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Rating: 
Summary: Nothing to add, except...
Review: ...that the presentation is utterly superior: a clear plastic sleeve with eight lovely nexpaks (those thin plastic cases like they used in the Family Guy dvds). This is the sort of packaging that serious collectors demand. Kudos to the Blue crew. Now, if only we could get a release for the grail of mondos, the 1974 cult classic 'Mondo Candido".
Rating:
Summary: Nothing to add, except...
Review: ...that the presentation is utterly superior: a clear plastic sleeve with eight lovely nexpaks (those thin plastic cases like they used in the Family Guy dvds). This is the sort of packaging that serious collectors demand. Kudos to the Blue crew. Now, if only we could get a release for the grail of mondos, the 1974 cult classic 'Mondo Candido".
Rating:
Summary: The pinnacle of its genre!
Review: Seriously. Mondo Cane 1 and to a lesser degree, 2, were the pioneers of shockumentaries, and still manage to intrigue today. Those who find them boring are likely the type who consider Faces of Death not only 100% true, but great entertainment. Unlike its countless imitators, Mondo Cane remains one of the most intelligent documentaries ever made. It still fascinates after 40-plus years, and has never really been equaled. Yes, some parts are hilarious, some a little draggy, and some, honestly, a little tough to watch. NOthing that should make you physically ill, but still tough. But none were included gratuitously; they all have a legitimate place in the films.
"Women" is equally fascinating and done in the same vein as the Mondos, but some portions do go on a little too long.
"Africa Addio" is excellent; watch both versions, but the director's cut is the preferred. If you really watch it, you can see nothing was staged; it's simply a matter of experienced documentary makers doing what they do best. As you've read in the other reviews (often in way, way too much detail, so it spoils it for a newcomer. So many people cannot understand what "review" means), there are some scenes that are kind of rough; not for the real squeamish.
"Addio Zio Tom" (watch the director's cut) is an excellent condemnation of slavery, with many very violent and disturbing scenes, many of which, unfortunately, were likely pretty close to the truth. However, the interspersement with modern-day footage detracts from the movie as a whole. And, great as it is, the repeating theme music gets a little monotonous at times. Still, it's worth owning, for sure.
Rating:
Summary: Powerfully compelling stuff!
Review: Thanks to William Lustig and the friendly folks at Blue Underground, serious fans of cinematic weirdness can check out the numerous films of Franco Prosperi and Gualtiero Jacopetti. Who are Prosperi and Jacopetti, you ask? Good question. Before checking out this awesome eight disc limited edition set, I knew little about these two Italian filmmakers. I once heard about "Mondo Cane" years ago, but had never investigated further. Thanks to the voracious appetites awakened in the masses with the advent of DVD technology, I finally got the chance to acquaint myself with this film and the others that followed it. What an experience! The eight discs in the set consist of "Mondo Cane," "Mondo Cane 2," "Women of the World," "Africa Addio: The Director's Cut," "Africa Addio: English language version," "Goodbye Uncle Tom: English language version," "Addio Zio Tom: The Director's Cut," and an interview disc with the two directors created especially for this set called "The Godfathers of Mondo." So what does it all mean? According to these discs, the two filmmakers birthed a phenomenon that led directly to the current spate of reality-based media. Most of these films are documentary style epics showing our world--or at least how it looked back in the 1960s--in all of its bizarre and frivolous forms. "Mondo Cane," by the way, translates as "A Dog's World." An apt title when you see the films, to be sure.Start your experience with "Mondo Cane," "Mondo Cane 2," and "Women of the World." These are the first three films made by the two moviemakers, and are arguably the quirkiest. These three documentaries capture some of the oddest rituals practiced by peoples throughout the world. We see strange and bloody religious rituals