Fantastic Balloon Voyage (1975)

Original title: Viaje Fantástico en Globo

Adventure. Mexico. Starring Hugo Stiglitz, Jeff Cooper, Carlos East, Carmen Vicarte & René Cardona. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

Westcon Home Video (Sweden). Spanish language with swedish subtitles. Fullscreen. Selltape.

Wonderful Jules Verne adaption by the Cardona's - dry as dust, just the way you like 'em! 4/5

Maciste, Gladiator of Sparta (1964)

Original title: Maciste, Gladiatore di Sparta

Peplum. Italy/France. Starring Mark Forest, Marilù Tolo, Elisabetta Fanti, Claudio Undari & Jacques Stany. Directed by Mario Caiano.

EVC (Holland). English dubbed. Widescreen.

The gladiator Maciste, played by Mark Forest, fights a gorilla and saves some christians from the evil and cunning roman emperor. One of the more entertaining christians Vs. Praetorians flicks out there. 3/5

Fire Monsters Against the Son of Hercules (1962)

Original title: Maciste Contro i Mostri

Peplum. Italy. Starring Reg Lewis, Margaret Lee, Luciano Marin, Andrea Aureli & Birgit Bergen. Directed by Guido Malatesta.

Pepikahs Video (Greece). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

This is one of those craptastic low budget peplum/fantasy cheeze-fests that italians cranked out like crazy during the early sixties (often starring C-list "actors" like Dan Vadis and Kirk Morris) and that have entertained ten year olds and immature B-movie buffs like myself ever since. Noone would mistake this for a good movie, but it's a minor classic of its kind. It's about our hero Maciste ("Maxus" or "Hercules" in some prints) who basically just walks around in stoneage and slays some monsters, rights a few wrongs or fights a bunch of evil cavemen who likes to kidnap blond cuties in fur bikinis and perfect make-up. What more do you need when Reg Lewis is simply the perfect sword and sandal cheeze hero? Why? He throws a mighty fine boulder, sports a bloody rockabilly due that could only have been made in heaven and delivers his lines with the bombastic and smug diginitide of a peplum God! Why he only got to put on the loin-cloth in this one Cinecittà role I will never understand... 4/5 (entertainment value)

The Trojan War (1961)

Original title: La Guerra di Troia

Peplum. Italy/France. Starring Steve Reeves, John Drew Barrymore, Edy Vessel, Arturo Dominici, Lidia Alfonsi, Mimmo Palmara & Carlo Tamberlani. Directed by Giorgio Ferroni.

Epic Home Video (South Africa). English dubbed. Widescreen. Very good quality. Selltape or possibly a bootleg.

Well-made, above average sword and sandal spectacle with Steve Reeves. 3/5

Attila (1954)

Peplum/Historical. Italy/France. Starring Anthony Quinn, Sophia Loren, Ettore Manni, Henri Vidal & Irene Papas. Directed by Pietro Francisci.

Video For Pleasure (Holland). English dubbed. Fullscreen. BETA.

Sandokan 2 (1976)

Pirate/Exotic. Italy/France/West Germany/UK. Starring Kabir Bedi, Philippe Leroy, Carole André, Andrea Giordana & Adolfo Celi. Directed by Sergio Sollima.

Wahlters Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

The second and last part of the feature lenght edit of Sollima's classic Sandokan mini-series. 5/5

Sandokan 1 (1976)

Pirate/Exotic. Italy/France/West Germany/UK. Starring Kabir Bedi, Philippe Leroy, Carole André, Andrea Giordana & Adolfo Celi. Directed by Sergio Sollima.

Wahlters Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed (slightly).

Sollima's beloved Sandokan mini-series was also edited down to two feature lengh films. This is the first part and it's a classic all the way: simply the best romantic swashbuckler I have seen in my life! Everything is class A in this film/series: the story, the camera work, the sets, the music, the cast - especially Kabir Bedi, who was born to play this type of swashbuckling hero! I've liked him in everything i've seen him in (even the awful The Archerer and the Sorceress) but as Sandokan he really shines, this is the one he'll be remembered for. My highest recommendation. 5/5

Sandokan the Great (1963)

Original title: Sandokan, la Tigre di Mompracem

Pirate adventure/Exotic. Italy/France/Spain. Starring Steve Reeves, Geneviève Grad, Andrea Bosic, Rik Battaglia, Adolfo Celi & Mimmo Palmara. Directed by Umberto Lenzi.

VTC (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

Lenzi's first Sandokan flick - 100% classic stuff! My favorite Steve Reeves film. 5/5

Aladdin and the Magic Lamp (1966)

Original title: Volshebnaya Lampa Aladdina

Arabian fantasy. Soviet Union. Starring Boris Bystrov, Dodo Chogovadze & Yuri Chekulayev. Directed by Boris Rytsarev.

