The Golden Arrow Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

The Golden Arrow Blu-ray Movie Review

Archery camp.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III December 21, 2019

Roughly translated from its original Italian name "The Archer of the Thousand and One Nights", Antonio Margheriti's The Golden Arrow is a lightweight sword-and-sandal adventure that's heavy on the cheese but still fitfully entertaining. Decidedly non-Italian actor Tab Hunter stars as Hassan, a thief who discovers he might just be the son of a Damascan sultan. His best shot at proving this is an ability to wield the titular arrow in a competition, but he's more interested in winning the hand of beautiful Princess Jamila (Rossana Podestà). Hassan and his fellow bandits decide to kidnap Jamila instead, but he lets her go rather than demanding a ransom. During their temporary separation, her hand is promised to whoever brings the most precious gift as a marriage offering -- but she'd rather have Hassan, of course.

Anyway, you're not here for the story. What carries The Golden Arrow is production design, some of which -- like most Italian genre films of this era -- is made of leftovers from Ben-Hur, Cleopatra, and the like. The elaborate sets and excellent locations do a respectable job of maintaining intrigue and visual interest, with the script and cast running a distant second. Nonetheless, campy performances are part of the film's oddball charm, as is its penchant for keeping things light from start to finish. There's almost no danger here, even from a competing suitor and evil vizier, while the climactic magic carpet battle provokes more smirks than suspense. Yet The Golden Arrow still wrings a decent amount of entertainment from otherwise modest elements, even if the comic relief (mostly via three helpful genies, whose musical theme is ridiculously overused) often prevents the drama from reaching greater heights.

Warner Archive Collection's Blu-ray marks what I believe might be the film's domestic home video debut. It's a strong technical effort, especially its 1080p transfer, but the slight audio limitations (many source-related) and lack of real extras soften what might otherwise be a well-rounded effort for this slight but serviceable production.

The Golden Arrow Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original Technirama 2.35:1 aspect ratio, The Golden Arrow looks as good as expected on Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection -- maybe even better. The film's inarguable strong point is its production design, a mixture of fairly lavish sets and beautiful locations that are often decorated with colorful, ornate designs. The palette is bright and varied; it rarely follows a specific color scheme but almost always looks attractive and visually interesting. Textures and image detail are quite good at times, with a nice amount of depth and excellent shadow detail. Warner Archive's typically excellent disc authoring ensures that no unsightly compression artifacts mar the picture, as this high-bitrate 1080p transfer -- sourced from a recent 2K scan of an interpositive -- gets plenty of room to breathe. One unavoidable handicap of Blu-ray's higher resolution is the presence of a few unexpected "seams" in the production design, including a few dodgy optical effects and even a wrinkle or two in the occasional studio backdrop.

The Golden Arrow Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The audio can't help but lag behind, but mostly due to age-related wear and format limitations. The Golden Arrow was an Italian production with only a few American actors, but the entire production -- like many of its ilk -- was dubbed in English, and not particularly well (even Tab Hunter is famously not himself). First-time viewers not aware of this fact might even think that Warner Archive's lossless 2.0 (mono) track suffers from serious sync issues. But, as they say at my day job, "it is what it is": dialogue, sound effects, and music alike are relatively thin and have very little punch, with a limited high end that often sounds a little cramped. Even so, what's here will still get the job done for genre fans, especially with the foreknowledge that this film has never sounded all that great.

Unlike most Warner Archive discs, The Golden Arrow lacks optional English SDH subtitles, which is disappointing.

The Golden Arrow Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Golden Arrow arrives in a one-disc keepcase with cover art that looks like a second or third-generation copy of an original poster. As expected, on-disc extras are minimal.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:04) - This rousing trailer captures the film's spirit pretty well and is in reasonably good condition. It's also available on Warner Archive's official YouTube channel if you haven't seen it yet.

The Golden Arrow Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Golden Arrow is very dated despite its somewhat timeless setting, but can still be enjoyed by new audiences as a lightweight and colorful adventure. Although less comic relief and more actual danger would have gone a long way, the excellent production design and location footage really elevates the source material to respectable heights. Warner Archive rescues this forgotten film on Blu-ray and plays to its strengths with a very solid 1080p transfer, but a few small audio issues (including the lack of subtitles) and no real extras prevents a heartier recommendation.