The Colossus of Rhodes (1961) Warner Archive Blu-ray Review: ESSENTIAL

#sergioleone #warnerarchive #bluray #physicalmedia I review the Warner Archive Blu-ray release of Sergio Leone's first credit feature as director, THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES. Typically written off a standard peplum fare, the film is a joyous pulp adventure with many nods to 50's American epics and even a few to Hitchcock wrong man thrillers. Most importantly, it has Leone's lustful storytelling aiming to be bigger than life. There are many elements that show the promise of the Westerns to come. The Archive has produced a handsome BD of the US release version, sadly without the full length Italian version. The film still needs a true restoration of both versions from the negative. The Archive BD is as good as it can be and remains the only US release of a Leone film without gigantic mater problems. It ports over the Frayling commentary from the DVD which is one of the finest ever recorded. A MUST OWN DISC! 00:00 Film Discussion 03:45 Nods to Hitchcock and North By Northwest 03:51 Rory Calhoun-similar career trajectory to Eastwood 04:56 Dario like a laconic man with no name outsider, Leone energy twists genre elements to surprise audiences 07:11 Plot Discussion 10:43 Leone enthusiasm 11:18 Early Leone embryonic style 11:48 360 degree pan show in tomb and Supertotalscope 13:06 Cave grotto reminiscent of DYS 14:04 Fight atop Colossus nods to Saboteur and North By Northwest 15:23 Finale on colossus 15:40 Ending is a series of set pieces 16:03 Torture sequences dripping acid torture of bells from Mask of Fu Manchu 16:28 Coliseum sequences-lions, fire, bladed chariot 17:20 Dario joins cause yet remains the outsider 18:01 Pours on violence and intensity because it isn't a studio film 18:40 Action always inventive 19:32 Inexhaustible creatively though some exposition and genre conceits slow it down 20:24 Multiple big climaxes, then becomes disaster film 21:11 Tons of creativity and energy 23:13 Score has elements of Conan 23:47 Leone would’ve made a great Conan film 24:21 Incredibly Underrated 27:12 Warner Archive Blu-ray 27:25 Shorter MGM US edit vs Italian original version 29:26 Italian modern master has bad color timing revisionism 29:42 BD picture quality as is dupe element of US version 31:58 Inherent wear 32:29 Slight frozen grain 33:44 Audio Quality 34:37 Packaging and Artwork 35:42 Supplemental Features 37:45 Sir Christopher Frayling's commentary-One of the best of all time 39:42 Final Summary conclusion-The one problem free US Blu-ray release of a Leone film. ESSENTIAL!!!