Atilla the Hun 2 x 800ft Colour

#1 by Tom Photiou , Thu Nov 15, 2018 9:59 pm

First of all, for me, this wasn't so much of a viewing, more of an endurance. This is my Brothers film and not one i particularly enjoy as it prefer something a little more modern, however, we both watch all of each others films no matter what. While he has viewed it many times himself, on my list i noted that it was 1998 when i last viewed it, being an early Derann release from the early to mid 70s i was almost certain that this print was going to be red as most of the films from Derann from that particular era are now.
I gave it a quick clean before viewing as was actually very surprised at how good this print still is. Yes it has some fade but it was never particularly colourful when we bought it God knows how many years ago, This is one of our early prints, so probably around 40 years ago. The odd thing about this one is that the colours on the darker scenes are actually a hell of a lot better than those bright outdoor scenes which are very muted and, in some places, single coloured. Overall, this is a pretty good print, being an Italian / French production the sound is dubbed into English, the sound is very good and very clear and the sharpness is very good.
This one is to be listed on ebay now as he has promised himself that once they start to go they lose there appeal to him, we had a chat and do agree that this film always had a muted colour look to it. At the end of the day, if it was faded all those dark scenes would be red with no colour, in actual fact, they are all good, much of the red you see is due to the fact that many of the indoor cave sequences you see are lit by fire giving the whole thing that reddish look, you will note from other scenes that the colours are indeed fair to good. The condition of the print itself is pretty good with only some light black lines to the right, although parts 3 and 4 do have a few more, but again, overall, pretty good given the age of this print.

So, in a nutshell, here is a review with images taken tonight & the help of wiki,
The story is set in 450 A.D. The Huns, a horde of barbarians from the distant plains of Asia, move toward the rich western lands of Germania, led by a savage chief, Attila.
Flavius Aetius, a Roman general, is the only person who knows Attila since he was in a continuation of legation with the Huns for years. Aetius and his companion Prisco carry a message from the Roman emperor Valentinian III to the Hun's king Rua. After reaching their palace, Aetius learns that the king died, and that two brothers Bleda and Attila are now ruling the Hun kingdom. Bleda favours peace and tolerance, but Attila is at odds with him, and tensions develop. Yet Aetius knows to make an alliance between the Western Roman Empireand the Huns.
Aetius returns to the Imperial court at Ravenna, where the childish emperor Valentinian III is busy with Roman parties in his palace and enjoying himself, while ignoring the fact that the Empire is beginning to fall apart. Because of this, his mother Galla Placidia is ruling the Empire. Honoria, daughter of Galla Placidia and sister of Valentinian hopes to get rid of them, but needs help to do so. She asks Aetius to join her in a coup d'état, but he has vowed an oath to serve the Empire and refuses, even if he's arrested and stripped of his military rank by Valantinian and Galla Placidia due to his alliance to the Huns.
The two brother’s battle, Attila wins by ordering his bodyguard to fire arrows at Bleda and his bodyguard during the hunt, and declares himself the sole leader of the Huns, riling them to support his aspirations of conquering the Roman Empire.
Flavius Aetius returns to Ravenna, and finds Emperior Valentinian enraged by imagined attempts against his rule. Galla Placidia realises that the Empire is now on the edge of destruction and gives Aetius full military power in an effort to protect her son. As a Roman field army marches to block Attila's path, Honoria slips away from the Imperial court and visits the Hun in his camp.
The battle is eventually joined with a frontal attack on the Roman encampment by Hunnic cavalry. This first move is a deception, designed to draw the legions out of their fortified position. Aetius decides to pursue the retreating Huns, anyway. His cavalry charges and his foot soldiers follow them into the fray. After a clash of arms on the open plains, the fighting moves into the Hun camp. Here Honoria is found hiding in a nomad cart and killed. But Aetius is soon killed by an arrow through the neck and the Romans lose their will to fight. They flee the field and the Huns follow to burn their encampment. As night falls, Attila takes his young son, Bleda, to view the carnage strewn battlefield. There, a badly wounded Roman archer manages to fire a last shot. The arrow misses Attila, but kills Bleda. This emotionally traumatises the Hun. He appears to lose his passion for conquest and plunder.
On the way toward Rome, a sullen Attila and his horde come upon a procession of Christians led by Pope Leo I. Bewildered by the assembly he faces, Attila speaks alone with the Pope in the middle of a stream that separates his army from the religious gathering. Leo calmly tells Attila, "You can kill everybody...old people, women, children..." and Attila suddenly hears the disembodied words of his murdered brother Bleda. "Innocent blood won't be washed away. It will come back to haunt you." With this warning in mind, Attila suddenly decides to turn back towards the Alps, leaving Rome unscathed.
[[File:IMG_0047.JPG|none|auto]]


Looking for, Joe Kidd / The Outlaw Josey Wales on 16mm. Good prints only.

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Last edited 11.15.2018 | Top

RE: Atilla the Hun 2 x 800ft Colour

#2 by Vidar Olavesen , Thu Nov 15, 2018 10:15 pm

Yours look much better than mine,which is totally faded. Not Derann at its best :-/


 
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RE: Atilla the Hun 2 x 800ft Colour

#3 by Tom Photiou , Thu Nov 15, 2018 10:57 pm

To be honest Vidar, yours is how i was expecting ours to look like. We also had the excellent feature, The last Command which was more or less the same time as this title. Our copy of that turned from beautiful vivid colours to red in a very short time so we had to sell it on like we will with this title.


Looking for, Joe Kidd / The Outlaw Josey Wales on 16mm. Good prints only.


 
Tom Photiou
Posts: 5.558
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RE: Atilla the Hun 2 x 800ft Colour

#4 by Barry Attwood ( deleted ) , Fri Nov 16, 2018 11:07 am

You've got to remember, this was an early Derann release, long before the Rank upgrade on its printer, and well before LPP was the norm, so Tom's print is remarkable that it has as much colour as it still has, most prints I've seen of this title are just as bad as Vidar's, so it's the luck of the draw, perhaps Tom's was a slightly later re-print. who knows!


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RE: Atilla the Hun 2 x 800ft Colour

#5 by Tom Photiou , Fri Nov 16, 2018 1:52 pm

Cheers Barry. All of our films in both houses are kept in total dark and cool or cold rooms, i think this must also help.


Looking for, Joe Kidd / The Outlaw Josey Wales on 16mm. Good prints only.


 
Tom Photiou
Posts: 5.558
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Last edited 11.17.2018 | Top

   

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