DVD review by Olivier Tocanne
Master and pictures are terrific. This DVD offers a very luminous picture, with a perfect rendering of Technicolor's colours (range of yellows, flaming reds, pure blues, bright colours on backgrounds of various ochers) and the respected frame (approx. 2.35) restores up to the anamorphic distorsions optical of the Totalscope process. The disc offers a choice between the shortened french version and the longer Italian version, with or without French subtitles. Length: 140 mins, for the italian version, against 142 mins for the VHS Italian by CVC -but the Gremese dictionary indicates a running time of 127 mins. Bonus (only in french language): historical commentary by Claude Aziza -a french specialist of peplum- about the reality of the Colossus story; presentation (excellent) of Leone's work by Noël Simsolo, the interviewer -and friend- of Leone, in 'Entretiens avec Sergio Leone' (reedited recently by 'Les cahiers du cinéma').
Effectively, the french box (Colosse de Rhodes) is indicating two running times "Version française 2H02, Version italienne 2H20 (140 mns). I've only watched the original version,in Italian, but without deducting the reality of the running time. (When I send you a running time of a film -original version-, it's always the one indicated by the editor, perhaps an editor's mistake is possible).
To complicate this strange case, I have on hand the CVC VHS, it' is clearly indicated: "Durata: 142 min: I supppose -and hope- CVC will publish in DVD this version, following the one of "Per un pugno di dollari".
Other sources:
"Something To Do With Death", C. Frayling : italian running time, 142
mins. (p. 531)
"Conversations avec Sergio Leone", Noel Simsolo, (1987), version
intégrale: 145 minutes (p. 215), running time confirmated in the recent
reedition (1999, Petite bibliothèque des Cahiers du Cinéma), p.199.
"Sergio Leone", Carlos Aguilar, Catedra: Duracion: 128 minutos, p. 237
(without indication on the nature of the version).
"Tutto il cinema di Sergio Leone", Marcello Garofalo, 142 mns (p. 416).
"Sergio Leone, le jeu de l'Ouest", Oreste De Fornari, Gremese,
1997 -french translation-, durée: 142' , p. 163 (not 132, as Mike Eustace
is indicating, but I suppose the translation is not the same).
"Sergio Leone", Gilles Cebe, durée: 120 ou 145 mn (p. 137).
"Directed by Sergio Leone", Gianni di Claudio, durata: 142' (p. 35).
"Sergio Leone", Francesco Minnini, Il Castoro, 1994, durata: 142' (p.111)
It's very difficult to have a right idea about the realty of the Colosse's running time.
As write Gilles Cebe some differents versions have been put into circulation, into the same country (for France, read Gilles Cebe, "Sergio Leone", p. 139), and probably the version are differents according to the countries (without take into consideration to the local censorships or others...)
So the most longer version is (for the instant): 145 mins, according Gilles Cebe and Noel Simsolo.