Karl May Collection 1 (1962 - 1966)

3 film, 3 disc collection of German Karl May Westerns, based on a classic series of Old West novels. Ufa R0 German boxset.

The Films - links to individual film reviews where available.

The Treasure of Silver Lake (1962)

Winnetou and the Half-Breed (1966)

Winnetou and His Friend Old Firehand (1966)

In Brief:

Anyone famous in it?	American actors Lex Barker or Rod Cameron (Old Firehand) and French actor Pierre Brice play the lead roles. Look out for euro-cult stars Herbert Lom and Terence Hill.
Who is it for?	This trio of films is a great starting place for newcomers to the Karl May Westerns - it provides a contrast between the adventure tones of Silver Lake and the gritty, Western tones of Half-Breed and Firehand. However, anyone looking for the epic adventure films that the series is famous for will want to see the Winnetou series in box 3.

The DVDs

Visuals	All films are in Original Aspect Ratio (2.35:1) and Anamorphically Enhanced. The picture quality is good, ranges from light to heavy grain throughout, and some print damage. Always Watchable.
Audio	Parts I and II have German and English language audio, part III has just German audio. Generally sounds strong.
Subtitles	German HOH English (this track translates the English soundtrack, so there are some discrepancies when watching the German as the translations are different) - only in parts I and II.
Extras	All the discs include a collection of trailers. Disc 3 also includes: Original trailers for the films in the boxset, including English language trailer for 'Silver Lake' An interview/documentary piece about the three films (22 minutes) in German only. 4 contemporary newsreels/television reports about the films, including interview with the series producer Horst Wendlandt and some interesting behind-the-scenes footage. With German audio only, but plenty to look at. (total 5 minutes). Interactive film quiz (?) in German only. Photo galleries for all three films - manual scrolling. The boxset also includes a 20 page booklet - all German, but with some interesting illustrations.
Packing	Digi-pack in cardboard sleeve - the box is patterned and textured in the style of an old hardback book.
Region	Region 0 - PAL
Other regions?	There are other German DVDs of these films but without English language options.
Cuts?	All films are believed to be fully uncut including scenes cut for US market. Print language is German.

Summary

The first, and last two of the Rialto Karl May Western films - solid entries and all enjoyable for fans of the series. The contrast between the epic adventure story of Silver Lake and the gritty tones of Firehand and Half Breed are very apparent and interesting.

Unfortunately, although the boxset contains lovely looking prints of all three films, only the first two have English options, with part 3 in German only. The interesting looking extras are similarly unsubtitled. The set is worth getting as there are no proper English language versions of the films out yet.

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All text in this review written by Timothy Young - November 2006.
Text from this review not to be used without authorization.

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