DVD

Average customer rating:

Love Conquers All? ~ Sometimes
It's beyond me...
Great Movie! Great DVD!
3 Stars for the PAL, Full Screen DVD Version of the movie...

Ashanti
Starring: Michael Caine , Peter Ustinov , Kabir Bedi , Beverly Johnson (III) , and Omar Sharif
Director: Richard Fleischer
Manufacturer: Tango Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0009UVCPI
Release Date: 2005-09-27

Description

Dr. David Linderby and his wife Anansa are carrying out an inoculation program in a small African village when Anansa disappears. The police can do nothing to find her and David has almost given up hope when he hears a rumour that Anansa has been kidnapped by a slave trader called Suleman, to be sold to an Arab prince.

The authorities deny that the slave even exists, so David must find unofficial organizations to help him; a shadowy world where the rescuers of the slave are just as futhless as the traders themselves. Enlisting the help of Malik, a nomad whose family were stolen by Sulelman, David must leave civilization behind and travel across the desert to find Anansa.

Customer Reviews:

Love Conquers All? ~ Sometimes.......2005-11-25

My rule of thumb concerning presentation format. If you have a choice between widescreen and full screen, always purchase the widescreen. However, if the film is only available in full screen and it's one you really want, you buy the full screen and put up with it until a widescreen version comes out to replace it. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. With that said I'll comment on the movie.

Being the movie buff that I am, I'm embarrassed to admit that I had never heard of 'Ashanti' until I puchased it recently. The selling factor for me was the inclusion of Beverly Johnson in the cast. Upon my initial viewing I was delightfully surprised to discover that this is actually an extremely good and timely film. The existence of a modern day slave traders and the ever rising numbers of unaccounted for missing persons has received alot of media coverage in the U.S.A. this past year. It's a harsh reality, but it's the truth nonetheless, slavery continues to flourish in the twenty-first century. Odd how this '79 film could so accutely tap into our awakening consciousness of this worldwide scandal so relevant today.

'Ashanti' is a well conceived, highly entertaining action/adventure and love story of one man's relentless search for this kidnapped Ashanti wife. He pursues the slave trader Suleiman across the slavery routes of Africa and Arabia with the aid of the enigmatic, nomadic warrior Malik who lost his family years earlier to the same slave trader.

The cinematograpy is gorgeous which makes it a real shame that this DVD is full screen (sorry had to make another comment on format). The screenplay is brutally honest, at times sadly poignant and will keep you engaged until the very end. 'Ashanti' also boasts a cast of international stars that deliver admirable if not outstanding performances. My personal favorites were; Kabir Bedi in the role of Malik and of course the devastatingly beautiful and exotic Beverly Johnson as the kidnapped Anansa.

Negatives: One of the worst muscial soundtracks I've ever heard. It sounds like something that belongs in a very bad '70's television series. Also disappointing was the ending. Up until the last ten minutes I would have given this film -5 Stars-. What were they thinking?

It's beyond me..........2005-09-21

... how anyone could see a botched fool-screen edition as "A Great DVD". As long as anyone is buying those insults to 'Artistic property' (which are much more perverted than any pirating), no wonder some studios keep on releasing such ludicrous editions. Any movie should be seen (and heard) in the original format (and language) : subtitles are ALWAYS better than dubbing (once upon a time, movies were even shot in 2 or more languages, best example is Laurel & Hardy who were even funnier in French or Spanish -because of their accent- than in English).

Of course, rating only apply to the studio, whose name should be read "Tangled Entertainment". When will so-called "Enforcement Agencies" look at this as a crookery worse than piracy : a 2.35:1 movie is missing almost half the image when butchered in 1:33. Full-screen as an option for those whose vision has been irremediably impaired by TV watching could be understandable if original format was included as well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great Movie! Great DVD!.......2005-09-18

Like Michael Caine? If so this is a must have. I'd never heard of this movie now I recommend it to everyone. As time goes by we let some good stuff slip threw the cracks. Talk about an allstar cast...Peter Ustinov, Omar Sharif, William Holden and a VERY BEAUTIFUL BEVERLY JOHNSON. You have Vodoo, a very interesting story and great acting, what more do you want. Try getting that at your local movie theatre. I thought the DVD looked great motion menus, biographies and all.

