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BluRay/DVD Reviews

SANDOKAN THE GREAT

By • Jan 6th, 2013 •

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Made near the end of Steve Reeves’ career, he portrays a near-mythological hero who leads an uprising in Malaya and, at age 38, looks trim and spectacular, though you can see him favoring his injured shoulder, a wound incurred on THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII in 1959. I’m sure that the injury had something to do with his early retirement, as did the death of his friend Tyrone Power, which he felt was due to industry pressure, something he had no interest in falling victim to.

Co-authored and directed by Umberto (CANNIBAL FEROX, SO SWEET…SO PERVERSE) Lenzi, a film devotee and former film critic, this is a handsome, formal and relatively serious film, and therein lies its flaw. One really doesn’t come to a Steve Reeves film to listen to his dubbed voice (the trailer might actually be his real voice, but, having known him, I still can’t tell for sure). There’s too much of that, and far too little action, and while the cinematography is pleasing, the colors rich, and the plot coherent, the narrative remains sluggish for the most part.

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