Frekvensia GeTe (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

This Soviet made kiddie fantasy film has some imaginative sets and special-FX but is marred by bad dubbing. Entertaining enough but nothing too special. 3/5

Treasure Island (1971)

Original title: Ostrov Sokrovishch

Pirate adventure. Soviet Union. Starring Boris Andreyev, Aare Laanemets & Laimonas Noreika. Directed by Yevgeni Fridman.

Scand Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

The Land That Time Forgot (1975)

Fantasy/Adventure. UK/USA. Starring Doug McClure, John McEnery, Susan Penhaligon & Keith Barron. Directed by Kevin Connor.

Thorn-Emi (Sweden). English language. Letterboxed (slightly). This tape is no longer in my collection.

The first of many brittish boys' adventures with stop-motion dinosaurs that Kevin Connor cranked out like a one-man fantasy factory during the seventies. It was some time since I saw these but I remember liking them all (except the dull The People That Time Forgot). Doug McClure is the man. 3/5

Sea Devils (1982)

Original title: Los Diablos del Mar

Adventure. Spain. Starring Ian Sera, Patty Shepard, Frank Braña, Aldo Sambrell & Gérard Tichy. Directed by Juan Piquer Simón.

Video Trade (Sweden). English dubbed. Letterboxed.

Naive, but in it's own way wonderful loose adaption of the Jules Verne story The Fifteen Years Old Captain (also filmed by Jess Franco in 1974). I really like this one a lot, but I can sort of understand where all the negative reactions to this film come from; it is a bit silly and naive, but in my opinion this kind of film should be. Its all about connecting with your inner childs sense of wonder. And Piquer's directional style fits this kind of high-kitsch, high-artifice pulp adventure story like hand in glove. Almost up there with the directors The Fabulous Journey to the Center of the Earth. 4/5

Convoy of Women (1974)

Original title: Convoi de Femmes

Sleaze/Adventure/Western. France/Italy. Starring Alice Arno, Nadine Pascal, Evelyne Scott, Michel Charrel, Olivier Mathot, Paul Muller & Pierre Taylou. Directed by Pierre Chevalier.

Herzog Video (Germany). German dubbed. Letterboxed.

Not really an adventure film per se but a sleazy Eurociné composite that spices up some forgotten 1960s adventure films with sleaze and nudity. A bunch of gals are kidnapped and are shipped off (rape, whipping, bouncing french buttocks, probably a little inserted footage from some old pirate film) to America to become army prostitutes (rape, whipping, bouncing buttocks... sigh... lots of footage of cowboys and indians, storming of forts etc. from the 1960s Eurociné western-adventure The Last of the Mohicans). Typically bland direction, stiff acting and sub par camera work... and as often when watching routine Eurociné sleaze your mind immediately numbs and starts playing "find the stock footage" in self-defense. OK film, I had hoped for more pirate stuff but it played more like a dirty western. The most enjoyable thing for me was seeing that creepy, bald Eurociné regular who always plays rapist as an Indian in warpaint! 2/5

Treasure of the Amazon (1985)

Jungle adventure. Mexico. Starring Stuart Whitman, Donald Pleasence, John Ireland, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Hugo Stiglitz, Bradford Dillman & Sonia Infante. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

DVD: Italian Shock (Holland). English language. Fullscreen. Not the best quality but at least it's uncut.

Very, very entertaining mexican adventure film! Stuart Whitman is the tough, aged adventurer who encounters nazis, cannibals, pirahnas and vicious crabs (!) on a treasure hunt in the amazon jungle. This surprisingly gory and exploative film is a personal favorite and probably my favorite adventure film of the 1980s (fuck Raiders of the Lost Ark!). You can always trust the Cardona's. 5/5

The Thief of Baghdad (1978)

Arabian fantasy. UK/France. Starring Kabir Bedi, Roddy McDowall, Roddy McDowall, Terence Stamp, Frank Finlay & Marina Vlady. Directed by Clive Donner.

Video Gems (USA). English language. Fullscreen.

Colorful arabian fantasy - very entertaining and totally undeserving of its obscurity. Kabir Bedi plays the dashing hero and a fine job he does. 4/5

El Pequeño Robin Hood (1975)

Adventure/Family. Mexico. Starring René Cardona III & René Cardona. Directed by René Cardona.

Westcon Home Video (Sweden). Spanish with swedish subtitles. Fullscreen. Selltape.

