The Giant of Marathon

Buy This Item The Giant of Marathon  Available from Amazon  $7.98  on 12-7-2008     Features Actors: Steve Reeves, Mylène Demongeot, Sergio Fantoni, Daniela Rocca, Philippe Hersent Directors: Jacques Tourneur, Mario Bava Format: Black & White, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC Language: English Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.) Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Number of discs: 1 Rating: Studio: Alpha Video DVD Release Date: September 9, 2003 Run Time: 85 minutes Average Customer Review:   11 Reviews 5 star:  (1) 4 star:  (3) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:  (4) 1 star:  (3) See all 11 customer reviews...   (11 customer reviews) Reader Reviews UPDATE: Retromedia is planning a new dvd release of this movie (release date TBA), using the original 35 mm widescreen print! It will be anamorphic, and should by all accounts be a very nice release. Check out Retromedia's website for more details! This is an exceptional sword and sandle Italian production, with Jacques Tourneur (Night of the Demon) directing, and Mario Bava as second unit director (as well as mop-up director). This is my first outing with a Steve Reeves movie, and I see why he became such a hit during his reign in Italian fantasy films. He had a masculine charisma that lent itself perfectly to the role of bigger-than-life hero. Reeves plays Philippedes, a Greek warrior and hero that must stand against traitors to Greece, political intrigue, self-serving politicians, and eventually an invading Persian Army. The film must have been spectacular on the big screen, when the film was still young and bold with color. Even on this somewhat faded, and damaged reproduction, the film is exciting to watch. And here is where I commend Alpha Video. This small company is well known for producing public domain films that are, by and large, better quality than your likely to get from say, Madacy Entertainment or Front Row Entertainment. The price of their DVDs is so low, that you never feel jilted by taking a chance on some old horror or sci-fi film you may never have seen before. Generally speaking, the Alpha Video DVDs that I've purchased have all been full-frame. But this little gem is presented in Letterbox, and for that I am extremely thankful to these people. The quality of the print, as I mentioned earlier, is not of the caliber you'd ever accept from a high-priced DVD release. The colors have faded, and the clarity of this print has become soft with age. It would take major work to clean this up, which I hope we'll see someday. There are some definate video dropouts and jumps in the soundtrack. And the aspect ratio, though letterbox, is not quite correct. The film is definately wider than what is presented on this DVD, as can be seen during the beginning credits, when the first and last letters of the director's name are cut off on both ends. However, this all aside, it is for the low price, a rare jem for a Steve Reeves sword and sandle picture. I don't have either of the Hercules DVDs starring Mr. Reeves, but I've read enough reviews to realize they have suffored far worse transfers to DVD than this picture. So if you like sun-drenched landscapes, with absolutely gorgeous women, full of action and adventure, an heroic leading man who himself was heroic in proportion, then you can do a lot worse than this DVD. One more word on the subject: If ever a DVD studio would take the time to find the best print of this film (including a five to seven minutes of missing film) and clean it up, remaster it, and release it in its original bold colors and widescreen aspect ration, I and many others like myself who have a soft spot for Italian sword and sandle epics, would stand in line with my hard-earned cash to buy it. It would be well worth the price.  Comment | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } (Report this)

The Giant of Marathon Available from Amazon Price: $7.98 Updated on 12-7-2008.

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