Customer Reviews

Royal Hunt of the Sun [VHS]

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

This great movie is based on the incredibly successful stage play. The movie was not a big hit for some reason, despite incredible performances by Christopher Plummer as (believe it or not) the "brownie" Inca King Atahuallpa and Robert Shaw as Pizzaro. The script is a blatant condemnation of mass murder and slavery as condoned by the church. It also touches on the social issue of whether life in the world of the Inca -- where each person's life was planned from birth and no one wanted for food or shelter -- is better or worse than life under a monarch or even in a democracy. The Incas traded individuality and freedom of choice for programmed lives; the film lets the viewer make up his or her own mind on this. A third, more subtle theme is the intensity of the bond Pizzaro forms with the captive Inca king. It verges on the homoerotic, which is an interesting take, particularly considering the historical facts. When Pizzaro refuses to execute Atahuallpa, De Soto asks (sarcastically) if he loves the Inca king. Pizzaro responds by admitting that if he does not love Atahuallpa, there's no chance he'll learn of it anywhere else.

Thus we have a beautifully filmed movie with a great screenplay, great music/singing, and acting. The only thing missing is a good, clean copy of the film!!!!! I've seen video copies and this dvd copy, and all of them have skips, a few scratches, occasional color distortion, and too-quick cuts in them. Hopefully someone will give this excellent film the remastering it truly deserves, until then, this is the best available video version. It will irk you a few times when a word is lost or the film jumps too quickly from one scene to another, but if you are willing to tolerate these minor irritants, you'll love the film itself.

Take an intelligent movie with leading actors and some beautiful photography and put it in the hands of seeming rank amateurs for transfer to video and you have The Royal Hunt of the Sun. This video is, without exception, the worst transfer I have ever seen or heard. If it weren't for the fancy box, I would swear it was a pirate copy made by a 6th grader.

Although this isn't a long movie, the video is inexplicably recorded in Extended Play mode and the cartridge contains less videotape than a Macarena dance demo. As a result, the already out-of-focus film they used is made doubly blurry, reducing faces in the not-too-distant background to stacks of fuzzy lines. Whole segments of film are missing, and what is left is peppered with a constant rain of dropouts, scratches, missing frames, and even dust caught in the lens at one point. The "letterbox" lines at the top and bottom of the picture are not black, but blue--and idiotically distracting choice. And as if that weren't enough, the entire picture shifts down after about 40 minutes, leaving the top border significantly larger than the bottom border (did I mention that a line of distorted picture flanks the borders?). Eventually, the video transfer man wakes up and the picture creeps back up to the center.

Then there is the sound, which seems to have been processed through a fuzz box. The sound is so muddy and distorted, listening to this movie becomes a torture worthy of the Inquisition! Obviously, an optical soundtrack wasn't used, because there is also significant print-through. That means you will hear loud sounds about a second before they happen.

Simitar, the company responsible for this travesty, certainly lives up to its name: the Royal Hunt of the Sun is a real hack job.

The quality of the DVD I saw was no worse than many films not fully restored that have a video quality about them. Sometimes it was very clear and the colors were very nice. But what about the FILM ITSELF? CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER IS BRILLIANT as the Inca. He is such an underrated actor. He is one of the finest actors it has been my pleasure to watch during my life - up there with Olivier. Robert Shaw gives a good performance, and the film is one of the most moving and challenging works I have ever seen. If you want to see a brilliant performance from Christopher Plummer and be highly moved, buy this DVD. If you want perfect picture quality, stay away and miss out on a classic film. Hopefully this film will be remastered in the future - until then, I'm quite satisfied with this.

This is unwatchable, The sound is not in stereo though advertised as such on the label. Barely audible and full volume is needed. Cuts in the video, dirty copy off a print.Widescreen bars top and bottom an annoying blue. Worst video I have ever seen or heard, which is a great pity as the subject,the acting, the music and the screenplay are all superb.

Unless the previous reviewers were too harsh and I too lenient, Simitar may have revised their DVD release of THE ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN. The version I saw was part of a two-pack featuring it and THE FIFTH DAY OF PEACE in Amaray-type keep cases. Anyhow, the picture is letterboxed, but crops off a bit of the right, evidenced early on by the title reading "Christoph(er) Plumme(r)" and Robert Shaw being cut off when he stands too far to the right. Yes, the print shows damage in the form of scratches, artifacts, and bad splices, along with faded colors and a picture lacking sharpness. The audio is in unexceptional Linear PCM. But get this: the bars are honest to goodness BLACK! In my opinion, it's staill quite watchable, not at all the horrid and incomprehensible mess described by others. The outstanding cast, scenic Spanish locations, energetic score, and resouceful production designing by Eugene Lourie elevate this film far beyond its low budget roots as well as the deficiencies of this video presentation. THE ROYAL HUNT OF THE SUN is a fine movie that certainly deserves better, much better. But as it stands, the DVD is okay...for now. A final note, the DVD clocks in at 95 minutes, not the 88 printed on the cover.

This film adaptation of Peter Shaffer's play does complete justice to the intelligence and power of the original. While staying very close to historical truth, it is at the same time a timeless and haunting meditation on cultural differences, religion, loyalty, greed, power and friendship. The acting is absolutely superb: Robert Shaw's Pizarro weaves strength, doubt, lust for adventure and riches, and cunning combined with honesty and involuntary admiration for the Inca god-king he has taken prisoner.

