331-333 Fantomas Returns!: The Fantomas Trilogy, 1964–67

[yoloswegmaster]

Created by crime writers Marcel Allain and Pierre Souvestre, the criminal mastermind Fantômas is best known outside of France as the antagonist of the silent serial that bears his name, directed by early cinematic pioneer Louis Feuillade. Within France, though, he is most famously associated with André Hunebelle’s beloved Fantômas trilogy. Released between 1964 and 1967, Hunebelle’s films revived the character with a comedic twist in the era of four-colour comic books, Bondmania and a boom in French popular cinema.

SPECIAL FEATURES
Limited Edition Hardbound Set [2000 copies]
Limited edition hardcase with package design by Nick Wrigley
Limited edition 60-page book featuring new writing on the Fantômas trilogy by film writer and programmer Ryan Finnigan, spy cinema expert Llewella Chapman and Krimi! magazine co-editors Boris Brosowski and Holger Haase
1080p HD presentations of all three films from restorations by Gaumont Film Company
Original French mono audio tracks
Optional English subtitles, newly revised for this release
Audio commentary on Fantômas with genre film expert and Video Watchdog founder Tim Lucas
New audio commentary on Fantômas Unleashed with film historian and author David Kalat
New audio commentary on Fantômas vs Scotland Yard with film historian and author David Kalat
International Supercrooks – new interview with Leon Hunt on Fantômas and his connection to other European supervillains in the 1960s
Juve and De Funès – new interview with French cinema expert Mary Harrod on Louis de Funès, French comedy and the Fantômas trilogy
Fantômas vs Fantômas – new video essay on the evolution of Fantômas in cinema by Radio Times editor Calum Bake
Original theatrical trailers

[domino harvey]

Should finally get around to watching my copy of these (Kino put these out a few years ago btw), but Louis de Funes is an acquired taste, so I don’t know how popular a set of his films will be here (though I think he’s one of the better popular comic French actors of this period, especially in something like Molinaro’s Oscar which calls for him to be on permanent fast forward)

[domino harvey]

More Kalat commentaries! The Lucas commentary was the sole extra beyond trailers on the Kino set

[What A Disgrace]

More Kalat commentaries! The Lucas commentary was the sole extra beyond trailers on the Kino set

I wanted to skip this, but somewhere in the back of my mind I knew they were going to pull a stunt like David Kalat commentaries to pull me in.

[The Curious Sofa]

Growing up in Germany they were on TV all the time when I was a kid and I remember enjoying them. I would be curious to see how they hold up. De Funès was hugely popular here.

[reaky]

I’m currently on holiday by the Gulf of Saint-Tropez, and shops are full of statuettes, posters and postcards of local hero De Funes, particularly from Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez. There’s also a museum dedicated to him up the road in Saint-Raphael, his home town.

I’m wary of these Fantomas films, though I’ve not seen them, as they strike me as in the Batman TV vein, i.e. campy romps. Am I off the mark?

[The Curious Sofa]

They are not quite as campy as the Batman TV series, I'd say James Bond meets The Pink Panther describes the tone of the trilogy.

[ryannichols7]

More Kalat commentaries! The Lucas commentary was the sole extra beyond trailers on the Kino set

I wanted to skip this, but somewhere in the back of my mind I knew they were going to pull a stunt like David Kalat commentaries to pull me in.

I see Kalat and I'm on it. the man can truly make things as entertaining (and informative, naturally!) as the movies themselves

[therewillbeblus]

They are not quite as campy as the Batman TV series, I'd say James Bond meets The Pink Panther describes the tone of the trilogy.

Well I love Bond and hate the Pink Panther, so I have no idea whether I should blind-buy this

[nicolas]

They are not quite as campy as the Batman TV series, I'd say James Bond meets The Pink Panther describes the tone of the trilogy.

Well I love Bond and hate the Pink Panther, so I have no idea whether I should blind-buy this

Exactly the same over here but I was a fan of the Fantomas films and often watched them on TV when I was younger. I’ll be buying this set at some point due to the couple of good things I remember but I don’t want to vouch for them as it’s been well over a decade since my last viewing.

