Written by: Michael Den Boer on May 7th, 2007
Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1965
Director: Mario Bava
Writers: Mario Bava, Alberto Liberati, Giorgio Simonelli
Cast: Cameron Mitchell, Fausto Tozzi, Giacomo Rossi-Stuart, Luciano Pollentin, Amedeo Trilli, Renato Terra, Sergio Cortona, Elissa Pichelli
| DVD released: | 2001 | 2007 |
| Approximate running time: | 84m31s | 84m38s |
| Aspect Ratio: | 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen | 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen |
| Rating: | NR | NR |
| Sound: | Dolby Digital Mono Italian and English | Dolby Digital mono Italian & English with English subtitles |
| DVD Release: | Image Entertainment | Anchor Bay |
| Region Coding: | Region 1 NTSC | Region 1 NTSC |
| Retail Price: | OOP | $49.98 |
Image Entertainment’s Region 1 DVD
Queen Karin is forced to go into hiding with her son when news about her husband King Harald is considered lost at sea and most likely dead. Harald’s enemies desperate to gin power want to kill his family and assume control of his kingdom. A mysterious stranger named Rurik (Cameron Mitchell) who has ties to Harald’s family offers to help and take of them.
Both releases present the film in its original 2.35:1 aspect ratio and they are both anamorphic enhanced. Transfer wise they look very close with the Anchor Bay looking slightly shaper. Also the Anchor Bay DVD is progressive while the Image Entertainment release is interlaced.
Both releases come with two audio options Italian and English. All audio mixes included on these two releases are presented in a Dolby Digital mono. The audio mixes included on the Image Entertainment release sound almost identical to those included on the Anchor Bay release. The Anchor Bay release comes with removable English subtitles. The clear winner is Anchor Bay for including subtitles for the Italian audio mix.
Image Entertainments release comes with a trailer for the film, Cameron Mitchell Filmography, Mario Bava Biography & Filmography, Photo and Poster Gallery and trailers for other Mario Bava titles that Image have released on DVD. The main extra for Image’s release is liner notes about the film which where written by Mario Bava expert Tim Lucas. Anchor Bay’s release comes with a trailer for the film, Mario Bava Biography & Filmography and trailers for other Mario Bava titles that Anchor Bay have released on DVD. Both releases are light when it comes to the extras with the edge going to the Image release for the inclusion of the Tim Lucas liner notes.
There really is not that much that separates these two releases with the better of the two being the Anchor Bay which is progressive and has English subtitles.