Danger: Diabolik

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Lino · #1 Post by **Lino** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 4:42 am

From the Bits:

We've got some new details on a few upcoming Paramount titles today. Danger: Diabolik will street on 6/14 (SRP $14.99) with commentary by actor John Phillip Law and Tim Lucas (director Mario Bava's biographer), the From Furnetti to Film featurette, The Beastie Boys' Body Movin' music video (with commentary by Adam Yauch) and the film's teaser and theatrical trailers.

#2 Post by **cdnchris** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:06 am

I'm actually impressed Paramount decided to include the Beastie Boys video. How funny.

Wasn't this on Mystery Science Theater 3000, or am I making stuff up? If so, is it unlikely to see that on DVD? I don't know how rights issues work with that show.

Nihonophile · #3 Post by **Nihonophile** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 9:38 am

Yes, this movie was used for their last episode. Rights works the same way for them than anybody else. They pay for the rights to have it on the show, but releasing it on homevideo involves different rights.

Sai · #4 Post by **Sai** » Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:44 am

I saw it about five years ago and found it a fun little picture. I really don't remember a lot about it, but it certainly didn't strike me as being as bad to qualify for MST3000. And it had boobs.

Gordon · #5 Post by **Gordon** » Wed Mar 30, 2005 6:16 pm

I hate MTSK.

I LOVE Bava's films. Diabolik is great, great fun. A pop-art masterpiece. I'm glad that Paramount cancelled the originally proposed bare-bones DVD for this edition. Tim Lucas is the only person who could do a commentary on this film justice and I'm sure JPL will contribute some great stories.

But the question about the soundtrack remains: the original English dub tracks (note: the film wasn't 'shot' in any particular language - the Italian, French and English version are all dubbed) are said to be lost and the old Paramount VHS and Laserdisc editions had different, inferior dubbing and the mix was different: the guitar riffs were muted, less pronounced. Also, the original recordings of Morricone's score do not exist; they were lost in a fire. That is why it is the only Morricone score to never be released on CD.

So... does anyone have any info on the soundtrack? English? Italian? Mono? 5.1?

Lino · #6 Post by **Lino** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 12:06 pm

First review that I'm aware of is up at a french site.

the dancing kid · #7 Post by **the dancing kid** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 12:20 pm

DVD Savant loves this movie. Here's his old article about it.

Gordon · #8 Post by **Gordon** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 1:16 pm

Wow! Judging from the screencaps and the transfer comments, this looks like a beautiful anamorphic transfer! The English mono (as I state above, the film was not 'shot' in any specific language and was dubbed into the applicable language in post) track is said to be good, with clear dialogue. It's a shame that the Italian and French dubs were not included. The commentary is said to factually informative (Lucas) and with amusing anecdotes (Law). There's also a short featurette that is said to be decent.

I can't wait to get this one. A real bargain, too.

Fletch F. Fletch · #9 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:04 pm

There is also the wonderfully kitch Beastie Boys video, "Body Movin'" which features lots of footage from Diabolik and a commentary by B-Boy Adam Yauch. Yeah!

Gordon · #10 Post by **Gordon** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 2:43 pm

There is also the wonderfully kitch Beastie Boys video, "Body Movin'" which features lots of footage from Diabolik and a commentary by B-Boy Adam Yauch. Yeah!

Oh, yeah; that'll be cool, too. I love your body, Larry.

Fletch F. Fletch · #11 Post by **Fletch F. Fletch** » Mon Jun 06, 2005 4:36 pm

I'm curious to see if Yauch's comments differ much from the commentary he did for Criterion...

Mr. Stanwyk's parents Marvin and Velma of Provo, were unable to attend the wedding. Those are three names I enjoy; Marvin, Velma, and Provo.

thewind · #12 Post by **thewind** » Tue Jun 07, 2005 1:29 pm

Fletch F. Fletch wrote:I'm curious to see if Yauch's comments differ much from the commentary he did for Criterion...

