I just grabbed SECRET OF THE INCAS and PLUNDER OF THE SUN on a 2 for $8 rare finds sale on Fandango at Home/Vudu this weekend. I'm sure both are probably the older Paramount HD versions. I relished these studio adventure films when I was a kid and watched them on TV. They all had their limitations but some of them were just great (THE NAKED JUNGLE and FAIR WIND TO JAVA are my all-time favorites). I have a soft spot for "Incas" mainly because of the Yma Sumac exotica bits (the rest of it is mostly a drag), but I'm gonna grab a copy of the newer Kino blu-ray. I enjoyed the Kino versions of the Sophia Loren adventures, LEGEND OF THE LOST and BOY ON A DOLPHIN as well, in spite of their shortcomings. I'm glad Warner Archive has done KING SOLOMON"S MINES and hope they do VALLEY OF THE KINGS and MOGAMBO soon. Imprint have done some good ones in their Tales of Adventure Collections as well. Glad to see you cover these classic matinee-style adventure movies.
You might like to glance at Gunga Din (1939) to see plot elements of Temple of Doom, and the force ghost appearing at the end idea for Return of the Jedi
Oh yes there’s a LOT of borrowing from GUNGA DIN in addition to the Tarzan films and many other classic Hollywood genre films. The other major influence on Temple of Doom that never gets mentioned is hammer’s classic The Stranglers of Bombay. But the big one overall is Republic and Universal serials.
Secret of the Incas can be sampled on several streaming services including Amazon Prime, Apple-TV, Fandango and You Tube. This is a very good review of the physical media release that has truly taken too long.
Speaking of Kino muck ups, they've just announced that their upcoming Columbo: The Return box set will be cropped to 16:9 just like the Japanese BluRay set and the US DVD sets were. This means that the only way to watch Columbo in its original aspect ratio is to get either the region 2 box set or the region 4 DVD sets. Since the cropping is pretty badly done this is rather dire news.
About 10 yrs ago I purchased a DVD copy of "Secret of the Incas" published by Underground Empire Inc, full screen (4:3), with the choice of languages English/Quechua/Spanish (But, there is no menu to select language). Picture quality is lucky to be 480. Seems to be a DVD-R. The cover art is the same as the newly released KL. Looks as if I'm in possession of a bootleg!
Kudos to Lucas and Spielberg for seeing great potential in the material of this film. If I had never seen Raiders and someone said "it's like Secret of the Incas" I probably would not rush out to see it. This movie has its positives, but it is very slow and of a lower production value. Even with the acting talents. I have not seen Plunder of the Sun but would gladly buy a copy if Kino would release it here. I recently saw Five Graves to Cairo and that also feels like a heavy Indy influence, but there seem to dozens, including the old Zorro serials you mentioned. I would also say that one of the reasons the most recent Indy film did not for me is that it is lacking these classic references, being more self referential instead and less interesting. No the iris shot did not save it for me 😂
They’ve certainly lost the spirit of adventure that made them produce the series in the first place. To get back to the core of that all you have to do is look at one of the classic universal or especially republic serials. Spy smasher is a masterpiece of the form for example and in one of the earlier chapters Spy Smasher even picks up a bull whip to use against enemy Axis agents.
I've been watching your older laserdisc videos and after watching your Star Wars on I wondered what you think about the Star Wars Despecialized version or the 4K77 one. Maybe you made a video about them and I missed it.
It is available on DVD in Charlton Heston collection i believe by same company that did imprint release. The image quality is horrible. Lots of colour shifting and seperation. So terrible. The quality in your video is a 100% improvement. I want to sell it but I would feel guilty having someone be disappointed by how bad it looks.
I’m not surprised. The versions that used to turn up on broadcast TV or what was floating around were really low quality print transfers not done very well. The old master imprint used was a basic HD version of what looks like a very old paramount print transfer like their old master of when worlds collide. I just wish the color timing had been properly done on this new master.
Be honest, are your reviews some very nitpicky nerdy things or something that really affects the watching? For me, i dont care about anything other than that the omage isn't horrible compressed or full of dnr that it looks like plastic or that the restoration is trash and full of dirt for a reason that wasnt because of bad damaged print, or if the movie is missing scenes or its cut or something, that's all i care about, for most of blu-rays, i have had no complaining, are you just very nitpicky and care more abot small things?
As a 53 year old collector of classic cinema, I Always find your videos enlightening and engaging. Keep up the great work.
this movie was the reason I always thought Heston should've been Indy's father in Last Crusade.
