released two Steve Reeves films in the MOD DVD format, namely THE SLAVE (1963) and SANDOKAN THE GREAT (1965).

05-05-2021, 03:59 AM	#56
Jobla Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Mar 2013 Location:Boulevard of Broken Dreams	The Blu-ray of ROMULUS UND REMUS (aka DUEL OF THE TITANS) plays just fine in my US Sony Playstation 3 deck, so I think it's actually region free. I'd bet that the DVD version might be region locked, however. My favorite foreign peplum Blu-ray release is THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) starring Steve Reeves, which was also released in Germany.

05-05-2021, 10:49 PM	#58
Jobla Blu-ray Ninja Member since:Mar 2013 Location:Boulevard of Broken Dreams	Yes, the Blu-ray of THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961) plays fine in my US Sony Playstation 3 deck. The DVD version, however, does not, so it is region-locked. Like ROMULUS UND REMUS, THIEF OF BAGHDAD has options for English audio and/or subtitles.

05-05-2021, 11:56 PM	#59
SpaceBlackKnight Blu-ray Samurai Member since:Jul 2018 4K collection:25 Blu-ray collection:346 Digital collection:20	I got mine in a few days ago. Despite being MPEG-2 encoded and sourced from what looks to be a 35mm US release print, it looks and sounds fairly clean and stable all things considered. It's certainly a mass improvement over those horrible 4:3 PD copies (and that one 4k AI upscale on YT that looks like a goddamn water painting!)

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