filmkr

I first saw a 35mm Technicolor print of Blood & Roses totally uncut in Korea, in French. I am still waiting and searching for the complete French version to appear.

Beware of the Desert Island Classics release. Yes, it's 2.35 wide-screen, but the picture quality is so poor it looks like it was copied of a soft VHS.

Also, although package listed at 87 minutes, it only runs 76 minutes. Most important among missing footage is the "dream" sequence near the end where Carmilla is drawn into the mirror. Very elaborate and fairly long and with some nudity, it is visually stunning!

So... the search goes on. I really, really hope to someday get to see a complete version.

The more I watch this, the more I like it. Great epic scenes with a huge cast of soldiers, Indians, and horses in real American West settings. The wide screen Panavision photography (with original release prints in IB Technicolor) is excellent. CGI may be fine, but I have yet to see anything surpass the look of hundreds of REAL men on horses in stunning REAL outdoor settings.

As for the story, while I thought the book was very good, the way the characters are handled in the film is better in some ways, and the ending of the film much more to my liking.

One thing they did have to tone down from the book was the sex element. It appears WB even adjusted one sequence after prints were made up. This appears in Reel Two, where Matt Hazard (Tro Donahue) and Kitty Mainwarring (Susan Pleshette) are in thr cave together overnight. With Pleshette's back to audience line (apparently later dubbed in) says "Good night Matt" and there is an ABRUPT cut to daytime and troops coming into the fort. 35mm and 16mm prints I have seen all contain this SLICED cut. And the original 35mm trailer containing the cave sequence does not contain the "good night" line". I believe that originally there was an embrace and kiss between Troy and Suzanne and a DISSOLVE to the next scene (or fade out & in).

In any event, as Westerns go, this has a good story and looks better all the time, especially wide screen.

I am one of the fortunate who saw this in its original theatrical release. The color was never all that great, especially the opening pre-credits. But it wasn't terrible, either. Just your run-of-the-mill Eastman Color. It DID look good presented wide screen CinemaScope and the framing was designed very well to utilize the entire width of the 'scope screen aspect ratio. Those who have only see a flat P&S version are at a strong disatvantage. I read the book long after seeing the movie, and was surprised at the many differences. But the book was hardly CINEMATIC. So, I feel an excellent job was done in ADAPTING the story into a good movie. Whatever the problems involved during production and the additional shooting required, as a whole I would say it comes off fine. Especially the lighthouse material. I tried to imagine the movie without the lighthouse material (reportedly added after initial shooting was completed). But I will also be forever curious as to how they expexcted/did resolve the ending before the lighthouse material. I know for a fact that prior to release the running time was listed as 119 minutes. Oh, that the extra footage had survived. Some publicity stills give a slight indication, such as actually showing the Triffids attacking on the jet plane. Come we to the DVD. I have yet to see a worse transfer! The color saturation is so rich it is impossible to adjust to an acceptable level. It is listed as 99 minutes, though only the theatrical 94 minutes long. The sound is listed as "Dolby Stereo", which it is NOT. It is flat P&S and not wide screened. If this had been a $9.99 or less list price it STILL would have been totally unacceptable. But at a $24.99 it is inexcusable. What further bothers me is that there was a Laser Disc release with acceptable color and wide screened. BUYER BEWARE OF THE DVD! I hope that one day a better version turns up. It may not be the greatest sci-fi film ever made, but when seen properly sure is a highly enjoyable one.