3 Stars for the PAL, Full Screen DVD Version of the movie..........2005-09-07

I just bought the UK version of the DVD, which I really hope, won't be duplicated in the NTSC version.

Not so much for the quality of the picture (which is discreet, even if in a banal Full-Screen presentation) or the sound (plain and dull 2.0 Stereo), but because I am tired, REALLY TIRED, to see movie transferred on DVD in a Full Screen format.

To me, allow me to say this, DVD is meant for the entire piocture resolution and format.

If you, the production companies and distributors, are not able to come up with something better than the same version already on VHS tapes, than just forget it and don't produce this stuff anymore.

It's a waste of time and money. Your time and your money at that, but also ours. And Heaven knows if the economy is at a point where someone has still the right to squander money.

To produce a DVD, one needs serious research of the sources, lots of patience cleaning a movie up, for a better picture and sound resolution, and the money to do so.

Just slamming a video copy on a DVD doesn't do it for the real collector or the true movie connaisseur.

You all do (you producers and you distributors), all so often, treat us (the customers and viewers) as if we were plain imbeciles, cretins or complete idiots, which in some cases maybe true.

But to assume that because out there, there are a few suckers, willing to throw their money at you without any question asked, all the rest of the viewers, which are actually the majority (but you don't even bother to notice), would do the same, is plainly offensive.

I actually know why "Ashanti" is redestributed in this format on DVD (at least the UK copy).
Already in 1979, the year in which it was produced, the producer had to struggle for distribution.
It represented a competition to Hollywood, by an independent and until then, unkown producer.

Although this may not be considered a masterpiece of a movie, it is still a good and entertaining one, tackling with a subject that many have tried to avoid for years: Modern Slavery.

I may not be surprised to know hat behind all the reticence to distribute the movie, was a wealthy Arab, feeling offended by the thematic contained in it. We all know they have the means to do something like this.

They have done so for years and we have allowed them to do so because of the money. These gentlemen are very clever. They don't need to wage war against us. They just need to blackmail us with oil embargos, or withdraw their dominant capitals from our banks, and we are on our knees.
Knowing that, they have played around with us, and our weak Governments, for decades.

Unfortunately for these Gentlemen, not all of us, are suckers or wide-eyed believers of good will, and some even manage to read between the lines and discover the things they don't want us to see, or to know.

Culture, is a true damnation, to such individuals, who try to play on the "clever" note. Being clever, doesn't necessarily mean that one is also very intelligent.

Actually this is exactly the assumption of many "clever men", who always try to outsmart the truly intelligent one with their gimmicks and their stupid tricks.

It is very unfortunate that such individuals truly think that in the long run, they will rule the world and the market, since experience and hundreds of years of history have only proven the exact contrary.

In their immense ignorance, all they manage to produce, is the perpetuation of their mistakes, and in their arrogance (which is the true trait of the ignorant) they don't see that they are only achieving very little for a very limited amount of time.

Here I come back to this little effort of distributing "Ashanti" on DVD.
Quite frankly I hope, that the U.S. version will be in its original 1.35:1 format and digitally remastered for a surround sound (even just a conventional one).

My three stars are just limited to the work contained in the movie and the cast who played in it.

The British DVD version is just another blunt excuse to rip our hard earned money out of our pockets.

Stay away from it and wait for the U.S. release.
But before you buy it, read whether or not it is in Widescreen or not. if it is not, don't even bother.
The scope of this movie and the scenery itself require both that this picture be viewed in a theatrical format.

Be aware of what you buy and what you get.

It is your money, not theirs.

Average customer rating:

Action Jackson/Tango and Cash
Starring: Carl Weathers , Craig T. Nelson , Vanity , Sharon Stone , and Thomas F. Wilson
Director: Craig R. Baxley , Andrei Konchalovsky , and Albert Magnoli
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Action & Adventure | Genres | DVD | Video

DVDs Under $14.99 | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
ASIN: B0000DC156
Release Date: 2003-11-18

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