Ashanti
(1979) + The Wild Geese – 30th
Anniversary Edition (1978) + Zulu
Dawn (1979/Tango DVD)
Picture: C-/C/C- Sound: C/C+/C Extras: D/C+/C- Films: C/C+/C-
As the James
Bond films made a comeback in the hands Albert R. Broccoli and star Roger
Moore, British production became encouraged and took some risks on big
productions that were interesting, but did not work out commercially as much as
expected. At least they were ambitious.
Ashanti (1979) takes place in an Africa
with slavery alive and well, before Apartheid fell. Michael Caine plays a doctor who is going to
expose a more secret slave trade, even if it means going undercover to do
so. Directed by the ambitious journeyman
director Richard Fleischer, the supporting cast boasts no less than Peter
Ustinov, Kabir Bedi, Omar Sharif, Rex Harrison, William Holden, Beverly Johnson
and Johnny Sekka, but it never adds up as Stephen Geller’s script is just too
uneven.
The Wild Geese (1978) opens with Maurice Binder
titles similar to a Bond film, even featuring a theme song by Joan Armatrading
entitled Flight Of The Wild Geese, promises
big thrills and certainly has the budget and ambition to meet some of that
expectation. Andrew V. McLagen directed
this later-day War/Westernesque tale about a team out to free a man who could
change the fate of Africa for the better, but it suffers form being done better
so many times before. However, it is
entertaining and the extras make this disc more interesting. Richard Burton, Roger Moore, Richard Harris,
Hardy Kruger, Frank Finlay, Kenneth Griffith, Barry Foster and Ronald Fraser
star.
That
leaves Zulu Dawn (1979) which is a
prequel to the 1964 epic Zulu and
tries to show the mess British Colonialism offered. Bob Hoskins, Burt Lancaster, Peter O’Toole, John
Mills, Simon Ward Nigel Davenport, Peter Vaughan, Denholm Elliot, Christopher
Cazenove, Donald Pickering, Nicholas Clay and Freddie Jones star in this
anti-climactic, unnecessary retread of a better, dated film.
Ashanti was shot in real anamorphic
Panavision by Aldo Tonti, which is the way the letterboxed trailer is
shown. Too bad only the credits are
shown that way, as the rest of the playback is in an awful pan and scan
transfer. It has no extras and flat
Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono from theatrical mono a few generations down. Wild
Geese is presented in a letterboxed 1.85 X 1 image that is not bad, but
should have been anamorphically enhanced, as shot by Jack Hildyard, B.S.C. and
has Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono instead of a multi-channel derivative from the
4-track magnetic stereo on better release prints. Extras include the original trailer,
interactive combat menu, Stars’ War, text star bios, long radio promo called
“radio spot” here, premiere footage, Last
Of The Gentleman Producers – The Life & Works Of Euan Lloyd featurette
and a terrific audio commentary by Sir Roger Moore, Lloyd & journalist
Johnathan Sothcott which makes this the highlight of all three DVD releases. For those who do not know, all Moore
commentaries are among the best ever by any star in the world, literally.
That
leaves Zulu Dawn, shot in real
anamorphic Panavision by Ousama Rawi, which is not as good as Zulu’s
Technirama, but tries to look as big.
However, the transfer cheats here by cutting off the sides to be more
like 1.85/1.78 X 1 letterbox and it shows.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is barely stereo and this was a Dolby A-type
analog theatrical release. The only
extra is the trailer.
- Nicholas Sheffo
