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Directed by J. Lee Thompson
USA 1978

 

She was the most famous woman in the world. He was a peasant, a pirate, a shark. The Greek Tycoon is the story of their fiery romance. Anthony Quinn (Zorba the Greek, The Passage, Lust for Life, Lawrence of Arabia) portrays Theo Tomasis - the world’s richest and most flamboyant shipping magnate. He’s a man who seemingly has everything he could want - who reaches out and captures his final prize: lovely, expensive, legendary Liz Cassidy (Jacqueline Bisset, Bullitt, The Sweet Ride, The Deep, The Grasshopper), widow of a president of the United States. This lavishly mounted drama, which focuses on the international jet set’s continual struggle for love and power, also stars Charles Durning (Twilight’s Last Gleaming, Dog Day Afternoon, Stand Alone), James Franciscus (Killer Fish, The Cat O’ Nine Tails, Beneath the Planet of the Apes), Edward Albert (Butterflies are Free, Galaxy of Terror, The Domino Principle), Raf Vallone (The Italian Job, Cannon for Cordoba, Harlow), Luciana Paluzzi (Thunderball, The Green Slime, The Klansman), Camilla Sparv (The High Commissioner) and directed by the legendary J. Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone, The Passage, Cape Fear). Now see the film for the first time in the U.S. in widescreen and from a brand new 2K scan!

***

Set somewhere in a timeless Martini-land, The Greek Tycoon is an everyday love story of a shipping magnate and an assassinated president's widow - a sort of Harold Robbins out of TitBits tabloid biopic. Quinn's ageing Zorba is certainly no Citizen Kane, and Bisset's contribution rarely veers beyond the soulful pose, but it matters hardly a jot to a publicly rehearsed, pre-sold jet-set jamboree. Upmarket exploitation pics tend to make it (ie. profit) on the merest smell of money, sex and scandal, and this effort just reeks. Trashy it may be (though classily trashy, on a $6 million budget); vulgar it ain't - the Tomasis and the Cassidys are at bottom really ordinary, unhappy folks who just happen to have untold wealth and power. Your sympathy is earnestly solicited; it would be better spent on anyone tempted to sit through this glossy travesty.

Excerpt from TimeOut located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: May 12th, 1978

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Review: Scorpion Releasing - Region 'A' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

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Bonus Captures:
Distribution Scorpion Releasing - Region 'A' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:46:24.208         
Video

2.35:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 23,509,134,393 bytes

Feature: 19,622,068,224 bytes

Video Bitrate: 21.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1125 kbps 1.0 / 48 kHz / 1125 kbps / 24-bit (DTS Core: 1.0 / 48 kHz / 768 kbps / 24-bit)
Commentary:

Dolby Digital Audio English 192 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 192 kbps
Subtitles English (SDH), None
Features Release Information:
Studio: Scorpion Releasing

 

2.35:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 23,509,134,393 bytes

Feature: 19,622,068,224 bytes

Video Bitrate: 21.99 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Audio Commentary by Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson
 • Alternate Opening and End Credit Sequences (5:48 / 3:08)
 • Theatrical Trailer (2:21)


 Blu-ray Release Date: December 8th, 2020
 Standard Blu-ray Case

Chapters 14

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Scorpion Releasing Blu-ray (December 2020): Scorpion Releasing have transferred J. Lee Thompson's The Greek Tycoon to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Brand New 2K Master". It is on a single-layered disc with a modest bitrate. The 1080P image is not great. It is soft and... video-like. Some minor grain - but not a lot, nor much depth. I doubt if it is DNR-digitized - probably just the source doesn't translate effectively to HD. On the positive is it consistent, colors carry some vibrancy - if looking occasionally unnatural. In the final tally - superior to SD, and quite watchable, but certainly no where near the height of the format. 

NOTE: We have added 60 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Scorpion Releasing use a DTS-HD Master mono track (24-bit) in the original English language (with some Greek.) The audio is authentically flat without much bass but a decent score by Stanley Myers (The Wind, The Wilby Conspiracy, Eureka, Cimino's The Deer Hunter, Roeg's Insignificance, Harold Becker's The Boost, Pete Walker House of Mortal Sin and Frightmare, etc.) sounding clean with consistent dialogue. Scorpion Releasing offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-ray.

The Scorpion Releasing Blu-ray offers a new commentary by my favorite trifecta of commentarists; Howard S. Berger, Steve Mitchell and Nathaniel Thompson. They discuss the writer Nico Mastorakis (being 'his baby') - director of schlocky horrors like Island of Death and The Zero Boys. They openly discuss much of the production; Jacqui B. as Jacki O., Quinn, Thompson and they delve pretty deep into the entire film. As usual, I enjoyed it very much. Always educational. Scorpion include the, superfluous, alternate opening and end credit sequences and a theatrical trailer.

The Greek Tycoon is not J. Lee Thompson's best. But it's a film that I strongly remember seeing from a few decades ago. Maybe it was Jacqueline Bisset or Quinn's dominating performance. Anyway, despite its imperfections, I still kinda like bold expression of The Greek Tycoon. Scorpion Releasing's Blu-ray has the 'interesting' film and the excellent commentary. I encourage seeing it, it's lavish-ness, the performances and... don't be too judgmental. You may enjoy it more than you think even with the lackluster video. There is still some value here.

Gary Tooze

 

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Box Cover

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Distribution Scorpion Releasing - Region 'A' - Blu-ray


 


 

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