in Italy, the grotesque lengths women will go to retain their youthful appearance, animals dying from radiation poisoning in the South Pacific, shark hunts, the horrific effects of Thalidomide, primitive peoples in New Guinea building shrines to airplanes, and so many other diverse oddities that it simply staggers the imagination. Many scenes are tame to modern eyes, some are still shocking, and several are just plain amusing. For example, you will laugh yourself sick over the "slap the faces" concert seen at the end of "Mondo Cane 2," although the participants look decidedly unhappy over their performance. There are plenty of extras on these three discs, including poster stills, trailers, and a few other worthwhile goodies; the picture quality is so good, so crystal clear, that the colors simply take your breath away. Perhaps the most controversial film made by Prosperi and Jacopetti was "Africa Addio" ("Farewell, Africa"), an attempt to document the changes in Africa during the time when the European imperial powers granted independence and withdrew from the continent. Ultimately accused of racism by critics for their unflinching portrait of a region gone mad, "Africa Addio" reveals in grisly detail the monstrous crimes committed by indigenous Africans against the remaining white settlers and the local wildlife. Large segments of the film show poachers brutally killing animals in the parks set up by Europeans. Moreover, the killing extends to humans as civil wars break out across the continent, with Africans killing each other, slaughtering Muslim minorities, and battling white mercenaries. Two executions caught on camera eventually resulted in charges against Gualtiero Jacopetti, who stood accused of orchestrating the killings for the camera (he was eventually exonerated). As tough as this film is to watch, try and look past the bloodshed and enjoy the panoramic scenery found in nearly every scene. Africa, despite all of its troubles, truly is a beautiful land. Nothing will prepare you for the nightmarish images in "Addio Zio Tom," (Goodbye Uncle Tom) a film made to counter charges of racism stemming from the "Africa Addio" experience. Fashioned as a sort of pseudo documentary where the filmmakers go back in time and visit the American South during the slave era, the movie is a grim look at the degrading conditions faced by Africans brought here as chattel. Every scene is absolutely mind blasting stuff, a horrific recreation of such abhorrent activities as the breeding of slaves, the formulation of scientific racism, hunting down and killing escaped slaves, the sickening conditions of the slave ships, the slave markets, and a billion other objectionable situations. The filmmakers based their film on written records and accounts of slave life, ultimately using the issue of slavery to make a statement about contemporary (1960s and 1970s) American race relations. Be sure and watch both versions: the English language cut is an entirely different film from the director's cut. Both are grueling experiences tempered only slightly by Riz Ortolani's FANTASTIC musical score (Ortolani scored "Mondo Cane" as well and snagged an Academy Award nomination for the song "More" from that film). "The Godfathers of Mondo" provides plenty of information about the collaboration between Prosperi and Jacopetti, Ortolani's musical work on the films, and a chronological discussion of each film. The impression I took away from the "Mondo Cane" films was the silliness of humanity in general, how we all do ridiculous things in our everyday life and never give any of it a second thought. At the same time, we are capable of particularly vicious activities that we never give a second thought to, either. With "Africa Addio" and "Addio Zio Tom" the whole scope of Prosperi and Jacopetti's documentary style changed. These films dwell on human beings as barbarians engaged in enormous bouts of cruelty and bloodshed. One of the filmmakers says in "The Godfathers of Mondo" that violence is a part of life that should appear in any attempt to document the human experience. I agree wholeheartedly, but that doesn't make these two films any easier to watch. Thanks, Blue Underground, for a truly memorable experience.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent BoxSet from Blue Underground!!!
