Colossus of the Arena

I like Sword and Sandal movies and have vast collection of them, but I have to say that since a lot of them are in public domain the quality of the dvds are terrible. Sinister Cinema has to be lauded for this excellent transfer in widescreen and pristine color you would think that this movie was made recently. Dubbing is not that good, but the action is great and to watch this movie as it was intended instead of the pan & scan is great. I can actually say that if you like the Euro Spectacle this movie is a lot of fun. and worth the surprising low price. I hope that SC will continue to search for more transfers of this genre in the future.

I only recently received this one in the Mail, so I scanned through the DVD ,looked at some of the chapters, looking to see how this one sizes up, Don't think I'v seen it before, Picture quality seems pretty good, It's widescreen, And this one has two of the real names in Sword + Sandal Flics- MARK FOREST + DAN VADIS, MARKs the good guy ,DANs the bad guy, Both do a good job as usual for these guys. Picture Seemed fairly stable with good Color, Clairity, as well. I can't wait now to sit in my Theater room, and see the rest, Good viewing to you....

Decent sword and sandal entry with plenty of action. Mark Forest is in fine form.

****** No Plot Spoilers ******* I own a collection of Mark Forest Sword and Sandal (S&S) films. Sinister Cinema's release of "Colossus of the Arena" is one of the best in my collection. Either someone did a terrific job of restoring this film or someone did a terrific job of preserving its original print. "Colossus of the Arena" is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 and was formatted for my widescreen HD television. I didn't have to change the aspect ratio in order to get it to fill the screen like I have done for other S&S films. Also, the film's quality was excellent; it appeared to have just recently been released at the theatres. There are no dancing horizontal or vertical lines, bleeding spots, splotches, etc. It is the best quality film I have seen that starred Mark Forest. Unfortunately, the DVD doesn't have any extras; mine didn't even have a menu. I inserted the disc into my Blu-Ray player, hit the PLAY button and the film immediately began. Also, the print is an Italian one; all the credits are in Italian. The English dubbing was sub-par but did not detract from the film's enjoyment. As far as the plot is concerned, "Colossus of the Arena" is one of the most violent, bloody S&S films I have ever seen. A tremendous amount of blood is shed and there is much figurative and literal backstabbing. Innocent men, women and children are brutally slaughtered by cruel gladiators as they try to locate Maciste (Mark Forest); he is the only man who stands in their way of abducting and killing the queen. Muscleman Dan Vadis portrays an evil gladiator who does hand-to-hand battle with Maciste. There is at least one torture scene that made me cringe. As I said before, this is one of the most graphically violent S&S films I've seen. Overall, the acting is good and the sets look as though a lot of money was spent on them. I didn't care for the voice that was used for the English dubbing of Maciste. Because of Forest's superb physique, most fans will overlook this. When he isn't wearing his gladiator leather harness in the arena, he is bare-chested, revealing his overdeveloped, perfectly tanned, glistening pecs. Despite the lack of extras, I gave "Colossus of the Arena" the highest rating because of its wonderful widescreen quality; clear, crisp audio; intriguing, violent plot; and because it stars bodybuilding champion Lou Degni (a.k.a. Mark Forest). Sinister Cinema has done a terrific job of releasing it in a highly enjoyable format that won't hurt the wallets of those who collect S&S films, especially those starring Forest. In fact, I am so impressed with Sinister Cinema's release of this film that I need to look into their other releases of Mark Forest S&S films.Joseph B. Hoyos