The Pyramid of the Sun God Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		2.0

The Pyramid of the Sun God 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.

One of the great little trivia tidbits in the unexpected literary imprimatur category is that none other than William Faulkner contributed to the screenplay for Land of the Pharaohs. Whether it was Faulkner's idea to offer an interior labyrinth with at least a couple of tricks up its bricks is anyone's guess, but there's perhaps somewhat hilariously a similar structure that shows up in this film, made more than a decade after that very curious Howard Hawks "epic". I maybe made a little light in the review of The Treasure of the Aztecs that Brauner more or less made the first "two part" film version of one story, though it's probably salient to note that May's original "story" was an absolutely massive serialized effort that evidently ran for well over 100 installments. It should be noted for fairness that Sir Christopher Frayling mentions the films are actually based on two separate novels. That said, narrative padding and undeniable sluggishness were already on display in the previous "part", and unfortunately both of those continue in this second installment.

There's arguably even more of a problematic depiction of supposed indigenous cultures in this film than in the predecessor, if only because so much of this ostensible "climax" centers around a horde of Aztec gold. Like The Treasure of the Aztecs, there's a slightly smarmy feeling to not just the depiction of Aztecs, but maybe somewhat comically (given that they're the bad guys) some of the Mexicans as well.

The Pyramid of the Sun God Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Pyramid of the Sun God 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. Unsurprisingly this looks pretty much identical to The Treasure of the Aztecs, with the same nicely vibrant palette on display throughout, and with commendable clarity offering nice fine detail on all of the historical sets and costumes. As with the previous "Mexican" effort, what was evidently stock or at least second unit footage establishing Aztec locations is pretty shoddy and rough looking when stacked up against the bulk of the presentation. Grain resolves naturally.

The Pyramid of the Sun God Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

This is another film in this set without an English dub, and so the sole audio offering is the original German track delivered via LPCM 2.0 Mono. As with the video side of things, audio here is completely in line with what's heard on the "first part" of the film. Ambient environmental sounds are well rendered, and other sound effects and scoring are also presented with fluidity and good fidelity. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

The Pyramid of the Sun God Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Eureka! has packaged The Treasure of the Aztecs and The Pyramid of the Sun God 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

• The Treasure of the Aztecs Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 3:13) is accessible here as a standalone supplement. It's also available under the film's Play Menu, as seen below.


• The Pyramid of the Sun God Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 4:12) is accessible here as a standalone supplement. It's also available under the film's Play Menu, as seen below.


• Interview with Bernhard Schmid (HD; 6:47) is an archival piece in German with English subtitles.


• The Treasure of the Aztecs Trailer (HD; 4:05)


• The Pyramid of the Sun God Trailer (HD; 3:33)

The Treasure of the Aztecs

• Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 3:13) is authored to proceed on to the main feature.


• Audio Commentary by David Kalat

The Pyramid of the Sun God

• Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 4:12) is authored to proceed on to the main feature.

The Pyramid of the Sun God Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It may (and/or Karl May) be a little sad that this set goes out with a veritable whimper instead of a bang, but there's still some interest to be found in these last two films, at least insofar as you can almost feel Brauner trying to create some new franchise to take the place of Old Shatterhand and/or Kara Ben Nemsi. Technical merits are solid and the supplements very enjoyable, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.