Ursus dans la terre de feu

Made in 1963, URSUS IN THE LAND OF FIRE was Ed Fury's third and final film as Ursus (although there was not much continuity from film to film with the specifics of Ursus' personal details!) and also Fury's final peplum film in the 1960's. Filmed in rich pastel colors (blue seems to be a favorite color in many scenes) and featuring fascinating and imaginative set designs throughout, the film is an above average peplum in every way. As another critic noted, the series of tests and physical challenges for Ursus are ingenious and require Fury to display his strength and physique to their best advantage. The sequence where he shows up at a tournament run by the evil ruler and then stands up to the evil one AND whips everyone who takes him on is very well-staged and exciting. Co-writer Luciano Martino has many strong credits as producer and/or writer in sword-and-sandal, westerns, giallo, and 70s crime films including a number of cult classics. Director Giorgio Simonelli went on to direct a number of Franco and Ciccio comedies--his previous peplum work as a writer includes two Brad Harris classics (Samson and The Fury of Hercules) as well as the fascinating 1963 horror film TOMB OF TORTURE aka METEMPSYCHO. This film may well be Ed Fury's best starring vehicle and is probably the film I would show someone I wanted to convince of Fury's status as a major peplum star. The US television print I taped off UHF in the early 1990s isn't really pan-and-scan--it's as though the outer two-thirds of the picture are just lopped off and you are watching the middle-third. The credits are hard to read as you only get the end of the first name and the beginning of the second name! As I've said about many other peplums, this cries out for a sharp, letterboxed DVD transfer. With this film's rich visuals, beautiful photography, and interesting set design, it's well worth tracking down for any sword-and-sandal film devotee.

Exciting but standard Peplum odyssey titled Ursus nella terra di fuoco(1963) by Giorgio Simonelli with Ed Fury , Luciana Gilli and Claudia Mori , regularly-plotted , with a likable acting from Ed Fury as Ursus ("Ursus" is Latin for "bear") . Sword and Sandals film centers upon Ursus (Ed Fury or Edmund Holovchik) , of noble blood , but he was raised among lions , he is the typical corpulent hunk man who fights against evil people . A strange country is ruled by Lothar (Nando Tamberlani, ordinary in Peplum) , a king of fire-worshippers, while domineering a simple tribe of shepherds who only want to live in peace, living a quiet existence. Diana (Luciana Gilli) , the King's daughter was out riding , but she is come off when her horse frightened by a snake , as she was thrown off her horse into the lake, but, of course , she's saved by Ursus . Meanwhile , the king is overthrown by the nasty usurper Hamilkar (Adriano Micantoni). The good guys are the blond and beefy Ed Fury (Ursus) , Luciana Gilli (the beautiful girl) , and the bad guys are the usual nasty Adriano Micantoni and Claudia Mori (who married Adriano Calentano) as a Femme-fatale . Ursus will defeat them at an thrilling finale battle .

This moving Peplum contains emotion , noisy action sequences incorporating spectacular combats in which Ursus confronts several bouncing men attempting to throw him into a pit , spectacular battles with lots of sword-wielding warriors , court intrigue , thrilling ending and many other things . This mythological movie is plenty of adventures , thrills , atmospheric settings , evocative soundtrack by Carlo Savina and colorful scenarios well photographed by cameraman Luciano Trasatti. This is a regular spaghetti, myth-opera with action , love , battles and luxurious landscapes , but there are a few editing goofs . In addition to the muscular lead but always appealing sword and sandal elements are here ; however , this movie has not mythological accuracy neither expecting historical . The corpulent Ed Fury was a hunk man who made lots of roman epic films also called ¨Musclemen movies¨ . He was one of a number of bodybuilder and physique model types who followed muscleman Steve Reeves out to Italy in the early 60s and won campy notice playing Herculean characters in those campy Italian sand-and-spear epics . Ursus, Maciste, Goliath, Samson , Hércules , Atlas..., those Italian muscle man producers must have had a hard time figuring out what to call the musclebound actors who played all these legendary muscleman heroes . Other stars by the time on this type of movies are Mark Forest , Gordon Mitchell , Alan Steel , Dan Vadis , Reg Park , Brad Harris , Samson Burke , Richard Harrison , Rock Stevens , Kirk Morris and 'Gordon Scott' and , of course , the great Steve Reeves , as nobody , nevertheless, topped Steve in popularity . Fury started off his beefcake run off as a body double . Ed was the subject of legendary photographer Robert Mizer and appeared on the cover of Mizer's infamous magazine "Physique Pictorial" ostensibly promoting Fury's role in Ursus (1961), billed as "The Mighty Ursus". Ed was posing front-and-center as Herk himself and entering in the star-system based on pumped-up heroes playing ¨Sansone¨ or ¨Samson¨ or ¨Ursus¨ . On numerous occasions Ed was asked to play the legendary Greek hero , as well as the equally well-built demigods Samson and Ursus , even though the film titles often fused (or confused) them in their titles . Some other familiar faces show up here , such as : Nando Tamberlani, Tom Felleghy , Giuseppe Addobbati or John MacDouglas who's usually in these flicks . And including two gorgeous women : Lucina Gilli and Claudia Mori.

