SANDOKAN...the movie...Please help if you're from Europe!!!!
 

How is it goin'?

I would like to ask if any of you guys from overseas has an idea if this movie has been released on DVD? If not, perhaps a link to a VHS release would also be appreciated.

I am looking for the old Italian version with Kabir Bedi(hope I spell this right).

Thank you so much for your assistance.

PS
I have looked everywhere on the States and no one even knows anything about this movie. Very, very sad!!

...ahh... if you mean the TV Mini-Series: it can be pre-ordered on the DVD Italia site... (285 minutes/39,99 Euros/no other specs given)... strangely enough the illustration used is that of the Dutch version De Tijger van Maleisie...

. . . :o . . .

Dear Hendrik,

You are correct....the photo image on the cover is from the Dutch version of the movie. In fact, these are the two movies I NEED. Bothe of them with Kabir Bedi.
Do you know if they are available somewhere in Europe? I do not need the mini-series.....

THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Please, reply back to me!!!!!!!!!!!

...well...ahh... I checked dvdfr but there's nothing there... a question: wouldn't the "movie" be just a cut-up (shortened) version of the TV series? (same thing as happened with - e.g. - the German Das Boot or Ingmar Bergman's Fanny & Alexander, to name just two examples...)

. . . :o . . .

....Hendrik...this is indeed a very good assumption. I am not sure however what to say. All that I remeber is that there were 3 movies and they were quite long to be tagged "TV-clones". I dont know though,,,now that you mentioned this.

I have also checked a few sites as well but the info they give about the DVD -Sandokan trilogy- is quite honestly a mess.

Do you have any other suggestions? I do not speak or read Dutch, Italian or French...and these are the country regions that seem to carry the dvd's.....I dont know even what is the street date ...they all seem to have different info regarding this issue....

One thing I am sure about....I do not need the US version with Christopher Reeves....I need the old Kabir Bedi movie(s)....therefore the European releases.

...turns out my assumption was wrong - how I hate that! :(

...if you check the IMDb site you will find there were 5 (five!) 1960s Italian movies featuring the character Sandokan - none of these have Kabir Bedi in them...

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

...there were 3 (three!!!) TV Mini-Series, none of them (obviously, see dates) related to the movies:

- 1976 : Der Tiger von Malaysia
- - - this is the 360-minute (six hours!!!) release referred to in my previous post, and stars Kabir Bedi

...then, after a 20-year pause, came:

- 1996 : The Return Of Sandokan

- 1998 : Son Of Sandokan

...the last two Mini-Series are not (yet?) scheduled for a DVD release...

...check the oft-maligned but still good IMDb site for casts, directors, other details... it is a very useful site!... really!!!...

. . . :D . . .

Hendrik....that is where I have been getting my info from anayway...IMDB.
If you're correct then I should assume that the 360min version you mentioned in your previous post is indeed the movie I saw when I was growing up. Perhaps,they(the TV series) were modified to be presented as feature(motion picture?) productions. Very strange..., yet interesting fact. Thank's for directing me towards it though.

So, is this 360min DVD set released now or what? DVDfr and DVDit both seem to have different info? I also assume that you speak French or Italian(maybe both if I recall some of your very old posts correctly)....maybe you could let me know what is the original aspect ratio of these TV series...if you could translate some of the DVD specs for me?

In any event....all of your posts have been very helpful to me. Thank's for your assistance once again. You've shed some light on a movie that here in the States is almost impossible to even discuss...

...well... we're talking about Sandokan a.k.a. The Tiger Of Malaysia, an Italian-French-German co-production for TV made a generation ago in 1974 - long before widescreen 16:9 TVs were even a gleam in a TV developer's eye - the correct AR would thus be 1.33(1.37):1... 6 episodes of 50 minutes each = 300 minutes, give or take a few seconds = approx. 288 minutes on DVD (due to c.4% PAL speed-up, assuming these were filmed at 24fps, possibly with a view to cut them up into three "movies" of c.100 minutes each for release to cinemas ... in Europe, at that time, these would have been shown theatrically at AR 1.66:1 and, perhaps, in the USA at 1.85:1) ... mind you, all of this is conjecture on my part, since you keep mentioning 'movies' as opposed to TV programs ... takes a deep breath

...and, yes: that's the set offered on Italian DVD... see http://www.mondoculto.com/film/sandokan.htm

...don't see anything on dvdfr - which lists three titles featuring Kabir Bedi - none of which have anything to do with Sandokan...

...perhaps your memory is playing tricks on you?... maybe you saw a couple or more of the 1960s movies (all without Kabir Bedi) and are confusing these with the 1970s and/or 1990s TV series (all with Kabir Bedi)?...

...ahh... life's full of mysteries - and confusion, too... back to my bottle of Château Migraine...

. . . ;) . . .

Hendrik...thank's for all your help and sorry I had to bother you with all of my persistent questions. I am sure that you were correct when you assumed that these were the TV series. Period!!

Thank you once again for taking the time to explain some of the technical specs for me as well. If I sounded a bit too hasty it's all because of the good old memories(sigh.....).

Best of luck to you,
S.

I just saw this DVD(s) yesterday at a music shop in Amsterdam. I saw a 6 hour 3 disc set and a different 3 hour 2 disc set with some extras. The 2 disc set was actually a little more expensive.

...one review of a Dutch release of one of the (oh so many!!!*)
<a href="http://www.dvd-home.nl/review/divers/sandokan1.htm">Sandokan</a> movies...

...notice that ITALIAN is spoken, with DUTCH subtitles - NO English!

