Adventure Calls! Karl May at CCC Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

Adventure Calls! Karl May at CCC Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 9, 2026

Eureka! Entertainment has been releasing box sets with an unusual tether: Germany's Central Cinema Compagnie-Film GmbH, otherwise known under its acronym CCC, a studio founded by Artur Brauner in 1946. Brauner had just survived the Holocaust and desperately wanted to make films depicting the horrendous Nazi era, but post World War II Germany was simply not in the mood for such fare, and early Brauner efforts like Morituri (not the Brando - Brynner spy opus from years later) bombed pretty spectacularly, leaving Brauner not just seriously in debt but perilously close to declaring bankruptcy almost as soon as his studio had been founded. That resulted in a rejiggering of sorts where Brauner realized he had to appeal to the "unwashed masses" before moving on to so-called "message films". While Brauner did in fact offer some Nazi adjacent material in the 1950s with films like 1955's The Plot to Assassinate Hitler, he also significantly broadened the studio's output, ending the decade by offering a Fritz Lang "two fer", The Tiger of Eschnapur and The Indian Tomb. Brauner continued to coax legendary expat German directors back to Germany to work for him at CCC, and he also started to produce what might be called "franchises", though rather interestingly some of these perceived series were built around authors rather than characters, including the films Eureka! released in its Terror in the Fog: Wallace Krimi at CCC set in 2025. That said, there was at least one franchise built around a memorable character who is in fact at the center of the other CCC related set Eureka! has offered home media enthusiasts, Mabuse Lives! Dr. Mabuse at CCC: 1960-1964. This third CCC set from Eureka! returns to "author territory", highlighting the work of Karl May, a man many in the United States may not be overly familiar with, but who was evidently pretty much required reading for German schoolchildren. As some of the supplements on this set get into, many of Brauner's May adaptations were marketed as big "family films" which were released during the holiday season to help maximize attendance. That said, several of these films do in fact feature some recurring characters, and all of them star Lex Barker, in several cases playing the same supposed character May more or less claimed was based on himself, though offered in the various films under a couple of different aliases.

For reviews of the films in this set, please click on the following links:

Old Shatterhand Blu-ray review

Winnetou and Old Shatterhand in the Valley of Death Blu-ray review

The Shoot Blu-ray review

Through Wild Kurdistan Blu-ray review

In the Kingdom of the Silver Lion Blu-ray review

The Treasure of the Aztecs Blu-ray review

The Pyramid of the Sun God Blu-ray review

Adventure Calls! Karl May at CCC Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Adventure Calls! Karl May at CCC Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Adventure Calls! Karl May at CCC Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

On disc supplements are detailed in the above linked reviews. Eureka! has packaged this set to fit in with their two other CCC related offerings, with a slipbox enclosing four DigiPacks (two films on three discs, Silver Lion on its own). There's also a really nicely appointed perfect bound collector's booklet with a number of interesting essays. A J card encloses the slipbox from the bottom.

Adventure Calls! Karl May at CCC Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

None of the films in this set are undiscovered masterpieces, but several of them are enjoyable on their own kind of peculiar and frankly weirdly charming merits. Technical merits are generally solid, and Eureka! has assembled some appealing supplements along with handsomely designed packaging. As a whole, Recommended.