This film belongs to a quartet about this hunk character , ¨Ursus¨ , such as : "The Vengeance of Ursus" (1961) by Luigi Capuano with Samson Burke , Wandisa Guida , Livio Lorenzon , ¨Ursus¨ (1961) by Carlo Campollani with similar actors as Ed Fury , Maria Luisa Merlo and Moira Orfei and "The Son of Hercules in the Land of Fire" (1963) . ¨Ursus¨ movie is derived from Buddy Baer's character who is named "Ursus" , a secondary role in the famous colossal ¨Quo Vadis¨ (1951) directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starred by Robert Taylor and Deborah Kerr . Evocative as well as atmospheric musical score by the prestigious as well as prolific Carlo savina. Colorful cinematography , being filmed on location in Lazio , Rome and Studios : Incir De Paolis Studios, Rome, Lazio ; Studio Olimpia, Rome , Lazio, Italy . The film was regularly directed by Luigi Capuano who made many fables of this kind , as well as hilarious Spaghetti Westerns . He directed various films for this popular couple Franco Franchi-Ciccio Ingrassia , such as : ¨Il Duo Sanculotti¨. ¨Due Sargenti de Generale Custer¨ , "The Two Crazy Secret Agents" ¨, ¨Due Mafiosi Far West¨ , "I due toreri" , "Two Sons of Ringo" , ¨2 Samurai Per 100 Geishas¨ . Simonelli also made adventure movies as ¨Robin Hood and the pirates¨ with Lex Barker , ¨Fra Diavolo¨, "Io Sono la Primula Rossa" , Péplum as "Ursus in the Land of Fire" , dramas and a lot of comedies , many of them starred by the comical couple Ugo Tognazzi and Walter Chiari .

They really did a lot of those movie back in the day. So many it might be hard to distinguish some of them. I still would like to believe this is a better effort and stands out a bit. Low budget and over the top as it may be, this still can be a lot of fun to watch.

Don't mind the acting or the dubbing (depending on what version you do watch) ... and try to blend out the low budget of this. Just roll with it and the oil and muscles and women that need to be rescued theme ... I might not do a good job making this appealing I think ... ah well, it is what it is and there are worse movies than this. Dig it or not, you'll know early on

URSUS IN THE LAND OF FIRE stars Ed Fury as the living anvil of the title. Basically, he's the protector of a village of shepherds. Ursus must continually save these shepherds from the non-shepherds and their shepherd-hating king.

BIG SCENES: #1- Ursus buried in a landslide caused by an erupting volcano! He resurrects, emerging from the rubble as if it were Styrofoam! #2- The obligatory "test of strength", where Ursus is tied between two chariots! He also faces opponents next to a pit full of spikes! #3- The huge melee toward the end, when it's Ursus vs. Everybody, culminating in a fiery finale!

Fans of this genre will want to add this one to their watch list!...

Having heard good things about this sword-and-sandal movie, I found myself a tad disappointed with some of its aspects, but in general, this is superior to most of its competition and "Hercules" fans will find it well worth a look. Of particular note are several of the imaginative and impressive indoor sets which are a clear cut above the plywood-columns sort of decorating one often sees in this genre. Of course, any "Hercules" movie must largely be judged on the appearance and appeal and talents of its main actor, and here we're fortunate to have Ed Fury, who not only looks good with his shirt off but who has some personal flair as well. He plays the part with an agreeable touch that's a welcome break from the "grimly determined muscleman" school of acting. Another way of judging these movies lies in the quality of the tortures which are inflicted on the hero. Here, we have two good ones. In the first, Fury is chained to one of those wooden poles which protrudes from a circular grist-mill. "Encouraged" by a burly overseer who lashes him across his bare back, Fury must walk around in a circle, pushing that pole and turning that grist-mill. (And boy, is this a big grist-mill!) Unlike other such sequences, such as that involving Victor Mature in "Samson and Delilah," this horizontal pole is not at waist level but rather positioned above Fury's head so that his chained arms are extended upward from his body. This seems to make the ordeal even more strenuous and painful and effectively showcases Fury's physique. In the second torture, he's forced to stand on a dungeon floor amid a number of sharp metal spikes which protrude upward. He's also forced to hold above his head an enormous flat stone. Eventually his arms will weaken and the weight of that stone, pressing inexorably downward, will impale him on those spikes just before it crushes him. The appeal of this torture is that it turns the hero's chief asset -- his strength -- against him. The longer he's able to hold up that stone, the more he prolongs his agony. And in the process, of course, the more entertainment he provides for his captors -- and for the movie audience as well!