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Drums of Fu Manchu 
| 80% Recommended by our customers. Studio: Vci Video Catalog: DVD Release date: 2003-01-28 Media: DVD released in theatres: 1940-03-15 Running time in minutes: 269 DVD aspect ratio: 1.33:1 Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated) Format: Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC DVD Region code: 1 released in theatres: 1940-03-15 Ean: 0089859829628 Upc: 089859829628  Tip: compare prices with similar DVDsDirector:
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| Professional Review: |
| In order to gain complete control of the barbaric bond of Asia, the nefarious Fu Manchu (Henry Brandon) must acquire the fabled scepter of Genghis Khan. To find the lost tomb housing the scepter, he must first locate and assemble the Cardack segment, which will disclose the location of the tomb. Opposing him is his old nemesis, Sir Nayland Smith (William Royle) and Allen Parker (Robert Kellard). The adventures range from the United States to Asia, and contain some of the most fiendish cliffhangers ever put on film. "William Witney, the greatest director of movie serials considered this to be his and Republic's best work. A gem from the golden age of movie serials: slick direction, the look of a big budget production, a diabolical villain, and lots of imaginative cliffhangers." - Hank Davis, BIG REEL Magazine. Bonus Features: Video Commentary by Scarlet Street Publisher, Richard Valley| "History of Fu Manchu" Booklet Insert by Eric Hoffman| Photo Gallery| Bios| Chapter Menu. Specs: 2-DVD9s; Dolby Digital Mono; 269 minutes; B&W; 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio; MPAA - NR; Year - 1940; SRP - $19.99. |
| User Reviews: |
 Written on May 5, 2003 Summary: Not One of the Best I enjoy watching serials from this era and I can definitely say that this one rates below average compared to others I have watched.  Written on April 2, 2003 Summary: A FU-TASTIC SERIAL!!! I have two words to all potential buyers of this DVD: BUY IT! It is fantastic! This is probably one of the best movie serials ever made! Fifteen exciting chapters of trains wrecks, chases, car crashes, fights, fights and more fights, featuring one of the best villians in all of fiction, Dr. Fu Manchu. Brillantly played by Henry Brandon, whom most sf/ fantasy fans may know from John Carpenter's "ASSAULT ON PRECEINT 13". He is perhaps the best Fu in movie history, even better than Boris Karloff and Christopher Lee! He is that good, I kid you not! The serial is not based on the Sax Rohmer novel of the same name, but uses some of the plot of an earlier Fu novel and the Karloff film "THE MASK OF FU MANCHU". Normally this would make me an unhappy camper, but this serial is such a joy to watch and is so exciting, that I can forgive the producers for ignoring Rohmer's great book ("DRUMS" is one of my favorite Fu novels). All of the cast is pretty good. I liked Gloria Franklin as Fu's daughter Fah Loo Suee although she mysteriously disappears from the proceedings after about 12 chapters. And fans of Universal horror films will be happy to see the familiar face of the fly-eating maniac Renfield from the Lugosi Dracula, Dwight Frye in a small role in the 5th chapter. And wait until you see Loki, the lead Dacoit, one of "Fu Manchu's men-of-murder". He's a hoot! The picture and sound on the DVD are very nice and the extra's give a nice history of both Fu Manchu and the serial. There is a nice booklet included with the "HISTORY OF FU MANCHU" by Eric Hoffman and a photo gallery on the dvd and star and director bios and filmographies. Let me close by saying: this is one great DVD. BUY IT, YOU'LL LIKE IT!!! - George Bauch. Written on June 6, 2002 Summary: Much creepier than your average serial! Okay, I think this is one of the great serials. It is much darker than many. Many scenes have the feel of the horror and mystery movies of the times, and these scenes quite distinguish this as one of the more innovative serials. Obviously, this is villian centered, and what an evil personage we have here! The makeup is superb, and as a personification of evil, Fu Manchu makes the emporer Ming look like a Sunday School teacher. He must have laid awake nights figuring out new and hideous ways to do away with his adversaries. Looks like the daughter