I just popped this disc in and couldn't find any commentary for this video.

colinr0380 · #13 Post by **colinr0380** » Wed Jun 08, 2005 8:26 am

The thread from Mobius Home Video Forum has some interesting information answering people's questions about the original soundtrack, whether it is the full version etc, and Tim Lucas has answered some questions on there.

I'm surprised it is not officially released yet - mine arrived on Saturday (although it might have got to me early because of it having been on back order for me for the last six months or so!)

Gordon · #14 Post by **Gordon** » Thu Jun 09, 2005 5:02 pm

Hopefully, this new, high-quality DVD release will help bolster the film's reputation as a genre classic. Of all the unrealistic ratings at IMDb, Danger: Diabolik's has to be the most perplexing: IMDb listing

The median rating is 6/10, but the weighted average on the main page is 4.8 from 647 votes, which is really strange. I bet that it has something to do with Mystery Science Theater 3000. That show's version of the film will have influenced people's opinion on the film in a negative way. The same is true for This Island Earth, which, in my humble opinion, is an excellent film, a true landmark in the genre and, as noted by the great Raymond Durgant in Films and Feelings, it "has everything against it. It is a fantasy, it's science fiction, it's slanted at adolescents, it's a routine product from a studio with no intellectual pretentions, it has no auteurs, its artisitc 'texture' is largely mediocre - and for all that, it has a genuine charge of poetry and of significant social feeling. It's not cliche; with its sense of inner tensions, of moral tragedy, it's myth". Diabolik isn't as dumb as some cine-illiterates make out, either.

Lino · #15 Post by **Lino** » Sun Jun 19, 2005 8:01 am

This Savant review has been a long time coming (Glenn has been a long time lover and supporter of this film) and is now up:

Savant has seen a lot of his favorite movies turned into DVDs, but this release of Danger: Diabolik is the first studio disc to take a complicated problem picture and all the problems to the satisfaction of picky DVD genre fans. It's 2005's outstanding disc of the year so far.

bcsparker · #16 Post by **bcsparker** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 9:40 am

Personally, I could care less about Diabolik. I mean, this movie is the ultimate in kitsch ("Deep deep down...."). And with the recent OOP status of The Girl Who Knew Too Much, Four Times That Night, and of course Rabid Dogs, the release of this really doesn't excite me too much.
If you really want to get into Bava, buy Blood and Black Lace and The Whip and The Body.
Although for anyone who is interested, revengeismydestiny.com is offering a complete set of the Diabolik animated series.
And yes, the MST3K version made fun of all the crappy elements of this movie. Quite deservingly, I might add.

The Invunche · #17 Post by **The Invunche** » Wed Jul 06, 2005 10:15 am

So you do care about Diabolik.

solaris72 · #18 Post by **solaris72** » Thu May 22, 2008 5:39 pm

Seems to be OOP.

tryavna · #19 Post by **tryavna** » Thu May 22, 2008 7:13 pm

solaris72 wrote:Seems to be OOP.

Although the Amazon marketplace prices haven't gotten out of hand yet, it's worth noting that the R2 Italian release includes all of the extras on the R1. (The R2 British release does not.)

OliverB · #20 Post by **OliverB** » Fri May 23, 2008 6:24 am

Is it just me or have a handful of Paramount's catalog titles gone OOP in the past year?

neal · #21 Post by **neal** » Fri May 23, 2008 11:26 am

OliverB wrote:Is it just me or have a handful of Paramount's catalog titles gone OOP in the past year?

There's discussion about it here.

dodo · #22 Post by **dodo** » Wed Aug 22, 2012 8:38 am

Sorry for bringing old topic back up. But, I was browsing through Türk Filmer Katalogu book and on page 425 there's a picture of a movie poster to Kara Seytan. Here's the picture:

http://media.sinematurk.com/film/8/ff/2 ... 4428_1.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now, I'm a big fan of Diabolik and noticed that the posters background is stolen from the Mario Bava film. And on top of that Diabolik comic books were called Kara Seytan in Turkey. So, is this film a Diabolik rip off?

Anyways, the film seems to be a sequel to 1971 film Kinova also by Çetin Inanç and it also stars Hüseyin Zan. That is all I know at the moment and I really would like to know more!

Danger: Diabolik

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