[The Curious Sofa]

I suppose I mentioned The Pink Panther because both series revolve around a wacky French detective, though where Inspector Clouseau is wildly eccentric, Commissaire Juve is extremely uptight. But both are broadly comical characters, so proceed with caution. I don't know if I will still like these after all this time, my tolerance for slapstick is a lot lower now than when I was as a kid. But I remember Jean Marais being a suave super-villain, he's a bit like Bond if he were the bad guy.

[Black Hat]

They are not quite as campy as the Batman TV series, I'd say James Bond meets The Pink Panther describes the tone of the trilogy.

Well I love Bond and hate the Pink Panther, so I have no idea whether I should blind-buy this

What's hateable about the Pink Panther?

[domino harvey]

If you don’t think Peter Sellers or Blake Edwards are funny, you prob wouldn’t get much out of them either (like me, hi)

[therewillbeblus]

Comedy is subjective, I just find the films annoying. The cartoon is fine.

I watched the first installment of this trilogy yesterday, and felt mixed about it. There are a few creative set pieces that never rise above a simmer of mindless low-stake thrills, but most of what's offered for action is thinly-designed and dull. I liked the team-up train race in the third act and wish the film maintained that kind of pacing and tone throughout more of it. Fantomas' lair and general pop art vibe works fine, but I wanted 'more' there too. And the fight sequences are just silly enough to be entertaining on a low-brow level, but also taken seriously enough to fail as a document of B-movie self-conscious cartoonishness

[domino harvey]

I will say, this set it surprisingly cheap ($39.99 on Orbit), if that helps anyone in their decision making

[knives]

If you don’t think Peter Sellers or Blake Edwards are funny, you prob wouldn’t get much out of them either (like me, hi)

I like Sellers and find them bad. Edwards consistently has some of the worst pacing imaginable.

[Lowry_Sam]

If you don’t think Peter Sellers or Blake Edwards are funny, you prob wouldn’t get much out of them either (like me, hi)

I like Sellers and find them bad. Edwards consistently has some of the worst pacing imaginable.

I love Sellers and enjoyed the first film I saw with him in it when I was a kid The Return Of The Pink Panther. However when revisiting the series as a teen I found the sight gags repetitive & the films a bit tiresome. For 60s cartoonish comedy, I would actually prefer watching the bad/campy misfires (Casino Royale, Danger Diabolik, Barbarella, The Tenth Victim) than the more earnest fare (The Pink Panther, Fantomas, It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World ).

[TMDaines]

I got mine last Friday. Packaging is a slim slipbox (think the 2nd and 3rd Keaton feature film volumes), but a digipak inside along with the book. The slipbox has a wrap around piece of card, full-height at the back, shorter on the back and sides (like all recent boxsets), but it has rounded top corners on the rear, which should avoid them getting bent or caught easily. First time I have seen this packaging from Eureka!, but I am not a completist. It is nice and compact.

[domino harvey]

I appreciate the opportunity to Zardi spot three more times (all the more impressive given that he and his frequent partner Attal die in the second one), and I unilaterally support all releases of French films and think you should buy them, but these are dire films that I doubt anyone here will enjoy. I will give some mild praise to the second entry for letting De Funes run wild with some actually amusing bits (he is shoehorned into more typical idiot plot shenanigans in the other installments), and I find it sad that many, including at least one of the commentators on this release, find him the weak link. Like, this guy is the only worthwhile thing up on the screen, you can not be serious. If you somehow even make it far enough in the series, prepare yourself for how much worse (?!) the third entry is than what came before it-- it has unbelievably usurped Topper Takes a Trip as the worst sequel I have ever seen. Impressively uninspired!

So this isn’t a set worth getting based on the movies, but… the Mary Harrod interview on De Funes is the best academic extra I’ve seen this year. Dense with knowledge and insights, this is exactly what one of these extras should always be (and its excellence is highlighted even more by being in close quarters with one of the other rather amateurish extras too focused on a different series in frequently spurious ways) and I hope we see more of Harrod on future boutique label releases.

Beyond Harrod, the video essay on the various Fantomas adaptations is great as well. I’m not sure even Kalat can get me to sit through the last film again to listen to his commentary, but someone let me know if it’s worth it!