is growing up in Dad's footsteps, although she hasn't graduated yet from using poisonous cigarette fumes to overcome her victims. This is good, old fashioned fun. Anyone who quibbles, as one reviewer did, with petty details like the train engineer hearing a gunshot from several cars back shouldn't be watching serials anyway, because they have never been known for their plausibility. If you're new to serials, this one should be fairly high up on your must see list. And if you're already a committed collector, this should definitely be in your collection. Written on February 16, 2002 Summary: Top-notch serial from Republic's Golden Age William Witney has stated that of all his serials Drums was his favorite because it was so different from all his other serials in mood and atmosphere. Halliwells Film Guide indicates that Drums of Fu Manchu is a spirited rendering of an ideal serial theme. This is my favorite serial, the one I would take to a desert island. Other serial aficianados may disagree with me but I would guess that it appears on their top five or ten serial lists. Among its many assets: a plot that develops logically from chapter to chapter, a superb bravura performance by Henry Brandon as the villainous criminal mastermind, and a superb musical score by Cy Feuer. VCI's print is good but not great so do not expect a pristine print ala Republic Home Video but it is very watchable. One big improvement over the prints from other previous sources; you can see what's going on in the night scenes in chapters 10 through 15.  Written on August 6, 2001 Summary: Rubbish of Fu Manchu This film is nowhere as good as it has so often been rated. One of the big problems is that it insults the intelligence of a even a 2 year old child. The first episode shows one of Fu Manchu's henchmen fighting a railway guard, during which a gun is fired. Amazingly this single shot is heard is by the train fireman whilst performing his duties on the engine. Also the hero of the film is fighting the same henchman in a railway carriage, which looks about the same size as a hotel room. The film continues with other episodes in this same kind of ridiculous way. All this is made even worse by VCIs handling of the film copying process. The picture is more often than not over contrasty, some of the actors faces cannot even be recognizied at times. As for the sound process, well that's even worse, it sounds as if the dialogue is coming from miles away. I love watching all the old serials and like 90 odd percent of them, but this one definitly gets my thumbs down, mostly due to VCIs copying process. |
| Comparison map |
| Wondering how the DVD "Drums of Fu Manchu" relates to similar DVDs? Find out at a glance here: |
| Price comparison |
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| Our price | $17.99 | $7.98 | $10.49 | $14.99 | $14.99 | $17.99 |
| List price | $19.99 | $7.98 | $14.98 | $19.99 | $19.99 | $19.95 |
| Lowest used price | $11.64 | $2.14 | $6.97 | $8.85 | $12.69 | $11.40 |
| Lowest new price | $10.18 | $2.61 | $7.41 | $10.21 | $10.25 | $11.41 |
| Collectible price | - | - | - | - | $19.99 | - |
| Catalog | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD |
| Release date | 2003-01-28 | 2003-01-21 | 2003-12-16 | 2001-01-30 | 2000-10-03 | 2005-02-22 |
| Media | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD | DVD |
| released in theatres | 1940-03-15 | 1956 | 1941-03-28 | 1943-12-24 | 1938-03-21 | - |
| Running time in minutes | 269 | 90 | 216 | 254 | 778 | 188 |
| DVD aspect ratio | 1.33:1 | 1.33:1 | 1.33:1 | 1.33:1 | 1.33:1 | 1.66:1 |
| Audience Rating | NR (Not Rated) | NR (Not Rated) | NR (Not Rated) | NR (Not Rated) | NR (Not Rated) | Unrated |
| Format | Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC | Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC | Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC | Black & White, DVD-Video, NTSC | Box set, Closed-captioned, Subtitled, NTSC | Color, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC |
| DVD Region code | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ean | 0089859829628 | 0089218408792 | 0017153146202 | 0089859826825 | 0014381978926 | 0827058400299 |
| Upc | 089859829628 | 089218408792 | 017153146202 | 089859826825 | 014381978926 | 827058400299 |
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