Review: There is no denying the importance of the films of Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi as they have influenced everything from hardcore horror films ie Cannibal Holocaust to broadcast news and the reality TV craze of today. Blue Underground in an ambitious move have put out this great 8 disc box set (limited to 10,000 copies) which should more than satisfy any mondo fan. The first two discs are Mondo Cane and Mondo Cane 2. Mondo Cane is certainly a milestone and in fact this entire genre of "shocking documentaries" which where made by Euro filmmakers is better known as the 'mondo' genre. Essentially Mondo Cane is a strange journey into some of the more bizarre and macabre places with the camera voyeuristically witnessing all kinds of oddities and bringing them back for the curious viewer. Mondo Cane 2 continues this tradition. The third disc Women of the World is similar but all the footage is tied together by a common theme of the varied roles women play in different parts of the world. The next 2 discs are the cut English language version of Africa Addio and the Italian language uncut version. Considered by many to be the greatest mondo doco of all time, the crew head of into Africa during it's transition from colonial control. While the majority of this focuses on the interactions of white and black and some long sequences on the fate of wildlife with laws protecting them diminished (countless animals are gunned down and speared in these scenes and hippos are dismembered) what sets this apart is the aftermath of several massacres caught on film. Later the crew hook up with a group of mercenaries (these nuts look as though they just walked of col. Kurtz's compound in 'Apocalypse Now') and go on a mission, filming a couple of executions. After the English language print was recut to exclude much political commentary and the censored version was released the film makers came under fire and accused of exploitation, racism and some even called them murders (accusing them of paying for the executions). Being labeled racists must have really angered Jacopetti and Prosperi resulting in them making Addio Zio Tom (Goodbye Uncle Tom) in order to prove that they are not racist. The next 2 discs are Goodbye Uncle Tom in the cut English version and Italian Language directors cut (this disc alone in worth the price of the set). The butchered English version done little to mend their reputations as in order to have it released alternate versions of scenes were shot and some extreme (but easily justified) politics were omitted. In essence it became a different movie. The director's cut of Goodbye Uncle Tom is one of the most amazing films I have ever seen. While some scenes are mondo filmed modern 70's events in America, the majority of this film is a departure of the mondo formula as they have made a regular motion picture with actors and sets under the pretense of them traveling back in time to shoot a mondo doco on the slave trade in America pre civil war. All these scenes are set up based on factual accounts and are unsparingly brutal and authentic, literally using 1000s of extras. The sweeping photography and epic scale of this film as we are taken into various aspects of slavery make for a simply breathtaking motion picture experience. Some people have claimed these scenes are a false representation, by pointing out silly little things like "there probably wouldn't be so many slaves in the house" and "they wouldn't be allowed to jump on the bed like that" as well as others who are infuriated by this film claiming that "it was never as depraved as this" but once again this film is clearly well researched quoting writers of the time and besides how could any people who kept slaves not be "depraved" anyway? Gone With the Wind this certainly is not. Roots, while well made and genuinely heartfelt, is pure sacarine by comparison. Steven Speilberg made the typically cowardly film 'Amistaad'. How can this courtroom drama depicting Europeans as being cruel to slaves and Americans liberating them via the righteous legal system be hailed as "tackling slavery head on" when it completely ignores the 200 years of slavery in America? Goodbye Uncle Tom is clearly a one of a kind spectacle and in my humble opinion the best disc in the set. The final disc is a doco on the filmmakers themselves, rounding out what is an awesome boxset!
Rating:
Summary: Super-Mondo Collection!
Review: When MONDO CANE first came out it was the "adults only" film every kid like me wanted to see. Needless to say, what was considered shocking and adult in the 60s all seems rather quaint in retrospect. Yet, it's a short distance from the Mondo craze of yore to the "shocking reality TV" we are saddled with today. With all that in mind, I ordered the Mondo Collection and figured $127 was a small price to pay for a little trip down memory lane. To my surprise and delight, the 8-disc set is a primo package. (Think Criterion Collection in terms of quality and restoration but from a company called Blue Underground.) All the shockumentaries are in the package, not to mention "The Godfathers of Mondo" documentary about the guys---the trailblazers---who gave us these films. Soon every schlock filmmaker would crank out a Mondo-this and Mondo-that shockumentary, hoping to out-Mondo everybody else. But, again, this collection gives us the real thing from the guys who put the word Mondo on the map. And, lest we forget, every time we hear a lounge singer do "More," we'll fondly think back to its origin: Mondo Cane. Buy this set and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Super-Mondo Collection!
Review: When MONDO CANE first came out it was the "adults only" film every kid like me wanted to see. Needless to say, what was considered shocking and adult in the 60s all seems rather quaint in retrospect. Yet, it's a short distance from the Mondo craze of yore to the "shocking reality TV" we are saddled with today. With all that in mind, I ordered the Mondo Collection and figured $127 was a small price to pay for a little trip down memory lane. To my surprise and delight, the 8-disc set is a primo package. (Think Criterion Collection in terms of quality and restoration but from a company called Blue Underground.) All the shockumentaries are in the package, not to mention "The Godfathers of Mondo" documentary about the guys---the trailblazers---who gave us these films. Soon every schlock filmmaker would crank out a Mondo-this and Mondo-that shockumentary, hoping to out-Mondo everybody else. But, again, this collection gives us the real thing from the guys who put the word Mondo on the map. And, lest we forget, every time we hear a lounge singer do "More," we'll fondly think back to its origin: Mondo Cane. Buy this set and enjoy!
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