Wonderful, wonderful adventure/family film with the whole Cardona family assembled (Cardona Jr. wrote the script). The old gypsy Aramis and his young protogé Robin Hood are travelling the country with their bow and arrow-show. While the villagers watch the show their trained monkey Lucifer empty their pockets. After an encounter with the law and an escape from jail everything ends happy for the three friends and Lucifer dances a kosack-dance while Aramis plays the accordion while the snow starts falling (if you don't melt there you have no heart). I love this film. 5/5

Zindy, the Swamp Boy (1973)

Original title: Zindy, el Fugitivo de los Pantanos

Family/Adventure. Mexico. Starring René Cardona III, René Cardona, Lindy Fields, Gloria Chávez & René Barrera. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

Westcon Home Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen. Selltape.

Very obscure mexican family film (quite literally) about a young boy and his grandfather lost in the jungle. Fun to have seen but perhaps not the most interesting film in the world... 2/5

Treasure of the Amazon (1985)

Jungle adventure. Mexico. Starring Stuart Whitman, Donald Pleasence, John Ireland, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Hugo Stiglitz, Bradford Dillman & Sonia Infante. Directed by René Cardona Jr.

Sonet Video (Sweden). English dubbed. Fullscreen. Cut!

Very, very entertaining mexican adventure film! Stuart Whitman is the tough, aged adventurer who encounters nazis, cannibals, pirahnas and vicious crabs (!) on a treasure hunt in the amazon jungle. This surprisingly gory and exploative film is a personal favorite and probably my favorite adventure film of the 1980s (fuck Raiders of the Lost Ark!). You can always trust the Cardona's. 5/5

The Executioner of Venice (1963)

Original title: Il Boia di Venezia

Sword. Italy. Starring Lex Barker, Guy Madison, Alessandra Panaro ,Mario Petri, Alberto Farnese & Raf Baldassarre. Directed by Luigi Capuano.

Force Video (USA). English dubbed. Fullscreen.

Quite good little costume adventure in which Barker and Madison are pitted against each other. 3/5

Tor: Mighty Warrior (1963)

Original title: Taur, il Re della Forza Bruta

Peplum. Italy. Starring Joe Robinson, Bella Cortez & Harry Baird. Directed by Antonio Leonviola.

Replay Video (Belgium). French language with dutch subtitles. Letterboxed (slightly). Image is stretched out so if you adjust your TV settings you can get a pretty good full widescreen, but it doesn't help much since the print is horribly bad and dubbed in french... Nice, tacky cover though.

Bizarre and crudely made peplum, but not without its entertainment value. Apparently the project begun as a Tarzan-ripp off, but not much of that was left in the finsihed product (this tacky belgian video release tries to sell it as one though). A blatantly racist movie, poor Harry Baird (Four of the Apocalypse) had to degrade himself as Ubaratutu, the stupid and cowardly black sidekick to his "massa" Taur. 2/5

Giant of Marathon (1959)

Original title: La Battaglia di Maratona

Peplum. Italy/France. Starring Steve Reeves, Mylène Demongeot, Daniela Rocca, Philippe Hersent, Alberto Lupo, Daniele Vargas & Alan Steel. Directed by Jacques Tourneur & Mario Bava.

VTC (Sweden). English dubbed. Widescreen.

Brilliant peplum! 4/5

Angelique: The Road to Versailles (1965)

Original title: Merveilleuse Angélique

Romance/Adventure. France/West Germany/Italy. Starring Michèle Mercier, Claude Giraud, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean Rochefort, Giuliano Gemma, Ernst Schröder & Rosalba Neri. Directed by Bernard Borderie.

Wahlters/Romantic (Sweden). Selltape. Fullscreen. French with swedish subtitles.

Angélique (1964)

Original title: Angélique, Marquise des Anges

Romance/Adventure. France/West Germany/Italy. Starring Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein,
Jean Rochefort, Giuliano Gemma & Claude Giraud. Directed by Bernard Borderie.

Wahlters/Romantic (Sweden). Selltape. Fullscreen. French with swedish subtitles.

Angelique and the Sultan (1968)

Original title: Angélique et le Sultan

Romance/Arabian adventure. France/West Germany/Italy. Starring Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein, Jean-Claude Pascal, Ettore Manni & Helmuth Schneider. Directed by Bernard Borderie.

Wahlters/Romantic (Sweden). Selltape. Fullscreen. French with swedish subtitles.

Untamable Angelique (1967)

Original title: Indomptable Angélique

Romance/Adventure. France/West Germany/Italy. Starring Michèle Mercier, Robert Hossein, Roger Pigaut, Ettore Manni, Christian Rode & Paul Muller. Directed by Bernard Borderie.

Wahlters/Romantic (Sweden). Selltape. Fullscreen. French with swedish subtitles.