*I checked Halliwell's, which mentions three:

° (1963) "Sandokan The Great"
..............directed by Umberto Lenzi
..............starring Steve Reeves, Genevieve Grad, Rik Battaglia, Andrea Bosic

° (1964) "Sandokan Fights Back"
..............directed by Luigi Capuano
..............starring Ray Danton, Guy Madison, Franca Bettoja, Mino Doro

° (1964) "Sandokan Against The Leopard Of Sarawak"
..............directed by Luigi Capuano
..............starring Ray Danton, Guy Madison, Franca Bettoja, Mario Petri, Alberto Farnese, Mino Doro, Giulio Marchetti,Aldo Bufi-Landi

..................

...here's a Fan-Site for Italian author <a href="http://www.geocities.com/perla_di_labuan/">Emilio Salgari</a> who, it seems, wrote the original Sandokan novels that subsequently inspired the series of (1930s, 1940s, etc.) Sandokan movies and TV series...

...who was this author - dubbed "The Italian Jules Verne"?... take a look <a href="http://www.ferncanyonpress.com/pirates/salgari/salgari.shtml">here</a>...

....................

...and here, for your delectation, is a recently updated Fan-Site for
<a href="http://www.kabir-bedi.com/">Kabir Bedi</a> "The Best Sandokan - Ever!"...

. . . :o . . .

Thank you for the link..... i will be getting the set soon......

By the way the cover shown has Kabir Bedi's face but the review is about S. Reeves's movie.....which is widescreen and the Dutch release is P/S.

...nonono!... the Dutch DVD is: Quote Aspect Ratio Widescreen 2.40:1 letterbox (4x3) (niet anamorphic) Unquote... which is an overly complicated way of saying that this is a non-anamorphic (= plain vanilla letterboxed) widescreen transfer...

...oh... and I assume you're ok with the Italian soundtrack and Dutch subtitles...?!?...

E D I T

...because the reviewer apparently is a totally discombobulated fellow, I'm having to do some guessing now: the release (starring Steve Reeves) referred to above is the "Bonus film" that, it seems, comes with the full-screen <a href="http://www.dvd-home.nl/review/divers/sandokanm2.htm">TV version</a> starring Kabir Bedi - this would explain the fact that the latter is featured on the cover, instead of SR...
...again: this is an Italian-language version, with Dutch subtitles...

...YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!... ...and I should get a life!...

. . . :o . . .

Thank's HENDRIK....I will be getting the movie regardless of the language "issue"...there are way too many memories that come with this movie so the sheer fact that I could have it on a DVD is enough......besides I am more than convinced that IT will never show up here(the US) with English subs.....

By the way, I am aiming for the 3DVD Dutch set.....which is all P/S and I think does not include that bonus disc(movie) you're talking about.

Now....a quick question.....since these were the mini-series(or whatever they were intended for)....should I guess that the Dutch boxset is therefore offering the correct aspect ratio? I tried to find via IMDB.com but they do not list any technical specs.....my guess would be yes....but you never know. As I stated awhile ago in one of my very early posts regarding this movie.....when I was growing up I saw the movie in a movie theater and I could swear it was widescreen. Regardless though....I am a happy camper now....I will be placing an order shortly.

...well... I suppose <a href="http://www.dvdverkoop.be/index.cfm?area=1&section=9&Lang=nl&Land=1&Login=0&ref=2804">this</a> is what you're getting then: 6 hours, fullscreen, on three DVDs, in "Jewel" cases - with English stereo, Dutch subs - or Italian mono, Dutch subs, depending on which site you believe...?!?...

(signed) Utterly Confused

. . . :o . . .

YES, that is indeed what I am getting....HERE'S MORE CONFUSION:

I have confirmed that though the site indicates that there are English subs...in fact there are none. The info is directly from the Dutch company itself......which I got in the form of an email. I guess they just...screwed up somehow....I dont know.

So, you are perfectly right....WITH THIS MOVIE(3SET) EVERYTHING APPEARS TO BE ONE HUGE MESS!!

Nevertheless, thank you for all your effort to help me out!!!

pro:

I wanted to ask you if you ever got the set?

I've also been trying to get this movies, for ever.

Now I know this was confussing but are any of the versions offered in french language?

Which version did you end up with, how's the transfer, any extras etc...

Regards,
Abydos

Abydos:

I ended up getting the Dutch set from Proxis.be. It has Dutch subs but not English or French. Regardless, the movie has a lot of value to me so I like it.

You could try also the Italian double disc but I am not sure there is a French sub provided.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Sorry to keep beating the bush, but if the version u got has dutch subtitles,what language is in?

Is it a good transfer?

Anyways I soon decide to take the plunge or not, I too don't care what sub it has, I love that flick, and the series, for that matter.

Regards,
Abydos

It is in Italian........

Actually I asked someone that lives in Italy and was responding to my questions regarding a few French discs and there is a 2 dvdset in Italy (the one with the red cover and flag) that is suppose to have English subs. I DO NOT OWN THAT VERSION THOUGH so I can not confirm that. This info does not pertain to the later Italian verison which only has Kabir Bedi's face on the cover....as far as I know this second set does not have subs.

LOOK AT MY OTHER THREAD.....
on the bottom you should see the info regarding Sandokan (THANK YOU MDM67!!!) which I asked because of you......
HERE:
http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=289141

Thetransfer is semi- decent as the Dutch set contans the original longer version which I believe is too old now and could use some restoration. However it is more than acceptable for me.

There is only one website who ships internationally and lists the R2 Italy edition of the TV series though it seems out of stock <A HREF="http://www.dvd2k.it/scheda.asp?id=2849">pre-order Sandokan at DVD2k</A> it hasn't english subs, but an english audio track. I'll keep you informed if I manage to get more and more reliable information about it.

<A HREF="http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=mdm67">mdm67</A>