ALEKSANDR PTUSHKO FANTASTIKA BOX (1956- 1972)
ILYA MUROMETS (THE SWORD & THE DRAGON) (1956)
SAMPO (THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE) (1959)
THE TALE OF TSAR SALTAN (1967)
RUSLAN AND LUDMILA (1972)
Deaf Crocodile Synopsis: A box set containing four of legendary Russian filmmaker Aleksandr Ptushko's most sweeping, visual F/X-filled epics: ILYA MUROMETS (THE SWORD & THE DRAGON), 1956, Mosfilm, 87 min. A stunning Cinemascope ballad of heroic medieval knights, ruthless Tugar invaders, wind demons and three-headed fire-breathing dragons. SAMPO (THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE), 1959, Finland/USSR, 91 min. Dir. Aleksandr Ptushko. Based on the Finnish national epic "Kalevala," Ptushko's ravishing, mystical fantasy tells the story of a sinister witch Louhi (Anna Orochko) who covets the Sampo, a magical, rainbow-colored mill that can produce endless salt, grain and gold. When the hero Lemminkäinen (Andris Oshin) attempts to stop her, Louhi literally steals the sun, plunging the world into eternal darkness. THE TALE OF TSAR SALTAN, 1967, Mosfilm, 85 min. Based on a famous fairy tale in verse by Alexander Pushkin, TSAR SALTAN is one of director Aleksandr Ptushko's most sublime creations: a ravishingly beautiful fantasy about love, magic, betrayal and abandoned family. Like his earlier masterpieces, TSAR SALTAN is filled with breathtaking imagery: carved wooden lions who shed tears; peasants in pagan ritual masks, dancing in the snow; the treacherous faces of conspirators bathed in red candle glow like the witches in Macbeth. RUSLAN AND LUDMILA - 1972, Mosfilm, 145 min. The final film from Russian fantasy master Aleksandr Ptushko, RUSLAN AND LUDMILA was a glorious and magical summation of his career: a 2-1/2 hour greatest hits package filled with the sweeping lyricism, bejeweled visual F/X and mythic storytelling that put him on par with Walt Disney, Ray Harryhausen and Mario Bava.
Label: Deaf Crocodile
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 91 Minutes 44 Seconds
Audio: Russian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widecreen (2.39:1)
Director: Aleksandr Ptushko
Cast: Aleksandr Shvorin, Andrei Abrikosov, Au-Son-Hi, Boris Andreyev, AIya Arepina, Mikhail Pugovkin, Muratbek Ryskulov, Natalya Medvedeva, Nikolai Gladkov, Ninel Myshkova, Sergey Martinson, Sergey Stolyarov, Shamshi Tyumenbayev, Shukur Burkhanov, Vladimir Solovyov, Vsevolod Tyagushev
Legendary Russian fantasy filmmaker Aleksandr Ptushko's Cinemascope lensed epic Ilya Muromoets is set during the legendary era of the Kyivan Rus' culture that pre-dated both modern Ukraine and Russia, it concerns a heroic bogatyr, a sort of medieval knight, named Ilya Muromets (Boris Andreyev) who at the start of the film has seemingly been paralyzed since childhood, and is unable to defend his village from a horde of Tugar invaders, led by Tsar Kalin (Shukur Burkhanov), who plunder his village and kidnap his wife Vassilisa (Ninel Myshkova). In the aftermath a group of pilgrims arrives at his decimated village, curing him of his paralysis with a healing an elixir and give him a magical sword. With his newfound mobility and strength he swears to defend the kingdom, rescue his wife, and defeat the dreaded Tugars. The film spans several decades and is quite epic for a 90-minute film, Ptushko's style is a mix of Lord of the Rings by way of George Pal with a dash of Disney whimsy thrown in, it's a sumptuous style with bold colors, fantastical production design, chock full of Harryhausen-esque miniatures, forced perspective, gorgeous matte paintings, and imaginative animatronic creations and set pieces that feel like a feverish stage play put on film. His style is not realistic per se but it established a sense of lush grandeur and make-believe that it's just wonderfully weird and wild. Over the span of decades we see our hero rescue his wife, only for her to be kidnapped again, the Tugan invaders end up raising his son who ends up fighting against him, and the film comes to a close with a battle against the fire-breathing three-headed dragon Zmey Gorynych! The film was exported to to the U.S. by Roger Corman where it was recut, re-dubbed, and retitled The Sword & The Dragon, this is the version that was famously by MST3K. This is an endlessly creative and imaginative fantasy-adventure flick, the acting is big, the costuming, production design and visual effects are absolutely stunning.
Special Features:
- New 4K restoration of ILYA MUROMETS
- New Audio Commentary track by comics artist (Swamp Thing) and film historian Stephen R. Bissette.
