Product description

The Thief Of Bagdad [1925] [DVD]

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Average customer rating: 4.5

Binding : DVD
EAN : 5060000401059
Label : Eureka Entertainment
Manufacturer : Eureka Entertainment
Publisher : Eureka Entertainment
Release date : 2002-02-25
Title : The Thief Of Bagdad [1925] [DVD]
Actor : Array
Audience rating : Universal, suitable for all
Format : Array
Languages : Array
Number of items : 1
Original release date : 1925-01-12
Region code : 2
Running time : 139
Studio : Eureka Entertainment
Theatrical releaseDate : 1924-03-23

Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
Dating from 1924 this IThief of Bagdad/I is justifiably billed here as "one of the truly great silent films of the 1920s." As the forerunner of generations of magical, effect-laden fantasy epics, its importance is practically immeasurable. And still, after eight decades, it has startling, thrilling qualities which the finest computer graphics would struggle to surpass. Douglas Fairbanks, co-founder of United Artists, is the eponymous hero, swindling, fighting and leaping his way to true love through a series of adventures which take him from a magnificently surreal Bagdad to enchanted forests, ocean bottoms and magic carpet rides.p "Happiness must be earned," is the motto; Fairbanks and his director Raoul Walsh certainly don't short-change their audience in bringing it to life. The effects are stunning, with a particularly gruesome slaying of a monster. Every scene is crammed with detail and incident. Fairbanks is a whirlwind of muscular, balletic flamboyance. And while his princess (Julanne Johnson) is a stereotype of vapidity, there's gleamingly malevolent support from Anna May Wong as the evil Mongol Slave Girl. Over two hours of sheer enjoyment belie the notion that cinematic sophistication is a modern achievement.p BOn the DVD:/B IThe Thief of Bagdad/I disc presents the restored and remastered print (the tints have a luminous quality) complete with a 1975 score by master organist Gaylord Carter--you can almost feel the Wurlitzer rising from the pit of your entertainment centre. The audio essay, written by film historian R Dixon Smith, is an invaluable extra, providing essential information on how the picture was made and how the art designers played with proportion to create many of the visual tricks and a fantastical atmosphere. --IPiers Ford/I

Customer reviews

review by: simpon date: 2006-09-19 rating:

Scary
I wonder if the director realised this film would still be chillingly relevant thirty odd years later.

review by: We're all Frankies' date: 2006-03-12 rating:

Cult classic from 1971...
Peter Watkins cult 1971 film is a film that has long been unseeen - the introduction included on this DVD tells the story of the film's production, the historical backdrop and the reaction to the film which lead to it pretty much vanishing. I'd highly reccomend watching the introduction as it explains Watkins' history in historical documentaries, the zeitgeist and the way in which all films are essentially fictional ('Punishment Park' was apparently seen in Denmark as real - a complaint was made to the US before it was pointed out this was a pseudo-documentary!).pTo the backdrop of the trial of the Chicago Seven, the Vietnam War, Nixon's administration, and the hippy dream gone wrong this film fits right in. Cult movies that surround it have some relevance - the hippies in revolution blowing up the modern world in 'Zabriskie Point' or the death of the hippy dream signified by the deaths at the end of 'Easy Rider' and 'Vanishing Point.' Watching this alongside the documentary 'Guerrilla: The Taking of Patty Hearst' shows the extreme climate and offers some rationale as to why the SLA (who were mostly college students) took to terrorism. pWatkins initially wanted to make a documentary, but hit upon the idea of making a work that referenced the present day and also served as a future fable - its influence is apparent on such works as 'The Long Walk/The Running Man' (Stephen King), the pseudo-documentary style found in many films ('Year of the Sex Olympics','Zombie Holocaust', 'Natural Born Killers', 'Man Bites Dog', 'The Last Broadcast', 'The Blair Witch Project', Dogme 95 works like 'The Idiots'),'Battle Royale' and shares a desert locale like 'Zabriskie Point.' On one level this is a political documentary, exploring civil rights issues and a crackdown on dissent (this had happened in America in the 30s as well as the 60s, then there were the draft riots...)- Watkins' using a non-actor cast to take on roles: the Black Panther leader, the writer, the protest singer, the Abbie Hoffmann style character whose stood for election etc. This all feels very Brechtian and would support an essay or two!pThe plot is simple - one group of people are being put on show trial in a Guantanomo style camp for protesting at the state of society. This trial is cut to a group previously tried entering the Californian Punishment Park...the notion here is the US government applying a military style law and offering those they find guilty of it (young hippies, black panther types, those protesting against the government)an option: a heavy custodial sentence or three days in Punishment Park. The majority choose Punishment Park - where the goal is simple, without water they must get 20-something miles across a death valley style desert to reach an American flag. pThis is a painful film to watch, whether watching the Orwellian way in which the guilty are put on trial or the painful scenes in the desert where the group attempt to flee the policemen after them (the other notion of 'Punishment Park' is that it provides practice for the cops National Guard). References made to Vietnam, the Peace movement, the Black Panthers, Kent State, the Chicago Seven Trial/the Yippies and Nixon's malignant rule are made. A dystopian cult classic that has pertinence with the US's concentration camp in Cuba, the application of the Patriot Act in the US, similar laws passed here and prisons in the US now being made up of tents in humid climates. 'Punishment Park' is an excellent pseudo-documentary and a welcome issue on DVD - here it will hopefully have the life denied it by cinemas and TV stations unwilling to screen it. A cult classic for sure...

review by: date: 2005-10-21 rating:

A Great Movie - But NOT A Complete Uncut Version
For some reason most of the DVD versions of this movie are 139 minutes long. The old VHS versions run to 155 minutes. Despite claims that the difference is only caused by a faster frame rate in the DVD copies, it is a fact that key scenes are missing from all of the so-called uncut and complete DVDs. The film is in the public domain and that perhaps encourages distributors to simply copy the most conveniently-available versions and add their own soundtracks.pFor many of the fans who really love this film, the 'Thames Silents' version (with a tremedous musical score by Carl Davis and running for the full 155 minutes) remains the definitive version. I come here quite regularly in the vain hope that it has finally found its way on to DVD...but there are still only inferior, badly-hacked about versions on offer.

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