The top honors go though undoubtedly to Christopher Plummer and his arrestingly magnificent portrayal of Atahualpa (incidentally, Plummer had played Pizarro in the Broadway version of the play, to much acclaim). He is in turn, and many times all at once, supremely royal, candid, touching, god-like, child-like, alien, eccentric, visionary and always masterful. It is a performance of such power and beauty as rarely has graced the screen, and the actor himself confessed that this was one of the roles he was most proud of.

There is not much "action" as such in the movie, which centers instead on the improbable developing friendship and admiration between Pizarro and Atahualpa, their conversations, and Pizarro's increasingly adversarial relationship with his fellow conquistadores, who want Atahualpa dead and the Inca empire subjugated and converted (with the Inquisition overtones of "convert, or else"). Atahualpa stays serenely true to himself until the end - his conversion to Christianity before he is killed is not a renegation, but a royal nod delivered with a knowing smile to Pizarro and young Martin, who adress him as "My Lord" and beg him to accept the conversion in order not to be burned at the stake. It is Pizarro who is the conflicted one - between the Spanish crown that exploits him without helping him and the ruthless men of the church who accompany him on the one hand, and the peaceful and happy Incas and their majestic but curiously endearing god-king on the other, Pizarro's beliefs and allegiances are all put under question. His heart starts to believe in the man he has to agree to let be killed for the glory of Spain...

All in all, a splendid movie with a superb cast and raising some very thought-provoking questions. Highly recommended.

When Peter Shaffer agreed to allow a screen translation of his Broadway play, "The Royal Hunt of The Sun" it was entrusted to the very able Phillip Yordan and a stellar cast (some from the original stage cast). Unfortunately, this is the type of issue that can and will give DVD a bad name. The producers of the DVD, Simitar Entertainment, utilized a print that was obviously stored in someone's garage and dragged through the streets frame by frame before the transfer was attempted. I've never seen so many breaks, missing frames and scratches in my history of collecting (which goes back to 16mm in the 50's). The sound is either poor optical or lousy magnetic mono, take your pick. The Sound Simply Sucks! The picture quality is marginal and the overall experience of seeing this film again after so many years.....eternally marred for this collector. Despite Amazon's real bargain price for the disc....it's a bummer in sheep's clothing and the folks at Simitar should be ashamed for foisting such a dud on a trusting public. Finally, a curse on whoever decided blue borders at the top and bottom of the letterbox would be a nice touch. All that's missing here are the cute squigglies the Italians and Japanese used to give us in earlier VHS letterbox versions. Finnally, as if to add insult to injury, Simitar adds box notes that proclaim how easy it is to play the disc on "your computer". There are bonuses here too, but what good is a cheap dessert after a lousy meal? In closing, I nominate this disc for the international "distortion in sound" award. It's a hands down winner!

I classify this title among the two or three greatest movies ever made, but Simitar has given us absolutely the worst quality DVD I have yet experienced from among the 100+ DVDs I have purchased thus far. Two other Simitar DVD titles ("Sports Blooper Encyclopedia" and "The Titanic") have caused me to conclude that I will never purchase another Simitar DVD. I emailed Simitar suggesting they should recall the DVD, redo it and re-release it using a much better film print. I also suggested they should apologize to their customers. They did not respond.

When this movie became available on DVD I immediately snatched it up, because I remembered the lasting impression it had made on me the first time I had seen it in the 60s.

Unfortunately the production values of the DVD version are worse than if it had been produced as a high school project in someone's garage or cellar. Virtually every aspect of video and audio is simply abysmal. I sincerely believe that Simitar could not have done a poorer job if it had tried. This movie deserves so much better! So I would recommend that if you like the movie stay away from this DVD. It's awful! (Five stars for the movie, 0 stars for the production.)

A really good movie with strong messages, Royal Hunt of the Sun is one of those rare gems that, I feel, didnt recieve its due (be it screenplay/script, acting, or costumes). Mostly authentic in costumes and to a large part attitudes of the day (the early 1500's), it was a movie I had seen in the theaters long ago that fed my already burgeoning interest in all things history. It tells the story of Francicso Pizarro (Shaw) and his treatment of/relationship with Atahualpa(Plummer): Incan Ruler and Sun God of his people. Based on a play, the story is chock full of morality nuggets: the evils of racism, the value of your word and standing up for what is right, and to some extent, the role that god plays in our lives and our beliefs. All this within the historical context of events that would shape the world and our 'advancement' in it. All actors play superbly. Chief among them of course are Robert Shaw and Christopher Plummer (Spoiler ALERT to a touching scene: of note is when Atahualpa, after having the word God written on the nail of his index finger, discovers the power and importance of reading and writing. He finds out that Pizarro is illiterate and challenges them to learn this wonderment together. This simple act of innocence touches Pizarro and is a subtle but great dramatic scene). A great film, but the transfer is horrible, with some words being cut out and a lack of picture clarity at times due to scratches in the film. There are no subtitles or extras either. I hope that a better copy is made, but like Atahualpa, wont hold my breath (if you see the movie, you will get this inside joke). If you are a fan of historical dramas, Shaw or Plummer, and not daunted by sometimes poor quality DVD transfers, then go ahead and purchase it.