- 28-Page Illustrated Booklet with Reprint of Part 1 of pioneering Russian film scholar Alan Upchurch's articles on Ptushko from 'Video Watchdog' magazine
- New Restoration Trailer (3:26)
SAMPO (THE DAY THE EARTH
FROZE) (1959)
Label: Deaf Crocodile
Region Code: A, B
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes 16 Seconds
Audio: Russian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Aleksandr Ptushko
Cast: Andris Osins, Anna Orochko, Urho Somersalmi
Ptushko's Sampo (1959), based on the Finnish folktale epic "Kalevala", isan equally lavish tale of mystical fantasy shot in Cinemascope about the evil, hook-nosed witch, Louhi (Anna Orochko), who throughout the film covets a device known as the Sampo, a magical, rainbow-colored mill that can produce an endless supply of spices, grains, and gold. The only person capable of forging the mystical device is the blacksmith Ilmarinen (Ivan Voronov) who resides in the neighboring kingdom of Kalevala, and to that end the witch sends her enchanted evil cloak, which looks cool as Hell, to kidnap the blacksmith's sister Annikki (Eve Kivi) and bring her to the witch's dark realm Pohjola, Upon learning of the kidnapping the blacksmith and Annikki's love-interest, the golden-haired hero Lemminkäinen (Andris Oshin), cut down a giant tree and make a boat, setting sail across the sea to rescue her from the witch. Confronting the witch she tasks them individual feat of strength, Lemmiankainen is tasked with plowing a fields of deadly snakes, which he does with the help of the blacksmith who forges a glowing red work horse, and Ilmarinen is tasked with creating the mystical Sampo, which he does. Eventually they steal the Sampo and and return to their realm with Annikki, but the angry witch manages to steal the sun from the sky and hide it in her mountain vault plunging the world into eternal darkness, whch begins to freeze over. The Finnish/Soviet co-production is in gorgeous CinemaScope with stunning colors, chock full of surreal and fantastical imagery, shot with a painterly eye, we get all manner of surreal visuals, my favorites being that glowing red horse the smith forges, and the weeping mother of Lemmiankainen walking across the sea to find her lost son, but the real highlight for me is the portrayal of the witch Louhi played by Anna Orochko, she is so sinister and evil, her look more frightening that an Disney conjuring could ever hope to be as she chants "Give me fire for the furnace from the nave of the sky!". Ptushko's live action folk tale is a highly impressive piece of work festooned with surreal and imaginative design elements that are a treat from start to finish. This a film that was also distributed in the US, recut, dubbed and retitled The Day The Earth Froze, and again it got the MST3K treatment back in the 90s.
Special Features:
- Newly restored in 4K
- 30-Page Illustrated Booklet featuring Part 2 of pioneering Russian film scholar Alan Upchurch's essay on Ptushko reprinted from 'Video Watchdog' magazine
- New Audo Commentary by comics artist (Swamp Thing) and film historian Stephen R. Bissette
- New hour-long video interview with Mike Nelson of 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' and Rifftrax, moderated by noted comics artist Bob Fingerman and Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile (61:39)
- Original Finnish Trailer (3:32)
Label: Deaf Crocodile
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 85 Minutes 9 Seconds
Audio: Russian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Aleksandr Ptushko
Cast: Aleksandr Degtyar, Artyom Karapetyan, Boris Bityukov, Grigoriy Shpigel, Kseniya Ryabinkina, Larisa Golubkina, Nina Belyayeva, Oleg Vidov, Olga Viklandt, Sergei Golovanov, Sergey Martinson, Valeriy Nosik, Vera Ivleva, Viktor Kolpakov, Vladimir Andreyev, Yuri Chekulayev
Ptushko's The Tale of Tsar (1967) is based on a famous fairy tale in verse by Alexander Pushkin and shot on the large-format Sovscope 70, offering a wonderous tale full of eye-popping magical visuals, a story about love, magic, and betrayal. When the kind-hearted but also slightly naive Tsar Saltan (Vladimir Andreyev) marries Tsarina (Larisa Golubkina) her jealous mother and sisters secretly collude with other schemers to plot against her. While the Tsar is off fighting a war they secretly intercept a communication from the Tsar, replacing it with an order for the Tsarina and her newborn's son death. In a fairytale-esque way the newborn kid is inexplicably aging/growing at a strange rate, by the time he and his mother are sealed up in a wooden barrel and tossed off a cliff into the ocean he's an adolescent. They don't perish in the ocean thanks to the intervention of a Fairy Princess Tsarevna Lebed (Kseniya Ryabinkina) who the young boy rescued from a hawk while she was in her swan-form after the Tsarina and he have washed up on a foreign shore. The boy is now fully grown man, Gvidon (Oleg Vidov), and because of his inherent kindness is further blessed by the Swan Princess and becomes ruler of a new kingdom, but he longs to be reunited with his father. As with the previous film this also features a dazzling array of fantastical visuals like the Swan Princess walking across water, fifteen foot tall soldiers, epic battles, carved wooden lions on a throne who shed tears and come to life, and eerie candle lighting highlighting the conspiratorial machinations of evil-doers. It's another wonderous tale brought to life with gorgeous fairytale visuals, the skilled artistry on display is nothing short of stunning.
Special Features:
- New hour-long video interview with Academy Award winning Visual FX artist Robert Skotak (ALIENS, TERMINATOR 2) on Ptushko and the history of Russian fantastika filmmaking
- New Audio Commentary track by comics artist (Swamp Thing) and film historian Stephen R. Bissette.
