Old Shatterhand Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Old Shatterhand Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 9, 2026

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of the Adventure Calls! Karl May at CCC set from Eureka! Entertainment.

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.

The first film in this set is perhaps slightly comically not the first film to feature the May characters of Old Shatterhand and his Native American sidekick Winnetou, nor in fact the first time that Lex Barker and Pierre Brice portrayed them. Also somewhat comically, at least given the "intrigue" between CCC and Rialto surrounding the ostensible Edgar Wallace adaptations, Rialto had gotten to May first, releasing a phenomenally successful film called Treasure of Silver Lake (Der Schatz im Silbersee) in 1962. And in fact the ever inventive Artur Brauner managed to circumvent Rialto's deal with the May Estate in much the same way he dealt with Rialto's prior relationship with the Edgar Wallace Estate, namely finding a convenient loophole that allowed him to co-opt at least an "inspired by" imprimatur when mentioning an iconic author's name.

One way or the other, Brauner brought his production expertise to this outing, and this was evidently significantly more expensive than the Rialto film. The original screenplay deals with a rather interesting revisionism wherein Winnetou's Apache brethren are accused of violence, when it's really those black hatted Caucasian villains wreaking havoc. The film has a certain epic sweep, even if American eyes in particular may find that "sweep" more of the B-movie type, something that spills over into a somewhat formulaic and predictable narrative.

Old Shatterhand Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Old Shatterhand is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment's Masters of Cinema imprint with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. As tends to be the case with the Masters of Cinema line, Eureka! really doesn't provide any substantial technical information, though kind of weirdly (at least from a marketing perspective) their website does mention 4K scans of the original negatives for all of the films in this set. Old Shatterhand looks great for the most part, with a healthy palette providing lots of luscious scenery, and with generally commendable fine detail levels on things like the Native American outfits and Old Shatterhand's fringed apparel. Things can be just a bit faded and brown looking in passing and there are occasional anamorphic oddities on display, especially some warping during pans. Grain is fairly heavy against brighter backgrounds, but resolves without any issues.

Old Shatterhand Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Old Shatterhand features LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks in either German or English (see above for some disclaimers on the English track). There's really no doubt that the German track is the way to go in terms of overall fidelity and lack of issues. The German is considerably brighter with a more vibrant high end and dialogue, effects and score all sound better than on the English language track. That track, as overtly mentioned, has pretty variable quality, with some sections sounding reasonably good but others showing damage including an overall muffled sound. Optional English subtitles are available.

Old Shatterhand Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Eureka! has packaged Old Shatterhand and Winnetou and Old Shatterhand in the Valley of Death together on one disc with the following supplements, some of which are accessible via the Main Menu, and others of which are accessible once an individual film has been chosen:

Main Menu

• Old Shatterhand and the Works of Karl May Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 25:05) is accessible here as a standalone supplement. It's also available under the film's Play Menu, as seen below.


• Winnetou and Shatterhand in the Valley of Death Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 5:20) is accessible here as a standalone supplement. It's also available under the film's Play Menu, as seen below.


• Making Old Shatterhand (HD; 17:44) is an archival documentary in German with English subtitles.


• Daliah Lavi Featurette (HD; 2:26) is a brief promotional piece touting Lavi's singing career. In German with English subtitles.


• Old Shatterhand International Release Trailer (HD; 3:34)


• Winnetou and Shatterhand in the Valley of Death Trailer (HD; 4:08)

Old Shatterhand

• Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 25:05) is authored to proceed on to the main feature.


• Audio Commentary by David Kalat


• With Optional English Dubbed Audio comes with the following disclaimer:

  The optional English dubbed audio had to be put together from multiple sources. Audio quality will vary. The dubbed version was created for a shorter cut of the film so some scenes will briefly switch to German audio.

Winnetou and Shatterhand in the Valley of Death

• Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 5:20) is authored to proceed on to the main feature.


• With Optional English Dubbed Audio comes with the following disclaimer:

  The optional English dubbed audio was created for a shorter cut of the film so some scenes will briefly switch to German audio.

Old Shatterhand Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Old Shatterhand gets things off to a rousing if occasionally un-PC start, and both Barker and Brice are understandably completely at home in their characterizations. Technical merits are generally solid and the Frayling introduction and Kalat commentary interesting and informative. Recommended.