I just grabbed SECRET OF THE INCAS and PLUNDER OF THE SUN on a 2 for $8 rare finds sale on Fandango at Home/Vudu this weekend. I'm sure both are probably the older Paramount HD versions. I relished these studio adventure films when I was a kid and watched them on TV. They all had their limitations but some of them were just great (THE NAKED JUNGLE and FAIR WIND TO JAVA are my all-time favorites). I have a soft spot for "Incas" mainly because of the Yma Sumac exotica bits (the rest of it is mostly a drag), but I'm gonna grab a copy of the newer Kino blu-ray. I enjoyed the Kino versions of the Sophia Loren adventures, LEGEND OF THE LOST and BOY ON A DOLPHIN as well, in spite of their shortcomings. I'm glad Warner Archive has done KING SOLOMON"S MINES and hope they do VALLEY OF THE KINGS and MOGAMBO soon. Imprint have done some good ones in their Tales of Adventure Collections as well. Glad to see you cover these classic matinee-style adventure movies.
You might like to glance at Gunga Din (1939) to see plot elements of Temple of Doom, and the force ghost appearing at the end idea for Return of the Jedi
Oh yes there’s a LOT of borrowing from GUNGA DIN in addition to the Tarzan films and many other classic Hollywood genre films. The other major influence on Temple of Doom that never gets mentioned is hammer’s classic The Stranglers of Bombay.
But the big one overall is Republic and Universal serials.
Secret of the Incas can be sampled on several streaming services including Amazon Prime, Apple-TV, Fandango and You Tube. This is a very good review of the physical media release that has truly taken too long.
Thanks
Just ordered it . I recorded it years ago in early 90s . Chunk Heston is my favourite Actor and always thought the Raiders look to Harry Steel.
Chunk Heston is overrated. I prefer the nuanced performances of Sirloin Hayden.
@Theomite really!!!and you could Spell the right Spelling for Sterling Hayden 😅😅
@@jonnywyattgreengreen3301 Hey, you have to admit, he was the best leading man for Stanley Kubesteak's THE GRILLING.
I saw Secret of The Incas during its initial theater release in 1954.
Speaking of Kino muck ups, they've just announced that their upcoming Columbo: The Return box set will be cropped to 16:9 just like the Japanese BluRay set and the US DVD sets were. This means that the only way to watch Columbo in its original aspect ratio is to get either the region 2 box set or the region 4 DVD sets. Since the cropping is pretty badly done this is rather dire news.
I got italian and spanish DVD editions for like more then a decade ago. Maybe bootlegs but there you go. Greetings from Sweden!
About 10 yrs ago I purchased a DVD copy of "Secret of the Incas" published by Underground Empire Inc, full screen (4:3), with the choice of languages English/Quechua/Spanish (But, there is no menu to select language). Picture quality is lucky to be 480. Seems to be a DVD-R. The cover art is the same as the newly released KL. Looks as if I'm in possession of a bootleg!
Thanks for doing this Spence!
Kudos to Lucas and Spielberg for seeing great potential in the material of this film. If I had never seen Raiders and someone said "it's like Secret of the Incas" I probably would not rush out to see it. This movie has its positives, but it is very slow and of a lower production value. Even with the acting talents. I have not seen Plunder of the Sun but would gladly buy a copy if Kino would release it here. I recently saw Five Graves to Cairo and that also feels like a heavy Indy influence, but there seem to dozens, including the old Zorro serials you mentioned. I would also say that one of the reasons the most recent Indy film did not for me is that it is lacking these classic references, being more self referential instead and less interesting. No the iris shot did not save it for me 😂
They’ve certainly lost the spirit of adventure that made them produce the series in the first place. To get back to the core of that all you have to do is look at one of the classic universal or especially republic serials. Spy smasher is a masterpiece of the form for example and in one of the earlier chapters Spy Smasher even picks up a bull whip to use against enemy Axis agents.
Can you tell me how many Applewood books were issued for the Hardy Boys series???
Para probably thought it was okay to put this out, since Uni's Dial o' Destiny was not a huge hit.
I've been watching your older laserdisc videos and after watching your Star Wars on I wondered what you think about the Star Wars Despecialized version or the 4K77 one. Maybe you made a video about them and I missed it.
It is available on DVD in Charlton Heston collection i believe by same company that did imprint release. The image quality is horrible. Lots of colour shifting and seperation. So terrible. The quality in your video is a 100% improvement.
I want to sell it but I would feel guilty having someone be disappointed by how bad it looks.
I’m not surprised. The versions that used to turn up on broadcast TV or what was floating around were really low quality print transfers not done very well. The old master imprint used was a basic HD version of what looks like a very old paramount print transfer like their old master of when worlds collide. I just wish the color timing had been properly done on this new master.
Would you class yourself as a movie snob?
Be honest, are your reviews some very nitpicky nerdy things or something that really affects the watching? For me, i dont care about anything other than that the omage isn't horrible compressed or full of dnr that it looks like plastic or that the restoration is trash and full of dirt for a reason that wasnt because of bad damaged print, or if the movie is missing scenes or its cut or something, that's all i care about, for most of blu-rays, i have had no complaining, are you just very nitpicky and care more abot small things?
1