Tom Baker in THE GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD (1973)
This scene, when the statue of Kali comes alive, is one of the best from any Ray Harryhausen movies. So why isn't it more famous? Or as famous as the skeleton army JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS (1963)? Tom Baker was a great villain. The release of this movie in 1973 re-ignited a short but strong explosion of PEPLUM movies, including the re-release of HERCULES (1958) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1959). I find this fascinating. The PEPLUM genre was all but dead by the end of the 1960s but this short revival buckled the trend. It didn't last long though. The movie was a hit and signalled movie audiences were ready for escapist movies which STAR WARS (1977), a PEPLUM in space, ran away with.
Star Wars a Peplum in Space????? That's as ridiculous as when I read that the original King Kong was "Jungle Noir." These genre definitions are getting far too broad.
ReplyDeleteYou clearly haven't been reading my blog.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.peplumtv.com/2016/08/retro-friday-star-wars-peplum-in-space.html
That doesn't make it any less ridiculous.
Delete"The PEPLUM genre was all but dead by the end of the 1960s but this short revival buckled the trend. It didn't last long though."
ReplyDeletePerhaps the revival in interest came about when these films began to be screened on TV and thus brought in a new audience. From a previous post of mine:
During 1968-1974, here in Australia, PEPLUM films were screened every Sunday on TV (Epic Theatre) and they were always preceded by a wrestling show. We kids of migrant parents, were all fired up well before the main feature !
Below is a link to an interesting article on the cultural significance of that time. Check out: https://www.segmento.com.au/regulars/cl-cultural-vindication-in-technicolour-before-the-rise-of-multiculturalism
Yes. I guess that there was a crowd for these movie. But the movies made in the 1970s, aside from a bunch family friendly movies like GOLDEN VOYAGE SINBAD and the re-release of the HERCULES movies, were not meant for kids. Most of the new PEPLUM movies in and around 1973 were influenced by Spaghetti Westerns and they were more adult themed like WAR GODDESS or THE ARENA or THE RETURN OF THE GLADIATOR, which weren't meant for kids. Charlton Heston's ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA is another. Most PEPLUM movies during this period were raunchy and gritty.
ReplyDeleteThere was a brief but pretty distinct PEPLUM trend but the huge success of the family friendly GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD signalled more 'escapism' movies, including STAR WARS and SINBAD AND THE EYE OF THE TIGER which both came out in 1977. This is why the trend was short lived. People or kids, young boys, preferred more escapism stuff than the gritty PEPLUM stuff.
Saying how the PEPLUM genre influenced STAR WARS is not ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteVery informative, thank you.
ReplyDelete