Through Wild Kurdistan Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Through Wild Kurdistan 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.

Through Wild Kurdistan pretty much picks up from where The Shoot left off, with Kara Ben Nemsi (Lex Barker) and his trusty sidekick Hadschi Halef Omar (Ralf Wolter) involved in Ottoman Empire adjacent hijinks. While the film actually begins with vicious Ottoman types taking a Sheikh's son prisoner when the young man insists soldiers not drink from the family well out in the desert. That opening at least alludes to the main villain of the piece, Machredsch of Mossul (Djordje Nenadovic). Of course it probably goes without saying that Kara Ben Nemsi and Hadschi Halef Omar are friends of the Shiekh, and they're tasked with freeing the Sheikh's son and bringing Machredsch of Mossul to justice.

That's the basic through line, but this is arguably a bit more of a vignette driven enterprise than even The Shoot. Kind of hilariously, Sir Christopher Frayling compares The Shoot supporting character Sir David Lindsay (Dieter Borsche) to Phileas Fogg in his introduction to that film, and that comparison is perhaps even more apt in this story, where Lindsay actually shows up in a hot air balloon. Lindsay's own trusty sidekick, butler Archie (Chris Howland), is back as well, with the two providing purported comic relief which some may find too repetitive and frankly not all that hilarious. While she's ostensibly playing a different character here than in The Shoot, Marie Versini also returns as the female co-star. Versini's very appearances here and in The Shoot probably only further point out the kind of sneaky genius of Brauner, since Versini had appeared in some of the Barker Shatterhand opuses done by rival Rialto.

Through Wild Kurdistan Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Through Wild Kurdistan 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. This is something of an outlier in this set, as it's often a bit fuzzier with less clarity than some of the other films included, and it frequently has noisier looking grain. The palette is still quite healthy looking, though there's once again arguably a bit of a yellow skew which can, for example, tilt reds toward oranges and make some flesh tones look a bit sickly. Detail levels are commendable, and some of the outdoor location shooting provides some impressive depth of field. Grain is a bit grittier here than in even some of the other presentations, as mentioned above.

Through Wild Kurdistan Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Through Wild Kurdistan features only a German language track in LPCM 2.0 Mono. The track is very much in line with the other audio presentation in this set. Distortion is hinted at in some of the loudest cues (as in the blaring CCC music), but otherwise effects and dialogue are presented without any issues. The outdoor setting provides a lot of ambient environmental sounds. Optional English subtitles are available.

Through Wild Kurdistan Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Note: Eureka! has packaged The Shoot and Through Wild Kurdistan 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 Shoot Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 3:22) is accessible here as a standalone supplement. It's also available under the film's Play Menu, as seen below.


• Through Wild Kurdistan Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 3:12) is accessible here as a standalone supplement. It's also available under the film's Play Menu, as seen below.


• Making Karl May's Orient Cycle (HD; 21:15) is an archival documentary, though made some time after the production of the films in this cycle, based on the fact that Brauner is announced as being well over 80. In German with English subtitles.


• Newsreel Footage (HD; 00:51) is brief footage of the Golden Screen Awards. In German with English subtitles.


• The Shoot Trailer (HD; 2:55) rather interestingly given some comments above overtly calls the character Barker plays Old Shatterhand.


• Through Wild Kurdistan Trailer (HD; 3:44)

The Shoot

• Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 3:22) 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.

Through Wild Kurdistan

• Introduction by Sir Christopher Frayling (HD; 3:12) is authored to proceed on to the main feature.

Through Wild Kurdistan Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's perhaps become un-PC to throw around the terms "Orient" and "Oriental" these days, but this film offers the first of Brauner's adaptations of May's so-called Orient Cycle with a lot of flair and fun. Technical merits have a few hiccups, but nothing that should be overly problematic. Supplements are very enjoyable as well, for anyone who may be considering making a purchase.