Monday, July 10, 2017

Arrow Video Preps 2K Restoration Of Director Mario Bava's Erik The Conqueror For Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Release On Aug. 29


DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey
Arrow Video, with domestic sales and distribution support provided by MVD Entertainment Group, has added a new Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack 2K restoration (from the original camera negative) of director Mario Bava’s 1961 adventure saga, Erik the Conqueror (1963 for the domestic English-language theatrical release), to its Aug. 29 release calendar.

OK, the history might be a little muddled, but the Vikings are raiding England (prior to 1066) and one of the princes is captured and raised by an English queen during a raid in 786.   We flash-forward 20 years and the kid, Erik (George Ardisson — Juliet of the Spirits, Django Defies Sartana, etc.) is now an English duke and his brother, Eron (Cameron Mitchell) is, by virtue of a fight to the death, the head of the Viking invaders.  

Through some clever double-dealings, Sir Rutford (Andrea Checchi), an English nobleman, betrays Erik, who ends up as a Viking prisoner — he nevertheless has time to fall in love with a Viking woman named Rama (Alice Kessler), who just happens to be the twin sister of Daya (Ellen Kessler, Alice’s twin sister in real life) … she, in turn, is in love with Eron.   

So we have brother against brother, but they don’t know that they are brothers.   And we have twin sisters in love with the brothers.   Bring it on!   

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph TribbeyBonus features include viewing options for both the original Italian-language audio track or the English-dubbed domestic theatrical version (which, as mentioned, arrived on these shores two years after being released in Europe), commentary by author Tim Lucas (“Mario Bava – All the Colors of the Dark”) and the featurette titled “Gli Imitatori” (a comparison of Erik the Conqueror with director Richard Fleischer’s 1958 box office smash, The Vikings, starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh).

DVD & Blu-ray Release Report, Ralph Tribbey




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