- 12-Page Illustrated Booklet with New essay by professor and film historian Peter Rollberg (Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema)
- Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion.
Label: Deaf Crocodile
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 145 Minutes 51 Seconds
Audio: Russian PCM 1.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.37:1)
Director: Aleksandr Ptushko
Cast: Valeri Kozinets, Natalya Petrova, Vladimir Fyodorov
Ruslan and Ludmila (1972), based on an epic fairy tale written in 1820 by Alexander Pushkin, would prove to be the final film from Aleksandr Ptushko, who died a year after making it. In the nearly three-hour epic warrior bogatyr Ruslan (Valeri Kozinets) is set to marry beautiful Ludmila (Natalya Petrova), the daughter of Prince Vladimir (Andrei Abrikosov), but on the night of their wedding his new bride is spirited away out the window of the castle by the long-bearded wizard Chernomor (Vladimir Fyodorov, Kin-dza-dza!). Angry that Ruslan was not able to protect his daughter Prince Vladmir offers Ruslan's three rival suitors, Farlaf (Vyacheslav Nevinny), Rogdai (Oleg Mokshantsev) and ratmir (Ruslan Akhmetov), the chance to marry the princess if they are able to rescue her and return her safely. As the four set out to rescue the princess they have various encounters, with Ruslan meeting a hermit named Finn who reveals a tragic past and how he once dabble din sorcery to gain the affection of Naina (Maria Kapnist) only for it to sour with her becoming his nemesis, and an ally of the sorcerer Chernomor. He then comes upon a giant, sentient severed head who tells his sad tale and how he was the eldest brother of the evil sorcerer, buy who gives him a mystical sword to avenge his decapitation by his brother. More adventures ensue as he encounters his rivals, and there's a terrific Sleeping Beauty elements to it that emerges, with Ruslan encountering the three rivals. It's another magical and fantastical adventure with stunning visuals and a sense of fairytale wonder, pulling in elements of Sleeping Beauty, with all manner of the fantastic by way of healing magical rings invisibility cloaks, resurrection water and stone warriors.
Special Features:
- Newly restored in 4K
- New commentary track by comics artist (Swamp Thing) and film historian Stephen R. Bissette.
- 16-Page Booklet with New essay by professor and film historian Peter Rollberg (Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema)
- New video essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central)
- Blu-ray authoring by David Mackenzie of Fidelity In Motion.
Audio/Video: All four films arrive on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile in 1080p HD, all sourced from original film elements, with The Tale of Tsar Sultan scanned in 2K while the three other films were scanned in 4K. The image quality is quite strong, looking generally filmic with nice color-saturation, pleasing skin tones look. Some of the optical effects shot can look inherently soft at times, but this restoration is generally quite impressive. The color-grade is impressive in that it is both naturally muted but when called upon does terrific work with the more vibrant and dep-hued colors. Audio comes by way of DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual mono, all films are in Russian with the exception of Sampo is in Finnish. The tracks are clean and well-balanced, maybe a bit thin in terms of fidelity and range, but they still have some modest depth to them.
The four-film, four-disc set arrives in a high-quality top-loading hardbox designed Beth Morris using the fantastic watercolor artwork of Tony Stella with spot-gloss elements. The spines of he hardbox are adorned with the film titles. Inside the box films are each presented in their own clear, full-height Scanavo keepcases with 2-sided, non-reversible sleeves of artwork, both the wrap and the interior artwork feature more of Stella's fantastic watercolor artworks, these look absolutely terrific, even the Bu-ray discs are adorned with his . inside the Blu-ray discs feature the same key artwork as the wraps. Inside each of the keepcases there are booklets with new essay by film historian and professor Peter Rollberg (Historical Dictionary of Russian and Soviet Cinema) for both Ruslan and ludmila and The Tale of Tsar Sultan, and reprints of a 37-page 2-part study of Ptushko from the pages of Video Watchdog magazine from '91 and '92 by the late film scholar Alan Upchurch.
We also get an impressive array of extras, including audio commentaries for all four films by comics artist (Swamp Thing) and film historian Stephen R. Bissette, a 62-min Mike Nelson of 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' and Rifftrax, moderated by noted comics artist Bob Fingerman and Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile, a new hour-long video interview with Academy Award winning Visual FX artist Robert Skotak (Aliens, Terminator 2) on Ptushko and the history of Russian fantastika filmmaking, a new video essay by film critic Walter Chaw (Film Freak Central), plus trailers for all four film.
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This is a terrific four film set, if you grew up watching the fantastical films of George Pal, Walt Disney, Mario Bava, love the stop-motion magic of Ray Harryhausen, or the wonderment of The Lord of the Rings adaptations I would have trouble thinking that you would not absolutely adore these four films of Aleksandr Ptushko. I was instantly entranced by these tales of myth and folklore, they're epic, fantastical, and look stunning on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile, and they should be known by a larger swathe of genre film fans, and this four film set is a wonderous deep-dive into Ptushko's catalog.
Buy it!
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